Returning from the lecture hall, Saul entered the inner city where only true wizards of Sky City could reside, and turned into a quiet alley.

The parapets on both sides of the alley were planted with pink and white whisper flowers. They bloomed and withered, withered and bloomed every day, demonstrating their vitality from head to toe.

Saul no longer stayed at the inn but had rented a uniformly-sized two-story building here using his first-rank wizard identity, personally setting up basic magical formations inside and out.

During this time, he had basically confirmed that Sky City was covertly under lockdown.

Although some people could still leave, they had to pass through careful screening. Those not permitted couldn’t even take out a single message.

Saul hadn’t personally tested whether he could leave Sky City.

He still had important matters and didn’t really want to leave Sky City.

Moreover, this was a bottom line.

If he personally tested whether he could leave and was refused, the fragile balance of interests between him and Ophelia could easily be broken.

Even if the other party would still help him connect to the Prismatic World due to causality theory’s influence, what their relationship would become afterward was uncertain.

Since he couldn’t leave Sky City in the short term, Saul couldn’t keep staying at the inn. So with Nathan’s introduction, he moved to this small building.

After returning to the building, the first thing Saul did was find the Water God for a chat.

It had been a month since his last communication with the Water God. Now he was confident he could pull the Water God into his consciousness platform again.

And being prepared this time, the consciousness platform would last longer than before.

However, when Saul saw the white cat again, he discovered its mental fluctuations were considerably weaker than during their last meeting.

“What happened to you?”

The white cat had originally been lying on the ground but immediately resumed an elegant sitting position when Saul approached.

“Nothing much, just that there haven’t been any sacrifices these days, so my condition isn’t very good.”

Since Saul had taken away the white porcelain cat’s main body, Nathan had suspended distribution of the replicas. Lacking souls to help the Water God offset the deep sea’s curse, he could only endure it himself, naturally exhausting his spirit.

Saul hadn’t properly examined the Water God’s condition before, so this time he directly stepped forward to check.

The cat-like Water God was initially somewhat wary, but suddenly remembering Saul’s display of transforming into tangled curves, he ultimately didn’t move randomly.

After examining him, Saul stepped back two paces. “The seal on you is extremely powerful. No wonder it manifests as a deep sea in your consciousness world.”

The Water God shook his head. “Actually, this seal was originally more terrifying, but after over a hundred years, it’s been weakened by time. I only gained the ability to sense the outside world a dozen years ago, and only in recent years found ways to offset some of the curse to make the seal break faster.”

Saul simply sat on the circular platform facing the white cat.

“Aren’t you a water god? Why were you sealed? And with a deep sea of all things…”

Using water to seal a being calling itself a water god was quite forceful mockery.

“…Don’t call me Water God anymore. My real name is Floco.”

Thinking of the reason for his sealing, the white cat’s back curved slightly, then straightened instantly.

“Actually, I was crossing a stargate when I accidentally offended another fifth-rank. I had just advanced then and was arrogant, so I was directly defeated in a few moves. My main body was destroyed, my spiritual body nearly annihilated. The enemy left my consciousness and sealed it in the deep sea just to humiliate me.”

When Floco spoke of these things, his tone was calm with some sense of release.

These matters had weighed on his heart for hundreds of years. The original anger and excitement had already dissipated. Speaking them to Saul actually brought a touch of relief.

After hearing Floco’s story, Saul felt chilled. “You’re both fifth-rank wizards. Are those outside the stargate really that much more powerful than you?”

“The higher the rank, the greater the power gap between those of the same rank. You’re not fifth-rank yet so you don’t understand. Actually, the minimum requirement for fifth-rank is being able to cross stargates with one’s own power and travel between worlds. As long as you can do that, you’re fifth-rank. But among fifth-ranks who can achieve this, the power difference might be greater than that between apprentices and fourth-rank wizards. So many people, even with fifth-rank strength, are unwilling to cross stargates for fear of encountering my situation.”

“The power gap between fifth-rank wizards is actually so large.” Saul suddenly became curious about what requirements reaching sixth-rank would have.

He thought that when Floco was alive, this wizard world probably hadn’t been sealed yet, so perhaps he knew what high-rank wizard strength should be like.

So Saul directly asked.

Floco wasn’t surprised—everyone would be interested in peak power levels.

Wizards were especially curious beings.

“Although you’re only third-rank… well, there’s no harm in telling you.”

“A fifth-rank being can advance to sixth-rank once they can completely destroy a world. Note—completely destroy. Killing all humans on continents doesn’t count. It’s said that the most powerful sixth-ranks can directly disintegrate a world just by adjusting a fundamental rule.”

“Tsk!” Saul couldn’t help clicking his tongue.

“As for seventh-rank, in my time, they were called Creators. They can independently create a world.”

“That’s quite similar to popular mythology stories.”

Floco continued: “Quite ironic, isn’t it? A sixth-rank must destroy worlds, while a seventh-rank creates them.”

Saul nodded. “But there’s logic to follow. Wizards are like that—pursuing knowledge, learning knowledge, understanding knowledge, mastering knowledge, questioning knowledge, and finally using knowledge to create knowledge.”

Floco stared at Saul in a daze. “You sound like a wizard when you say that.”

“Didn’t I before?” Saul asked with a smile.

“Do I need to say what you seemed like before?” Water God Floco muttered internally, though he didn’t want to mention that term again.

Finally having some understanding of power beyond fifth-rank, Saul considered for a moment and brought up another matter.

“Floco, at your previous pace, how long would it take you to break the seal?”

The white cat’s tail swayed leisurely from left to right. “Probably several hundred more years. Trying to drain the sea with a small spoon—how easy could that be? But I’ve been imprisoned for hundreds of years already, so I’m not anxious anymore. As long as people outside still have thoughts of praying for luck, they’ll naturally send me sacrifices.”

Fourth-rank wizards were basically immortal beings. Hundreds of years meant even less to fifth-rank wizards. But if possible, who would want to be trapped in a cat’s body?

Saul leaned forward, arms resting on his knees, revealing a tempting smile.

“Floco, draining seawater is difficult, but causing a tsunami sometimes only requires one big explosion. Have you considered escaping this way?”

Floco looked up at Saul, his cat eyes holding a solemn “finally here” expression.

“Of course I’ve considered it, but where I’m sealed I’m just a cat who can’t even speak. Besides transmitting some lucky power, I can’t do anything else.”

Saul patted his knee. “But now you’ve met me, haven’t you?”

The white cat slowly nodded with a slightly ingratiating tone, “Yes, after hundreds of years, this lucky ability has finally reflected back on myself.”

(End of Chapter)

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