Chapter Fifty-Seven: Departure

As expected, upon hearing this, Qi Xiao immediately instructed Feng not to inform Lady Viviane for the time being, explaining, “Don’t worry, I know this puts you in a difficult position. All you need to do is pretend you know nothing about this for now. Once I become a formal wizard, I will personally speak to Lady Viviane about this. It could be as soon as a year, or as long as five years, but I believe Lady Viviane won’t mind waiting a few years.”

Here we go again… Feng nodded helplessly, understanding, and watched as Qi Xiao resumed his awkward demeanor from when he first arrived. After exchanging a few courtesies, Qi Xiao hurriedly took his leave, leaving Feng with a trace of bitterness in his heart.

He really didn’t know where Qi Xiao’s confidence came from. That was a formal wizard, after all… Qi Xiao was still just an intermediate apprentice, yet he dared claim he could achieve it within five years.

Didn’t Qi Xiao understand how hard it was to become a formal wizard? Countless geniuses had stalled along this path… No, Qi Xiao definitely understood, perhaps even better than Feng himself. And precisely because of this, Qi Xiao’s confidence left Feng deeply astonished.

The key was that Qi Xiao’s confidence was not limited to himself—he even extended it to Feng, an outsider, and it wasn’t just empty reassurance. Feng could hear the matter-of-fact trust in Qi Xiao’s words, which touched him but also left him feeling unworthy.

“Sigh.”

Gazing at the spot where Qi Xiao had disappeared, Feng sighed, found a place to sit, and opened the notebook Qi Xiao had given him.

Since his friend placed such trust in him… he could not afford to let him down, could he?

After leaving Feng’s room, Qi Xiao hurried to Senior Rocco’s residence. After explaining the situation, he asked Senior Rocco to help conceal the matter for the time being and not to tell anyone else, promising that the reward Lady Viviane would give afterwards would be split with Rocco—thirty-seven percent.

When Senior Rocco agreed, and after some haggling settled on a fifty-five percent share, Qi Xiao bid him farewell and quickly returned to the island at the heart of the lake.

Midiel was already waiting by the shore. Fortunately, he was not late. Qi Xiao silently stood beside his teacher, awaiting instructions.

Midiel said nothing, simply gazing at the lake’s edge. Following his teacher’s gaze, Qi Xiao saw Senior Eve sitting atop a boulder, fishing.

Since Midiel remained silent, Qi Xiao certainly wouldn’t say more either. He could only keep his teacher company and watch.

Who knew how much time passed before Eve reeled in her hook, rebaited, and cast again. Only then did Midiel look away, his voice emotionless and calm: “Let’s go.”

“Yes, Teacher.” Qi Xiao had already stored his luggage within a space constructed by spatial magic, so only the Azure Veil remained in his temporary storage ring, which he now took out.

Though his teacher could, with his abilities, take them instantly to the Leta Federation in a second, they were still going to fly there slowly. But since his teacher had instructed it so, Qi Xiao dared not question further and obediently complied. After all, there would be no danger along the way, so he might as well treat it as a journey.

Midiel’s figure flickered and was already seated upon the Azure Veil; Qi Xiao hurried to join him.

As soon as Qi Xiao sat down, the world blurred before his eyes, and in an instant, they passed from inside the All Souls Vault to the outer plane.

Previously, when his teacher transported him, he hadn’t felt much, but now, with a deeper understanding of space, he found it truly astonishing. While moving, he hadn’t sensed any spatial nodes or fluctuations at all. That meant this ability could not only be used for teleportation, but also offensively—an enemy could be cast into spatial turbulence without ever noticing… The mere thought was terrifying.

With such skills, what difference was there between teleporting from the island to the organization’s exterior and teleporting to the Leta Federation…?

Qi Xiao grumbled inwardly, but nonetheless dutifully piloted the flying carpet.

He also knew the origin of his teacher’s title. The Shadow of Worlds was a legendary artifact renowned across myriad planes. Qi Xiao wasn’t sure which plane it originated from, but it was said to instantly transport itself to any place it had seen and visited in person, so long as there was a shadow there—no method could confine it. Its true form was notoriously mischievous, often flitting among the great planes, earning great fame, but it vanished some six thousand years ago. Some said it was captured by a being beyond legend for research; others claimed it learned to cultivate and hide itself. In any case, opinions varied, and it remained one of the classic unsolved mysteries of the myriad worlds.

Because of this, anyone bearing its name as a title—like Midiel—was naturally a master of teleportation. Even the other wizard planes had major organizations inviting Midiel to establish teleportation arrays and similar facilities.

Midiel stroked the magic carpet beneath him, evidently pleased, and praised Qi Xiao’s aesthetics, encouraging him: “Your alchemical talent surpasses my expectations. When you can steadily craft high-quality alchemical items and feel your skills have reached a bottleneck, come find me. I’ll take you to meet someone who will instruct you for a while.”

Several names flashed through Qi Xiao’s mind; he quickly gave thanks, promising to continue working hard.

There were few formal-level alchemists in the All Souls Vault, but there were a few—like Fung’s teacher, the Mushroom Witch Viviane, who was a formal biological alchemist. Though her focus differed from his, her guidance would be more than sufficient. Additionally, Yara had mentioned that the Moonlit Pavilion probably had an alchemist as well…

No matter who it was, even if from outside the organization, as long as an alchemist was willing to teach him, Qi Xiao was confident he could quickly absorb a wealth of knowledge.

A rare flock of Luminous Featherbirds appeared, and Qi Xiao suddenly remembered how he’d once plucked a handful of feathers from the little white Luminous Featherbird and tossed them into his junk bag, which was now stored in his portable space.

With nothing else to do on the journey, Qi Xiao quietly performed spatial magic. Midiel, sensing the spell, furrowed his brows.

Three minutes later, Qi Xiao finally summoned his portable space and retrieved the feathers.

Midiel set a notebook before Qi Xiao and said, “Your talent for alchemy exceeded my expectations, but your grasp of space shouldn’t be so clumsy. I had you master various spatial tricks before learning spatial magic so you’d find it easier. But you’ve failed to understand the true meaning of space from those other tricks, and instead treated spatial magic as a completely separate art, starting from scratch. That’s inefficient. Review this notebook when you return; if you have questions, come to me.”

Qi Xiao reflected and realized he truly hadn’t applied his understanding of spatial magic while learning it.

He had mainly followed his teacher’s methods, instinctively trusting authority and fearing that using his own cleverness might backfire.

Yet wizards focused more on grasping the underlying principles of tricks rather than rote memorization of formulas and spell models… It was somewhat like mathematics in his previous life, yet also quite different.

So Qi Xiao took the notebook and promised to correct his approach.