Chapter 179: The Knowledge the Lords Dream Of (33)

The clone had to handle government affairs, so the main body appeared and arranged a succubus.

Mei Di Ana smiled upon seeing Luosen and said, "Ahaha~ Duke, your flesh-and-blood puppet is truly exquisite, it almost slipped past my detection."

Luosen felt no pride, walking side by side with Mei Di Ana in full vigilance down a secret underground passage.

He noticed she was nearly his height, and with her horns she was even a bit taller.

He didn't answer but countered: "What do you think of the Great Demon King Bak across the sea?"

"He will surely defeat you eventually; it's only a matter of time. Your forces are too scattered, lacking the protection of a Legendary Mage."

She immediately pointed out: "In this situation, I think you should find a god to rely on, like the Sun Lord Atumen would be good."

Luosen gave a faint smile: "I almost thought you were a missionary of the Sun Lord Atumen."

Mei Di Ana also laughed: "I'm just offering a suggestion; Atumen might not even heed your request. After all, managing believers across planes is quite troublesome."

Soon, Luosen brought Mei Di Ana to an underground secret room in Bai Tian E Bao.

This room was dug out for air defense, since Weilan and the Radiant Empire already had aircraft; other kingdoms would surely accelerate research, and soon planes would become each nation's means of attack.

Naturally, the air-raid shelter became an urgent necessity.

And the air-raid shelter certainly needed preparation in advance; waiting for enemy planes to fly overhead before digging would be absolutely ridiculous.

"The room has everything: a bathroom, a bed, fine wine, easy-to-store food, and also decent provisions. Besides, I'll regularly bring you fresh food down here."

Mei Di Ana walked around the room and was quite satisfied.

She ultimately sat down on the round leather chair in the underground lounge.

"It would be even better if there were some books to pass the boring time."

"This small problem, I'll bring you a batch down."

Luosen sat opposite her and continued asking: "Are the gods and demons in Huan Wai Xu Kong omnipotent?"

"Of course not; gods also have many things they cannot do, but those living in Huan Wai Xu Kong possess many abilities beyond mortals."

She thought a moment and gave an example: "As far as I know, regarding events occurring within a plane, they should possess extremely strong perception."

"If they are willing to pay the price, they should be able to learn many, many things they wish to know."

Luosen blinked in surprise: "So, omniscient?"

"One can't really call it omniscient, after all the starry void is boundless, the magical rings infinite—no one dares claim true omniscience."

"As far as I know, many low-circle mages have evaded the gods' and demons' pursuit through their wit and luck."

"For instance, I have greatly offended the Great Demon King Asema."

"Fortunately I escaped; otherwise I would surely have become a member of the Wailing Plains."

She wore an expression of relief mixed with lingering fear.

Her answer also greatly reduced Luosen's apprehension toward the gods and demons of Huan Wai Xu Kong.

"Then are there mortals who can slay gods?"

"Yes, a mortal who takes a divine artifact bestowed by a god or demon, plus some luck, can cause great trouble for another god, even slaying it."

"Moreover, Legendary Mages also have the power to slay gods. Of course, doing so requires a huge price; usually it ends with the Legendary Mage and the god or demon perishing together."

Luosen's wariness of the void gods and demons decreased once more.

"Listening to you, gods and demons seem merely powerful beings born in Huan Wai Xu Kong."

"Perhaps."

"Then if a Legendary Mage continues to grow stronger, will they become a god or demon of Huan Wai Xu Kong?"

Luosen had merely asked offhand, not expecting an answer, but Mei Di Ana responded seriously.

"A Legendary Mage is merely a mortal with greater magical power; even if their strength matches or exceeds that of Huan Wai Xu Kong's gods and demons, they remain mortal, unable to exist apart from their material flesh—this is fundamentally different from gods and demons."

"This isn't my saying; it was spoken by one of the five Legendary Mages of the planes, feier mo luo si."

After saying that, she suddenly added: "Duke, won't you pour me a cup of wine?"

She glanced at the nearby wine cabinet, her eyes sparkling.

Luosen fetched a bottle of Monté County's specialty wine for her; after each poured a cup, she immediately drained hers and then poured herself a second.

"I must admit, I'm a fervent lover of fine wine; I was trapped in the Demon Realm for ten years, and after escaping I began fleeing again, only now getting to taste truly good wine."

In the blink of an eye she finished the second cup; upon the third, her cheeks flushed slightly, and she began to slow down, savoring it slowly.

"All the way here, I've heard that Duke, you've produced many entirely new things."

"I deliberately looked into it carefully and found it indeed excellent, better than the vast majority of planes."

Luosen was about to ask about this: "How does the development level of arcane arts compare across other planes?"

"They're roughly the same; some are a bit ahead, some a bit behind."

Mei Di Ana explained.

"Because planar traveling mages exist, the planes have never been completely separated; there has always been various forms of communication."

"Furthermore, according to many mages' research, all major mortal peoples actually spread from a single plane, i. e., the 'single-origin theory.'"

"Thus, their development timelines are also roughly similar."

"Except the Demon Realm."

"The Demon Realm had its development forcibly cut off by the Great Demon, turning it into a dreadful hell."

As they chatted, she drained the third cup and immediately poured herself a fourth: "This wine of yours is truly excellent—rich and smooth, the best I've ever drunk, hic~"

Perhaps the alcohol took effect; the originally talkative succubus could not stop her chatter, even becoming somewhat wanton.

"Ah~ after all, it's still an underground cellar, a bit stuffy."

She tugged at her collar, revealing a broad expanse of snow-white skin; her long, plump legs crossed into a figure‑four, swaying gently, while her pair of indigo‑blue hooves tapped 'click‑click' on the floor.

"Currently, everyone is also exploring the so‑called method of turning low energy into high energy, with some places advancing quickly and others slowly."

"The Duke's De Rui Tan Realm, due to the prohibition of summoning arts, has lost much contact with other planes, so its pace is a little slower—but not by much."

I actually have mastered a technique that turns low power into high power, Duke—do you want to know?

Saying this, she propped herself up with one hand leaning back, the other playing with the empty crystal glass she had drained, her bright dark-red eyes seeming to be shrouded in a mist.

Luosen silently remarked: "No wonder she's called a succubus—with that alluring charm, ordinary people really can't withstand it."

But business comes first.

"Of course, go ahead and tell me."

"It's the method of converting light into arcane energy."

Luosen's heart jolted violently: "Really?!"

Two extremely useful, famous arcane arts in the arcane domain.

One is Transformation Technique, the other is Create Food Technique! If we can solve the light-to-arcane-energy problem, he could advance to large-scale Transmutation Alchemy, his mechanical processing ability jumping several levels.

Moreover, large-scale Create Food Technique immediately became possible.

These two applications alone could change the world.

He immediately asked: "What's the conversion efficiency?"

"About 3%."

Not high, but not low either; combined with his newly acquired knowledge of Radiant Power, building a large factory burning Black Stone is actually already usable.

Luosen's heart was greatly moved.

Meidiyanna, this traveling mage, possesses extraordinarily keen insight; even in a drunken state it does not affect her judgment in the slightest.

She narrowed her eyes and smiled: "Although I don't think this thing has much use, it seems the Duke likes it. As a traveling mage, what I like most is trade."

She leaned forward slightly and said: "Earlier, the Duke promised to protect and help me leave this plane, and I am willing to share some knowledge of breaking through the eleventh ring—this is a trade."

"Now, what does the Duke intend to offer in exchange for this new knowledge?"

Luosen's mood quickly calmed; he took a sip of wine and asked: "Madam, what do you want?"

"I don't know exactly what I want, but the only thing I'm certain of is that the Duke must give me something of value, so I can obtain it in the Atumen Plane and exchange it with a powerful being from another plane for a rich reward."

That makes this a bit tricky.

Luosen thought carefully and asked: "What does the Atumen Plane lack?"

"Water. The sun there is scorching, the oceans far inferior to here, the climate much hotter, and the deserts on land far more extensive."

"Do they know how to synthesize large amounts of pure water?"

"They know many ways to obtain pure water from the environment, but synthesizing pure water seems still unknown to them."

"Of course, this is knowledge from over ten years ago."

Luosen asked again: "Do they understand pure water?"

Meidiyanna blinked and said: "Pure water—isn't it just pure water?"

Luosen understood—at least this succubus before him doesn't know of the periodic table's existence, and I suspect the Atumen Plane isn't clear on it either.

Thus he said: "I know a method to synthesize pure water using dephlogisticated water and phlogiston, and I also know how to obtain dephlogisticated water and phlogiston."

"I'll exchange this knowledge with you for the Sunlight Arcane Energy Conversion Technique—how does that sound?"

Meidiyanna tilted her head, thinking: "Duke, don't rush—I need to figure out how to contact my peers in the Atumen Plane to see if anyone needs it."

"So that I can contact my peers, I hope the Duke can lend me a Soul Gem." As for Soul Gems, Luosen already knows how to synthesize them, and he has made quite a few—there are over a dozen placed in this basement.

He directly took one and gave it to her: "Is this enough?"

Meidiyanna's keen eyes spotted Luosen's stash.

She was so startled she almost jumped up, taking a stride to Luosen's side and staring intensely at the drawer.

"So many Soul Gems? And the quality is this good?"

Each of Luosen's Soul Gems is the size of an adult's fist, and there are over a dozen—far exceeding Meidiyanna's imagination.

"Shouldn't this stuff be very precious?"

"I looted them from ransacked mansions—I have plenty."

This is true—he ransacked many households of Southern Prefecture nobles, each hiding several of them.

Meidiyanna bluntly said: "If the Duke can give me three more Soul Gems of equal quality and size, I'll tell you the conversion array without needing the pure-water synthesis knowledge."

Luosen's heart twitched slightly: "It seems Soul Gems are a great treasure for succubi."

Then the matter becomes easy to handle.

He then produced five more and handed them over, each the size of an adult's fist, quality nearly perfect.

He synthesized them with Transmutation Alchemy—it's hard to imagine them being imperfect.

"They're all yours; the extra two I count as my gift."

"."

Meidiyanna's face showed a clear 'speechless' expression, obvious at a glance without needing judgment.

Although she is of a different race, she doesn't differ much from humans.

Moreover, after a half-hour of interaction, Luosen could already accurately discern her emotions from her expressions.

The succubus clutched all six Soul Gems to her bosom, as if holding a peerless treasure.

"Duke, do you know what this is worth in the traveling mage community?"

Before Luosen could ask, she directly said: "This is a universal planar travel currency—something good that money can't buy."

"Oh~ I'm so happy—I actually got so many high-quality gems, ahaha~~"

Her face showed an expression of extreme happiness, then she suddenly rose and eagerly began nibbling all over Luosen's face.

Luosen hurriedly pushed her away: "Madam, I think you should go to the bathroom and wash yourself properly."

"After washing, then give me the Arcane Power Conversion Array."

"Haha~ Of course~ Of course~"

She walked briskly, humming a light‑hearted tune as she went, feeling as if she'd just won a five‑million jackpot.

After lingering in the bath for about half an hour, she emerged in a loose bathrobe and said, "I need paper and a pen."

Luosen had already prepared them.

She began writing at once, filling more than thirty pages—almost a little booklet—and then handed the booklet to Luosen:

"Here you go. The arcane conversion array and all the knowledge I have about breaking the Eleventh Ring are inside."

"I trust the Duke's reputation, and I'm sure this won't be our last deal. Right, Your Grace, the Duke?"

Luosen flipped through the booklet rapidly, growing more delighted: "What a fine thing! Looks like this succubus is truly a traveler mage."

He was, of course, willing to trade with the traveler mage.

"Indeed, I'm more than happy to continue making all kinds of interdimensional trades with you."

"I still have plenty of Soul Gems; if you can give me more knowledge, I won't be stingy at all."

"Aha—how tempting, Your Grace, the Duke, but unfortunately I have nothing good on hand now."

A hint of conflict flashed across her face.

After a few seconds, she said, "Your Grace, the Duke, if you're willing to cover the Soul Gem cost of my interdimensional travel, I can instantly go to the various planes and fetch you all kinds of precious high‑ring technique knowledge and high‑ring items."

As she spoke, she picked up a Soul Gem: "Interdimensional travel consumes Soul Gems; if you don't cross at an auspicious moment but force it, the cost rises."

"For example, going to the Artumen plane right now would require five Soul Gems, but if I go six months later, only two would be needed."

Luosen replied without hesitation, "No problem; I'll cover any extra Soul Gem expense for you."

To a traveler mage, Soul Gems are treasures.

In his view, they're merely a batch of high‑quality gold‑red stones, i. e., titanium oxide.

He can have as many of these as he wants.

Using them to exchange for high‑ring items is a wildly profitable deal.

But of course he couldn't say that, so he came up with a plausible excuse.

"I'll scour the allied nations for Soul Gems on your behalf; rest assured you'll be satisfied."

Meidianna's eyes lit up with joy: "Oh~ this is the best news I've heard in the past ten years."

"Duke, to wish our cooperation a happy one, shall we find some fun together?"

Luosen was taken aback, wondering what kind of wild talk that was: "I recall you just killed the mage who summoned you?"

"That's because he tried to enslave me, and he was old and ugly."

"Considering he helped me escape the demon realm, I didn't want to kill him, but he was relentless, so I had to finish him off."

Luosen dared not seek fun with a succubus he'd known for less than a day and whose background he hadn't probed, and he declined outright.

"Cooperation aside, let's skip the fun."

He suddenly grew a bit concerned for Mother Nature.

Mother Nature, driven by a yearning for freedom, became a plane‑traveler mage, but the world is so complex and deep; she hopes nothing goes wrong.

Meidianna didn't know Luosen's thoughts.

She blinked, smiling, "Duke, are you afraid of me?"

As she spoke, she crouched beside Luosen, took his hand, and placed it on her forehead: "We traveler mages do have some secrets, but since we've forged such a wonderful partnership, I will fully reveal those secrets to you in exchange for your trust."

"Do you sense the secrets I conceal, Your Grace, the Duke?"

At such close range, Luosen truly felt Meidianna's power.

It was indeed the soul of a Seventh Ring Peak, but its mana was extraordinarily dense—over five times denser than that of Lartelisi.

Then Meidianna again took Luosen's hand and led him onward.

"Because of the Creator's prank, our Serira bodies mesh especially well with the De Rui Tan people, even better than with our own kind. Are you sure you don't want to have some fun?"

Luosen felt it clearly.

As a rake, he could tell at a glance it was a fine treasure, and his heart was stirred.

He steadied his mind, examined the other's body meticulously, and after confirming no issues, spurred his mount.

I must say, it truly was a world‑racing fiery steed, even hotter than Naifilonia.

If not for the two horns on its head that stabilize it, it would be almost uncontrollable.

It took a great effort, but finally it was tamed.

Yet after a short while, Meidianna was lively again.

"Duke, your performance is excellent; I'm very satisfied with this fun."

Those words gave Luosen the illusion of having done some hard labor.

"I need a good night's rest; I'll set out at first light tomorrow. If possible, I'll need as many Soul Gems as I can get—at least twenty—so I can return promptly when needed."

"I'll have them ready for you."

He paused, then added, "Watch out for a novice traveler mage—a young woman, Eighth Ring mana, light‑gold."

Before he could finish, Meidianna cut in: "I know her; I even traded the true‑name beacon you hold with her— I sold it to her."

Luosen was startled: "What a coincidence?"

"Not a coincidence, but inevitability."

"Because I'm a regular of the De Rui Tan realm, especially after the ban on summoning, Ms. Qi Ge Rui La Na can almost only trade with me."

She paused, then smiled, "Do you suddenly think I'm old?"

"I have indeed lived a long time—about eight hundred years—but fortunately our Serira are an immortal race; our souls are naturally resilient. I can still live at least two thousand years, so perhaps you'll leave this world before I do."

Luosen suddenly found it odd: "Eight hundred years, and you still haven't found a way to break the ring barrier?"

The Seventh Ring is a bit low.

"In another hundred years I'll be at the Eighth Ring; we Serira live long but grow slowly—that's the price of a resilient soul."

All right, all right, Duke, let me get a good sleep.

She issued the expulsion order, and Luosen said goodbye and left.

After leaving, the first thing was to go to the laboratory.

He needs to verify the new knowledge right away.

(End of chapter)