novelraw Chapter 984: Sequence 19
Chapter 984: Sequence 19
Lu Li walked over to Kiruet. Her back was to him as she tidied up Margaret’s half-cleared bed. The books were stacked in a neat pile, and the alchemical ingredients and crucible were gathered in a small mound.
“Fudot can use a new bed,” Lu Li said calmly.
The sound of his voice made Kiruet flinch slightly. She ran a hand over her cheek before turning around and forcing a smile.
“There’s no need... Wallowing in grief will only keep us stagnant... We need a fresh start.”
...
In the end, Margaret’s bed was not kept.
After putting away Margaret’s belongings, Kiruet returned to the fireplace and sat down, clutching an old journal.
Nasi shot Yeger a meaningful look, and they tactfully left the lounge.
“Margaret was my best friend, always,” Kiruet whispered, her face shifting in the flickering firelight.
“We supported each other like sisters... She was the older sister... I’m a woman. That’s unexpected, isn’t it?”Not at all. At least, Yeger and Nasi had known Kiruet’s true gender and had informed Lu Li.
“It was her idea for me to do this.”
The flames danced in Margaret’s eyes.
“She was a genius in alchemy, while I was just an ordinary student with no talent... She taught me how to use my power.”
“I learned to protect, and I want to protect her, protect my family, protect my teammates, protect the only light that’s left...”
“I trusted her too much... I shouldn’t have trusted her so implicitly. If I had gone with her into the dungeon back then, even if I had just waited outside, maybe the ending wouldn’t have been so bad...”
Kiruet’s voice gradually faded, trailing off into a sleepy mumble. Margaret’s journal slipped from her grasp and landed on the blanket, falling open like a feather.
She had simply fallen asleep from exhaustion.
Lu Li approached the sleeping Kiruet and picked up the fallen journal.
“...wormwood juice, three drops of blood wheat solution, increases success rate by 5%.”
“The dungeon has what the team needs, and Kiruet needs it too. I have to find a way in.”
“Sequence 39, ‘Tranquil Forest,’ is the only chance.”
“The price is steep, but the rewards will be no less than the potion itself...”
Closing the journal, Lu Li placed it on Kiruet’s lap.
A short while later, Yeger and Nasi returned. They glanced at Kiruet, who was now covered with a blanket on the sofa, and quietly approached the round table.
“Lu Li, we brought you dinner.”
They carefully set the food on the table.
“Does the Secret Cult Duel restrict the use of Sequence Potions?” Lu Li asked.
“There are no restrictions. You can think of the Secret Cult Duel as a contest of resources between the two churches. Sequence Potions and their equivalents are included,” Nasi explained.
They had also been thinking about the duel in three days and had discussed it at length after leaving.
“But honestly, the church backing Kingard will definitely provide older and more powerful equivalents and Sequence Potions. They might even make him one of the god’s chosen, because you... Your joining makes this duel anything but simple...”
The high-level Sequence Potions Lu Li could get, the Spider God Church could also get. And what they could get, Lu Li might not be able to.
“The Church of the Son of God could help,” Nasi suggested.
“My advice is not to do that...”
The Church of the Son of God was constantly trying to contact Lu Li through the captain, and the captain had been avoiding them.
If they asked for help now, the church would certainly demand a steep price, perhaps even forcing Lu Li to join them.
“So we have no advantage there?” Nasi frowned and muttered.
“Not entirely...”
Yeger pinned his hopes on Lu Li.
“If Lu Li can get his hands on a combat-type Sequence Potion from the top ten... no, the top twenty, that would be enough for the captain to avoid losing, and maybe even win.”
“That’s too valuable.”
Kiruet’s voice suddenly cut in.
She was a light sleeper and had woken up when they started talking at the round table.
“Anything that can be bought with shillings and anomaly currency isn’t truly precious,” Lu Li replied.
Nasi suddenly let out a bitter laugh.
“Sequence Potions from the top thirty can no longer be bought with just a high price...”
“The Lince family, Fudot’s family, should be able to help us,” Lu Li said.
The influence of a bloodline family was likely significant enough.
The next day, the Holy Light Squad temporarily put aside their concerns about Kiruet and went to the Mixed Zone to meet Fudot.
She carried only a tiny suitcase that could hardly fit anything, and on the way, she complained to Lu Li that the Academy of Giant Trees wouldn’t allow her servant to help carry her luggage, and the gatekeeper had also refused, so she had to give her things to her classmates.
Fudot, not yet sixteen, was without a doubt the youngest member of the Holy Light Squad—in both height and age.
Returning to the lounge, Fudot frowned upon seeing the beds, separated only by curtains.
“Aren’t there any private rooms?”
“In the middle courses, there are only team lounges. I thought you knew,” Lu Li answered.
Fudot, of course, knew. She just needed to maintain her noble status.
When she was led to Margaret’s former bed, Fudot looked with disgust at the beds standing side-by-side in the back of the room.
“Who... who is that? Why is it so close?”
“Mine,” said Lu Li.
Fudot suddenly fell silent, as if suppressing all her emotions. Only when she had set down her luggage and returned to the round table did her pride return.
“The Secret Cult Duel has been the talk of the town, even on the Crown Level.”
“Can your family help?” Lu Li asked directly.
The resources of a bloodline family were on par with some churches.
“You don’t need my family’s help... In fact, the power of your status is greater than you think,” Fudot said with a complicated expression. “You just have to let the word out that Lu Li needs Sequence Potions, and the factions willing to gift them to you for free would line up.”
Just as Fudot had said, no faction wanted to miss an opportunity to do Lu Li a favor.
In just one day, after announcing his need for Sequence Potions, Lu Li received three potions from the top thirty sequences, the most valuable of which was a Sequence 19 potion—all for free.
If the Secret Cult Duel wasn’t starting tomorrow, Lu Li would have received even more expensive potions.
Perhaps even the legendary potions from the top ten sequences.
...
On the day of the Secret Cult Duel, the entire middle courses, including the professors, gathered at the arena.
Lu Li scanned the figures in the stands; Professor Grey, among a group of professors, gave him a subtle nod.
Scattered whispers merged into a single hum, filling the air above the arena. This continued until the participants of the Secret Cult Duel, Kiruet and Kingard, appeared in the center of the arena.
“As a captain, you must maintain your reason and self-awareness,” Kingard sneered into the gradually quieting arena.
“Unfortunately, I see neither of those qualities in you.”
“As a captain, I must protect my teammates,” Kiruet, standing opposite him, was resolute and firm.
“The Viper Squad, indifferent and selfish, wouldn’t understand that, would they?”
“Letting your teammate sacrifice a Sequence 19 potion, is that what you call protection?”
Lu Li’s acquisition had obviously not remained a secret from Kingard and the powers behind him.
Kiruet pressed her lips together, ending the useless argument, and calmly waited for the bell to ring.