[Lord of Abundance] Chapter 26: Clearing the Clouds to See the Sun

 Chapter 26: Clearing the Clouds to See the Sun

“Forget it. You should do this.”

Li Tianyun pushed the light, seemingly weightless yet priceless scroll back toward Kun. Though curious, he knew some things were better left to the lord himself.

Kun smiled and didn’t insist, taking up the scroll that could be considered a national treasure.

He understood Li Tianyun’s intention—not wanting to steal his spotlight in front of everyone. But for Kun, the true core—knowledge—was already in his grasp. Everything else was merely icing on the cake.

The group gathered beneath the portico before the entrance of Blackstone Castle. They crowded tightly behind Kun, shoulder to shoulder, unwilling to stand out in the pouring rain for fear of appearing disrespectful before the lord. Only honest little Joel stepped out into the downpour of his own accord.

Noticing his young master’s gaze linger briefly on Joel—the boy standing off to the side, drenched in the rain—Old Tate revealed a faint look of satisfaction.

Good. Worthy of being someone he had chosen.

Some people might look foolish, but aren’t truly so. Others might appear clever, yet are anything but.

Having served Kun for many years, Old Tate understood him well. This time, the young master had truly taken notice of that simple, sincere boy—and his impression of him was certainly favorable.

Elsewhere, Old Tate couldn’t say. But within the Fengrao Territory, no amount of talent or effort could compare to a single glance from the young master.

No matter how talented you are—can you surpass a fifteen-year-old third-tier archmage? The royal capital gathered the greatest geniuses of the entire kingdom, yet had the young master ever spared any of them a second glance?

Not one.

And no matter how noble your status or prestigious your background—what of it? During the hardest days of his life in the capital, had the young master ever bowed his head to his marquis father or royal mother?

Never.

Old Tate knew Kun too well. Though never displayed outwardly, that pride was etched deep into his bones. Otherwise, in the vast capital, how could it be that the young master had only “half a friend”?

Yes, Kun had been neglected at home, but as the son of a marquis and half of royal blood, there had been no shortage of peers eager to curry favor with him. Yet he remained indifferent to all—cold, distant, as though his eyes saw only those dull magical texts and silent plants.

So when Li Tianyun—this strange man Kun called a friend—suddenly appeared in the castle, Old Tate had been the most curious of all. What kind of person could earn such genuine regard from someone as proud as his young master?

He observed him carefully for a long time. At first glance, this oddly featured man possessed no extraordinary cultivation talent, and was even ignorant of many basic things—completely different from his young master. But over time, Old Tate realized—

This, too, was a proud young man.

What did it matter if his talent was average? What if he was plagued by illness? What if he suffered endlessly?

Surrounded by malice, yet still holding onto a sliver of kindness deep within. Treating hardship and injustice as mere trials. Fixing his gaze solely on the singular goal in his heart.

Old Tate thought—such pride was admirable.

And the more, the better.

“Boom—!”

Thunder roared.

Dense black clouds gathered across the sky above the Fengrao Territory. Though it was midday, the world was as dim as dusk. Layer upon layer of clouds pressed low, suffocating, as if even breathing had become difficult.

The torrential rain poured down upon the patchwork of old and new buildings in Emerald Heart, like a storm trying to break a newly sprouted yet ancient tree. It felt as though, at any moment, this tree—just beginning to regain life—would be completely erased by the relentless wind and rain.

Magic scrolls, pre-infused with sufficient mana, required no reconstruction of a spell formation. Their threshold for use was extremely low—even an ordinary person with no supernatural power could activate them.

Standing before the crowd, Kun gently released the scroll in his hand. It floated upward, unfurling in midair.

At first glance, it looked no different from a low-tier scroll—once opened, it measured about a foot square. Within it, however, was a dense magic array composed of intricate symbols, all glowing with magical brilliance. Then, as a crimson flame ignited out of thin air, the scroll was quickly consumed.

“Buzz—!”

Accompanied by countless magical symbols, a streak of golden light shot skyward with lightning speed, striking the vast canopy of dark clouds. It was like tossing a stone into a black lake at night—ripples of golden light spread outward, sweeping across the entire sky until they vanished beyond the horizon.

“What is that?”

“Such dense wind elements… such powerful magical fluctuations… such an exquisite magic array… it’s beautiful—unbelievable—truly beautiful!”

The two novice mages of the territory stared in rapture at the fading array. To them, every glowing symbol was mesmerizing, each containing profound magical truths.

But Kun, who had spent three full days copying the scroll, knew that what they saw and understood was not even a tenth of its true depth.

Normally, the higher the tier of a magic scroll, the harsher the requirements for its creation. This fourth-tier scroll alone required materials from a fourth-tier magical beast—and more importantly, a wind-element archmage who had reached the fourth-tier Heroic Domain.

And that was only the beginning.

It was well known that higher-tier spells required longer incantations. Magic scrolls bypassed this limitation, but at the cost of inscribing those long, complex magical symbols flawlessly onto the scroll.

Low-tier scrolls unfolded to about a foot in size.

But third-tier scrolls?

They expanded to over ten meters—not held in one’s hand, but cradled.

And yet this ancient fourth-tier scroll…

Was no larger than a standard low-tier scroll.

Kun had obtained it three days ago. Despite knowing the dire situation of the Fengrao Territory, he chose to gamble—spending three sleepless days copying every detail of the scroll.

The high-tier symbols themselves were valuable, but what truly captivated him was the technique within—an almost miraculous method of compressing a massive, hundred-meter-scale magic array into a mere square foot.

What, then, was true wealth?

Many mages believed magic itself was wealth.

But few understood—knowledge was not limited to tangible symbols.

To Kun, the fact that clouds could pass without rain was knowledge. That two identical magical herbs grown by the same person could develop differently—that was knowledge. Even farming was a form of precious knowledge.

Everything one saw and heard was wealth—so why did others turn a blind eye?

Others found Kun strange. In his eyes, they were all hopeless fools.

Unable to understand one another, there was nothing to discuss. And so, in the royal capital, Kun had grown increasingly silent—until in that vast city, he had only “half a friend,” bound together by a sliver of shared blood.

What was true wealth? What was a true friend? What was worth protecting with one’s life?

Kun had his own answers.

If others didn’t understand?

So be it.

He never needed their approval. Nor their understanding.

Clear the clouds. See the sun. Be yourself.

Standing in the rain, soaked from head to toe like a drenched stray dog, Joel slowly raised his hand.

“The rain… stopped?!”

It was as if a god had pressed a stop button. The torrential downpour vanished instantly, without a trace. The heavy clouds above shifted, as though parted by an invisible hand. Rays of dazzling sunlight broke through the gaps, illuminating the entire Fengrao Territory in a dreamlike glow.

“The rain’s stopped!”

“It’s stopped!”

Countless residents rushed out of their homes, shouting with joy as they ran through muddy paths and puddles, spreading the news across Emerald Heart. They had waited far too long for this day—it had felt like an eternity.

“It’s a miracle—a divine miracle!”

“What miracle? Don’t talk nonsense—I saw it! It was the lord’s magic!”

“Long live the lord!”

“Long live the lord!”

Before Blackstone Castle, Joel was the first to drop to one knee before Kun.

In the Dansu Kingdom, kneeling was not customary. Even commoners only needed to bow when the king passed. Kneeling on one knee, right fist to chest, was the highest form of a knight’s oath—swearing loyalty with one’s heart and life.

Since the lord had arrived, life in the village had visibly improved. He gave them work, food, even wages. In such a harsh world, meeting a lord so benevolent was like being reborn.

Now that he had tasted what it meant to live well, Joel was terrified—terrified that the lord might leave. Not only would everything revert to how it was before, but this year had already begun with devastating natural disasters across the kingdom.

Farmers depended on the weather. Even in good years, they barely scraped by. This year…

Unless other regions had also cleared their skies, many—many people would starve.

Starvation was the cruelest punishment.

Joel didn’t want to starve. Nor did he want his elderly mother or his gentle little sister to starve.

He was uneducated, just a simple farm boy—but he understood one thing clearly:

The Fengrao Territory with the lord… and without him… were two entirely different worlds.

The lives of the lowly were cheap.

A harsh truth, whether one accepted it or not.

If the lord could let him eat his fill, then his life belonged to the lord.

And he was not alone in that thought.

Humans were emotional creatures—easily influenced by others. Once Joel knelt, a second followed. Then a third.

Soon, the entire crowd behind Kun dropped to their knees in a wave.

Mages never knelt.

Not to kings, not to popes. At most, they bowed.

The two novice mages did just that—but this time, they bowed deeply. No words could capture the excitement surging through them.

A fourth-tier spell.

A true grand spell.

Magic unseen on this land for centuries.

In that moment, they felt that even if they died now, their lives would have been worthwhile.

Before long, the dark clouds vanished entirely, leaving behind a vast blue sky. The sunlight was dazzling.

Even Li Tianyun, usually composed, was utterly shaken.

A strange emotion filled his chest—like witnessing a nuclear explosion and surviving, or seeing humanity set foot on the moon.

Awe. Reverence.

Staring at the sky, he muttered,

“I kind of regret it now… I shouldn’t have let you take it.”

“Too late,” Kun said with a grin. “You’d be hard-pressed to find another scroll like that in the entire Dansu Kingdom. But give me some time—once I fully grasp the knowledge within, I can make one of equal or even greater quality.”

This wasn’t arrogance. It was clarity—knowing exactly what he could and could not do.

“Take another good look at me. Do I really have no talent for magic?”

Kun shrugged, his expression practically saying, What do you expect from me?

In truth, it was partly his fault.

To strengthen the connection between their two bodies, Kun had used Li Tianyun’s original blood to construct this vessel.

The benefits were clear—the compatibility between body and soul was high. Even the life-reversal process, which normally required reaching the fourth-tier warrior level, had been forcibly lowered to the third tier.

Previously, Kun hadn’t realized that sharing life could bypass such barriers. With Li Tianyun’s original aptitude, even with Kun’s full support, reaching the fourth tier would have been impossible.

History was filled with third-tier warriors of extraordinary talent who had been forever blocked by that invisible threshold.

Countless.

As for the downside—

He had no magical aptitude at all.

On Blue Star, a land barren of mana, finding someone born with the ability to sense magic was not merely unlikely—it was as rare as winning the grand prize in a lottery.

Afterward, the excited group returned to the council chamber. Kun began issuing a series of new orders.

“Dawn, take the security team to the border between the Fengrao Territory and the Everdark Forest. Restore those traps as quickly as possible. After so many days of rain, it’s not just people who are starving—those beasts that barely survived the winter will be desperate as well. Spring planting is about to begin. I won’t allow anything to interfere.”

“As you command!”