Chapter 111: Spending a Fortune to Buy a Bone to Attract a Thousand‑Li Steed (23)

Front courtyard of the recruitment building.

Kao the old mage and the recruitment staff had some conflict.

Luosen listened briefly and understood the reason.

As it turned out, this arcane master wanted to see him directly, but the recruitment officer, though not refusing, had his head in a fog and actually hinted that a little money would speed up the report.

The old mage's temper was extremely explosive; upon hearing it he flew into a rage, said nothing, and turned to leave.

This frightened the recruitment officer, who hurriedly tried to detain him, but the other party was extraordinarily stubborn, refusing all persuasion and insisting on leaving.

Thus, the two became entangled in the courtyard.

In the courtyard, shouting noises kept coming up.

The main parties in the argument were the old mage himself and the recruitment officer.

"Let go!"

"Master, let's talk nicely." The recruitment officer was about to cry.

"What, you still won't let him leave?"

"No no no, Master, it's my fault—I'm sorry, won't an apology do?"

The recruitment officer was about to kneel.

Although he didn't know the magical cultivation of these three Kao mages, just from their demeanor he could tell they were renowned mages; if they left the island because of him, this recruitment officer would be finished.

But the old mage, with a dark face, insisted on leaving; even his two sons beside him tried to persuade him, to no avail.

The old mage's voice echoed throughout the whole courtyard.

"In the arcane world there are no personal feelings, only strict rules!"

"If worldly bad habits are brought into the Magic Method Center, then the center has little future to speak of!"

"You recruitment officer, what's the point of demanding money from me? If you have the ability, go ask the Creator for money!"

"I thought the baron would be different, but it turns out the lords of Kao are all the same sort!"

"Let go! Otherwise I won't be polite!"

Luosen listened, clicking his tongue in amazement: "This master, at his age, still has such an explosive temper—old but vigorous, he must be a truly capable person!"

Someone without real talent can rely on youthful hot blood to shout a few times when young, but once older and lacking vigor, they immediately wilt.

As for the old mage's words, Luosen also found them very reasonable.

Arcane studies must be rigorous, and those who study arcane arts should be likewise.

Luosen secretly decided to make a big deal out of this, taking the opportunity to launch a island‑wide public discussion, straighten out attitudes, correct thinking—especially the mages' thinking.

At least, elsewhere aside, the Magic Method Center must be kept away from the habit of picking pockets.

Although the saying goes 'clear water holds no fish,' if the water isn't clear, you can't keep a true dragon!

Seeing the arcane master truly about to leave, he went 'teng-teng-teng' quickly downstairs, strode forward, and loudly said, "I pay my respects to you, Master!"

Seeing the lord arrive, all the recruitment officers present hurriedly saluted, while the troublesome recruitment officer's face turned green.

The arcane master who was being held gave a cold snort, shook his disheveled sleeve, and although he didn't respond, he also didn't turn to leave.

Fortunately, his two sons had decent tempers and also immediately returned Luosen's salute.

Luosen walked up to the arcane master, smiled, and asked, "Master, I am Luosen, lord of the sea island; may I have your honored name?"

"Ges." The arcane master replied coldly.

Luosen quickly checked the database, was secretly astonished, and asked, "Master Ges, you are Henry Marquis's arcane consultant—how do you have time to visit my little sea island?"

Ges, a Four‑ring 32‑star Blaze Mage of common birth, showed talent from youth, achieved astonishing accomplishments in fire arcane arts, and is known as the 'Ashen Maker'.

He is also one of the Henry Marquis's most valued arcane consultants, yet now he has run to his own fief—could it be that he has fallen out with the marquis?

Ges Master's pair of shining brown leopard eyes stared at Luosen: "Originally I wanted to visit the lord, but now I don't, so this matter has nothing to do with the baron."

Having said that, he waved at his two sons beside him: "Let's go!"

The Ten Rings mage's sensitivity told Luosen that this master truly intended to leave, not merely putting on an act to boost his price.

That makes sense; given his status, going to Weilan to seek refuge with any count, or even the Dawn Duke, would earn him immediate favor—there's no need to come to my little sea island.

Although I don't know why he chose to come to my little island, now that he's here I must certainly try to win him over.

In the blink of an eye he had walked ten or so meters, and it looked like he was about to board the carriage waiting at the gate.

What to do? Luosen watched the three mages' backs, his thoughts racing, and immediately came up with a plan.

He quickly walked over, climbed onto the coachman's seat, and said with a smile, "Since the master has decided to leave, I shouldn't forcibly detain him."

"But in any case, I have disappointed the master and wasted his precious time; I might as well personally drive the carriage and take him to the port as an apology."

Ges Master heard this and was stunned for a moment—he had never seen a lord drive a carriage for a commoner.

"Although he is only a baron, he is also the husband of the Dawn Princess—I couldn't accept that."

He hurriedly refused.

"You don't need to do this; as lord of the sea island I certainly have many affairs. I have already decided to leave, so the baron shouldn't waste his time on me."

On his stubborn‑looking face, the anger eased a little and his tone softened compared with before.

Seeing the strategy work, Luosen pressed on.

"If we can retain talent, what's driving a carriage? He insisted: 'It's not a waste of time—I was going to the port anyway. Moreover, as an intermediate mage, being able to drive the carriage for an arcane master is an honor.'"

"Please, Master?"

He opened the carriage door.

Ges certainly knew Luosen's intention, yet still refused: "Lord, there's no need for this; my leaving is actually not because of that petty matter with the recruitment officer."

"I simply wanted to come and see the situation; now I've basically seen it all, and I have no further thoughts."

"Lord, you truly don't need to waste your time on me."

Saying this, he also refused to sit in the carriage, waved to his two sons, and said, "Anyway, the port isn't far; we'll walk there."

He turned and left.

The two sons were very obedient to their father; after separately bowing to Luosen to apologize, they quickly followed. Luosen inwardly sighed: "This old man's temper is really stubborn; no wonder he's an Arcane Master researching flames."

He was really greedy for these three talents.

Since they've already come to his island, he won't give up until the final step.

Even if they really leave this time, he must still extend the utmost hospitality of a landlord, emphasizing "eager to seek talent."

So he drove slowly alongside the three, while Ailiya and the other guards followed far behind, watching eagerly.

"Master, I don't know what reason brings you all the way north to White Sturgeon Island?"

Ges's anger had faded, and he had no objections to Luosen this lord; after all, such a humble lord is rare.

He spoke frankly: "I heard rumors about Luwakaduo, and heard that he received generous treatment here."

"I thought, if he could get such treatment with his meager skills, I certainly wouldn't have a problem. Now I've also seen the lord's humility, so I guess the rumor is true."

Luosen nodded repeatedly: "Master, why are you determined to leave again?"

He inwardly rejoiced: "Back then spending a fortune to buy a bone, now truly attracted a thousand-mile steed!"

He just felt the money spent back then was well worth it.

Ges strode forward without looking back.

"Because after observing all along, I feel you cannot help me achieve my goal."

"And the goal I want to achieve would not help your lordship's endeavors in the short term, but would instead greatly consume your lordship's funds."

"Since that's the case, I think there's no need to waste each other's time."

Luosen grew more curious the more he listened: "Master, what exactly is the goal that you value so highly, that you must achieve it?"

Seeing Ges remain silent, he didn't urge him on, just drove the carriage, silently following behind.

Ges just walked along with his head down, completely unwilling to speak.

Fortunately he still had two sons, who seemed to have good temperaments.

Luosen waited a while but no one came, so he asked his son: "How should I address the two gentlemen?"

"Kawendi," the eldest son said.

"A'ershute," the younger son said.

Luosen then asked: "Oh, two mages, may I have the honor of knowing your goal?"

The two young mages looked at each other.

Finally, the younger son A'ershute whispered: "Father, then I'll speak?"

"If you want to speak, just speak; why ask me?" Ges said in a cold voice, but did not refuse.

Obviously, he wasn't unwilling to speak, but earlier he had spoken too absolutely and couldn't backtrack.

This kind of rigid stubbornness is practically a common ailment of scholars who have long studied arcane arts.

Because they have long been accustomed to dealing with the Creator's cold, hard rules.

A'ershute then said to Luosen: "Baron, my older brother Kawendi has discovered a transformation formation that can convert flame power into pure force."

This sentence was simple, but hearing it, Luosen, a Ten Rings Mage, felt like a thunderclap in the silent midnight, almost jolting him off the carriage.

He hurriedly asked: "When was it discovered? How effective is it? Have you shared the results with other mages?"

The Kavendi mage beside him replied: "About four months ago. As for the effect, it's very mediocre, conversion efficiency less than 0.01%; without careful observation, one might not even notice it."

Alshute then answered: "We have discussed these results with some mages, and they also caused some repercussions locally."

But ultimately, due to the overly low conversion efficiency and the high cost of replicating the experiment, it still failed to attract sufficient attention.

But my father.

Alshute looked at the old mage with some reverence: "He insists that this conversion formation has great magical significance, and he says we must persist in researching it."

For this matter, he fell out completely with the marquis, because the marquis was unwilling to spend money to support the experiment.

Luosen immediately asked: "Master Kavendi, may I have the honor of looking at your conversion formation?"

Kavendi again his father.

The old mage felt it: "Just look, anyway this isn't any secret in Kao."

Kavendi then took out a huge drawing from his pack and handed it to Luosen.

Luosen, while controlling the carriage, used Mage Hand to unfold the drawing and examined it closely.

At first glance, he felt the formation was extremely complex and exquisite.

It wasn't stumbled upon by luck, but rather the result of gradual exploration, accumulation, and optimization.

Like gambling with the Creator, you might pick up a gold nugget in the wild, but you can't pick up a CPU.

In other words, this Kavendi might have mastered a relatively mature conversion theory.

This discovery made Luosen's heartbeat quicken slightly.

He continued to examine it closely and had Laifu assist in the analysis.

Soon, Laifu first concluded: 'This formation is likely genuine and may involve an investigation into the world's fundamental laws.'

This conclusion made Luosen's heartbeat grow even faster.

After recording the formation's content into Laifu's database, he respectfully handed the drawing back: "Master Kavendi, this is truly one of the most exquisite formations I have ever seen."

If we could raise the conversion efficiency, it wouldn't need much—just up to 5%, even as little as 1%, would be enough to change the world!

Why? Because force energy, whose full name is 'Pure Force Energy,' is a kind of noble energy.

Why is it noble?

It's noble because of the two words 'pure'.

Because, like gravity, it can exert a completely uniform force on all objects with mass.

This is something Earth technology has never achieved, something that has only ever appeared in science fiction.

If this thing can yield practical results, any one of them would be a heaven-defying object!

(End of chapter)