Chapter 162

Night.

Dawn Castle.

Luosen played with the radiant artifact in his hand, gazing at the angry Radiant Empire envoy before him.

"If Ms. Ailin doesn't agree, I naturally won't force her."

"Then please go back. But I'll keep this artifact with me as compensation for the offense."

Upon saying that, he keenly noticed the other's expression stiffen, seemingly very concerned about the radiant artifact, and this extremely subtle movement made Luosen's heart twitch slightly.

"It seems this artifact has already gathered a lot of my information, but given the other's ability, they might not be able to read it; most likely they need to take this back to the Radiant Empire to decipher it."

In that case, he needs to figure out how this thing works, otherwise he wouldn't even know what information he leaked.

The essence of this matter is a dispute between two countries.

Between nations there are open conflicts, and even more covert struggles.

Often the covert struggles are more ruthless and omnipresent.

If one doesn't stay vigilant, one might suddenly die mysteriously.

This is not baseless worry; throughout history, many ambitious kings have perfected their personal safety defenses, yet still died in their prime.

Just then, the Radiant envoy's voice came: "Is it here?"

The voice was soft, full of reluctance, as if forced by circumstances.

Yet at the same time it carried a subtle, indescribable flavor.

Ordinary people wouldn't notice this feeling, but Luosen faintly sensed something was off.

Another thought popped into his mind: "Could it be that this envoy himself is a bait set by the Radiant Empress for me?"

This possibility certainly exists, and is quite high.

Although from observation the Radiant envoy shows no problem, considering that the Radiant God holds powers Luosen doesn't understand, it's natural he could hide from Luosen's perception.

In fact, the other side doesn't need to make any targeted preparations.

Just need to place traps in any possibly effective direction; surely one will work.

The information I've made public is that I'm young, strong, ambitious, and fond of beautiful women.

Now look at the imperial envoy before me.

Young and beautiful, with a voluptuous, graceful figure, possessing both the arrogance of a major nation's envoy and the restrained shyness of a dignified woman.

Ordinary men naturally wouldn't dare entertain lustful thoughts, yet it indeed suits Luosen's taste.

Even without probing this matter, he would surely find a way to try it.

After realizing this, Luosen sighed inwardly.

"Status rises, fame spreads, the number of opposing tactics one encounters also greatly increases."

I feel that even my ten-ring peak cultivation's sensitivity is somewhat insufficient.

Yet the ten rings' walls are extremely sturdy; even with Luosen's cultivation speed, I still see no hope of breaking through.

These thoughts were just a flash; he then chuckled.

"If the envoy doesn't mind, of course."

Since it's already late at night and no one is waiting outside, he wants to conquer for as long as he likes.

Moreover, this must be done by the main body, because the avatar lacks sufficient sensitivity to extract enough power information from the opponent's body and bloodline.

But if the main body acts personally, it might also encounter unknown dangers.

After weighing the options, Luosen still chose the latter.

After all, if you don't enter the dragon's den, you won't get the treasure.

So he added: "But don't rush; I've been sitting all day, let me first go to the washroom."

Behind the study there is an escape passage, and also a duke's private restroom; this is quite normal.

The avatar immediately got up and entered the passage, swapping with the main body.

The avatar didn't idle either; it immediately took the radiant artifact and went to the Adrian family's magic method laboratory in Dawn Castle.

The instruments and equipment in this laboratory are of extremely high quality, with all kinds of experimental consumables fully available.

Although there are no specially made proprietary tools, there are also many good things that ordinary channels can't buy, surpassing what Luosen has at the White Sturgeon Island Magic Method Center by a large margin.

Meanwhile, Ailin didn't notice the difference between the two.

She took a deep breath, as if preparing herself mentally: "In my country I have a husband; we just got married not long ago, we are very loving, and I really don't want this to happen."

She truly doesn't want to do this, because she really just got married, and she and her husband are indeed loving; she originally planned to relinquish her envoy duties after returning to her country.

Luosen hehe-laughed, the "playful" color on his face deepening: "Ah ha~ the lady's words have aroused my competitive spirit."

Ailin's face showed a clear sign of disgust: "Duke, you look just like a street‑side upstart!"

Luosen didn't mind at all.

"I admit I am an upstart, but you can't deny that while most upstarts get rich by luck, some owe their success to exceptional ability."

"I believe I possess extraordinary ability."

There has never been anyone in this world who stipulated that a person with superb personal abilities must also possess noble moral character.

"Huuu~~"

Ailin let out a long breath: "The duke is right; the vast majority of people in high positions are actually scoundrels."

She took off her coat and hung it on the chair by the wall: "Where?"

Luosen leaned back: "Sit here."

Ailin stepped forward, lowered her head to take a look, and was instantly startled, her face showing hesitation.

Ailin stepped forward, lowered her head to take a look, and was instantly startled, her face showing hesitation.

I'm afraid I can't stay seated.

Luosen shrugged: "Hurry up, my patience is limited."

Erin had no choice but to sit down slowly.

After sitting, she let out a long breath: "Duke, let's agree first, this is just once."

Luosen nodded: "Of course. But I also agree, it's my turn, not yours."

"Is there a difference?"

"The difference is huge."

Soon, Erin knew the difference.

After wandering in the clouds repeatedly, a strong shock rose in her heart: "This duke's ability is indeed strong."

Meanwhile, Luosen was not idle.

He continuously sent the collected power information back to his clone.

The clone quickly began analyzing in the spell experiment.

To be honest, this is not easy.

But Luosen's main body, possessing Ten Rings' super sensitivity, gathered extremely detailed information from Erin.

Moreover, with the cliff lab's bodily data as a foundation, plus his own research practice and Earthly knowledge, his grasp of bloodlines and otherworldly bodies is very deep, and he also commands many secret arts.

Finally, Laifu's supercomputing power assists.

When encountering some difficult magical locks, ordinary people might need ten lifetimes to crack them, but Laifu can brute-force break them directly.

About an hour later.

While Erin was still struggling in the clouds, Luosen had already roughly understood the principle of Radiant Power and the operating mechanism of the Radiant artifact.

"Tsk tsk tsk~ amazing~ truly amazing~ this artifact is actually an otherworldly light-information storage crystal!"

This storage method is very hidden and also very stable.

Because there are countless backup copies of the information.

As long as the artifact maintains its overall structural integrity and isn't ground to powder, even if Luosen pours his own power into it, the stored information cannot be completely destroyed.

Moreover, it exists not only on the artifact but also on Erin's body.

The corresponding detection function was developed into a highly precise light art reaching up to Nine Rings.

This art can be used not only on artifacts but also on living beings.

But compared to Radiant Power itself, this artifact is just a trifle.

Luosen then discovered that Radiant Power is the power to manipulate light—or more accurately, to manipulate electromagnetic waves.

Its main method of manipulation is changing the speed of light.

There are two ways to change it.

One is changing the speed of light within a medium, with a huge range—from 0.1% to 100% of vacuum light speed.

That's not bad, since it can be done on Earth as well.

The second is directly changing the vacuum speed of light.

The change is small, about 98% to 102%; each 0.1% shift consumes a huge amount of mana.

At first glance, it seems useless.

For current otherworld mages, it's likely truly useless, given their limited grasp of the world's fundamental laws.

This isn't Luosen's idle speculation; it's the result of careful analysis.

Because he has never heard of the Radiant Empire producing any epoch‑defying marvel.

Such a marvel could overwhelm an entire era; if they had it, the Empress would surely not keep it hidden.

Therefore, not using it means they don't have it.

But now, in Luosen's hands, this ability is a total game‑changer! Because vacuum light speed is far more than just speed—it is a fundamental constant of the world.

Just a slight change would produce an enormous chain reaction.

"Radiant Power can freely control light speed in a medium, so we could develop various illusion arts and try to create optical weapons."

"By altering vacuum light speed, I can pour more power into various tempered materials, greatly boosting their properties."

"If researched deeply, we could even greatly lower the bottleneck of matter fusion or fission, creating sun‑like radiance."

Of course, this is only an application concept for now.

Exactly how to achieve it is still unclear; we need to invest resources to study it.

Right now, pressing matters await.

Now that the spell principle is clear, Luosen naturally succeeded in reading the information stored in the artifact.

"Hmm, interesting—it directly measures my absolute magical strength."

It measures only magical power, not other forces.

So, if used on a puppet, it would read nothing, since puppets lack magical power.

Such an anomaly would expose the existence of flesh‑and‑blood puppets, rendering their danger‑warning function ineffective.

Luosen thought, then, based on the detection principle of light arts, disguised his magical strength as early Eighth Ring.

Then he carefully wrote the disguised information into the Radiant artifact and Erin's body.

After everything was done, Erin was nearly faint.

She couldn't help sighing: "Duke, aren't you tired?"

Luosen idly played with the female spy posing as an envoy, feeling quite pleased: "Not enough, far from enough—I really wish I could grow on Ms. Erin."

Erin had been wandering back and forth on the peak clouds an unknown number of times.

Setting aside personal bias, she had to admit this duke was incredibly formidable—far more so than her domestic husband, by who knows how many times.

After sitting another half hour or so, Luosen finally agreed to let her stand up.

He also, keeping his promise, found an excuse to go to the washroom and took back the undamaged radiant artifact.

Translation: He also, keeping his promise, found an excuse to go to the washroom and took back the undamaged Radiant artifact.

He also, keeping his promise, found an excuse to go to the washroom and took back the undamaged Radiant artifact.

"Miss Ailin, I am a person who values reputation; I'll return this to you."

Translation: "Miss Ailin, I am a man who values reputation; I'm returning this to you."

Ailin let out a big sigh of relief, finally feeling her efforts weren't in vain.

Translation: Miss Ailin breathed a sigh of relief, glad her efforts weren't in vain.

Following that, Luosen, in front of Ailin, quickly wrote a letter.

Translation: Immediately afterward, Luosen, in Miss Ailin's presence, quickly began writing a letter.

"I vaguely feel that His Majesty is a very powerful Radiant mage, his magical cultivation should greatly surpass mine."

Translation: "I vaguely sense that Your Majesty is an extremely powerful Radiant mage, whose magic cultivation likely far surpasses mine."

"Regarding this, I feel both extremely shocked and quite disheartened."

Translation: "Regarding this, I feel both utterly shocked and deeply disheartened."

Speaking of this, Luosen let out a long sigh with a gloomy face.

Translation: Saying this, Luosen let out a long sigh with a gloomy expression.

"I have no intention of opposing the Radiant Empire, for I know I am no match for His Majesty."

Translation: "I have no intention whatsoever of becoming an enemy of the Radiant Empire, for I know I am absolutely no match for Your Majesty."

Ailin startled: "Duke, how did you suddenly lose your ambition?"

Translation: Miss Ailin blinked: "Duke, how did you suddenly lose your ambition?"

Luosen let out a light sigh, the discoloration of dismay on his face deepening: "It's not that I lack ambition, but that I am sufficiently rational."

Translation: Luosen gave a light sigh, the dismay on his face deepening: "It's not that I lack ambition; it's because I am sufficiently rational."

He currently truly lacks the qualifications to contend with the Radiant Empire, while the other side has already placed great importance on him.

Translation: "He truly currently lacks the qualifications to go toe-to-toe with the Radiant Empire, yet the other side already values him so highly."

This is certainly not a good thing, so he plans to show weakness and simplicity before the Empress.

Translation: "This is certainly not a good thing, so he intends to appear clumsy and weak before the Empress."

"I can clearly feel that on my path of magical cultivation I have reached the limit; no matter how hard I strive, I cannot progress, and can barely maintain without regressing."

Translation: "I can clearly feel that I have reached the end of the path of magic cultivation; no matter how hard I strive, I cannot progress, and can barely maintain without regressing."

Speaking further, he couldn't help but let out a light sigh, projecting his frustration over failing to attain the eleventh ring onto his face.

Translation: As he spoke on, he couldn't help but sigh lightly, his face fully reflecting his frustration at being unable to attain the eleven-ring.

Thus he appeared sincere and earnest.

Translation: Thus he appeared utterly sincere.

Ailin immediately believed him about eighty to ninety percent.

Translation: Miss Ailin immediately believed him about eighty or ninety percent.

Seeing Luosen openly write a letter in front of her, she curiously asked: "May I look, Duke?"

Translation: Seeing Luosen write the letter openly before her, she grew curious: "May I look, Duke?"

Luosen nodded: "How about you sit in my lap and look?"

Translation: Luosen nodded: "How about you sit in my lap to read it?"

Ailin hesitated, then complied; as soon as she sat down, she softly exclaimed: "Duke, why are you coming again?"

Translation: Miss Ailin hesitated, then complied; as soon as she sat down, she softly exclaimed: "Duke, why are you doing this again?"

Luosen gave a playful smile, his eyes full of various gloom.

Translation: Luosen gave a wanton smile, yet his eyes were full of gloom.

"Miss Ailin, my life has just suffered a huge blow; now only this fondness remains; please fulfill me."

Translation: "Miss Ailin, my life has just suffered a great blow; now only this bit of love remains, so please grant me this."

Ailin helplessly turned her head to read the letter; as she read, she was mildly surprised: "So this is why the Black Stone Warship's power is so strong and smooth!"

Translation: Miss Ailin, helpless, simply turned to read the letter; as she read, she was mildly surprised: "So this is why the Black Stone warship's power is so strong and smooth!"

Luosen nodded: "That's right. I believe with Miss Ailin's eyesight, you can see that what I wrote is genuine."

Translation: Luosen nodded: "Exactly. I believe that with Miss Ailin's discernment, you can tell I'm writing the truth."

"Of course, many technical details I won't write; I believe the great Empress will easily realize them and surpass my current achievements."

Translation: "Of course, I won't write many technical details; I believe the great Empress will surely be able to easily realize them and surpass my current achievements."

He explained the warship's basic principles, so that the Empress would believe his sincerity in not daring to contend with her.

But it's not a loss at all.

There's a period missing but okay. Translation: He explained the warship's basic principles, so that the Empress would believe he dared not challenge her out of sincerity.

He explained the warship's basic principles, so that the Empress would believe his sincerity in not daring to contend with her.

Ailin nodded: "With the strength of my Radiant Empire, as long as there is a successful starting point, we will soon reach the opposite shore of success."

Translation: But there is no loss at all.

Luosen finished the letter, carefully condensed a magical seal with seven-ring peak cultivation, then with a thought used mage's hand to summon Ailin's clothing and slipped the letter into her pocket.

Translation: Because the supreme treasure he obtained from Radiant power greatly compensates for this small loss.

"Miss Ailin, thinking of you, such a noble and beautiful person, soon leaving Weirán, we may never meet again in our remaining lives, I feel deep reluctance."

Translation: Miss Ailin nodded: "With the power of my Radiant Empire, as long as there is a successful starting point, we will soon reach the other side of success."

"Please, miss, show kindness and let me conquer you once more?"

Translation: Luosen finished the letter, then, using magic condensed from the peak of the seven-ring, he formed a magical seal; with a thought, he summoned Miss Ailin's clothing via Mage Hand and slipped the letter into her pocket.

Ailin was originally resistant, but since Luosen showed sufficient sincerity and gave genuine things, allowing her to exceed her mission.

Translation: "Miss Ailin, just thinking that someone as noble and beautiful as you will soon leave Weilan, and we may never meet again in our remaining lives, fills me with reluctance."

After biting her lip, her heart softened, she lightly nodded: "Just once."

Translation: "Please, Miss Ailin, be kind and let me conquer you properly once more?"

The night passed without words.

Translation: Miss Ailin had originally been resistant, but since Luosen showed sufficient sincerity and gave her the genuine article, allowing her to exceed her mission's requirements.

Early the next morning, Radiant Envoy Miss Ailin left the study, exhausted.

Translation: After biting her lip, her heart softened, and she lightly nodded: "Just once."

As for Luosen,

Translation: The night passed in silence.

He was spirited and continued to hold the Weirán Citizens' Assembly.

Translation: The next morning, the Radiant envoy Miss Ailin left the study exhausted.

The assembly continued for five days, after which most issues were clarified, but a major, extremely difficult disagreement emerged.

Translation: As for Luosen.

That is, facing Weirán citizens' reform, the county lords and nobles of the northern prefecture saw their interests greatly damaged, even the foundation of their existence became unstable.

Translation: He was spirited and continued to convene the Weilan Citizens' Assembly.

Many radical civilians even proposed abolishing the nobility entirely.

Translation: After the assembly had been in session for five days, most issues were clarified, but then a major, extremely difficult disagreement arose.

The northern nobles were thus extremely fearful.

Translation: That is, in the face of Weilan citizens' reform, the Northern Prefecture's counts and nobility saw their interests greatly damaged, even the foundation of their existence becoming unstable.

This is also a very serious issue directly related to Weirán's fate.

Translation: Many radical commoners even proposed abolishing the nobility entirely.

Because the Natural Alliance, and even the Radiant Empire, are still in an era of noble politics; Weirán's sudden big leap forward makes it an outlier.

Translation: The Northern nobility were thus greatly alarmed.

An outlier, especially one that greatly harms the nobles, is likely to be isolated by all nations.

Translation: This is also a very serious matter, directly concerning Weilan's fate.

This is certainly not good for Weirán.

Translation: Because the Natural Alliance, and even the Radiant Empire, are still in an era of noble politics, Weilan's sudden leap forward makes it an anomaly.

The assembly's disagreement intensified, and related disturbances even spread outside the assembly.

Translation: An anomaly, especially one that greatly harms the nobility, is likely to be isolated by all nations.

This is absolutely not good for Weilan.

Translation: This is certainly not good for Weilan.

The disagreements at the meeting are intensifying, and the related controversies have even spread beyond the meeting.

Translation: The assembly's disagreement escalated, and related turmoil even spread beyond the assembly.

Even began secretly making small moves, hoping Weirán's internal would first fall into chaos.

Translation: Envoys Aaron, Levinde, and Kao, among others from the Natural Alliance, as well as the Radiant Empire's envoy, have continually monitored the assembly's outcome.

After resting a few days, Ailin's body and spirit have fully recovered; she looked at the reports collected by her subordinates and gloated over others' misfortune.

Translation: Levinde and Kao said nothing, but Aaron was extremely pleased.

"Rogue duke, let's see how you handle this thorny problem!"

Translation: He even began covertly making small moves, hoping Weilan's internal affairs would first descend into chaos.

After Ailin rested for a few days, her body and mind had fully recovered; she looked at the reports gathered by her subordinates and gloated.

Translation: After Miss Ailin rested for a few days, her body and mind fully recovered; looking at the reports gathered by her subordinates, she smiled with schadenfreude.

Rogue duke, let's see how you handle this thorny problem!

Translation: "Rogue duke, let's see how you handle this thorny problem!"

(End of chapter)