Chapter 243: The Magic Ring Is Forged

Of course, this primitive way of keeping warm is only temporary.

Luo De will go to the Magic Control League market district soon to buy a batch of heating stones and heating charms to distribute among the girls.

After all, I've got a bit of money now—I don't need to tough it out through winter by brute-forcing spirit or magic.

Luo De's physique is powerful.

His inner origin is like a furnace that never stops burning—he doesn't need these external items at all.

He made his way to Selena the Zombie's experimental hut.

This hut had once been one of the shelters Luo De used to stay in during his forest patrols, but he stopped using it after obtaining the 【Tree Walker】.

Now, from the outside, it looks even tidier than before.

He knocked on the door.

Selena the Zombie opened it almost instantly with a sharp click.

Her face was expressionless; one side of it remained unhealed and rotten.

She wore a thin mage's robe, trimmed so it wouldn't drag on the ground.

After all, she was turned into a zombie at age twelve, and her body never changed—she was a short little thing.

"Good morning. Want some bread?"

Luo De smiled.

The Overload Ring might become his main source of income later—how could he not be happy with a golden goose laying eggs?

But the zombie lady wasn't impressed; she shook her head and returned to the lab.

He stepped inside to survey the situation.

All the simple furniture in the living room had been cleared away, and the wall separating it from the bedroom had been torn down; the open space now held long tables along all four walls.

Various magical instruments, simple active arrays, and spell components were neatly categorized.

Even the floor was clean, with two cleansing rituals installed, alternating every fifteen minutes.

"Whoa—"

Luo De whispered in surprise, "Didn't expect you to have such hygiene awareness after twenty years in the Magic Nest—good, good."

But it was a bit cold.

There was no insulation equipment inside.

Spell components and active arrays were all stored in temperature-controlled boxes suited to their needs.

Vivian, unwilling to expend effort on spirit-based heating, leaned against Luo De, one soft white rabbit pressed tightly against his arm.

Luo De casually wrapped his arm around her shoulders, gently stroking her cool, pale forearm.

"Where's the bed? Where do you sleep?"

"Zombies don't need to sleep."

"There's such a thing?"

He knew zombies gained 【Undying Body】 upon transformation—so they were basically perpetual motion machines that didn't rest!

Then I'm set!

She'll make magic rings for me day and night!

Luo De waved his hand and laughed.

That's just a fantasy—she's still one of my own people.

"Wait a minute—I remember Tally sneaked in and pulled your pants off while you were 'resting.' How can you say you don't sleep?"

He suddenly remembered.

Selena was just pulling something from a box under the table; at these words, she froze stiff.

She turned her head like a zombie—though, of course, she really was one.

She spoke slowly, word by word:

"Pulled… my… pants… off?"

Luo De sensed her anger and immediately changed the subject.

"What's the difference between resting and not resting?"

Selena took a deep breath—he could tell she was trying to calm down.

She pulled out two wooden boxes from the box, each containing ten magic rings.

"Focus during spellcasting differs slightly—not because I don't want to sleep, but because after transformation, sleep became very hard."

"A side effect of transformation?"

"No. Don't worry about it. Let's test the results."

New gear must be tested—best place, of course, is the nearby Death Desert.

Luo De felt inexplicably excited, as if he were test-firing weapons.

But he noticed that before leaving, Selena pulled up her large hood and scarf to cover half her face, took down the long gloves she'd received the day before from the wall, and covered her copper-colored alchemical prosthetic.

Though her face remained expressionless and she had cut off her emotional cues, she clearly cared about being different.

"By the way, I mastered the 【Plague Domain】 last night."

Luo De stepped closer and peeled back her scarf and hood.

His right hand gently pressed against the face scarred by resentful flames.

Selena looked up, meeting his gaze; in her emotionless pupils, a faint, strange expression flickered.

【Jealousy +5】

Luo De couldn't help smiling: "Good—you didn't cut it all off."

【Corpse-Unity】 activated.

A pale green-yellow glow spread from his palm; the reddened skin and muscle immediately began to rot.

Selena paused slightly.

"Plague Domain?"

She tried to pull away, but Luo De held her fast.

"Don't rush."

She dared not resist—after all, her pain sensitivity was weak; do what you will.

Soon after.

The flesh rotted and regenerated in cycles.

Luo De shut off the domain.

Half of the zombie's ruined face had already returned to normal.

He looked around but found not a single mirror in the lab.

So he took a small hand mirror from his collection of trinkets—the back was brown wood.

"Look—doesn't it look much better?"

Selena stared at the mirror, her face no longer terrifying, and fell into a daze.

"Your physique slows the domain's effect—it'll take a while longer to fully heal you. Here, take the mirror. Girls need mirrors at home—what kind of place is this without one?"

"So… the succubus really did pull my pants off?"

"Uh…"

【Selena's obedience toward you +5, current obedience: 43】

They didn't chat further.

The three moved to the edge of the Willow Sands and stepped onto the desert.

The desert was relatively calm by day; at night, harsh weather combined with the 【Dark Vortex Rift】 caused violent spiritual fluctuations.

Only land-dwelling naga—races adapted to desert life—could ignore it.

Luo De looked far to the north and saw several tents.

The rebel land naga guards spotted him—perhaps even Vivian—and fled back to report as if they'd seen a ghost.

Clearly, they were truly terrified of Vivian.

Luo De didn't care.

He turned to testing the magic rings.

This batch was the first: nine magic rings and nine Overload Rings.

All used clearly distinguishable conjuration spells—both batches had identical spells: three each of 【Sonic Boom】, 【Fire Brand】, and 【Stone Ball】, for direct comparison.

Selena had already set up the recording and testing arrays nearby to measure power and effects.

First, of course, 【Fire Brand】—a spell that creates an explosive fireball.

Luo De held one in each hand: a normal magic ring and an Overload Ring.

As previously mentioned, Overload Rings are specially treated to require far less spirit or magic to activate, at the cost of only 80% power and effect.

But these rings cost 20% to 35% more than normal ones—Luo De's key product.

"Go ahead."

Luo De infused spirit.

The magic ring immediately blazed with intense light; fire energy rapidly coalesced in midair.

BOOM!!!

(End of chapter)