The Medallion

Chapter 32 Marcia's Homecoming (Part One)

At the same time, in the Grand Holy Hall of the Holy Dragon Empire, things were happening.

The emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire sat on his gilded throne in the magnificent main hall. He looked solemn and serious, and each subtle movement revealed irresistible majesty, making others bow down their heads and avoid his gaze.

Lena, the Witch of the Holy Dragon Empire, was also in the hall. She possessed an extremely high status in the Holy Dragon Empire. It was known that a Witch was an oracle, who could communicate with dragons. She was also the only bridge between humans and the dragon. At the same time, the Witch had the same abilities as that of a royal spirit manipulator, and each generation of them was directly designated by the Dragon Master Clan. In the Grand Holy Hall, in addition to the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire and Lena, there were also Priest Dean and Alston. Several others too were present who held high authority and position in the Holy Dragon Empire.

Apart from all of them, there was a woman standing in the middle of the main hall. She looked at the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire respectfully.

"Master Mia, what is the progress of the pre-training phase of the 30 royal spirit manipulators?" the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire asked calmly.

The woman in the middle of the hall was Mia Lan.

"Your Majesty, everything has gone well so far," Mia arched her hands and answered.

"Twenty-nine of the thirty spirit manipulators were selected by me and I trained them with all my heart. I have confidence in them. However, I am concerned about the last one. He has not even reached the first grade of the Mortal Stage. I assume that he might perform poorly in training. Maybe even has become a drag for the team." Priest Dean spoke before Mia could speak further. Although his statement was euphemistic, everyone in the Grand Holy Hall immediately realized that he was not

referring to anyone else but Basil, also known as Rocky. He was the one who accidentally blended the dragon spiritual power of the Holy Dragon Bead with himself, and became a royal spirit manipulator.

"Priest Dean, are you talking about Basil? If you want to say anything, just say it. You don't need to beat around the bush." Mia spoke in a calm but firm voice.

"Priest Dean, Basil did not undergo any training before becoming a royal spirit manipulator. Even if his current performance is not good enough, you should not say that he is a drag on the team. Time will tell whether he can be a true royal spirit manipulator or not. I do believe that Basil can become an excellent royal spirit manipulator," Lena retorted. She had to give it back to Priest Dean immediately as she found that he was obviously targeting Basil intentionally.

"Your Royal Highness, I hope so too. I mean no offense. However, according to the aptitude and talent of Basil, it is impossible for him to become a royal spirit manipulator. So, I would recommend you not to raise your hopes too high. After all, the greater the hopes you raise, the greater the disappointment you will face," Priest Dean sneered.

"What Priest Dean said is right. Your Royal Highness, you do not have to pity a loser who no longer belongs to the royal family," Alston, who was standing beside Priest Dean, said coldly.

"Basil is not a loser!" Lena's eyes were filled with anger by the words of Alston and Priest Dean.

"Am I wrong?" Alston raised his eyebrows and asked her firmly.

"You..." Intense anger flashed in Lena's eyes.

"Stop all this now! You all should pay attention to the etiquette of your royal status and your identity." The emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire upbraided them with anger rising in his eyes.

Alston and Lena glared at each other and stopped quarreling.

"Your Majesty, in fact, I wanted to report something about Basil," Mia said.

"Master Mia, has anything happened to Basil? Is he sick? Or has he got injured?" Lena asked nervously after hearing what Mia said.

Everyone in the hall looked at Mia and was eager to know what had happened to the exiled prince, who was no longer a member of the royal family.

"Your Royal Highness, please don't worry. Basil's condition is good. What surprises me is that it took him only ten days to upgrade from the first grade of the Mortal Stage to the second grade of the Mortal Stage in the dragon field. This is the first time I have ever seen someone make such a rapid progress. I have never seen it before among all the royal spirit manipulators whom I have taught," Mia said in amazement and confusion.

"Really? He has already reached the second grade of the Mortal Stage in a few days?" Lena was over the moon to hear the good news from Mia.

After hearing Mia's report, the others present there were surprised too. They looked at each other and could not say a word.

Only the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire still looked as calm as he had been before. But on closer inspection, one could find that his eyes became more piercing than ever.

"Maybe it is because of the Holy Dragon Bead that Basil was able to upgrade his cultivation to the second grade of the Mortal Stage in so less days." Priest Dean was suspicious about it. He continued contemptuously, "Otherwise, it is impossible for him to reach the second grade of the Mortal Stage with such kind of aptitude and talent."

"Even if he can reach the second grade of the Mortal Stage, he still doesn't seem to live up to expectations. Generally speaking, royal spirit manipulators who merged the Holy Dragon Bead with them should have already reached the fifth grade of the Mortal Stage. Right now, he has just reached the second grade. I am sure that he is a loser!" Alston said with contempt in his voice.

"Enough is enough! There shall be no further discussion regarding Basil," the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire ordered.

Everyone in the hall took a look at each other and did not dare to discuss Basil's affairs any more.

Just at that moment, a guard came in and reported, "Your Majesty, we have received a message carried by a pigeon. It comes from the Imperial City Guards saying that General Marcia has returned to the Imperial City."

"She is back? Where is she now?" After the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire heard what the guard reported, there was a tiny glow of joy on his face. He asked immediately about Marcia's whereabouts.

"The message says that right now she is on her way here with the Celestial Snow-white Dragon and will arrive at the Palace City soon," the guard reported.

"Let us go outside to greet General Marcia!" The emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire said as he walked out of the Grand Holy Hall, as soon as he heard the answer from the guard.

It was not a usual thing for the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire to welcome someone in person. In the Holy Dragon Empire, only Three Great Generals enjoyed this kind of treatment. In addition, this time Marcia had been asked to do something of great importance to the Holy Dragon Empire. So, the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire wanted to know how things were going as soon as possible. Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

Seeing the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire walked out to greet Marcia personally, all the others present in the hall hurried after him. Lena, Priest Dean, Alston and Mia followed at the end of the line.

The group of people, led by the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire, left the Grand Holy Hall, and walked towards the middle of the huge square in front of the hall.