CHAPTER 190 - Ascended? No Problem

Jayce's face lit up, his strong hands, like a vice, clasped onto the shoulders of the slender youth. In broken Shuriman, he asked, "You say Li Lin has returned?!"

"Hey! Jayce, calm down, you're hurting the kid," reminded the elderly craftsman from the Kiramman family.

Noticing the youth's grimace, Jayce immediately released his grip, but didn't offer an apology. "Are you sure it's really Li Lin?"

"If... you mean the one who was with the Grand Scholar, wearing shimmering blue armor, then I think so," replied the youth, massaging his sore shoulder.

"The Grand Scholar?" Jayce raised an eyebrow, his face showing skepticism. "Who's that?"

"Of course, it's Nasus, the renowned divine warrior of Shurima!"

As soon as Nasus was mentioned, the youth's excitement bubbled forth, forgetting his shoulder pain.

The elder let out a couple of grunts, murmuring softly enough for Jayce to hear, "I told you to study more of the historical records before coming to Shurima..."

Impatiently waving his hand, Jayce signaled the elder to be quiet.

"The divine warrior is a name I've heard before, back when I was studying the Hextech crystals... but the focus now isn't on that," Jayce redirected his gaze to the Shuriman youth, then unfastened a heavy pouch from his waist, tossing it to him.

The youth's eyes sparkled as he eagerly opened the pouch, retrieving a shiny gold coin. "Wow! You're generous, sir!"

"30 gold coins. Take me to find Li Lin."

"Talis, you're giving him too much. With this much money, I fear that by tomorrow..." 

"Enough, Grant. I've already said, now is not the time for this!" 

The elder shook his head in resignation, sighing, and fell silent.

Jayce, he's becoming more and more impolite...

The youth carefully tucked away the pouch into his clothing and beckoned to Jayce, running toward the south gate of Nashramae.

Jayce followed the youth's stride closely, leaving the craftsmen standing in place, exchanging glances.

"Should we... follow them?" asked the young craftsman next to Ranor.

"Of course, we should!" Even before Ranor could respond, Grant, standing opposite him, chimed in. "Didn't you hear what the kid said? A divine warrior! Don't you want to see what they look like?"

Most of the craftsmen from other families showed a hint of curiosity on their faces.

Many of them had heard of the golden era of the Shuriman Empire and its divine warriors, and naturally wanted to see what they were like.

Grant blew the white whiskers on his mouth and let his young assistant help him keep up with Jayce and the others.

Ranor gritted his teeth, then turned back to signal to the craftsmen from the Medarda family, "Let's go, we'll follow them."

...

...

South Gate of Nashramae.

Li Lin and his companions hadn't even entered the city yet when they were recognized.

Nasus' recognition was just too high.

Word spread quickly among the residents of Nashramae, and soon, hundreds gathered near the south gate, eager to catch a glimpse of the immortal figure of the divine warrior.

"Um, are we being too conspicuous?" Sivir whispered to Li Lin as she glanced at the crowd lining the streets.

Although she had experienced such adulation in the Sun City not long ago, she had assumed the role of a descendant of the Shuriman royal family. Besides, back then, she was not familiar with the Sun City, and those people knew she was a royal princess.

But here in Nashramae, everyone only knew her as a mercenary. This kind of welcoming ceremony made her quite uncomfortable.

Kassadin glanced at Sivir, seeming to guess what she was thinking. "Don't think too much. They're not welcoming you."

Sivir: "..."

Kai'Sa, following behind Li Lin and Kassadin, covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

Fortunately, the people of Shurima showed great respect for Nasus, and they didn't rush forward like some crazed fanatics on Earth.

They just maintained an appropriate distance, kneeling on one knee with their arms crossed in front of their chests, showing the highest etiquette of Shurima to Nasus.

But most non-Shurimans didn't understand such etiquette, especially someone who had never cared about such trivial matters.

"Li Lin!" A familiar booming voice echoed from the end of the street.

Soon after, with a hurried pace, Jayce pushed aside the Shuriman people blocking his way, ignoring their angry stares, and ran all the way to Li Lin's front.

He extended his fist and lightly hammered Li Lin's chest armor, his expression displeased. "You rascal! Where on earth have you been?!"

"Uh, who's this rude handsome guy..." Sivir's eyes turned to Li Lin. "Your friend?" 

Li Lin didn't answer her question, unfolding his face mask and staring at the young man in front of him. "Jayce? What are you doing here?"

"You ask me, but I also want to ask you! You left my task unfulfilled and went to the desert. Do you know how dangerous that is?!"

"Don't mention your powered armor, and... huh?" Jayce paused when he saw more than a dozen storm robots floating behind Li Lin. "Damn it, is this all your doing? Are you going to war?"

"More or less... without some protection, how could I dare venture into the desert?"

"Even with this thing, if you encounter some powerful mages or ascended beings..."

"Cough, cough!"

Before Jayce could finish his sentence, Li Lin quickly cleared his throat, gesturing to Nasus standing beside him.

"Forgive me for not introducing you. This is Nasus, the Grand Scholar of the Shuriman Empire, a divine warrior ascended thousands of years ago."

Only then did Jayce notice the towering figure of Nasus, standing beside him in battle armor, wielding a long axe.

Nasus lowered his head, crimson light flashing in his eyes, exuding a silent but imposing aura.

Jayce suddenly felt as if his soul had been laid bare, his expression blank, unable to help but shiver. "May you have water and shade, sir?"

He hastily greeted Nasus in Shuriman.

"Hmm," Nasus grunted softly, then said to Li Lin, "Your friend needs you. Governor Sabja will be taken care of by me."

With that, he nodded to Sivir, Kassadin, and Kai'Sa, then walked toward the Governor's Mansion amidst the crowd.

As Nasus walked away, Jayce couldn't help but inhale sharply, "Hiss! Is that an ascended being? He scared me to death."

Li Lin suppressed a smile, patting Jayce's shoulder. "Luckily, the Grand Scholar is quite tolerant and doesn't like to argue with people."

"If it were his brother, Renekton the Butcher of the Sands, you'd probably have been chopped in half and left on the street."

Jayce furrowed his brow, looking at Sivir, who dared to call out the divine warrior's name directly. "And who is this?"

"Sivir, Captain of the Siharo Mercenary Corps." Before Li Lin could speak, Sivir introduced herself.

Jayce looked skeptical. "A woman can be a mercenary captain?"

Sivir didn't like the sound of that. She raised her chin, her expression disdainful and provocative. "Want to try my strength? Despite your size, I wouldn't even need a weapon to deal with you."

"You..."

"Don't get excited, don't get excited!" Li Lin quickly held back Jayce. "To be honest, you probably wouldn't stand a chance against her."

"Even if you could, I doubt you'd dare to strike," Kassadin added from the side. "She's the descendant of the Divine Emperor Azir, of royal blood."

Jayce: "..."

Divine Emperor... Azir?

Jayce widened his eyes, looking Sivir up and down, a hint of shock flashing in his pupils. "Is... is this true?"

Jayce looked at Li Lin, who simply nodded, causing him to cover his chest in disbelief.

"But... didn't Azir perish along with the fall of the Shuriman Empire thousands of years ago?"

"Have you heard the recent rumors?" Li Lin shook his head, smiling.

"Are you saying that Azir has returned and ascended? Is that true?!"

"Of course it's true. We witnessed his return in the Sun City."

Jayce wiped the fine cold sweat from his forehead, wondering if he was dreaming.

May the gears turn!

Today was truly a crazy day...

"Quick, tell me everything you've experienced on your journey!"

(End of Chapter)

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