The Defeated Saintess Is On A Journey To Tame The Evil God Book 01 Chapter 05.04 - Gold

Xing Mo calmly enjoyed the black tea. According to the instructor, the stars were so bright tonight that Starflow Horizon could last for a while, so there was no rush.

"Ah... finally found it. I've been filling really groggy lately from the experiments. I feel like I'm going senile..." Lucius dug out an envelope from a pile of documents and tossed it to Xing Mo.

Xing Mo opened the letter and read its contents: "Southern District's Garden Quarter?" She was astonished, "A clue regarding Bishop Freyr?"

"Vivian and Alice found it. That area is basically full of facilities such as beach, hot spring, and sauna, and there are a lot of imperials gathering there." As he spoke, Lucius flipping through a pile of documents.

"Reportedly, the curse causing a commotion all over the place is coming from that area." Lucius carried on, "At least that is the case for the curse in the Southern District. The curse in the Northern District, as you mentioned in your letter, comes from the Starsea Spring."

"I asked Professor Ling about Noble Sunlight's condition. According to her, the curse doesn't seem to manifest ordinarily. It is only triggered at some special times."

"You mean..." Xing Mo supported her chin with her hands, "The people spreading the curse are brewing something."

"This matter is related to Steam Man, and the crux seems to be Bishop Freyr and the Angel's Tear around his neck." Instructor Lucius nodded.

It's really tangled and complicated... it feels like it's getting more and more confusing... Xing Mo rubbed her head.

There was no need to overthink things. In short, the current clue points to Southern District, and the biggest suspect was Prince Austin.

"How much did you find out about Prince Austin, Instructor?" Xing Mo asked.

"As you must be aware, he is Gold Monarch's younger brother and the leader of the imperials in the Citadel."

Lucius suddenly fell silent. Xing Mo noticed that his blue eyes had darkened by a lot.

"And, after the Steam Revolution, he was in the faction that advocated for attacking me."

Xing Mo was aware of this. Following the Steam Revolution, many traditional industries were impacted, and many old businesses were forced to reshuffle. The instructor, as the main culprit behind the Steam Revolution, made countless enemies as a result.

Innovation was an inevitability. Human-powered airships that required several Wizards to keep operating, after the Steam Revolution, were replaced by steam airships that used alchemical steam to stimulate the string of fire to generate energy.

From the moment machines became able to stimulate the power of strings, the position of the lowest rung of Wizards became precarious.

They were either forced to change professions, or were submerged in the tides of history and steam, loosing their footing.

Prince Austin was among the impacted—Goldners of the Machiavellian Empire believed in the Primordial Sun God and thus had a connection with the string of fire, and the steam alchemy machines first replaced those who had a connection with the string of fire.

Three string Wizards and above couldn't be replaced. As for two string Wizards, they basically lost their competitiveness.

Therefore, Prince Austin protested against the Steam Revolution very early on and slandered and attacked its greatest contributor—Lucius Phillips.

It was around that time that Instructor Lucius lost his daughter.

"Miriam used to tell me that the imperials in the academy were hostile toward her. They must have been influenced by Prince Austin." Lucius sighed.

Xing Mo didn't want to talk about such a heavy topic. In her eyes, Instructor Lucius had always been a humorous and honest uncle. She didn't want to see the instructor so despondent.

She immediately changed the subject: "Anyway... I will make a trip to the Southern District's beach over the weekend to see if there are any clues."

Lucius seemed to realize his gaffe and cleared his throat: "The Church has been investigating the matter of Angel's Tear. However, we can't trust them. You should try to avoid them as much as possible."

"I understand." Xing Mo put down her teacup and stood up, "Instructor, please... take care of yourself..."

Xing Mo finished speaking and was about to leave, but Lucius stopped her from behind: "By the way, Mo-mo, I have a...um...personal request."

Xing Mo turned around and found a trace of embarrassment on the instructor's face, avoiding eye contact.

"What's the matter?" Xing Mo was a little surprised. If she hadn't known the instructor, she would have thought this uncle wanted to borrow money from her.

"It's... I have encountered some minor difficulties in my recent research..." The instructor swallowed, "As you know, the field involving the string of life has always been a restricted area. My project was approved at last..."

In the Citadel, strings related to the field of life were prohibited from use and research.

Because, if they were to be mastered, that would be horrible—with just a wave of the wand, you would be able to take another person's life. That was a disturbing notion.

However, although it was forbidden, but no one actually knew how to manipulate strings related to life. Some wicked Wizards had been searching for the answer their whole lives, yet came up empty-handed in the end.

If they were to succeeded, death would no longer be an inevitability.

Instructor Lucius had been researching a related subject recently. His research was much more subdued and did not involve human life, but instead was limited to plant life and the life of some small critters.

For example, that tadpole with three heads...

Of course, the official title of the project was Academy's Rear Gardens Beautification Project.

The project's summary was roughly as follows: Instructor Lucius wanted to bring dead vegetation back to life, so that flowers and plants could bloom and thrive in autumn.

This could be chalked up to the strange romanticism of a middle-aged professor…

Lucius hesitated for a while, then finally took out a small potted plant from behind, with a dead small tree inside: "Take this to Angel of Disaster and see if she can bring it back to life? Maybe I'll be able to... get some inspiration?"

Looking at the dead small tree, the corners of Xing Mo's mouth twitched.

She was silent for a moment, then reluctantly took the small potted plant: "Fine..."

......

"What did you just say? You want me to fix this?" Back in the dorm room, while sitting on a throne made of vines and wolfing down her food, Aurora gazed at the small potted plant in Xing Mo's hand.

For today, the dorm room's style was that of the Tree of Life's mythical kingdom. Aurora even made herself a wreath and used it as a crown. It looked weird.

"Come, show me your power, Young Ancestor." Xing Mo handed the potted plant to Aurora.

Aurora quickly swallowed a whole chicken leg. She looked at the small potted plant for a while, then snapped her fingers.

Along with flashes of green light, the withered potted plant suddenly became full of vitality, and green leaves started to grow on it.

"Wow, that's magical." Xing Mo praised.

However, the "magical" didn't seem like it had any intention of stopping.

As the leaves grew, the revitalized dead small tree began to twist. Black thorns sprouted on its branches, and the branches grew longer, turning into a mess of vines.

As it grew bigger and bigger, dangerous vines twisted toward Xing Mo, trying to wrap around her.

Seeing this, Xing Mo, without hesitation, let go of the potted plant, stepped back, and played strings—

Boom—

A fireball accurately hit the potted plant and destroyed the twisted thing.

"Wasn't that a bit excessive?" Xing Mo raised her head and frowned at Aurora, who was sitting on her throne with crossed legs.

"What's wrong? You were the one who asked me to resurrect it."

Aurora threw the lunchbox aside, and two vines caught it accurately and then put it away.

She revealed an incandescent smile, the heart-shaped pupils in her blood-colored eyes beating: "With only life yet no soul, besides a twisted existence, what else can be born?"