In the skies above the Ryan Empire, a massive airship flew past at an unbelievable speed.
Many cities across Ryan spotted the vessel. Initially suspecting an enemy attack, they hastened to activate their urban defense magic circles and deployed all manner of anti-air weaponry along their battlements.
Yet to their astonishment, the airship simply sped right on through in a straight line, without pausing in the slightest.
At first, the people of Ryan sent reports up the chain of command, describing their sightings of this bizarre flying object.
The cities further along were on high alert, intending to intercept the airship. But to their shock, while the craft appeared small to the naked eye, it was actually cruising at an extreme altitude. Even the magitech cannons atop their city walls could not reach that high, let alone the priests' divine spells.
Fortunately, the airship merely flew straight past without dropping anything from the sky, allowing the Ryanites to heave a sigh of relief.
Still, for such an arrogant airship to dare cross all of Ryan from east to west—how could they endure such an insult?
When word reached the Ryan Imperial Capital, the young emperor was so incensed he nearly donned the Dragon Tyrant Armament to shoot the airship down himself, though he was ultimately talked out of it.
As for the mysterious airship, once it crossed Ryan's border, it headed straight for the Emerald Dream Forest, vanishing completely from the Ryanites' sight.
The people on the ground were furious, but their wrath could not touch Anbaixiu high in the air.
Sitting inside this latest-model craft—the fruit of more than a decade of research and development—he thoroughly enjoyed the comfortable ride.
"All those thirteen years of research inside my private demiplane weren't wasted after all. It finally stopped exploding halfway through, and the speed's been pushed to eight hundred kilometers per hour."
After deciding to deliver a divine portfolio to the Lady of Mists, Anbaixiu had ducked into his private demiplane, adjusting the time dilation to one day outside for one year inside.
He had then spent thirteen years in there, devoting every ounce of effort to refining the jet-propelled airship.
Luckily, Anbaixiu's greatest strength was refining existing designs. After more than a decade, he had finally produced this streamlined, triangular craft.
The entire hull formed a sleek right triangle fitted with tail fins, and its central cabin could accommodate five passengers.
Built for long-distance travel rather than cargo transport, it boasted what was arguably the fastest flight speed on the continent—even true dragons could not catch up to it.
He had had no other choice; circumstances had forced his hand.
Carrying the portfolio box prevented teleportation, and the entire expanse of Ryan separated the desert from the Emerald Dream Forest. Anbaixiu could hardly march across Ryan on foot, leaving flight through the upper atmosphere as his only option.
Fortunately, at eight hundred kilometers per hour, reaching the Emerald Dream Forest took less than a day.
Flying with grand momentum, Anbaixiu arrived above the lush forest and picked an arbitrary spot to land.
He had come to find the Lady of Mists, so there was no need to disturb the druids. All he had to do was lie down at the edge of the Dream Barrier, and he could meet her in a dream.
Landing near a dark little hollow, Anbaixiu laid several alarm ward spells, then steered his mithral mecha body across the boundary of the Dream Barrier.
A single step. The moment he crossed over, overwhelming drowsiness crashed down upon him.
As expected, even piloting the mecha could not shield him from the Dream Barrier's effect.
Anbaixiu did not resist, letting his soul drift straight into slumber. However, the mana power reactor within the mecha remained ignited, humming smoothly along.
This was precisely why Anbaixiu had chosen to wear the mecha into sleep: even if his consciousness lapsed, the suit retained a measure of combat capability, enough to hold off any threat until he awoke.
No sooner had he fallen asleep than Anbaixiu found himself standing inside a magnificent palace. Leira, the Lady of Mists, sat upon a velvet chaise lounge in the center. Seeing Anbaixiu arrive, a delighted smile surfaced on the goddess's face.
"Back so soon? Don't tell me you've already slain that shameless wretch?"
Anbaixiu was somewhat speechless. This goddess truly wasn't the sharpest quill in the study. Did she honestly think a mere lich like him could kill a greater deity just like that?
Still, doing business meant putting on a welcoming face. Maintaining a humble, courteous smile, Anbaixiu addressed the goddess: "Venerable Lady of Mists, a lowly lich such as myself lacks the power to strike down the Prince of Lies. However, I bring even better news today. Don't you wish to exact your revenge with your own hands?"
The Lady of Mists looked puzzled. "Me? My divine portfolios were all stolen by that shameless wretch. Right now, I'm barely stronger than a mortal."
"And if you were granted a divine portfolio, could you regain your former strength?"
"A portfolio? The chances of that are far too slim. Still, even the weakest portfolio would be a blessing from Lord Ao to me. As for regaining strength... honestly, I was only a lesser deity back then, so virtually any portfolio would do about the same for me."
Leira looked slightly embarrassed. When she was ambushed in the past, besides her own carelessness, her meager strength had played no small part.
Anbaixiu had anticipated this, so he paid it little mind and said, "Then that works out perfectly. I have secured a minor divine portfolio for you, Goddess—the Portfolio of Darkness, stripped from Lolth the Spider Queen. Are you willing to accept it?"
Anbaixiu's words gave Leira quite a shock. "Lolth the Spider Queen? How could you possibly seize a portfolio from her?"
"Haha, isn't that a rather odd question, Goddess? You asked me to kill the Prince of Lies back then, and Lolth is hardly more powerful than him."
Leira looked sheepish and offered an apologetic reply: "I didn't mean to doubt you. It's just that I assumed we'd have to wait until the world fell into turmoil before finding an opportunity to scheme against that shameless wretch. Right now, the war among the gods hasn't even begun, has it? How on earth did you manage to take down Lolth? I'm truly curious—please, tell me."
Anbaixiu did not hide the truth, briefly recounting how Lolth had been punished by Ao.
Leira's eyes went wide as saucers. She had assumed Anbaixiu had merely tricked Lolth, not that he had thwarted four goddesses working in tandem and turned around to leave Lolth gravely wounded.
An excited gleam sparked in Leira's eyes as she gazed at Anbaixiu. "My judgment was spot-on after all! If I had been even half as clever as you back then, I never would have been ruined by that shameless wretch."
"Does that mean the Portfolio of Darkness suits you?" Anbaixiu asked.
Leira gave a wry smile. "There's no such thing as suited or unsuited. Any portfolio is much the same to me—it's simply trading one form of power for another."
Anbaixiu followed up, "Since this portfolio originated from Lolth, will integrating it lead her straight to your doorstep?"
Even the God of Alchemy had nearly been killed by Lolth, and Leira was currently weaker than him. If she were promptly destroyed by Lolth, Anbaixiu's investment would go up in smoke.
Leira, however, answered with confidence, "Fret not. I have my own ways of staying concealed. Back then, with Azuth's aid, I wove a sliver of my consciousness into this land; even that shameless wretch couldn't track me down. Even after integrating this portfolio, I won't leak a single whisper of my presence."
*That works.* Anbaixiu trusted that Leira wouldn't joke about something like this.
Half of his objective for this visit was now complete. The remaining half had nothing to do with Leira herself.
Anbaixiu asked, "Goddess, since the Lord of Spells helped you survive that catastrophe, you must be on good terms with him?"
"Decent enough. Why, do you want to contact Azuth?"
Anbaixiu smiled slightly. "Well, would it be possible to use the Lord of Spells as a conduit to have a few words with the Goddess of Magic?"
Chapter 307