Chapter 1195: One step away

Ren Xiaosu stood at the top of the tall Sorcerer's Tower while carrying a huge metal door. The turbulent sea behind him, he faced into the surging gusts from the sea.

Xu Anqing's robe, which he wore over his brown leather armor, kept fluttering in the wind.

He stood at the top of the Sorcerer's Tower in confusion and asked, "Where did this door come from?"

A long time ago, many sorcerers were troubled by the shortcomings of the Enchanted Doorway.

For example, every person could only open it once in their lifetime. Therefore, many sorcerers were not allowed to cast the Enchanted Doorway spell when they were still young, because they could very well end up wasting this opportunity.

Within the Sanctuary, children like An'an were not eligible to activate their enchanted doorways. They would have to reach 24 years of age before they could do so.

Actually, when An'an was nine years old, her willpower was high enough for her to cast this spell. However, no one was willing to teach her the incantation for the Enchanted Doorway at that age.

It would be such a pity if the enchanted doorway she activated only led to the candy shop.

An'an had spoken with her father before. The young lady said at that time, "What's the point of opening an enchanted doorway?"

Chen Jiu, who had already activated his enchanted doorway, answered, "Some people do it to seek a safe harbor for themselves, while others do it to find their paradise."

Actually, Chen Jiu's enchanted doorway was a combination of both. He personally erected this Sorcerer's Tower that stood by the sea, and it became a safe harbor for many of the underground residents.

Ren Xiaosu saw farmland and shepherds beyond the Sorcerer's Tower. In this place where no one knew of its location in the world, it had become a new settlement for some.

At that time, An'an stated, "If my enchanted doorway opens to the most famous candy store in Ghent City, I'll be so happy."

Chen Jiu's reply to her was, "A person can't only seek happiness in life. Moreover, a qualified Sanctuary member should never treat stealing sweets as happiness..."

Of course, this was only one of the shortcomings of the enchanted doorway that troubled sorcerers. More importantly, the location of the enchanted doorway was fixed.

Many sorcerers had tried moving it before. They wanted to modify the incantation of the enchanted doorway spell and turn it into a portable doorway that did not rely on external objects. In this way, everyone could greatly increase their means of survival.

But no matter how hard the sorcerers tried, their experimentation with the spell all ended in failure.

However, Ren Xiaosu had now provided the sorcerers with another option. "Since you can't move the enchanted doorway, just bring it with you."

Ren Xiaosu thought this was probably the true essence of the saying "breaking down doors to make an escape."

Meanwhile, Xu Anqing thought the enchanted doorway could become an Anywhere Door with such a hardware tweak!

Xu Anqing repeated his question again, "Where did this door come from?"

Ren Xiaosu looked at Xu Anqing. "If sorcerers can open up enchanted doorways, those of us from the Central Plains naturally have our own ways as well. Is it important where the door comes from?"

Ren Xiaosu was lying. Even now, he was the only person in the entire Central Plains who possessed a storage space.

However, there was no pressure in lying. After all, the people from the Kingdom of Sorcerers could not verify his claims.

He had taken this door from the standard prison when he saved Wang Yun from the Kong Consortium back then. It was not of much use to him, but he took it so he could use it as an occasional shield against bullets.

Under normal circumstances, Ren Xiaosu would choose to use the nanomachines to shield himself from bullets. However, those little guys consumed too much power too quickly. They relied on bioenergy to recharge their batteries. Sometimes, they could only last for five to ten minutes in a high-intensity battle even after a 24-hour charge. Therefore, Ren Xiaosu had to give himself a simple backup plan... the kind that did not require any electrical power.

Ren Xiaosu looked at Xu Anqing. "What's the incantation for activating the enchanted doorway? Why don't you teach me how to open it? I'd also like to know where's the place I want to go most."

Xu Anqing shook his head. "Don't learn the Enchanted Doorway spell; teach me how to conjure a door first."

"You can't learn something like that." Ren Xiaosu said with a grin, "Hurry up and tell me the incantation for the Enchanted Doorway."

"Actually, the Enchanted Doorway is the only spell in the entire Magi system that doesn't require incantations or meditative visualization diagrams." Xu Anqing said with a laugh, "Back then, Little An'an pestered her father for so long without knowing how to activate her enchanted doorway. However, the method is extremely simple. When she finds out the truth in the future, she'll definitely be furious, just like when I found out the truth."

"Oh?" Ren Xiaosu wondered, "There isn't even a need for an incantation?"

Xu Anqing said, "All you need is a red Eye of True Sight or better. Drip a drop of your blood on it and turn it 3,600 degrees against the door you're holding. The enchanted doorway will then open for you."

"It's that simple?" Ren Xiaosu was stunned. 3,600 degrees was equivalent to ten revolutions. He was a little curious about how the person who discovered the enchanted doorway had found out about this system.

Was he bored?

However, it required a red Eye of True Sight or higher to work. This added a lot of restrictions to the Enchanted Doorway spell. For example, Melgor could not activate it with his Eye of True Sight.

White, orange, red, gold, and black. Based on these different grades of Eyes of True Sight that existed, there were actually not that many people who could activate their enchanted doorways.

Ren Xiaosu seemed to remember that the archmage back at Vaduz Cathedral who presided over the worship ceremony only had a red Eye of True Sight.

As a matter of fact, the greatest difference between the magus order and supernatural beings of the Central Plains was that incantations had been explored by the Magi for generations and could be passed down as a legacy for future generations.

"Would you like to try it out now?" Xu Anqing said, "But you'll need an Eye of True Sight first. That won't be easy to get your hands on, and it has to be a higher grade than a red one, which is even harder to get. Perhaps, Chen An'an's father can help you—huh?!"

Xu Anqing stared blankly at the Eyes of True Sight in Ren Xiaosu's hand. The colored stones were lying in his hands like they were worthless sweets from a candy store.

His look was just like the blank expressions on the faces of Qian Weining and company. Although Xu Anqing was a core member of the Sanctuary, he had never seen so many Eyes of True Sight in one place before in his life.

Chen Jingshu knew what Ren Xiaosu had done in Winston City and had also witnessed the things he did after that meeting with Zhang Haoyun. As such, she did not have a chance to relay the news back to the Sanctuary.

Xu Anqing and the others could roughly guess what Ren Xiaosu had done, but they were still unaware of the details.

"Oh." Ren Xiaosu said calmly, "I don't need to trouble y'all with getting an Eye of True Sight. I still have quite a lot of them. By the way, will a higher-grade Eye of True Sight affect the spell casting? Like, can I have an enchanted door that opens up to a farther away location?"

"Uh..." Xu Anqing was stumped. "I really don't know about that."

Ren Xiaosu asked curiously, "Why not? Have you never tried it out with other grades of Eyes of True Sight?"

Xu Anqing was cursing in his mind. He had only had one Eye of True Sight all his life, so how could he know that much?

In other words, he just followed whatever others had taught him to do. That was because everyone's enchanted doorways were different, so no one could really identify a specific pattern in the spell.

Ren Xiaosu asked again, "An Eye of True Sight will allow a sorcerer to open up a permanent enchanted doorway, so if I had a few dozen Eyes of True Sight, can I open up several dozen enchanted doorways?"

"That won't work!"

"Why not? Have you tried it out yourself?" Ren Xiaosu seemed a little dissatisfied.

"... I've never tried it."

"Then it's just hearsay." Ren Xiaosu said, "Why didn't you test it out?"

Xu Anqing was crying on the inside. "Because I've never possessed so many Eyes of True Sight before...."

Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and comforted him, "My condolences."

Xu Anqing nearly roared out loud. 'Condolences? What condolences?! Everyone else only has one Eye of True Sight each! You're the only one who has so many of them, alright?!'

Ren Xiaosu muttered, "We'll know when I test it out later."

With that, Xu Anqing saw Ren Xiaosu taking out a black Eye of True Sight. Before this, Ren Xiaosu had only ever revealed it to Melgor.

Xu Anqing started stammering, "That's... a black Eye of True Sight?!"

"In case the spell can only work once, it's better to test it out with the highest grade Eye of True Sight that I have." Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, "Why do you look so shocked? Summer should have already told you that one of Russell's Eyes of True Sight was taken away by that Rider, so isn't it to be expected that it would be in my possession now?"

It was like this black Eye of True Sight was the last piece of evidence that verified Ren Xiaosu's identity.

He drew his black saber and sliced his thumb, then dripped his blood onto the stone before pressing it against the steel door and turning it.

In an instant, the black Eye of True Sight absorbed Ren Xiaosu's blood.

The small black stone seemingly reached a scorching temperature as the violet sigil on it suddenly glowed red.

Immediately after, the spot where the black stone came in contact with the metal door slowly melted into a completely fitting cavity.

Red molten metal flowed out of the depression, and sparks occasionally flew out. However, Ren Xiaosu was not burnt by the Eye of True Sight and only felt a sense of warmth from it.

"The magic of creation is really amazing." Ren Xiaosu sighed.

After Ren Xiaosu was done turning the Eye of True Sight ten times, he removed the black stone and took out a gold one to drip his blood on. Ren Xiaosu was surprised to discover that the gold Eye of True Sight did not absorb his blood.

"As expected, it doesn't work." Ren Xiaosu felt a little regretful. "If only I could open a few more enchanted doorways."

Each person could only open one door in their life. This was the rule of the Enchanted Doorway spell.

Xu Anqing looked at Ren Xiaosu and asked, "Where does your enchanted doorway lead?"

"That's what I want to know too." Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, "Please call my people over. Before going in, I must guard against anyone who might try something funny."

Xu Anqing said helplessly, "Even if you don't trust me, you could've put it more tactfully."

At this moment, Melgor also came to the Sorcerer's Tower from the underground tunnel. Ren Xiaosu had Summer, Qian Weining, him, and the others guard his enchanted doorway together.

Ren Xiaosu said to Mel, "I don't know where this portal will lead me when I pass through it. They say it'll be the place I want to go most, but actually, I don't know where that is either."

This was what attracted Ren Xiaosu the most about the enchanted doorway. It was very difficult for anyone to analyze their inner desires, but the enchanted doorway would give them a direct answer.

After that, Ren Xiaosu stepped through the newly created enchanted doorway.

A second later, Ren Xiaosu quietly took note of the environment in front of him and started laughing. So it turned out... the place he most wanted to go to was that humble residence on Anning East Road in Stronghold 144.

Ren Xiaosu had walked out from the enchanted doorway through the wall next to the sofa in the living room. Everything in front of him felt so familiar and reassuring.

Yang Xiaojin and he had bought this place together and got to know Hu Xiaobai and Wang Yuexi afterwards.

At this place, they experienced setting up a stall in the marketplace, did some reading, and Yang Xiaojin would go shopping for groceries and cook for him like a normal person.

They had also planted some Potato Shooters and an apricot tree in their backyard.

When they were upstairs, they would whisper to each other through the thin wooden walls before they fell asleep.

Ren Xiaosu had wandered around the world and met many people. Some of them became friends, some became enemies, and some were just passersby in his life.

In the end, what made him feel grounded was not some glorious official residence but this small house in Stronghold 144.

So this was where he wanted to go the most. This was great! In the future, no matter where he might be, he could return home instantly through the Anywhere Door.

"Is anyone there?" Ren Xiaosu shouted happily.

There was no response from the house. It looked like no one had lived here in a long time.

However, Ren Xiaosu was not disappointed. Before he came back here, he had guessed Yang Xiaojin had already gone to look for him in the Kingdom of Sorcerers. Therefore, it was within his expectations that she was not in Stronghold 144.

At this moment, it was evening. Ren Xiaosu went to the backyard to check on the Potato Shooters. However, when Hu Xiaobai, who was in the yard next door, saw Ren Xiaosu walking out of the house, her jaw nearly dropped to the ground. "Xiaosu!"

It should be the weekend today, so Hu Xiaobai stayed at home on her rest day. She had taken advantage of the sunny weather to put out her blankets and mattresses in the yard to dry. Now that it was evening, it was time to bring them back in.

The sunset cast a glow on the blanket and Hu Xiaobai's face and made everything look exceptionally gentle.

This made Ren Xiaosu feel like he had never really left this place. It was as though this was where he truly belonged.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Hu." Ren Xiaosu smiled and said, "Why do you look so surprised?"

However, Hu Xiaobai ignored him and ran into the house with her blankets. She shouted, "Old Wang! Old Wang! Look who's back!"

Wang Yuexi's voice could be heard coming from inside the house. "I'm writing a document, so don't disturb me with all that shouting... Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, let go of my hand!"

While protesting, Hu Xiaobai pulled Wang Yuexi out of the house by the ear.

When Wang Yuexi saw Ren Xiaosu, he nearly thought he was hallucinating. "Future Commander? Why did you suddenly come back? They said you went to the Kingdom of Sorcerers!"

Ren Xiaosu laughed and said, "We can catch up on that later. Summon Black Fox and Zhang Xiaoman for me."

Black Fox was P5092's adjutant.

After the war between the Pyro Company and the Wang Consortium, the remaining Pyro Company main forces retreated to the Northern Plains. In the end, they were all brought to the Northwest by P5092. Currently, Black Fox and Zhang Xiaoman should be the ones in command in the 6th Combat Brigade.

The reason why Ren Xiaosu did not call for P5092, the Great Hoodwinker, or Wang Yun was that he knew they were definitely on their way to the Kingdom of Sorcerers.

In fact, they might even be there already.

This was not just Ren Xiaosu speculating. All of them understood each other on a deep level.

Wang Yuexi hurriedly obeyed and said, "Alright! I'll get them to come right away!"

Then Wang Yuexi stumbled back into the house to make a call. Meanwhile, Hu Xiaobai called out to Ren Xiaosu, "Xiaosu, come over to our place. Big Sis will make you dinner. You must not have had dinner yet since you suddenly came back, right? What do you want to eat tonight?"

"Just a bowl of noodles will do," Ren Xiaosu said with a smile.

At sunset, a dozen military vehicles drove through the gates from outside Stronghold 144.

The earth-shattering sight stirred a wave of speculation among the residents. Those who did not know better would think the military was about to arrest a spy ringleader.

The dozen military vehicles were all from the 6th Combat Brigade. A pedestrian wondered, "That's strange. Those soldiers don't usually come into the stronghold when Future Commander isn't here. Didn't they say they were holding a boot camp for the new recruits? So why did they come into the stronghold with so many people?"

At the same time, it wasn't only the 6th Combat Brigade that had reported to Anning East Road. Wang Fugui and Jiang Wu also arrived.

Anning East Road was no longer peaceful. The neighbors were all looking curiously at the distinguished guests and saw the alleyways full of parked cars. The neighborhood was bustling with activity.

A middle-aged woman was picking vegetables at the entrance of her house and saying with a laugh, "The last time there was such a big commotion on Anning East Road was when Future Commander was caught."

"Don't you know how to word things properly? They found Future Commander; he wasn't caught!" another middle-aged woman said disdainfully.

"At that time, Future Commander didn't want to be the future commander yet, so wasn't he caught so that he would be the future commander?" the vegetable-picking woman retorted.

But two old men, who were playing chess by the side, suddenly stopped when they overheard their conversation. "Could it be that Future Commander is really back?"

Just as he finished speaking, the neighbors saw the 6th Combat Brigade's commander, Zhang Xiaoman, jumping out of an off-road vehicle. Then he shouted at the top of his voice, "Future Commander, you're finally back! The Great Hoodwinker and those damn jerks went to the Kingdom of Sorcerers and left me here by myself!"

Following Zhang Xiaoman was Black Fox. The deputy commander of P5092 was obviously much more mature than Zhang Xiaoman.

When the neighbors heard this, they were immediately shocked. "Hey, Old Liu, did someone bless your tongue? Future Commander is really back?"

Ren Xiaosu welcomed Zhang Xiaoman and the others into Wang Yuexi's house. He looked at Black Fox and said, "I had already gone to Fortress 178 when y'all arrived, so I couldn't welcome you myself."

Black Fox said politely, "Future Commander, there's no need to stand on ceremony. We're already very familiar with each other."

Black Fox knew about everything Ren Xiaosu had done at the Pyro Company's front line back then.

Black Fox felt that anyone aware of the future commander's fearsomeness would definitely lay down their pride temporarily in his presence.

"Future Commander, how did you get back? Where are the Great Hoodwinker and the others?" Zhang Xiaoman wondered.

Ren Xiaosu explained, "I came back using sorcery. I haven't joined up with the Great Hoodwinker and the others yet."

"Sorcery?!" Zhang Xiaoman's interest was immediately piqued. "Future Commander, you've actually learned sorcery? Can you teach me?"

After all, Zhang Xiaoman felt that one could pick any person around him, and it would turn out to be a superhuman. This made him, a brigade commander, very embarrassed.

But more importantly, he was not one of those superhumans. They all had gone on a very exciting trip, but he wasn't able to join them!

Ren Xiaosu took out two red Eyes of True Sight and threw one each to Zhang Xiaoman and Black Fox. "Consider this a local specialty that I brought back from the Kingdom of Sorcerers. With it, you can become sorcerers too. This is the weapon of the Magi."

Zhang Xiaoman sighed and said, "Even the local specialties that Future Commander brought back are so unique."

"Alright, stop flattering me already." Ren Xiaosu taught the two of them how to meditate and practice. Then he asked, "Tell me, who went to the Kingdom of Sorcerers to look for me?"

Zhang Xiaoman said indignantly, "There's Future Commander's wife and that maid of yours, the Great Hoodwinker, Ji Zi'ang, Wang Yun, P5092, and even that fair-skinned chubster, Xun Yeyu, was brought to the Kingdom of Sorcerers. But they refused to let me go with them."

When Ren Xiaosu heard this, he was reassured. With this lineup from the Northwest, those people from the Kingdom of Sorcerers would have no choice but to become the Prosperous Northwest's branch office!

"Black Fox, how are things going between the Pyro Company and the 6th Combat Brigade?" Ren Xiaosu asked.

Black Fox said, "This is something I have to update you on, Future Commander. After Commander P5092 brought us here, we were initially worried the Northwest would not welcome us. In the end, Commander Zhang directly gave the approval for a reorganization. The 6th Combat Brigade has already become the 6th Field Division. The Pyro Company has trained really well with the 6th Combat Brigade. I've already redrawn the training directives of the 6th Field Division based on the types of troops available to us."

"Anything that you haven't adjusted to yet?" Ren Xiaosu asked.

"No." Black Fox said with a smile, "Currently, the strength of our battle order is 21,317 men, including 3,021 new recruits who've just been drafted into the military. Other than these recruits who still cannot go into battle, the others are operationally ready!"

"Very good." Ren Xiaosu nodded in satisfaction. It seemed he had indeed done the right thing by getting P5092 to convince these Pyro Company troops to join the Prosperous Northwest. "I need all of you, other than the recruits, to quickly prepare for battle. After that, set up camp inside Stronghold 144. The vicinity of Anning East Road will have to be placed under martial law. But remember, don't disturb the nearby residents."

"Understood!" Black Fox accepted his combat orders first before clarifying his doubts, "Future Commander, what's the meaning of this? Are we starting a war in the city?"

"No." Ren Xiaosu shook his head and said with a laugh, "We're declaring war on the Kingdom of Sorcerers."

"How many basic supplies should we bring?" Black Fox asked.

Ren Xiaosu shook his head and said, "I'm not versed in warfare, so I'll just explain the situation and leave the judgment call to you. This battle shouldn't require many logistical supplies. We'll be facing over a 100,000 cavalry units, and there might be street battles or walled defense tactics in play..."

Black Fox silently made a note of it. "I already have a rough idea of what the situation is, but I still have some doubts. Future Commander, why do you want us to set up camp inside Stronghold 144? And surely we need logistical supplies for the march to the Kingdom of Sorcerers, right?"

Ren Xiaosu shook his head while smiling. "There's no need for that. If we run out of supplies, we can just come back and transport them. We're only one step away from the Kingdom of Sorcerers."

The moment Ren Xiaosu realized his enchanted doorway was connected to Stronghold 144, he knew how they should fight this war.

It was as though the enchanted doorway in his house had opened a path right in the face of the Magi. Originally, the Northwest would have to travel thousands of kilometers to send their troops to the Kingdom of Sorcerers, so their entire supply line would be a problematic issue.

But it was different now. The entirety of Stronghold 144 had become their forward operating base. With that, the 6th Field Division's firepower was really only a step away from the Kingdom of Sorcerers.