The Arand Empire, Southern Territory, Spring Province.

Although it was only March, the temperature in Spring was approaching the summer of Ankenrien. This grain-producing province of the Alonte Empire had entered the farming season early. The farmers carried their baskets and walked towards their land just as the sun rose. They had to be busy there all day until the evening before they could return home and have a hot meal. As for the young citizens living in the city, they also started their day of life early. The rebels entrenched in Lingdun Road seemed to have smelled the warmth and started their day of training.

These troops that followed the great magician Parker Ravibond to rebel with the flag and had been staying at Lingdun Road for nearly four months. Before, they were driven all the way from Wind to the south by the Imperial Army and wandered around in Spring Province. On several occasions, they were almost completely eliminated by the Imperial Army. However, perhaps it was fortunate, perhaps it was because the Imperial Emperor and the Prime Minister who did not want to really kill the former Great Magician. After occupying Lingdun Road, Ravibond's team entered a long stalemate with the Imperial Army surrounding Lingdun Road. After that, news of Elena's forbidden spell magic came, the imperial army seemed to have received some orders and completely stopped the offensive, and even the original blockade was basically lifted, as if it had acquiesced the existence of this team. The residents of Lingdun Road, except for a few who escaped, most of them were still living their own lives.

"Your Mightiness……"

In the former Three Gods Cathedral of Lington Road, the Gushan Mage Tower Supervisor and now the second controller of the Ravibond army, the Mage Tower Supervisor, Anio Zoron, leaned respectfully and looked at the great magician in front of him. Parker Lavibond was half lying on a tweed recliner, half closed his eyes, as if he was pondering, and seemed to have fallen asleep again. He put a book of "A Discussion on the Structure and Stacking of Magical Arrays" brought from the Mage Tower. He put it at his hands and opened it halfway, and marked it with a colored pen, line by line, very serious.

"Um……"

Ravibond snorted softly and opened his eyes. He was too sleepy and couldn't sleep, so he had to close his eyes and rest, but was always disturbed. He was a little impatient, but knew that he had no reason to be angry, so he had to snort gently. For an elderly man, this was already a very well-educated reaction.

"Liam Hal, vice president of the Imperial Academy, is here and is waiting for you outside."

"Little Hal, ha."

Ravi Bond chuckled, but forced himself to lift his spirits. He was already very old, and his body, which had lost his magic power, collapsed every minute and every second, like a castle built on the beach, in danger under the tide of time. But even so, he still hoped that he could live a little more time, not long, as long as he could figure out how the young man far away in Ankenrien could mobilize his magic power in the world after the great magic wave.

"I'll invite him in?"

The director of Gushan Mage Tower, Enio Zoron, understood RaviBond's meaning and bowed gently. Seeing that RaviBond had sat upright and knew that he was not wrong with what he understood, he turned around and led Liam Hal in, led him to sit next to RaviBond, and then stood far away, leaving the space for these two old acquaintances.

"Teacher, your body..."

Liam Hal was once a magic apprentice at Gushan Mage Tower. He had ten years of study experience at Gushan Mage Tower. From the age of six to sixteen, he was the student that Ravi Bond admired the most, and he was also the smartest student in that class of magic apprentice. After failing to activate magic induction at the age of sixteen, he resolutely gave up and continued his studies in magic, and instead devoted himself to science. Unlike other great mages, Ravi Bond did not have the concept of magic supremacy, and did not reject new technologies that did not use magic, and even raised his hand to welcome them. In his mage tower, only about 60% of the courses that magic apprentices need to learn, and the rest of the content is all about germinated scientific knowledge. This respect and attention to non-magic technology is also the core reason why the Alang Empire actually owns the most advanced science and technology in the mainland.

"You haven't had much time. You have learned it back then. Magic can greatly delay aging, but once we lose them, we should leave this world. More than 190 years of life have long exceeded the physiological limits of human beings, right?"

RaviBond was in good spirits. Although he was full of wrinkles and his voice was weak, his tone was still the energetic magician back then. Hal smiled and nodded, took the tea handed over by Enio Zoron, and handed it to RaviBond.

"We have officially signed the Moon Treaty with Eilena. We have fully opened the market to Eilena and can also sell goods to Eilena. They are now exporting small steam engines to Ankenrien's Pengpai Power Company. It is said that the power and energy consumption ratio are very good, and there are many innovations in the design concept. We have ordered two units and we are expected to be at Mosronin next month."

"Gastens is right," Ravibond held the teacup and vented gently. "From the first great demon tide to the third great demon tide, the exhaustion of magic is an irreversible fact, which is why our Gushan lineage has always embraced new technology and science. Magic is a huge, gorgeous, but slowly sinking ship. If the people on this ship do not want to be drowned, they can only find another ship before they die. Gastens is the same direction we chose, but we have not met a genius like him."

Hearing this, Hal frowned gently. Ravibond noticed his movements and smiled softly, "Liam, don't mind, you are already the top wise man among human beings, but Gastens, a serf, has almost never been exposed to formal education. He studied with a low-level technician of surging power for a while and was a student in a poor university like Roswell for several months, and could reach this point now. His knowledge of steam and his understanding of steam engines have absolutely stood at the top of the world. You should not be jealous of him, you should be glad that Gastens was not born in Alonte and did not receive the education you received, otherwise, the world would not be known as what it would be..."

"Maybe those machines were not designed by him, maybe he plagiarized the achievements of his mentor, maybe there was some deeper cooperation between him and Pangpai Dynamic-"

Liam defended a few words, but found that Ravi Bond was just smiling and not making a sound. He snorted helplessly and quieted down. He had been walking by people's praise all the way, except for falling in magical sense, and he had almost no setbacks. He willingly admitted that a person is better than him, especially in intelligence, was not a very easy thing.

Even though he is now the first vice president of the Alangte Empire Research Institute, and even the president, he has promised to hand over his position to him in the future.

"The hardest thing for people is to accept reality."

Ravi Bond put down the tea in his hand, closed his body, and placed his hands on the blanket on his knees. Although the strong young people outside had already started to wear short-distance work, it seemed that in this huge church, it seemed that they were still wandering around in winter.

"Tell me, what's going on when you come this time?"

Ravi Bond's voice was not loud, but his pronunciation was clear. Liam Hal nodded and took out a scroll from his arms.

"Your Majesty has officially signed an order that you and your subordinates can continue to exist in Lingdun Road as a duke similar to a fiefdom. Of course, if you are interested in it, your Majesty says that he can also give you a title of great duke, which is not difficult."

"Kani still knows me," said Ravibond, his words were interrupted by a cough. "Since ancient times, magicians and imperial powers have been sometimes close and sometimes alienated, but no matter what, magic has never been under imperial power. You were good at the beginning of magic history, and you should be familiar with these history. Kani doesn't give me the position of the Grand Duke, but he still takes care of my self-esteem."

"Your Majesty has never had any disgust towards you. I forced you to raise the flag some time ago, and it was mostly because of villains-"

"Don't explain this. Carney doesn't need a lobbyist like you, nor is you a lobbyist. We can stay in Lingdun Road not because of me, nor because of you, but because of the genius you have never been willing to admit, Gastens. The forbidden spell magic in the north disrupted the emperor's steps. I heard that there are voices among the people questioning his concept of science supremacy. Although these people cannot accomplish great things, an emperor like him certainly does not want to hear such a voice."

"The teacher is wise."

Seeing that Ravi Bond saw through the causes and consequences of this matter, Liam Hal did not continue his persuasion, but changed to a more relaxed tone.

"Your Majesty hopes that if you have time, you can study that Gastens. No matter what, although the current Moon Treaty will not actually threaten our market, you are not very happy that your Majesty has taken this step by step by someone. He wants to know whether that Gastens can still release magic."

"Will it not threaten our market?", Lavibond smiled, "When the legendary magician Luda Kris met the Dragon Clan when he was young, the Dragon Clan thought that he and his magic would not threaten the Dragon Clan's status, but now? Confidence is a good thing, and excessive confidence is stupid."

Hearing the teacher's words, Fu Dia Hani raised his eyebrows. He knew that his teacher valued Gastens very much, but he did not expect that the teacher would like Gastens so much. You know, under the leadership of Emperor Fu Dia Kani, the Alangte Empire was already significantly ahead of other countries in terms of technological knowledge reserves. Even the rear-mounted steam rifle that Elena is proud of, their research institute made slightly poor but similar products at the end of last year. In this case, the teacher really thinks that the ignorant from a serf origin can challenge Alangte?

"Don't underestimate him." Although Hani has been away from the Mage Tower for more than twenty years, Ravibond still understands the meaning of Fu Dia's expression just now, "You are afraid of him because of his magic, and have to respect him. But I think that his greatest danger is not magic, but those machines, and his extraordinary understanding of the steam engine."

"The steam engine cannot kill 200,000 people at once."

"But the steam engine is something that everyone can use."

The huge church was silent, and the members of the rebels came and went around the church, and no one listened to the conversation between the two. Liam Hal lowered his head and pondered for a moment, finding a new reason.

“The steam engines are not something they can do.”

"That's right, time will prove our right or wrong, right?"

Ravi Bond did not continue this small argument. He took the book next to his hand, flipped it, turned it to one of the pages, and handed it to Hal.

"What is this?" Hal took it and recognized his former teaching materials at a glance. He followed Ravi Bond's hand and saw a line of words marked with a colored pen.

"The formation of the magic array lies in the connection. Once the magic array is connected in the correct way, even if it is not guided, the magic power will begin to flow in the magic array. This gives the magic array a basis for being sensed by the magician."

Knowing that his teacher must have some intention to give this sentence to him, Liam Hal lowered his head and thought for a while, and asked tentatively.

"Teacher, are you trying to say that he shouldn't have a magic circle that can be used?"

"The existing magic array has been destroyed after the third great demon tide. If he wants to use the forbidden spell, he must build a new forbidden spell array. However, he cannot have the resources to build the forbidden spell array. Find out where he found the forbidden spell array and why his forbidden spell array can operate, and you can know whether he can release magic."

"So that's how it is!"

Liam Hal was not a slow man. He instantly realized what the teacher meant, "You mean, he built a forbidden spell array in Elena or elsewhere? The previous magic used that magic array. If he still wanted to release the forbidden spell magic, he had to have more than one forbidden spell array, right?"

"Well, it was almost impossible for him to have a forbidden spell array before, let alone two. So, I think he will not be able to release the forbidden spell in a short time. However, if he gives his Ailena time to develop, he can use more manpower and financial resources to build a second forbidden spell array. When his second forbidden spell array is built, if he can still retain the ability to mobilize magic power, he can naturally release the forbidden spell."

Ravi Bond obviously thought about the question raised by Liam Hal. He gave his own answer, but did not explain it again. In his opinion, magic has passed and the future is destined to belong to ordinary people. Only when the emperor really recognizes this can they find the most correct way to deal with Elena. However, he himself may not be able to see that day.

"I understand, teacher, I will report to Your Majesty truthfully."

Liam Hal bowed respectfully and saluted. Ravibond's reminder was very in place. The Forbidden Spell Array is a giant project. If Elena wants to build it, there will be traces. As long as you follow this trace, you can lift the veil of Gastens. His Majesty the Emperor will be very happy to hear this news.

"You go, and when you come again, let Ainio Zoro receive you."

Ravibond waved his hand gently and asked Hal to leave. Hal stood up, thought about the meaning of this sentence, glanced at the old man who was extremely weak on the recliner, and saluted respectfully.
Chapter completed!