Chapter Sixty: The Perfect Excuse

Chu Tian returned to Mount Agula. Of course, Apache and NMD still had no right to enter the mountain’s inner sanctum, but Chu Tian no longer cared about such things.

In the days that followed, Chu Tian was overwhelmed by a torrent of obligations: negotiating the alliance between the elves and Caesar, sending gifts to the dragon elders, and the open and hidden rivalry with Krins. These matters left him sighing with exhaustion. Yet none of this compared to the true challenge—dealing with Merlin, his future mistress.

Merlin and Anthony had never married, nor did they have children. Decades of maternal instinct, long repressed, suddenly poured forth onto Chu Tian. From magical guidance to meals and sleep, not a single thing escaped her attention.

Faced with a ninth-level Archmage, Chu Tian knew he could not conceal his magical ineptitude. Since Merlin regarded him as her own son, he confessed candidly. At her incredulous insistence, the magic assessment began.

"Healing Spell!" Chu Tian shouted, placing his right hand on the crystal orb, then turned away, unable to face the results reflected within.

Something was wrong. His body felt different. He had performed these steps countless times atop the Sunset Mountains, but never had he felt anything quite like this. An empty sensation within, and then—a surge of warmth bubbled up from his heart, rushing swiftly to his right hand.

Crack—the expected white glow of healing magic failed to appear, but the crystal orb exploded, shattering into fragments!

"Vladino! You—" Merlin’s astonishment deepened, greater even than when she learned Chu Tian was magically inept. She bent down, pinched a bit of the crystal dust, and examined it carefully. Then, with a flick of her hand, a flash of fire ignited it. As the colorless powder burned, golden smoke wreathed the air.

"Dragon-tongue magic?!" Merlin finally understood the significance of the golden mist. "Vladino! How can your magic be of the dragon-tongue type?" Dragon-tongue magic was unique to the dragon race, powerful beyond measure, but with one flaw: only dragons could wield it!

"Praise be to the Goddess of Life!" Chu Tian’s heart soared. There could be only one explanation—he had fused with the blood of the Dragon Emperor. Grinning widely, he replied, "I can’t say for certain, but when I treated the Dragon Emperor, his blood entered my body!" Suddenly, the entire continent of Fantasia seemed unimaginably beautiful to him.

"You dare to laugh!" Merlin frowned, casting an anxious glare at Chu Tian. "Do you understand? I might have found a way for you to gain magical power, but now... Ah! You will never be able to cultivate magic in your lifetime!"

"Heh, why is that?" Chu Tian was not the least bit shocked by the dreadful news. Instead, a silly smile crept across his face. "Why can’t I ever cultivate magic again?"

Merlin sighed, assuming Chu Tian had been frightened into stupidity. She gazed at him with pity, as one would a beloved son. "The Dragon Emperor’s blood has changed your magical property, granting you immense magical power. But dragon-tongue magic can only be cast through a dragon’s body. So..."

She could not finish, but Chu Tian understood. He felt even happier: his magical nature had been altered by the Dragon Emperor’s blood. Though his magical energy was strong, his human form could never wield magic again. Yet, after earning monumental merit for Caesar at the Agula Mountain medical conference, he surely wouldn’t be discarded like a worn-out tool! Ha! Great Ludi III, dear Selina, loyal Barbossa, all the wise creatures of the continent—at last, Marquis Vladino can declare it openly: I am incapable of magic!

So what if he couldn’t use magic? What did magical ineptitude matter? Chu Tian cared nothing for such things. His only concern was how to keep the secret from leaking out. Now, the challenge that had plagued him for so long was finally resolved. In his darkest hour, the Dragon Emperor’s blood had granted him the perfect excuse.

"Heh heh, Aunt Merlin, it doesn’t matter if I can’t use magic," Chu Tian said, seeing Merlin still watching him with worry and reproach. He felt a little guilty, so he explained, "I healed the Dragon Emperor without magic, didn’t I?"

"Exactly, Vladino. If you lack magic, how did you heal the Dragon Emperor?" Merlin realized something was amiss. Never in the continent’s history had anyone performed healing without magic.

"Praise be to the Goddess of Life!" The charlatan’s expression returned. "The Goddess taught: every matter has many solutions. The priestly arts are no exception..." The Goddess of Life must have been sighing somewhere in despair, but Chu Tian continued his fabrication. "When I found I had no magical power, I refused to abandon the sacred profession of priest. Instead, I chose another priestly path."

"Another priestly path?" Merlin, deceived by Chu Tian, exclaimed in sudden realization, "Did you study the ancient priestly arts?"

Aunt Merlin, you’re so cooperative! Just as Chu Tian struggled to invent a plausible story, Merlin handed him the perfect option. "Yes, the ancient priestly arts! I came upon an old book by chance, filled with rituals—not magical, but effective for healing magical beasts only!"

"Oh! That explains how you healed the Dragon Emperor." Merlin accepted Chu Tian’s excuse, but quickly grew anxious again. "But this won’t do. Without magic, how will you protect yourself? The continent is full of experts..."

"Aunt Merlin, you needn’t worry!" Chu Tian said smugly. "My magical pet is more than enough to protect me. Besides, I’m immune to fire magic!"

"Immune to fire magic?" Merlin seemed to recall something. "Vladino, stand still and don’t resist!" Chu Tian was startled, but trusted Merlin wouldn’t harm him, so he obediently stood in place.

A sky-blue staff appeared in Merlin’s grasp. She began chanting a complex incantation, the words flowing for a long time without pause. Chu Tian watched his future mistress in confusion. What was she planning? With her power as a ninth-level Archmage, such a lengthy spell must be earth-shattering. Why had she told him not to dodge?

Chu Tian guessed wrong. What followed was not a grand spectacle, but rather something quietly profound. A faint blue light gathered around Merlin, then slowly flowed onto her staff. When the radiance coalesced into a fist-sized orb, her incantation ended.

"Celestial Water Veil!" Merlin whispered, directing her staff at Chu Tian. The light orb drifted toward him, and upon impact, a layer of watery mist enveloped him, then vanished without trace...

Merlin’s face was pale, but full of relief. "Vladino, from now on you—"

"Who is it?!" Before Merlin could finish, the Dragon Emperor’s voice, brimming with authority and anger, resounded throughout Mount Agula. "Who dares to cast a forbidden water spell here?!"