‘Let’s calm down, they shouldn’t be able to see me… right?’

Zhang Dong had found himself in a pickle. On the magical orb that the mage formed to find his apprentice the spot he was hiding on was being shown. From this vantage point, he could see the old man looking his way but his cover wasn’t blown quite yet.

The wizard named Argus continued to look between the spot he was in and the magical ball as if he wasn’t sure of what he was seeing. Sometimes the image changed to that of his apprentice that was leaning up against a prison wall and then back to the empty spot that Zhang Dong was in.

“That’s odd, is something there? I guess there is one way to find out..”

Finally, after playing around with his beard the wizard quickly pointed towards his hiding spot. Even without asking, he knew that something was coming as the mana particles around the wizard’s staff started to change. It was not something a regular person would notice but he was different.

Without a sound, there was a shift in the temperature around the area he was in. It was some sort of fire spell aimed for the spot on the wall that he was clinging to. If he didn’t move he would receive damage and his cover would be blown.

‘Doesn’t that old fart care about his apprentice? What if he kills the only person related to his apprentice?’

Zhang Dong was slightly perplexed about the old man’s immediate reaction. If it was him he would probably not try to blow up the only clue to his disciple's whereabouts. But perhaps this was part of the man’s plan as this amount of mana was not as deadly as he had originally thought yet his body reacted on instinct. With a high-speed jump, he propelled his body upwards to put some distance between himself and his enemies.

“I have you, now tell me where you have my apprentice!”

It was all a scheme created by the old Merlin look alike. The moment he revealed himself Argus used a quick teleportation spell to put himself above Zhang Dong’s position. A mass of small magic circles appeared from all directions which soon shot out a vast number of blue glowing chains.

The chains had a clear intention of trapping him in place. It was clear that the first attacking spell was only a distraction to reveal the enemy and the chains were there to trap him. Yet Zhang Dong was not easily captured as his body turned into a bolt of lightning to dodge the incoming energy shackles that came from all sides.

‘How many of these chains are there?’

The sky was covered in them, there was not much space to maneuver to getaway. He was unsure if this was something that this magician conjured up by himself or if this was some kind of safety measure that existed beforehand. One thing was obvious though, this man was strong.

“You will not get away fiend!”

“Hey now, I’m no fiend, and do you really want to kill the only person that knows where your apprentice is hidden away, what if he dies along with me?”

There was something odd that he noticed during this fight, this old man’s killing intent wasn’t all that strong. During his many battles he had grown a certain battle sense but this man didn’t seem that frenzied. The attacks that he was using were also not meant to kill but to capture.

“Why you…’

Then suddenly something odd happened, the shackles that were chasing after him halted with their advance. They didn’t vanish into thin air though instead they just floated there like snakes ready to pounce when ordered to.

“What do you want?”

“Wait, that actually worked for once?”

Zhang Dong was surprised by the enemy actually listening for once instead of just charging towards him like a madman. He had never had much luck when it came to the diplomatic approach, most of the time his fist envied all the conversations. Even when he was the stronger one the enemy rarely avoided conflict unless the gap was truly huge.

‘So, does this mean that these people care for their own?”

The only explanation for this reaction was the relationship between this old man and the student. Now the question was what he should do, in reality, he was holding most of the cards. Even if he didn’t manage to get a deal, escaping should be possible.

The wizard here was at the level of a nascent soul great circle master but not exactly the same. He did possess the mana to match his Qi but this didn’t mean that they were on equal footing.

The mages were quite stationary during combat, if you could crush their mana shield they would quickly crumble. They were like slow-moving turrets that could blast everything with spells but their only way of evading counterattacks was either a slower flight spell or teleporting.

That teleport that Argus performed was tricky though, even Zhang Dong could only react to it without knowing where the old man would appear. Then there was also the range, could this old fart move large distances away and constantly barrage him with deadly spells? If he took too long more of those golden knights would probably also show up, one of them was already flying up here with a shield and golden lance in hand.

“Grand Wizard, I will aid you!”

“Stand down Lord Gregory.”

This golden knight Gregory had a more intricate armor than the one he met at the ship. On his back, there were golden wings which were probably responsible for his flying capabilities. If he had to measure this knight’s power level he would put it at a lower middle nascent soul stage which at this point in his life wouldn’t amount to much.

“But Grand Wizard, the Knight Commander forbade us from consulting with the barbarian natives.”

“I will speak to Lord Lucius later but for now we shall converse…”

‘Knight Commander? Sounds like some big shot could be their leader if this Wizard has to answer to him.’

By the looks of things, the Wizard carried a lot of weight here. Even when another leader’s name was brought up he didn’t care. Yet, the shackles were still there and the knight remained in the sky as they clearly didn’t trust him to not escape.

“If you are finished then perhaps we can discuss a few things, here how about we take a seat.”

Zhang Dong smiled while waving his finger forward. The two people he was looking at flinched the moment he released energy that was very similar to their own. In his mind, he thought that perhaps if he showcased that he could also cast spells then perhaps these people would see him more as one of their own. But there was also the probability of them becoming more hostile after seeing a ‘barbarian’ using their holy arts.

“This, how is this possible? Are you someone that is from the Kingdom as well?”

The spell that he used was a creation spell. It produced a floating platform with a round table. On his end, there was one chair while on the other was another one for the Wizard. To separate himself from the weaker knight he decided to only allow Argus the sitting spot. This showed that he considered the mage to be on a more equal footing than the golden knight.

“From the Kingdom? No never heard about it but I also dabble in some magic, now how about you take a seat?”

The furniture he produced was glowing with blue energy and radiating faint blue light. He was unable to create things out of thin air only when fueling them with his energy would they be able to exist.

“Grand Wizard, don’t trust this barbarian, it has to be a trap!”

Gregory was very suspicious of the chair that Zhang Dong beckoned Argos towards. This was quite a normal reaction to doubt an enemy. If it was some kind of trap then their strongest member could be quickly taken out of the picture.

“It’s fine Lord Gregory, there are no traps there.”

The old man floated down to the chair to sit in it which also took Zhang Dong by surprise. He thought that he would remain standing, it was as if the old man was assured that there were no tricks involved. Argus seemed to be confident of his ability to see through the magic being used here or his own mana shield that was still protecting his body.

“My name is Zhang Dong, I do not wish to harm you or your apprentice but he and some other of your people attacked a merchant ship, they were lucky that it was me that captured them otherwise they would all be dead now I’m not sure what to do with them, your people have taken the lives do you think they deserve to live?”

This was the truth, if any other powerful cultivator appeared instead of him they would not bother with capturing these invaders. They would probably have no problem in blowing up the whole ship if they started losing though either.

“What do you mean barbarian? Of course, they deserve to live!”

“Oh do they? You come to our lands and slaughter our people. Do you call us barbarians so that you can justify your wanton slaughter? Is it not just an excuse to dehumanize your enemies and make yourself feel better?”

Zhang Dong raised his voice while looking at the man named Gregory. This was not something new, it happened everywhere when groups were involved. It didn’t matter what the difference was, it could be race, it could be religion or it could just be the city a person was born with. People liked to divide themselves into groups, then when conflicts arose it was easy to divide themselves from the enemy.

“How dare you!

“Lord Gregory, that's enough, leave us.”

Before the person in shining armor could get mad he was restrained by the magician. His shouts were muffled by a magic spell that the mage created in a fraction of a second. Soon he was forced to fly down towards the rest of the small army below them.

When glancing there Zhang Dong also noticed many crossbows and other ranged weapons being pointed towards him. It was clear that the moment the discussion ended he would find himself in quite the pickle. This could be of course prevented if he could get this Argus on his side and for some reason, the man was wise enough to give him a chance to explain himself.

“I must apologize for my companion’s outburst, I’m aware that we are nothing more than invaders in your eyes but I implore you to see past this notion, and perhaps we can come to an agreement.”

Finally, it was time to give his diplomatic skills a try, he had already alienated the golden knight by his previous emotional outburst but luckily this old man was not offended. Perhaps it was actually possible to resolve this without bloodshed for once.