Chapter 114: Control

Chapter 114: Control

Ling Qingjue ignored him, his voice cool and steady: "Wang Defa, bring all the bodies here. I'll resurrect them all at once."

"We need the Resurrection Magnolia. Some of them have no remains left."

"Fine." Ling Qingjue finally looked at Meng Shu. "Go upstairs and get me the Resurrection Magnolia."

Meng Shu was surprised. "When did you plant more?"

"I planted it long ago. What if an emergency came up?" Ling Qingjue was still mad at him, his attitude very hostile.

Meng Shu didn't dare provoke him further. He scurried upstairs, brought the flower down, and decided to be a quiet, diligent little bee, just silently doing his work.

He had pulled Ling Qingjue's tail, so Ling Qingjue wouldn't be nice to him for a while.

The Adventurers' Guild members had already arrived. Jia Zhao helped move all the bodies, sweating profusely. "Damn, this is brutal. So many people got one-shot!"

Ling Qingjue quickly counted the dead. Eight people had died at once.

He dug his nails into his palm. Ling Qingjue felt a surge of fury.

He had guarded Moon Bay for fifteen years. Except for idiots who deliberately got themselves killed, no one had ever died under his protection.

Let alone something this extreme—eight deaths at once.

He let out a slow breath, reached out, and took the flower from Meng Shu's hand. In an instant, golden light flashed in his green eyes, and the petals of the Resurrection Magnolia scattered, transforming into a shimmer of light.

Jia Zhao quickly pulled out his notebook and started taking notes.

Meng Shu leaned over to him. "What are you writing?"

"The resurrection spell," Jia Zhao said. "Ling Qingjue's resurrection magic is among the best in the entire continent. I've got to pick up a thing or two from him."

Normal resurrection required harnessing the power of the laws—a cumbersome process that made reviving even one person extremely difficult. Therefore, mages who mastered resurrection magic held a very high status across the continent. Because of their scarcity, the cost of resurrection became exorbitantly expensive.

To avoid this terrifying fee, ordinary people wouldn't become adventurers even if they had talent.

As for a cat like Ling Qingjue, who clearly knew resurrection magic but refused to find a proper job and instead hid in a small town extorting others—that was even rarer.

He could easily dominate the continent with his resurrection magic, but he chose to extort instead.

That was probably the difference between humans and cats.

A magic circle appeared beneath Ling Qingjue's feet, but he stood as still as a mountain. Even with the most advanced spell, he didn't form any hand seals. He simply waved his hand casually, and the golden light formed into human shapes, quickly coalescing into brand-new bodies.

Jia Zhao was dumbfounded. "Wait, he doesn't even need to draw a circle for this kind of spell?"

Meng Shu patted him on the shoulder and said tactfully, "I've never seen him draw a circle. Before I met you, I didn't even know you needed to chant and draw circles—I thought you could just cast magic by thinking it..."

He had always thought others were just weak.

Now it seemed like Ling Qingjue was cheating with too many hacks.

Ling Qingjue took ten seconds to create a body, then his emerald pupils sharpened as he entered a state of clairvoyance.

In this state, he could see the souls of the dead.

A self-created spell, top-tier healing magic.

Green light fell onto the bodies of the dead. All wounds healed instantly, and missing limbs regrew miraculously.

Jia Zhao felt like crying. So this was what cheating looked like? He wanted in too.

This was the first time Meng Shu had seen Ling Qingjue perform resurrection magic. The magic circle was huge and awe-inspiring, spanning a diameter of five hundred meters.

It seemed as if heaven and earth changed color. Golden light burst from the circle, and Meng Shu instinctively shielded his eyes.

Ling Qingjue reached out and grabbed a soul, roughly shoving it back into its original body.

"Return."

He said only one word.

The soul miraculously merged into the body. In an instant, the person opened their eyes, gasping for air. "Ah!"

Ling Qingjue ignored him, turned, and shoved the other souls back into their bodies one by one.

Meng Shu couldn't see the souls; he only saw Ling Qingjue grab something in the air, and then the corpses came to life.

"So this is resurrection magic?" Meng Shu was bewildered.

Jia Zhao's mouth twitched. "So he resurrects people by just stuffing their souls back in? That's so simple and crude."

Meng Shu said, "As long as it works."

In less than ten minutes, the magic circle vanished. The dead were all resurrected, all of them badly shaken.

But Ling Qingjue's expression didn't improve. He grabbed a random man. "How did you die?"

The man stammered, "Didn't see clearly... Felt like a tenth-tier magical beast. It was too fast; I couldn't defend..."

"Get lost." Ling Qingjue threw him aside and grabbed another person. "Talk. What tier was the enemy?"

"Must have been a ninth-tier beast. It was a bear; it crushed me to death..."

"The one that killed me was a skeleton mage..."

A bunch of people talked all at once. The more Ling Qingjue heard, the tighter his brows furrowed. "So many high-level beasts... That magic circle is definitely fishy."

The town mayor soothed the injured residents. "Don't worry. We'll deal with that magic circle soon. Everyone, no need to panic."

He then looked at Ling Qingjue. "Think you can cut us a deal this time?"

Ling Qingjue shook his head. His voice was cold. "No need."

Everyone was astonished. Ling Qingjue wasn't going to rip them off this time?

"High-level magical beasts appeared in my domain, and I didn't notice. That's my negligence." Ling Qingjue rubbed his brow, looking exhausted. "I'm going to destroy that magic circle."

The town mayor shook his head. "That magic circle appeared too suddenly. I didn't notice it either. It's not your fault."

"It's my problem." Ling Qingjue was stubborn again. "Such a huge magic circle, and I didn't detect it. I'm unworthy of being called the guardian."

Veins stood out on the back of his hand. He couldn't accept this truth at all. "How dare they come to my turf and cause trouble? I'm going to rip the person behind this apart with my bare hands."

A magic circle doesn't just appear out of thin air. Someone must have cast it.

And that magic circle could summon so many high-level magical beasts. There must have been a strong surge of magical energy when it was set up. Yet Ling Qingjue, as the guardian, had been completely clueless about it.

He couldn't accept that so many had been hurt and killed in the area under his protection.

This was a direct challenge to him.

For Ling Qingjue, Moon Bay and its surrounding areas were his territory.

Now that his territory was invaded and his people were harmed, he was naturally furious.

Meng Shu, confused, whispered to Jia Zhao, “Why does he think it’s his fault?”

Jia Zhao looked at him like he was an idiot, “Obviously. He’s the guardian of Moon Bay, bearing the name of protector. A terrifying magic circle was set up in Moon Bay, so many people died, and he, the guardian, didn’t notice—isn't that failing at his job?”

Meng Shu felt a pang of unease, “No, he… he’s been keeping an eye on Moon Bay all along.”

Even when Ling Qingjue temporarily left Moon Bay with Meng Shu, he would leave a clone to guard it, never staying away for long.

Ling Qingjue was fully aware of his mission.

Jia Zhao didn’t fully understand either, “I’ve never seen a magic circle that can teleport tenth-tier beasts; this is my first encounter too… I’m just a 6th-tier Adventurer, I can’t get involved in this.”

The mayor asked, “What are you planning to do?”

Ling Qingjue looked up at the sky, where a misty drizzle never stopped falling.

Frustrated, he furrowed his brow, and the next moment, the originally dim sky instantly turned clear and cloudless.

The power of mastery—control over nature itself.

Normally, Ling Qingjue wouldn’t meddle in natural affairs unless he was really annoyed. He liked sunny days, so he could lazily bask in the sun.

Only when he was really upset would he mess with nature, forcing the weather to change so that clear skies covered Moon Bay.

“I'll go destroy the magic circle—none of you need to come.” Ling Qingjue’s expression was cold, emotionless. “Don’t get in the way.”