"I heard from the scholars in the hall that Scholar Gu Beite's books and notes are all with you. I wonder if I could take a look?" Inside Scholar Xiu Fu's study, Lynd spoke very directly, without beating around the bush.
"You're interested in Scholar Gu Beite's books and notes?" Scholar Xiu Fu was stunned for a moment, then, as if he had thought of something, he nodded and said, "Yes, you certainly should be interested in Scholar Gu Beite's research, after all, your armor already uses blood magic."
Although Scholar Xiu Fu's words were a bit inexplicable, Lynd still understood his meaning. Clearly, among the works and notes left by Gu Beite, there must be a lot of mysterious knowledge involving magic.
"Wait a moment." Scholar Xiu Fu did not refuse Lynd's request. He stood up and went outside. After a while, he returned to the study holding a very thick book.
Scholar Xiu Fu was panting as he placed the book in front of Lynd. He casually picked up a rag from the table, dusted off the cover, and while tilting his head to avoid the rising dust, he said to Lynd, who had already moved away from the dust, "Fifteen Godsworn golden dragons for you."
"Huh?" Hearing Scholar Xiu Fu's words, Lynd couldn't help but be stunned. He just wanted to look at Scholar Gu Beite's books and notes, but now it had turned into a transaction.
However, Lynd did not refuse. He pointed at the book and asked, "Can I take a look?"
"You can." Scholar Xiu Fu pushed the book to the table next to Lynd, letting him flip through it himself.
Lynd looked at the dusty and cracked cover, then opened it to examine the contents.
"Not Scholar Gu Beite's original? Did you re-copy it?" Lynd frowned and asked Scholar Xiu Fu.
Scholar Xiu Fu smiled and said, "Of course not the original. Fifteen Godsworn golden dragons can't buy the original, only my handwritten copy. I can guarantee that the content inside is exactly the same as the original, without any errors, and it also comes with my research notes, absolutely worth the price."
Looking at the white-haired Scholar Xiu Fu acting like a shrewd merchant, Lynd felt like laughing. He said nothing more and began to read carefully.
Scholar Xiu Fu did not disturb him. From a nearby bookshelf, he took out a bottle of wine and two cups, pouring for himself and Lynd.
"I don't drink." Lynd looked at the wine glass in front of him and said to Scholar Xiu Fu, then, with a hint of meaning, he added, "You just said that the content you copied is exactly the same as the original, without any errors, right?"
Scholar Xiu Fu hesitated upon hearing this, sensing the hidden meaning in Lynd's words, and countered, "Is there anything wrong with the content I copied?"
Lynd turned the page to the one recording the Dragon Rune of Hightower, pointed to the several rune styles copied on it, and said, "Are you sure these runes are copied correctly?"
Scholar Xiu Fu was stunned, looking at the runes above, and couldn't see any problem. He couldn't help but ask, "These runes were originally like this, I don't think I copied them wrong?"
"Are you sure they were originally like this?" Lynd emphasized, repeating his question. As he spoke, he dipped his finger in a bit of wine and quickly drew several runes similar to those in the book on the table.
Although at first glance, the runes drawn by Lynd and those in the book looked the same, upon closer inspection, one would notice many differences between the two. For example, the runes in the book had fewer strokes, and there were many breaks at the junctions of the runes, unlike the smooth and unified runes drawn by Lynd.
"Have you seen these runes? Do you know what they mean?" Scholar Xiu Fu could instantly discern the superiority of one over the other and realized that Lynd must have seen these runes before and frequently drawn them, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to write them so smoothly.
Lynd truthfully said, "Unfortunately, I don't know what they mean, and I really want to know what these runes truly signify and do."
Scholar Xiu Fu completely disbelieved Lynd's words and said, "Impossible, if you don't know what this is, why would you draw it so effortlessly?"
Lynd hesitated upon hearing this, seeming to catch a hint of something, and then asked, "Are those breaks intentionally left because you couldn't draw this rune?"
Scholar Xiu Fu did not answer, but instead, like Lynd, dipped his hand in a bit of wine from the glass and began to draw those runes of Hightower on the table.
Lynd, standing by, could see that Scholar Xiu Fu was drawing with great difficulty. The muscles on his exposed arm were tense and veins bulged, showing how much effort he was putting in. Yet, even so, his fingers still moved with great difficulty, as if an invisible force was pressing down on his hand, preventing him from drawing the correct runes. Only when he intentionally created breaks and deliberately drew sharp angles at turns could he relieve the pressure in his hand. When the last stroke was completed, the rune that appeared was exactly like the one in the book.
Seeing this, Lynd was also a bit surprised, because in the past, it had always been he and Moroa who researched these runes, and they had not found that these runes would be so difficult to draw.
Although Qyburn had also participated, he was only interested in the final effect and had never personally drawn a single rune. So Lynd naturally assumed that these runes, like the Dragon Rune of Lost Country Knight, could be carved by anyone. Now it seemed he was mistaken.
"Do you know the origin of these runes?" Scholar Xiu Fu asked with curiosity in his eyes.
"These runes are from Hightower, and these runes are from the Wall." Lynd pointed to the runes he recognized and said.
"Hightower and the Wall?" Scholar Xiu Fu's face showed excitement. He paced back and forth in the room, muttering to himself, "It's true, it's true! Everything Scholar Gu Beite said is true, these ancient buildings were all built by the same ancient civilization, a civilization of gods."
"A civilization of gods?" Lynd frowned slightly and asked, "Scholar Xiu Fu, could you tell me about this so-called civilization of gods?"
Scholar Xiu Fu was very emotional at the moment and unable to narrate calmly, so he walked to the table, turned the book to a later chapter, pointed to a piece of note text within it, and said, "It's very complicated to explain, you can read it yourself."
The content of this note was not very long. It was a summary written by Scholar Gu Beite after returning to Pentos from the Wall. In the article, he analyzed in detail the commonalities among the ancient ruins he had visited before, and what their civilizational characteristics were.
He ultimately concluded that in the distant past, the entire world was ruled by one civilization, and the various legends about deities today are actually events that occurred within that civilization, which, after being passed down orally, transformed into myths.
god of light r'hllor, lightbringer Azor Ahai, Night Lion, the Three-Headed God, the Horse God, Yndros, etc., all gods were leaders of that civilization. In various legends, they were elevated from humans to gods. Undoubtedly, Scholar Gu Beite, like most scholars at Citadel, was a very firm atheist.
At the end of the article, Scholar Gu Beite raised a question: why did that civilization suddenly disappear?
The reason for saying "suddenly" was because Scholar Gu Beite discovered an ancient civilization's ruin on the continent of Sothoryos. That ruin, due to its geographical location, was preserved very completely, unchanged for tens of thousands of years. And in that ruin, he discovered a large number of traces of daily life. From these traces, it could be seen that the people living in the entire ruin left suddenly, without even having time to pack their belongings in their houses.
In addition, he also discovered a completely sealed crystal coffin in the ruin. Inside the crystal coffin lay the body of an ancient civilized person, and he transported both the crystal coffin and the body back to Pentos.
Upon seeing this, Lynd immediately developed a strong curiosity. Pointing to the content about the crystal coffin in the article, he asked Scholar Xiu Fu, "What's the story with the crystal coffin mentioned here? Is the crystal coffin still at Sphinx Academy now?"
"Crystal coffin?" Scholar Xiu Fu looked at the content above, thought for a moment, and said, "I remember decades ago, during Pentos's last war with Braavos, Prince Nevo Neratys sought peace from Braavos, and that crystal coffin was given as a gift to the Sealord of Braavos. I imagine the item should now be in the Sealord's Palace treasury."
"Are there any records of the appearance of the ancient civilized person's body from inside the crystal coffin in Sphinx Academy?" Lynd asked again.
"No." Scholar Xiu Fu shook his head very firmly and said, "Legend has it that the body was very strange, containing a curse. Staying near the crystal coffin for too long would cause one's entire body to fester and die from the curse."
Lynd then asked, "Was Scholar Gu Beite also cursed and died from his entire body festering?"
"No." Scholar Xiu Fu shook his head and said, "He boarded Alisa Farman's sun chaser and disappeared into the depths of the Sunset Sea."
"Elissa Farman?" This somewhat familiar name surfaced in Lynd's mind. He remembered that Tywin had sent people to seize Fair Isle for Elissa Farman's nautical charts, and Corlys Velaryon, the Sea Snake, had also claimed to have seen Elissa Farman's sun chaser in Asshai.
Lynd stopped thinking about Elissa and turned to the now calm Scholar Xiu Fu, asking, "Scholar Xiu Fu, are you interested in researching ancient civilizations?"
"Of course, I'm interested." Scholar Xiu Fu seemed to realize something and asked, "Lord Onstein, do you intend to sponsor me?"
"No, not sponsor, but employ you." Lynd said in a deep voice, "In fact, not just you, I want the entire Sphinx Academy."
Scholar Xiu Fu was stunned, instinctively thinking Lynd was joking, but he quickly saw from Lynd's expression that he was not joking, but truly wanted the entire Sphinx Academy.
"Lord Onstein, what do you mean by that?" Scholar Xiu Fu asked suspiciously.
Lynd stated directly, "Your Sphinx Academy doesn't seem to be doing very well in Pentos right now. Are you interested in moving to another place?"
Although Scholar Xiu Fu had spent many years in the academy, this did not mean he was completely ignorant of worldly affairs. In fact, to live safely in a place like Pentos, where power struggles are fierce, and to obtain sufficient funds from various powerful nobles and wealthy merchants, one could not do without some political maneuvering.
So when Lynd said he wanted Sphinx Academy to move to another place, he became aware, and re-examined Lynd, asking, "I presume the name Onstein is not your real name, my lord? Who exactly are you? And who do you represent?"
Lynd did not conceal his true identity and said, "My name is Linde Terra, Lord of Summerhall, but people usually call me Godsworn."
Scholar Xiu Fu's face was filled with surprise upon hearing this. Undoubtedly, this answer completely exceeded his expectations. It took him a while to come back to his senses, and he confirmed again, "You are the Godsworn from Westeros, the new King of the Narrow Sea and Stepstones."
"The new King of the Narrow Sea and Stepstones? What kind of title is that? I don't think I've ever had such a title." Lynd frowned and said.
"This is how the Free Trade City States refer to you. This title originates from Daemon Targaryen. By convention, anyone who unifies the Stepstones will automatically be given this title," Scholar Xiu Fu explained. "However, Lord Linde, you are truly deserving, because soon, the Free Trade City States along the coast should all invite your Miracle Fleet to be stationed there, responsible for patrolling the safety of the Narrow Sea and hunting pirates. The entire Narrow Sea will be your domain, so calling you the King of the Narrow Sea and Stepstones is not wrong."
Although the title sounded impressive, Lynd did not particularly like it. He could even feel that the Free Trade City States' invitation for the Miracle Fleet to be stationed there probably didn't come with good intentions.
But it didn't matter. Whatever the Free Trade City States planned to do, he was confident he could handle it.
Lynd no longer dwelled on the name issue, but instead told Scholar Xiu Fu his plan to move the entire Sphinx Academy to Summerhall.
Although Illyrio had already agreed to help him suppress Sphinx Academy and make it impossible for Sphinx Academy to establish itself in Pentos, if there was a sufficiently high-ranking insider within Sphinx Academy, the entire relocation plan would become much smoother, and Scholar Xiu Fu was clearly such a suitable insider.
After listening to Lynd's narration, Scholar Xiu Fu did not immediately refuse, but after a moment of silence, he asked, "If Sphinx Academy moves to Summerhall, what support can we expect?"
"The specific benefits have not yet been determined," Lynd said. "However, financial support goes without saying. Sphinx Academy will also become an important place for cultivating officials in my territory, just like the Army Camp and Navy Camp cultivate officers."
If Lynd had casually offered a series of enticing conditions at this moment, Scholar Xiu Fu might have been suspicious. But now, Lynd immediately told him that the benefits were not yet determined, and then simply mentioned two basic benefits without specific details, which made him feel more reliable.
"To move Sphinx Academy, the dean is key. He is a native of Pentos and certainly won't be willing to move the academy to such a distant place. We need…" Although he didn't verbally agree to assist Lynd, Scholar Xiu Fu's heart had already begun to side with Lynd, and he started to plan for Lynd.
Seeing such a proactive Scholar Xiu Fu, Lynd also smiled.
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