Chapter 96: Preparation

The Red-clothed Devil remained still, staying in his own laboratory, fiddling with the dwarves' ashes, then he put the ashes into the originally red magic potion.

The gray ash powder was poured into the test tube, then it bubbled gurglingly, and its color turned dull.

The Red-clothed Devil quietly watched, observing the situation before him, but he always felt something was wrong.

He saw the red potion slowly change color, then emit a faint blue light; just as the Red-clothed Devil thought he had failed again, an explosion burst out from inside!

Bang!

The explosion drew soldiers, who rushed over, saw the black smoke billowing from inside, and knew the Red-clothed Devil's experiment had failed again.

"Sigh, still not working; even with the dwarves' ashes, something is missing. But the dwarves' blood, and now we have all the ashes—could we still be missing something?" the Red-clothed Devil said thoughtfully.

The Red-clothed Devil pondered the problem, not noticing the soldier beside him; the soldier saw the Red-clothed Devil silent, dared not leave or speak, just stood there foolishly. When the Red-clothed Devil finally thought of a solution and looked up, he saw a soldier standing behind him. He looked at that soldier and asked, "Did His Majesty the King send you? Or does His Majesty have something to order me to do?"

The soldier heard the Red-clothed Devil's question and replied, "That's right; His Majesty the King saw black smoke coming from your laboratory and sent me to check what happened. Since you seem fine, I can go back and report to His Majesty the King."

"Wait!" the Red-clothed Devil called out to the soldier, who stopped. Then the Red-clothed Devil entered his laboratory, took out the magic potion he had just failed to make, and handed it to the soldier, continuing: "Take this back and give it to His Majesty the King; the potion's efficacy hasn't been confirmed yet. Quickly arrange personnel to determine its efficacy, then I will mass-produce it using the materials here. Understood?"

The soldier nodded, then took the potion and left.

"His Majesty the King, the Red-clothed Devil is fine; his magic potion merely failed—this is his defective product, unknown effect. Please, Your Majesty, review it!" The soldier came to the Wanggong Palace hall, reported what he had seen there, then handed over the Red-clothed Devil's device to the King.

An attendant beside the King came over, took the magic potion; the King held it in his hand, then waved his hand, signaling the soldier to step back. After the soldier retreated, the King picked up the potion and began to examine it.

In the King's hand, he pinched it between two fingers and examined it closely; he felt it was no longer a potion but rather a poison. The substance was murky, neither white nor gray, lacking any vitality of the red magic potion, looking like spoiled sour milk.

The King found it increasingly nauseating, so he simply threw it onto the palace floor; then all that could be heard was a hissing sound from the ground, and a large hole was corroded in the carpet!

"This thing is corrosive!" the King whispered, then pondered: previously this had never happened; could it be that the dwarves' blood and ashes cannot be mixed? Or is this a more effective lethal weapon?

Thinking thus, the King said to the attendant beside him: "Come on, go summon an adventurer for me!"

"Yes!" the attendant replied.

At that moment, Yang Xin was in the Prince's residence; he and the servants there were drinking tea, enjoying the afternoon tea, feeling completely at ease. He closed his eyes, picked up his teacup, slowly sipped the tea, felt great, and said: "Good tea! Good tea!"

The servant brewing tea beside him smiled, then took his purple-clay pot and refilled Yang Xin's teacup, putting on a flattering smile and asking: "May I ask, sir, is this tea really delicious?"

"Of course." Yang Xin replied; he wanted to say more, but saw the King's attendant hurrying over, so he set down his teacup, knowing he wouldn't get to drink the tea, hurriedly went to meet him, and asked: "Did His Majesty the King send you to find me for something?"

The attendant said: "Yes, His Majesty the King summons you to the palace."

"Hmm, okay, I'll go right away." After receiving the reply, the attendant turned and left; Yang Xin watched the attendant slowly walk away, then entered the Prince's residence. Wang Tingwan sat in a chair, heard the sound of Yang Xin opening the door, but pretended not to hear.

"I know, this is rather petty, but I'm doing this for you." Yang Xin looked at Wang Tingwan's expression and explained helplessly.

After hearing that, Wang Tingwan gave a faint sneer, looked at Yang Xin with utter contempt, and said: "I originally thought you were like Feng Yan, just a bit more lively, but I never expected you to be like this—I'm truly blind!"

Upon hearing Wang Tingwan's words, Yang Xin did not respond; he simply slowly understood to walk out of the room and quietly closed the door. Wang Tingwan felt very upset, yet also conflicted: the boy before her was already her boyfriend, facing the boy she once liked, what attitude should she take? Her mind was in turmoil, so after returning she locked herself in her room, pleading for an answer soon.

Yang Xin came to the palace, saw the corroded carpet, was greatly startled, raised his head and asked the King: "What's going on?"

"It's the Red-clothed Devil's potion that did this." the King replied.

Yang Xin looked at the corroded carpet, thoughtfully said: "Sulfuric acid......"

"What did you say?" the King looked at Yang Xin's expression, obviously this was something extremely terrifying, and thus asked.

"Your Majesty the King, I suggest we produce some of this for defensive use." Yang Xin heard the King's question, but instead of answering it, he put forward a suggestion.

Looking at the corroded carpet, which had once been extremely splendid, now it was a rag; the King could bear it no longer, and soldiers were summoned to drag the carpet away.

"You mentioned sulfuric acid—what is that?" the King watched the soldiers drag the carpet away, then asked Yang Xin.

"Sulfuric acid is a product from our place, widely used but highly corrosive, so these substances are basically kept by relevant departments; ordinary people cannot access them." Yang Xin answered the King's question, resolving his doubt.

Upon hearing this, the King immediately understood; he rested his chin on his hand, then thought, "So that's how it is." After confirming the general idea, he asked: "Then can I mass-produce these things?"

"No!" Yang Xin replied.

"No, if this continues, they'll really be doomed!" Feng Yan gazed at the former golden phoenix tree forest, now only bare branches remained, which snapped at the slightest bend.

Chen Hao and Feng Yan together felt worried; they were now embarrassed, the dwarves' morale was low, unable to continue the attack, and water had also run out; now they relied on the gold in their hands and the city-guarding soldiers to exchange for drinking water.

Chen Hao gazed at the World Tree; the tree no longer grew, standing between heaven and earth, piercing the clouds like a pillar supporting the world.

"Feng Yan, we should attack now." Chen Hao looked at the World Book and asked.

"What would we attack with? I could break through Li State's defenses, but I feel things aren't that simple; yet dragging this on isn't a solution either." Feng Yan replied, having analyzed the situation; they knew this side was already the most difficult moment, and they had to set out!

"Jin Meng, what's the situation inside the city lately?" Feng Yan looked at Jin Meng beside him and asked.

"It's like this: the World Tree has stopped growing; the Red-clothed Devil continues to produce a kind of potion, but we don't know its effect." Jin Meng, these past days carrying his gold coins, came to the city to exchange for drinking water, while also asking for some news.

Upon hearing that, Chen Hao nodded, thought, "So that's how it is," and said to Feng Yan: "We can attack!"

"Attack?" Feng Yan, hearing that, became confused and asked: "Are you not an idiot?"

"No." Chen Hao replied, then ordered Jin Meng: "Gather all the dwarves; we will launch the attack tonight!"