1442 Advancing One After Another Part 2 (1/2)

After spending a few seconds lamenting the ”loss,” Saleen left the Hall of Gods. Since he was allowed to come back in the future, he had no intention of returning the general's badge.

He went back to the Cemetery of Heroes and waited near the general's grave. Nailisi stood at his side, looking obedient. She wouldn't dare pull any funny business in the presence of a level-18 heroic spirit.

She was smart enough to know who she could mess with and who was off-limits.

Saleen had sealed his power at level-12. He needed to get used to things at the imperial city, or he would have a hard time on Myers Mainland. The pain of having his power forcefully sealed could not be expressed in words. Imagine what it would be like to run 24 hours without stopping and without tiring but being forced to walk with a crutch at a speed faster than a snail but slower than a tortoise. Well, that's pretty much how Saleen felt.

He bowed and saluted the general after seeing Nailisi standing by his side in one piece.

The general then said, ”Saleen, give the badge back to me.”

”Huh?”

”No need for you to hold onto it. You were only able to enter this time because of the soul brand I left on it. If you try to enter again on your own, you'll end up getting killed by the magic arrays in the royal palace.”

Saleen returned the general's badge to him exasperatedly.

”Don't be sad. If you bring a demigod next time you're here, I'll allow you to stay in the Hall of Gods another month,” the general added while smiling.

Saleen was thinking there was no way he would do that again unless he came upon another piece of divine persona. Last month's energy consumption was exorbitant. He used up half the wealth he brought just getting here.

Furthermore, he had no intention of wasting more resources just to train for a dozen years or so.

The general had no idea that Saleen had advanced to level-13, and he didn't offend him by probing the mage's level. He simply assumed Saleen had risen to level-12. It was hard for a level 12 mage to advance further, so the figured he kid would definitely come back to seek his help.

The general was satisfied that he'd mended fences between him and Saleen, the grandmaster's stubbornness notwithstanding.

”So this is goodbye then.” Saleen bowed to the general again, on behalf of Nailisi.

Nailisi took a look at the general, who nodded and said, ”Go now. Remember to tell your master to come back and visit.”

”Will do.” Nailisi behaved herself. She then marched out of the cemetery with Saleen.

The cemetery was eerily quiet now that all beings had digested the Lord of Glory's double earlier this month. No one would ever leave their grave without a reason.

Saleen strode outside the cemetery and turned around to take one last look at the gates. Nailisi then said, ”Master, the general is irritated with you.”

”How so?”

”He said you brought a lot of people to the Hall of Gods. That would have really strained the place.”

”Heh...” Saleen didn't answer. Nailisi's character seemed to have changed after she was patched up. Saleen hoped the general hadn't planted any tricks inside her.

Saleen sped up and Nailisi followed, saying, ”Master, that general's not a good guy. Don't ever go back there!”

Saleen flashed a smile. That was the Nailisi he knew!

”Well, the general's not really a bad guy though. He only wants to leave the place. In his eyes, I'm not someone he could trade with on an equal footing. It's perfectly normal for him to use me. But don't worry, Nailisi. If I hadn't run out of tricks and needed someone to resurrect you, there was no way I would have returned.”

Nailisi's eyes reddened and did not continue.

She knew perfectly well that her master didn't want to go back there. He had done something against his will solely for her sake. That made her happy and sad at the same time.

Saleen then said to Nailisi after scaling the city walls, ”Nailisi, the Winged Skull, and the others have advanced...”

”Me too,” she answered.

”Wait, what?”

”The general patched me up, and you would definitely advance in the Hall of Gods, so I...” Nailisi stopped talking all of a sudden.

Saleen smiled and continued, ”You knew I would have advanced, so you no longer controlled your own powers, no?”

Nailisi blushed. She was reluctant to relinquish the soul bond between her and Saleen, so she refrained from advancing. But since the general had already told her that her master would definitely get to level-12, so she took the liberty to advance to level-12 too.

Seeing Nailisi's embarrassment, Saleen added, ”Well, the Winged Skull was concerned about you. Now that you've advanced, let's just get everyone the hell out then.”

Saleen released the Winged Skull, Rafel, Nicholas and the others.