Above The Sky
Chapter 402 - 402 373 The Prophet's Skull 33

402: Chapter 373: The Prophet’s Skull (3/3) 402: Chapter 373: The Prophet’s Skull (3/3) Baron Leyan appeared to be a handsome young man with black hair and blue eyes, exuding confidence and a cheerful demeanor.

His facial features were rather chiseled, distinct from those of the Imperial People; it seemed his lineage might stem from the Mountain People, and those gray-blue eyes further substantiated this.

He was not one to stand on ceremony; upon seeing Ian, his eyes lit up as he walked over and heartily patted Ian’s shoulder, while he praised the youth for being the youngest, most talented, and most attractive person he had seen in recent years.

At the same time, he expressed envy toward Viscount Grant’s good fortune to have such talent within his domain, remarking that the recent years’ evaluations must have been exceptionally high.

“Please forgive me, as new matters have arisen, I may not be able to offer you a meal.”

Inviting Ian to sit down, Baron Leyan laughed and said, “Ailes has already informed me of the purpose of your visit.

As a Spirit Energy User, you naturally have a need for Dawn Glow Grass Extract, so I have prepared it in advance.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not planning to charge you.

For such a young Alchemist, who is favored by Master Gossay, what’s the difficulty in giving an excellent quality nourishment extract as a favor?”

Hearing this, alarm bells rang in Ian’s mind—he was well aware that the most expensive things were those given for free.

Baron Leyan was offering him an excellent quality gift?

That was a commodity worth at least two hundred Talle and upwards; neither Viscount Grant nor he had such influence.

But the words that followed made sense, “I am aware that you’re also an exceptional Appraiser, recognized by Master Gossay, and even Mr.

Silver Workshop from Nauman City has highly recommended you to me numerous times.”

“Therefore, I have an ancient artifact from the Mountain People that I would like you to appraise for me.”

“Rest assured, I know it’s difficult, and in fact, I have already had other appraisers look at it.

Now, I’m just hoping for another perspective.”

The black-haired and blue-eyed noble appeared earnest, obviously unwilling to hide his true thoughts, and Ian, without hesitation, agreed, “No problem.”

“However, my level is still quite immature, so please be forgiving if there are any mistakes.”

“Of course not.”

The Baron laughed again, then stood up: “Come, I’ll take you to the Alchemy Laboratory.”

The Alchemy Laboratory was situated on the third floor of the castle, and indeed, Baron Leyan was an Alchemist himself.

After all, his territory mainly produced Alchemy materials and Sublimation Plants—it would be difficult not to become an Alchemist.

Following him, Ian knew that things were a bit tricky, but he had no choice but to accept.

With the Baron’s words at that point, if Ian didn’t want to be sent out of the territory and also never be able to purchase high-quality Spirit Energy Nourishment Extract again, he had to agree—so there was no need for further consideration.

The only thing that piqued curiosity was what exactly the ‘Mountain People ancient artifact’ was.

The third floor was much brighter than the second, with Beryl lamps hung everywhere as if they cost nothing, and, seemingly, there was a ventilation point somewhere, as a cool breeze was ever-present in the corridors.

And as Baron Leyan led Ian towards the laboratory at the end of the corridor, Ian noticed a little girl with snow-white skin calmly watching him and the Baron from the doorway of a room.

This little girl appeared to be around six or seven years old, with dark blue hair and eyes that resembled the color of the sunset sky.

She stood quietly at the door, not saying a word, just gazing over intently.

“Linda?

What’s wrong, are you hungry?”

The Baron had seen the little girl as well, and he approached, lifting her up in his arms with his one good arm, and asked with concern, “If you’re hungry, just tell Steward Moda, and he will arrange for a maid to bring you food…

Haha, my apologies, this is my adopted daughter Linda.”

Midway through speaking, he glanced at Ian with a smile and then turned back to instruct the little girl, “Now, Linda, what did Daddy teach you to say in this situation?”

The little girl seemed slow to respond.

She gazed at Ian and, after a while, said in a crisp, clear voice, “Brother…

“Brother, tasty.”

“No, what you should say is, ‘Brother, hello.'”

Baron Leyan corrected her, and then the girl named Linda followed, “Brother, hello~”

“Hello to you too, young lady.”

Ian watched with a smile as Baron Leyan took the little girl back to a room decorated in shades of pink, and the blue-eyed noble seemed a bit embarrassed.

“Linda’s brain has been stimulated before, and she can’t speak normally now, but she’s actually very smart; she writes faster than she speaks.”

“After that incident, her parents died, so I adopted her along with two other children.”

“I understand completely.”

Ian, pondering, watched the little girl sitting silently on her bed, then looked as Baron Leyan closed the door.

He replied with a smile, “My younger brother is just a little older than Linda.

For certain reasons, he too has difficulty expressing himself normally, so I understand the situation very well.”

“Is that so?” Baron Leyan expressed some surprise.

He noticed Ian looking at his left arm, and then he laughed, “You really know how to hold back, if it had been Ailes, he probably would have started with ‘Labor, what happened to your hand?’.”

“It’s just basic etiquette.”

Though Ian was polite on the surface, he couldn’t help but inwardly criticize the Viscount for his terrible public image—he was sure that Viscount Grant definitely wasn’t this oblivious to the mood around him, this statement was more than rude, it was downright barbaric.

Oh, but they from Harrison Port were indeed frontier barbarians, so never mind.

“I assume you’re aware.”

Baron Leyan seemed to open up, speaking with a sense of regret, “My place was recently the scene of an infuriating theft—a group of thieves forcefully took away a batch of finely processed Two-Year Shimmering Dawn Grass Extract, which are half-finished top-quality nourishment extracts.”

“I happened to be on-site at the time and was caught off guard by a sneak attack, which severed my left arm…

Alas, I was too careless.

Lady Yingguang is here for this matter as well; she’s investigating the actions of a cult, but I feel this has nothing to do with the cultists, it must have been the work of people from Fiery Flame Land.”

——You just keep bragging.

Ian thought to himself.

This brag was even worse than Viscount Grant’s, Fiery Flame Land would be moved to tears, at the very least Viscount Grant wouldn’t dare say a special forces team from Fiery Flame Land could chop off his hand.

If Fiery Flame Land really had the power to sever the arm of a noble of the Second Energy Level within his own territory, then South Ridge would have been in utter chaos long ago, let alone the entire Leyan Territory being this lax, hardly looking like a lord who had been attacked.

“Baron Leyan’s ability to tell blatant lies should at least have a high-level professional title, the kind you test for every three years.”

The lie was so shoddy that Ian was embarrassed to admit he’d even heard it.

But perhaps this was Baron Leyan’s way of hinting?

He freely gave him an Excellent-grade, top-tier Spirit Energy Nourishment Extract, and all Ian had to do was spread his absurd story?

Considering the way nobles often beat around the bush when they speak, it wasn’t impossible.

For Talle’s sake, if someone else asked, then that’s what he would say.

As for why the other party’s left arm was severed…

Curiosity is precious, and he didn’t want to waste it on this matter.

In any case, Ian coughed, pretending not to hear, “Baron, the alchemy laboratory door is locked.

Please open it.”

“Haha, I actually forgot the main business.”

Baron Leyan, without a change in his expression, turned his head and unlocked the door with his fingerprint.

“Please come in.”

He opened the door and entered, with Ian following close behind, looking toward the center of the laboratory.

Next thing he knew, he was standing still, his gaze slightly stunned.

Baron Leyan noticed Ian’s abnormal reaction, he nodded slightly, and smiled, “It seems that your Appraiser abilities are indeed not empty praises from Ailes, you truly have the skill.

You can tell at a glance which item I want you to appraise.”

——Of course.

Ian frowned, indeed he had spotted right away what the other side wanted him to appraise.

But it wasn’t like before, not due to the mist brought by Foresight View.

Actually, it wasn’t much different.

Because the first thing Ian noticed about it was that there wasn’t a trace of mist on it at all!

It was a crystal skull placed among many other objects, not large, about the size of a ten-year-old child’s skull, but crystal clear with a mysterious aura swirling around it, looking extraordinary at first glance.

According to Ian’s instinctive perception, this skull must have been left by a Spirit Energy User of at least First Power Level Peak, as he could easily get this information without the need for mist.

But here’s the problem—Foresight View showed no sign of it.

In the world of mist, this place was utterly empty.

“Indeed, it’s very interesting,”

Ian murmured to himself, quickly understanding the reason.

——This crystal skull must be related to a Prophet!

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