Chapter 265: Chapter 264: Black Spirit Empire Chapter 265: Chapter 264: Black Spirit Empire The elder sipping tea hadn’t noticed Heidi’s expression, but he had sensed that something was off about her movements. Frowning, he spoke out, “Heidi, be polite to the guest. You’re a girl. Being too rough will make it hard for you to get married.”
“Yes, Grandpa, I’ll be very polite to him,” Heidi said, biting her lip, but her large eyes continued to glare at Richard as if ready to kill him with her gaze. After giving Richard a fierce look for a good while, she suddenly turned on her heel and left with the tray.
At that moment, the elder looked over and asked Richard, “I don’t know, what brings you to see me? What would you like to discuss?”
“Ah, it’s .” Richard set aside the trivial matters regarding the girl, Heidi, and quickly took a book out from his chest, placing it on the table—it was “My Autobiography – Moratos.”
The old man glanced at the book and immediately recognized it, “Ah, this book, I’ve heard it was written by a wizard and contains some rather evil content, not very well-received by people. In White Stone City, this book should be quite rare. The White Stone Tower Academy should have it, and so should some private libraries, but I didn’t expect you to have one as well.
But… what do you need it for? You’re not confused by some of the evil content recorded within and seeking my explanation, are you?” By the end, the old man said this half-jokingly, although there was also an implicit warning.
Richard chuckled lightly and looked at the elder, “Of course not, I have come to seek your help, Socratic Scholar, because I found a strange pattern in the book and I don’t know where it comes from.”
“Strange pattern? What kind of strange pattern?”
“This one here.” Richard flipped the book to the last page and pointed out the black “triangle-circle-vertical line” pattern to the elder.
The elder looked at it for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing, then he said to Richard, “Wait here for a moment,” standing up and walking to the side.
He approached a bookshelf, took a wooden box from a compartment, and opened it, revealing something resembling a magnifying glass.
However, the lens was made of crystal, making it seem extremely precious, and the handle was also made of finely crafted wood, adorned with elaborate decorations. This was something quite characteristic of a Medieval world—a Reading Stone—put simply, actually just a magnifying glass.
Holding the Reading Stone, he returned to the desk and closely observed the black pattern on the page. His frown deepened, eventually knitting into a knot.
After a while, the elder stood up and shook his head at Richard, “I’m afraid I also do not know where this pattern comes from.”
“Ah…” Richard said, somewhat helplessly, but he had to accept it. In fact, during these days, he had consulted a great deal of material and had not found any clues, which is why he decided to seek help from others. And since even this distinguished scholar did not know, he would have to try his luck and seek out other people.
The elder spoke up, “Do you have any other questions?”
“Ah, no, that’s all.” Richard stood up, preparing to take the book and leave. He gave a slight bow, “Sorry to disturb you, Great Scholar Socratic.”
The elder expressed regret, “I’m very sorry I couldn’t be of help to you… Ah, wait a minute.”
Suddenly, the elder seemed to have thought of something and reached out to Richard, “Young man, wait a moment, I think I might remember something.”
The elder stood up from his chair and walked over to a bookshelf, setting up a ladder and slowly climbing to the highest part of the shelf. He pulled out a book from a compartment, flipped through it briefly, and shook his head, “No, not this one.”
Then he pulled out another book, leafing through it before putting it back, “No, not this one either, but I’m sure I have seen it… could it be…”
The elder spoke as he climbed down from the ladder, and carried it over to the bookshelf on the other side of the wall. He hesitated as he eyed the vast collection of books. Moments later, he climbed up the wooden ladder and pulled out a book from the many. After flipping through the pages, his eyes gleamed, “Here it is, I’ve found it!”
Richard’s eyebrows rose.
The old man, holding the book, descended the wooden ladder and walked to the desk, where he spread the book open on the table and said, “Look at this!”
Richard did, and saw in the pages of the book an emblem that was exactly the same as the one on the last page of “My Autobiography – Moratos”—black, triangle, circle, vertical line.
“What is this?” Richard asked.
“Hmm, this appears to be an emblem of the Black Spirit Empire,” the elder said.
“Black Spirit Empire?” Richard’s eyes flickered. He had some understanding of the Black Spirit Empire: it was one of the several Wizard Empires that had once existed on the East Coast, which later collapsed for some reasons, leading to the current situation of the East Coast.
But… for some reason, the White Stone Tower College Library contained very few records about the Black Spirit Empire and the other Wizard Empires. There were only fragments scattered across a few books, with no detailed content. Otherwise, he wouldn’t still be unclear about the origin of this emblem.
How much did the Great Scholar in front of him know?
Richard looked at the elder, who began to speak, “The Black Spirit Empire was a Wizard Empire that existed in this land long ago. I don’t know much, but I’ve heard that initially, it was developed from an organization called something like the Black Spirit Wizard Association. This organization revered black cats, believing them to represent the embodiment of the Moon God Beth, a dark envoy of the Night Spirit.
“The head of the Black Spirit Wizard Association had the three supreme identities of Wizard Association, Church, and state, and styled himself as the Dark Guardian, making everyone call him the Black Spirit King. He ruled the shores of the East Coast and the adjacent maritime areas for a very long time with bloody and brutal methods, leaving everyone with painful memories.
“However, later, when the Black Spirit King ambitiously prepared to expand the territory, ready to cross the mountains that blocked the East Coast, and advance into the depths of the continent, he suddenly died abruptly.”
“Yes,” the elder nodded and continued, “After his death, the entire Black Spirit Empire plunged into chaos and war. It took a long time before it slowly turned into the current state of the East Coast.
“And this black emblem, it must be from that era.
“The largest triangle probably represents the three supreme identities of Black Spirit King—Wizard Association, Church, and state—united as one, a trinity. It could also represent the Third Level Wizard power of the Black Spirit King—hmm, according to legend, he possessed the strength of a Third Level Wizard, so no one could contend with him.
“The circle likely represents perfection, signifying the Black Spirit King’s perfection without flaws and signifying the perfection of his empire under his rule, supported by all. Of course, whether this is truly the case, one would have to ask the people of the past. After all, people nowadays generally regard the reign of the Black Spirit King as utterly dark.
“As for the vertical line, I think it should represent everything, supreme, and the idea of the one and only. This fits the Black Spirit King’s view of his identity and the positioning of his empire under his rule,” the elder explained.
Richard listened and nodded thoughtfully.
“Oh, right, there’s a number here,” the elder, holding the Reading Stone, seemed to have discovered something else on Richard’s book and pointed, “Look here, there’s a very small number, seems to be a 9. Yes, 9.
“This book of yours must have been copied and produced during the time of the Black Spirit Empire, that’s why it bears the emblem of the Black Spirit Empire. And because it is somewhat related to other things, it was assigned a number—if there’s a 9, then there should be 8, 7, 6, and other such numbers.”
The elder looked at Richard earnestly and said, “Young man, although I don’t know exactly what you are researching, my suggestion is to try to find other items with the emblem of the Black Spirit Empire and their numbers. Then you’ll also be able to clear up the things you are puzzled about.”
Richard nodded in agreement.