Chapter 160

Chapter 160: Clue

“Huh… I didn’t expect it to be you who reported him. But reporting someone from your own organization to other organizations wouldn’t be considered betrayal?” Dorothy asked curiously after hearing Audric’s words, and the other party replied calmly.

“No, this is exactly for the sake of the Artisan Guild that I reported him. Think about it, if Lu Ke really relied on devouring an entire city’s people to create a sufficiently outstanding work, and won against me in the competition, taking my place on the Golden Seat, and his actions were later exposed during the investigation, with the secret agents and the Radiant Church coming to demand answers, and he had already become one of the Golden Seats, representing the entire Artisan Guild to some extent, it would be very difficult to handle. If the other two seats were to forcibly deal with it, Lu Ke, who has already become Golden, would have the ability to directly split the Artisan Guild.

“In the end, this would evolve into a comprehensive deterioration of the relationship between the Artisan Guild and a major government and the Radiant Church. It would definitely be disadvantageous for the future of the Artisan Guild. My report was also for the future of the entire society.”

Audric responded quite sternly, and upon hearing his words, Dorothy felt they were quite reasonable. Lu Ke’s actions indeed played with the future of the entire society, and regardless of whether Audric did it intentionally or unintentionally, he objectively saved the lives of an entire city, which was undoubtedly good.

“So what happened afterwards? Lu Ke was expelled from the Artisan Guild, so you became the final winner, right? Then why didn’t you successfully become Golden?”

Dorothy continued asking, and Audric spoke after letting out a sigh of relief.

“Afterwards, I did win, and I gained the qualification to advance to Golden. However, Lu Ke harbored resentment towards me. During my final ceremony, he sabotaged me in secret, causing the advancement ceremony to go awry, and I suffered backlash as a result.

“Actually, the ceremony wasn’t entirely a failure. After the ceremony, I had already obtained most of the rank and abilities of Golden, but the backlash from the ceremony severely damaged my body, especially my spirit network which stores spirituality, was greatly damaged. Now, although I can barely be considered half-Golden, I can only store about the amount of spirituality at the Black Tier level.

“I cannot retain more spirituality. Without reaching the level of Black Tier, even if I don’t aim for Golden, it would be difficult to use abilities at the Red Tier and White Chalk levels. That’s why I need to hide so many stone statues in the school. I can only rely on external objects to release and use higher-level abilities. Therefore, in the battle just now, the fight between you and Lu Ke’s subordinates was the key to determining the outcome of the entire battle.”

After Audric finished speaking, Dorothy nodded thoughtfully after listening.

‘It seems the backlash from the ceremony directly cut down the old man’s maximum MP by half. That’s why he needs so much blue medicine when fighting.’

“You said Lu Ke sabotaged you, preventing you from advancing. His actions should have put him directly at odds with the entire Artisan Guild, right? Did the Artisan Guild not manage him afterwards?” Dorothy continued asking. To directly cripple a Golden who had been promoted with great effort, the Artisan Guild couldn’t possibly tolerate such a thing. Before, expelling him might have been due to old feelings, but after he pulled off this stunt, wouldn’t the Golden Seat directly eliminate him?

“They did manage him. The Golden Seat immediately issued a warrant for Lu Ke’s arrest, but at this time, Lu Ke found a new backer. Using unknown methods, he persuaded the large society ‘Silence,’ and the Underworld Coffin Cult accepted him. The upper echelons of the Underworld Coffin Cult intervened to mediate and protect Lu Ke, and the Golden Seat was convinced by them.”

Audric responded, and Dorothy couldn’t help but ask in surprise.

“Could they persuade them?”

“Heh… Of course they could. The Underworld Coffin Cult used the principles of the Artisan Guild to persuade them. They proposed making a transaction with the Artisan Guild, saying they were willing to exchange something within the Underworld Coffin Cult for Lu Ke’s life. This item would be decided by the Artisan Guild.

“Transactions are a principle of the Artisan Guild; we can do business with anyone. Since others proposed a transaction, the Golden Seat would try their best to accept it. To compensate me, the Golden Seat decided to give me the selection right, allowing me to take something from the Underworld Coffin Cult to make up for my losses.”

Audric continued, and as he spoke, a hint of curiosity appeared in Dorothy’s eyes. She asked:

“So, what did you choose?”

Hearing Dorothy’s question, Audric smiled slightly and continued.

“I chose Lu Ke’s unfinished work, which had already joined the Underworld Coffin Cult.

“His work? What do you want that for?”

“Heh, naturally for revenge. For us ‘Stone’ people, the process of creating works is the process of advancing to the Golden ceremony. Once the Golden advancement ceremony begins, it cannot be reversed. He must complete his work and hold the ceremony to successfully advance to Golden. I took it over; without his work, he will never be able to advance to Golden.”

“But wouldn’t this lead to an endless feud? Is it worth it?” Dorothy said incredulously. Audric’s move was like setting up an absolute enemy at the pinnacle of Red Tier for himself, who was already half-crippled.

In response to Dorothy’s doubt, Audric answered easily.

“Of course it’s worth it. I hold grudges, even if I’m crippled. Since he ruined my ceremony, he will never be able to advance successfully.

“Afterwards, I left the upper echelons of the Artisan Guild and started hiding in various cities. I acted as an ordinary city manager for the Artisan Guild in these hidden cities. Lu Ke went crazy, constantly searching for me, trying to reclaim his work. We played a game of cat and mouse for over a hundred years.

“He occasionally found me and attacked, but I always alerted the Artisan Guild’s high-ranking officials and other old friends in advance to come to my aid and repel him. Afterwards, I would change locations. After several rounds, thirty years ago, I came here as a school principal through an introduction by my old friend Amanda, and I’ve stayed here until now. Finally, he found me again.

“This time, he learned from his mistakes. To avoid alerting me, he no longer personally investigated and sent two unremarkable Black Tiers. After confirming the reconnaissance, to ensure a quick victory and prevent me from finding old friends as before, he directly summoned a clone to fight me, thinking this would solve the problem.

“Heh… But he didn’t expect that I met reliable new friends on this side.”

As he spoke, Audric glanced at Dorothy, who then grimaced.

‘This old man is really going all out, risking his life to block his enemy’s advancement. But given the current situation, he can only block it. And it turns out he is friends with Saint Amanda, the benefactor of this school. Looks like he has quite a bit of clout.’

“Alright, you’ve understood most of the grudges between me and that guy. Miss Meyshos, is there anything else you’d like to ask?” Audric continued to say to Dorothy, who immediately responded.

“Mr. Audric, you’re a supernatural being primarily associated with ‘Stone’ and secondarily with ‘Enlightenment.’ I want to ask if you know any information about the path of ‘Enlightenment.'”

Dorothy said straightforwardly, and Audric looked at her playfully before answering seriously.

“Although I had guessed earlier, I didn’t expect Miss Meyshos to be a supernatural being related to ‘Enlightenment.’ More importantly, you’re still an apprentice and unable to choose auxiliary spirituality, therefore… You’ve been on the path of ‘Enlightenment’ from the beginning, a true master of ‘Enlightenment.’ Am I right?”

Facing Audric’s words, Dorothy didn’t respond, only remaining silent as a way of tacit approval. Seeing Dorothy’s response, Audric laughed loudly.

“Hahaha… Amanda, Amanda, you were right to introduce me to this small place. I didn’t expect that I would actually see a traveler on the path of ‘Enlightenment’ here, a genuine ‘Enlightenment’ supernatural being who has never appeared in our era. I never expected that my old bones would witness history, hahaha…”

Audric laughed heartily, and after laughing, he continued to look at Dorothy and then mentioned a term.

“The Star Number Repair Association is the only secret society recorded in hidden history that revered the path of ‘Enlightenment.’ They were active from the Second to the Fourth Era, once prosperous but perished due to an unknown disaster.

“The ruins of the Star Number Repair Association are scattered across the continent. The best way for those who wish to glimpse the secrets of ‘Enlightenment’ is to search for these ruins. I also obtained the opportunity to use ‘Enlightenment’ as auxiliary spirituality in a fortuitous exploration targeting the ruins of the Star Number Repair Association. I can tell you the location of the ruins, and you might find more there.”

As he spoke, Audric earnestly looked into Dorothy’s eyes and slowly said:

“That ruin isn’t far away. It’s within the Prit Kingdom, in the capital city of this country, Tiyan.”