The haggard old man sighed rather sorrowfully. "I know his teacher."
"Old mister, are you a legendary sorcerer from the ancient Magic Empire?" Lucien was not too surprised. After the fall of the three Magic Empires in ancient times, there were not many legendary sorcerers left. After all, they were all experts who had mastered many kinds of weird spells. Some of them were hiding in the depths of the Dark Mountain Range, and some were hiding in the alternate dimensions such as the Night Highland. They had different choices. Therefore, it was not too strange to run into a legendary sorcerer in the ninth floor of hell.
Mr. President's teacher, on the other hand, perished in the Battle of Antiffler during the War of Dawn. Whoever knew him was obviously an expert from the ancient Magic Empire.
The old man was as thin as a mummy without bandages. He said with mixed feelings, "The ancient sorcerers such as us are no longer able to keep up with the times. Look at Douglas. It didn't take him long to reach the peak of legendary. He's far more advanced than me. What are you doing in hell?"
"I'm planning to explore the primeval relics deep inside hell and look for the special Stellar Core that the former Ice Duke hid in the Silent Hell." Lucien did not keep it a secret. Since the legendary sorcerer had been living in seclusion in hell, he probably knew something. "Right, old mister, how should I address you?"
Lucien recalled the ancient legendary sorcerers in the records, trying to confirm the old man's identity.
"Hehe. I'm just an old man waiting to die in hell. Why do I need a name and a title?" The old man touched his head, and his white hair drifted away. "The primeval relics deep inside hell? The Stellar Core that the former Ice Duke hid? Young man, you must be a legendary sorcerer who recently advanced into the Congress of Magic, right? I suggest that you don't take too many risks. "
"I've been to the primeval relics twice. Both times, I was almost lost in them and became a wandering shadow forever. In order to explore the place, more than six legends of the Imperium were confirmed to have perished. Those who could enter and leave safely were mostly the top legends such as Mr. Thanos and Douglas. That's not counting the possible attacks of the Lord of Hell."
"As for the former Ice Duke's hidden star core, that was one or two thousand years ago. I suspect that someone took it away a long time ago. Otherwise, Ice Duke wouldn't be completely clueless."
Lucien listened to the old man quietly and compared the information he got from the president and Mr. Rhein. He found it rather strange. Generally speaking, the ancient legendary sorcerers were more or less gloomy and mysterious because of their cruel experiments and weird spells. Few of them were as talkative as this old man.
"You think I'm long-winded?" The old man smiled. "I wouldn't have wasted my breath on a young man like you in the past. If you want to die, just go ahead. However, after spending thirty years in hell with her in silence, I've become soft and sympathetic. Otherwise, a special soul like Maman would've become my experiment subject a long time ago."
"Thirty years? Her? " Lucien did not answer directly. Instead, he asked about the old man with great interest. It would be easier to get information if he could get closer to the old man.
The old man's wrinkled face suddenly became gentle. "Now that you've come to hell, why don't you come to my tavern, 'Soul Paradise', in the 'Silent Hell'?"
"Sure." Lucien nodded his head with a smile. He had to go to the 'Silent Hell' anyway.
The old man stopped talking. Lucien also looked at the burning fire and the splendid iron buildings in the middle of the fire casually.
After a long time, Maman ran back delightedly. "Grandpa, the 'Water Soul Wine' has been delivered to the usual place. They will deliver it to the 'Soul Paradise' today."
"Let's go home." The old man touched Maman's head lovingly.
Lucien followed them through the Nether River and passed the first few levels of hell, reaching the snowy plain.
On the plain, the wind was so cold that it seemed to be tearing the soul into shreds, but it did not make any sound. Also, the snowy plain was boundless, and no other souls or devils could be seen when they walked on it. Therefore, the feeling of eternal silence was born spontaneously.
Lucien did not need to look to know that souls were frozen in the ice below the snow. They were frozen inside, senseless and unconscious, forever sleeping in the coldness and darkness.
The cold wind of peace, tranquility, and death hovered around Lucien and the old man, but it was bounced away by an uncanny force. Even Maman was not frozen in the cold wind.
After a long time, a town appeared up ahead. The town was surrounded by ice on the outside, and inside, there were rows of houses made of 'Blood Warming Stones'. It was a specialty of the 'Silent Hell' that could effectively resist the coldness that could freeze the soul and the soul-tearing wind.
In the main material world, the rarer an item was, the more precious it was. A common Blood Warming Stone was equal to fifty Quintal, but it could be used to build a town here.
The residents of the town were wandering souls. There were men and women, the old and the young. Their bodies were translucent. Similar to Maman, they had normal intelligence, except that they did not have the unique feeling of warmth and sunshine.
"Old guy, you're finally back. I've been waiting for Fire Wine." A brawny man with a goatee floated close and looked at the storage bags in Maman's and the old man's hands greedily.
In the 'Silent Hell', souls could enjoy Fire Wine too.
The old man chuckled. "You drunkard, I won't be responsible if you're frozen outside because you're drunk next time."
Lucien looked at the old man weirdly. He did not mind being called an old guy by the common souls at all. It seemed that the legendary sorcerer did not care about the strict hierarchy of the ancient Magic Empire at all.
While talking to the souls, the old man walked to the tavern at the center of the town with the storage bags. Maman followed him and looked at Lucien curiously. "Sir, aren't you a human being? Why have I never seen a human being like you? Your body is warm, and your muscles are like those of devils. "
"Human being? What is a human being? "Lucien asked in amusement.
Maman's face was slightly translucent. Raising his chin, he said proudly like a child, "I am a human being."
"Who told you that?" Lucien could guess who it was.
Maman widened his eyes in confusion. "Grandpa, of course."
Speaking of his grandpa, he suddenly became frustrated. He seemed to have found someone to talk to. "But grandpa never asked me to practice with the uncles. He only asked me to do useless meditation."
"Your grandpa is a very awesome man. You can't go wrong listening to him." Lucien patted his head with a smile.
"How can that be? The uncles and aunts all say that grandpa is just a regular old man. He has no strength at all except for making delicious food and wine. "Maman refuted Lucien solemnly.
Well, a special soul with a grandpa who is a legendary sorcerer who hides his identity is truly like a bard's story. Lucien thought in amusement. Too lazy to explain it to Maman, he followed the old man into the tavern of 'Soul Paradise'.
The decorations inside the tavern were different from those in the main material world, but a female soul with a fuzzy and dull face was standing behind the counter.
"I'm back. I've bought a hundred bottles of Water Soul Wine this time …" The old man walked to the counter and reported to the female soul. Although he was only talking about the daily 'purchase account', his face was gentle and satisfied.
However, this female soul still maintained a dull state, mechanically wiping the wine glass.
The old man talked for a long time before he turned around and looked at Lucien who was sitting before the counter. He introduced, "This is my wife. Do you want a bottle of Fire Wine?"
Lucien shook his head and asked curiously, "How did you find her?"
Normally speaking, the souls that entered hell couldn't recognize their original identity.
"She died because of one of my mistakes. So, I was prepared in advance and marked her soul in a special way." The old man opened a bottle of Blazing Flames Wine for himself and drank a mouthful. "However, no matter how deep my understanding of souls is, I can't understand its nature and its transformation. Therefore, the soul that I found in the end is only slightly better than an ordinary soul. Perhaps it will completely disappear in another hundred years."
Lucien nodded. He had basically guessed which legendary sorcerer the old man was from the description. After all, few people who were so adept at souls survived.
The old man continued, "After I found her, I stayed here with her and watched her quietly, making up for my mistakes in the past. Hehe. How time flies. It's been thirty years in the blink of an eye."
"The souls outside are the products of your experiments?" Lucien did not believe that a legendary sorcerer would give up easily.
"Yes." The old man nodded and had another mouthful of wine. "I tried to awaken their memories, but in the end, they only regained their thinking ability. They are completely different from before. Also, as time goes by, they will completely disperse or be frozen in ice and fall into eternal silence."
"What a shame." After a brief silence, Lucien said, "It's a shame that the Congress of Magic is still short of a breakthrough in the study of souls."
Actually, Lucien was not referring to the Congress of Magic but himself.
The old man looked at Lucien's face. "The soul is the most insubstantial field. It is fundamentally contradictory to arcana, which emphasizes evidence and mathematics. Even Vicente, a rarely-seen genius in the field of necromancy, only made a minor breakthrough. Although I haven't been out of hell for thirty years, thirty years is a very short time in magic studies. I remember that I spent 127 years near the Nether River to study a certain feature of the soul."
Before Lucien said anything, a refreshing and gentle male voice suddenly came from the door. "Hehe. Although it's hard to believe, I can say with certainty that the development of arcana and magic in the past thirty years is better than that of the ancient Magic Empire in thirty thousand years."
Without turning around, Lucien had already seen a shadow in his spiritual power. He was wearing a white slim suit. His skin was pale and sickly, and his eyes were red. There was a pair of tiny silver horns on his forehead that were full of dense patterns.
Judging from his undisguised air, Lucien could clearly tell that he was Memphiste, the current Ice Duke and the Master of Mysteries!
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