162 The Ship Part 1 (1/2)

Lex and her team had been travelling continuously for the past two days, and by now, they were thousands of miles away. Hence, the people sent by Gilya would never be able to locate them. The Potency spell, Chunlin spell, and Windspeed spell were repeatedly blessed onto the horses. But even the best war horse could not withstand such strain, and thus Lex decided to slow down their pace of travel after two days.

The land of the Qin Empire was limited in its eastern and western regions but expansive in its northern to southern regions, being second only to the Cloudflow Empire. Saleen and his team traveled on horseback throughout this entire distance and had gone around the largest mountainous region in western Qin, and they could now make their way towards the south.

At the end of the day, Saleen was not a swordsman, he was a warrior. The past two consecutive days of travel had exhausted Saleen. Even though Lex practiced martial arts, she was a mage, and her physical endurance was only equivalent to that of a high-level swordsman.

Lex possessed the most detailed magic map of the mainland. She took out her map and discussed with Saleen which road they should choose. According to the map, the four of them were currently situated in the central region of northern Qin. As long as they advanced forward for one more day, they would reach a road which spanned the north and south of the empire. If they chose to walk for two more days, there would be an enormous river where they could take a ship.

Lex wanted to take the roads while Saleen wanted to take the ship.

Noticing that Lex could not make up her mind, Saleen said, ”There will be plenty of opportunities in the future for you to encounter the survival experiences of the average commoner. If we take the roads, there will only be another hinterland of the empire. There won’t be much you can learn. If we move using the river, we can hire a big ship with two groups of sailors. Though we’ll need to pay extra money, we can travel without needing to stop and will be able to reach Alchemy City by next month.”

Lex thought about it carefully. It seemed like the Holy See were bent on declaring an all-out war, so it was not realistic for Lex to hope that she could drag her feet for another two to three years. Loulan would be fully plunged into war by next year’s spring at the latest. In order to become a sorcerer, Lex would need another eight to ten years.

”Aye, let’s take the ship then.”

Saleen was overjoyed when Lex agreed to his request. Since Saleen’s forte was Water Magic, it would be safer for him to travel by ship. Furthermore, taking a ship would not affect their magic training, unlike travelling by horseback which was taxing on a person’s bones.

”Lex, this map…” Saleen noticed that Lex’s magic map was astounding, being just like a large magic scroll. Once the map was unrolled, one could observe the full view of the mainland and magic could be used to unveil the minute details of the natural environment. All the mountains and rivers had magic markings on them, and the rivers even had varying markings to signify their width and water levels during the four seasons.

”This is Grade 9 magic equipment. There are only four of these in the entirety of Qin. It can’t be replicated.” Lex then put away the magic map apologetically. The war horses had rested for quite a while, and Saleen continued riding alongside Lex.

”Lex, how was the map produced?”

”I am not too sure either, but it must have been made by having many Grade 9 sorcerers come together to piece together all of that information.” Lex appeared to be somewhat clueless as well. The maps in the Grukos family had originated from the Second Dynasty, but that ancient history had been gone with the wind for quite some time. After pondering for a moment, Lex continued, ”I am just speculating though. The land in the empire undergoes constant changes, so this map is different from the original. Before the Qin Empire was established, many Grade 9 sorcerers participated in the revision of the map. At that time, the mainland was in chaos, so nobody stopped them.”

Even though Saleen had known about the glory and glamor of the time when the Qin Empire was built, he was at a loss for words when he learned that many Grade 9 sorcerers had been involved in the making of this magic map. Nowadays, most magic maps were completed by magic disciples after being mapped by alchemy props. The Qin Empire had been established for less than one thousand years, and the number of mages had already dwindled down to less than half.

The deterioration in the power of humans seemed to be accelerating. Magic had flourished in the Qin Empire, but for the past two hundred years, not a single mage had come from Saleen’s hometown of Ceylon City.

The war in Loulan was too far away, and many nobles had deployed their troops in hopes of getting a piece of land from Loulan. This, in turn, had caused the road linking southern Qin and eastern Qin to be bustling with commerce as businesses prospered as a result of the war. The armies of the nobles were essentially private armies, and they needed a great deal of resources in order to set up camps in Loulan. During the journey, Saleen even saw two Grade 7 mercenary groups protecting some business owners. The offensive capabilities of a Grade 7 mercenary group were almost equivalent to those of the empire’s elite soldiers.

Since Saleen was a mage master now, it was not an issue for him to handle hundreds of heavy cavalry by himself. However, if they were surrounded by a camp of soldiers, even Lex would have to use Wind Magic to escape. If an army possessed alchemy crossbows, then a mage could not fly, otherwise they would become a human-sized hedgehog beneath that barrage of arrows.

After another two days on the road, Lex finally understood what Saleen meant. The roads used by the empire for the war were fairly safe, and it had merely been a coincidence bumping into those swordsmen who were disguised as bandits. All the business convoys traveling west hired many mercenaries, and there were many swordmasters among the mercenaries. Hence, throughout their entire journey, the roads were as serene as the town of Bitter Water Prefecture.

The large canal had actually been transformed from a river that flowed from the south to the north. On the west bank was a colossal city. This place was an enormous wharf in the north as well. Food that came from the Phoenix Duchy would be transported down south and would eventually reach the largest city in the central southern region of the empire – Pompeii City.

At Pompeii City, the canal merged with the Emerald River before flowing east out into the ocean.

This wide canal stretched for thousands of miles and was a vital line of transportation for the Qin Empire. Hence, the city to the north of the empire had become extremely vital. However, since Saleen had been to Holy Rock City, this city named Ivantel seemed fairly standard to him. Even though this city was as beautiful as a piece of artwork, it did not have the atmosphere and heritage of Holy Rock City.