Chapter 186: International Undercurrents (33)

Time was set back ten days.

Levinde's capital, Bai Jin Cheng.

The palace's underground secret chamber.

Lafengge stood at the center of the summoning array and once again made contact with the mysterious All-Knowing One.

But when the silver eyes behind the black mist appeared, an angry voice rang out.

"Lafengge, you fool!"

"You exposed my existence too early!"

Lafengge, looking somewhat dejected, said, "Great All-Knowing One, I underestimated Duke Weilan's magical power; he also wields phase power."

He had originally intended to kill Duke Weilan as well, but the plan went awry.

"You have no idea how serious this is; even now, you still vastly underestimate him."

After a pause, the silver eyes spoke again.

"Let me tell you now, Duke Weilan possesses Ten Rings Peak-level magic, and his achievements in the magical arts far surpass yours!"

"You fool, you actually handed my power to him; do you know what that means?"

"What does it mean?"

Lafengge's face was full of shock; indeed, he did not know what it meant.

"Never mind what it means; the priority now is to stop Duke Weilan's magical exchange summit, prevent him from further expanding his power, and also find new enemies for him."

"New enemies?"

"Exactly."

"Let Duke Weilan deal with other foes; don't keep focusing all attention on you, fool!"

Lafengge felt anger inside, but after personally experiencing the All-Knowing One's great power, he perfectly concealed his displeasure.

After all, he was a nation's Guardian Sage, and with a little thought he had an idea: "Aaron makes a decent enemy, and so does the Radiant Empire."

The silver eyes looked pleased.

"Indeed, especially the Radiant Empire."

"If the Empress of the Radiant Empire learns that Duke Weilan wields Ten Rings Peak-level magic, she will certainly devise ways to stop him from further strengthening his power."

"Also, stop exposing my existence. To prevent that, I will withdraw the All-Knowing Power from you."

With those words, Lafengge felt a slight tremor in his body as strands of icy blue radiance continuously surged from him, rushing into the black mist and vanishing.

After losing the All-Knowing Power's blessing, Lafengge's icy blue eyes dimmed considerably, but otherwise there was little change.

"I know you're feeling lost now; don't worry, I'll tell you how to break through Nine Rings."

"Of course, compared to Eight Rings, Nine Rings is far more difficult; it requires you to sacrifice more mortals and to have greater patience."

"Mmm—~ it should take about a year."

Lafengge instantly felt invigorated: "Great All-Knowing One, I not only desire Nine Rings, I also want the power of Ten Rings."

"I will surpass Duke Weilan and trample him beneath my feet!"

"Good, very ambitious!"

The silver eyes replied, "But don't rush; take it step by step, we have plenty of time."

Weilan ten days later.

The secret underground chamber of the medical laboratory.

Luosen was holding a thick stack of experimental records, flipping through them page by page.

They recorded massive data from soul experiments, totaling over seventy experiments.

Most experiments were personally designed by Luosen, a few by the experiment mages, and the results did not disappoint Luosen.

As these experiments progressed, his understanding of souls, life, and magical rings advanced greatly.

But it was still insufficient.

After reading, Wen Yan encouraged the experiment mages, then clapped his hands.

"Continue~ Continue~"

"Next, we will commence the two most important experiments."

"First, to verify the phenomenon of soul self-sustain under low-ring pressure."

"Second, to verify the soul vortex phenomenon."

Where does the knowledge for these two experiments come from?

Of course it was discovered from demonic power; the accidental acquisition of demonic power propelled Luosen's understanding of the Eleventh Ring forward by several leaps!

Verification experiments are extremely difficult, exceedingly tedious and precise, and cost astronomically; a single experiment requires ten thousand Ogre.

Naturally, Luosen leads, with the experiment mages assisting.

While he conducts experiments here, his duplicate continues to serve diligently as the Grand Duke.

At this moment, the Grand Duke is holding the biweekly routine cabinet meeting in the golden great hall of Swan Castle.

Cabinet ministers report their duties one after another.

Luosen sat somewhat lazily on the main seat, propping his cheek with one hand, as if about to doze off at any moment.

But whenever ministers think he isn't listening seriously and start to be perfunctory, they are immediately punished.

"Nolan, I've already heard three critical data errors; don't let me hear a fourth."

The voice was calm, yet made Bank President Nolan give an awkward smile and quickly compose himself.

Reports proceeded one after another, with a break every one and a half hours, lasting the entire morning before concluding.

The ministers were all middle‑aged, the youngest in their mid‑thirties, each suffering from sore backs and hips.

Afterwards they dined with the Duke; the dishes were delicious but few, each served a set menu.

Three dishes, one meat and two vegetables, plus staple white bread.

Nobody spoke, because the Duke also strictly observed.

After the afternoon, it was another dull meeting.

The meeting finally ended at three in the afternoon, and then came the ministers' favorite afternoon tea time.

Afternoon tea was the biggest perk of the biweekly meeting.

In the spacious, bright, comfortable tea room, unlimited high-quality tea and exquisite snacks from across the alliance were provided.

The Duke wouldn't stay the whole time; he'd chat casually with everyone, but wouldn't linger long, leaving after a few words of small talk.

After the Duke left, the ministers completely relaxed. Noran sighed: "The Duke truly lives up to being a seventh-circle mage; his will is as steadfast as steel."

"Exactly, not to mention the biweekly meeting; daily work is also relentless, from morning to night every day without a single day off. If it were me, I'd probably go crazy."

The speaker was the Minister of State, Klub.

As Minister of State, aside from special periods, he works eight to five on weekdays and still gets a day and a half off each week.

But the Duke works from eight to nine, year-round without rest, like an ironman, making him both admire and be astonished.

The Foreign Minister, Te Wude, kept eating rose pastries nonstop.

It wasn't that he hadn't seen the world; it was because this was a specially supplied snack for the Kao royal family, hard to come by normally, and it especially suited his appetite.

After finally eating his fill, he said: "Exactly, this is the most diligent Duke Weilan I've ever seen, even more diligent than the Saintess Duchess."

He thought to himself: 'My great-nephew is really fortunate to have a good father.'

With such a diligent, capable father, Weilan couldn't help but become prosperous.

If Lade's father had this ability, Lade wouldn't have ended up planting potatoes on a deserted island.

After eating another pastry, he said: "What do you all think about the Heroic Lion King wanting to hold a magic conference?"

The Finance Minister was called La Bin, a high-tier mage with a big black beard, lounging in the tea room's big leather chair, lazily sipping a cup of tea.

"In my opinion, the Heroic Lion King probably hasn't realized his own situation."

The Minister of the Arcane Department, Weige, said with a teasing tone: "Exactly, he's not a mage—what kind of magic conference is he opening? A warrior conference would be more appropriate."

As soon as he said that, the ministers all burst out laughing, not even considering Aaron's magic conference as anything.

After all, their Duke is a seventh-circle arcane master, while the Heroic Lion King is merely a defeated subordinate of the Duke, with no basis for comparison.

"I think there will still be some mages attending, after all the Heroic Lion King wants to save face. He'll definitely spend a lot of money, losing money just for the liveliness."

"Aaron the mage is even barred from going north to attend the conference; I wonder how he feels now."

"I've heard they have quite an opinion of the Heroic Lion King, saying he's a domineering, ignorant, reckless oaf, and that he hasn't bathed in years, muddling his brain."

The first part was fine, but the second part was outright humiliation; if said to the Heroic Lion King's face, his neck would surely be cut.

Amidst chatting and laughing, the pleasant afternoon tea time flowed by like a clear spring stream under the spring sun.

But some were happy, while others naturally felt down.

The Heroic Lion King was certainly downcast, for since the ban was issued he clearly felt the immense pressure from Aaron's magical community.

Even Sang Qiesi, who had always stood by his side supporting him, this time unusually remained silent.

He just couldn't understand: it's merely a magic conference, how could it be so serious? Such a perceptive person as Duke Weilan actually thought he'd reveal something genuine?

Moreover, Aaron and Weilan had just fought a battle, lost it, and paid a huge sum—do these mages really not see that?

Yet they still went to join the fun with thick faces—don't they have any shame? Dan Ge couldn't understand.

Unable to understand, he instinctively went to find Sang Qixi.

"Sage, why is this?"

Sang Qixi didn't give a direct answer; after days of silence, he finally offered a suggestion.

"Your Majesty, I think we should postpone the date of Aaron's magic conference."

"First let Duke Weilan hold it; after he's done, you hold yours, making it larger in scale and greater in influence."

"After all, Duke Weilan has already held it; even if he's outdone, he couldn't hold another one anytime soon, and in the coming years people will only remember the best one, right?"

This suggestion was excellent, instantly convincing Dan Ge: "The sage is right; let's do as he says."

Dan Ge was pleased: first, he got a good suggestion; second, Sang Qixi paid attention to him again, making him feel he wasn't alone anymore.

After returning to his study and just sitting awhile, he discovered that Levinde's new envoy, Knight Malara, wanted to see him.

He was in a good mood, so he immediately summoned the visitor.

"What's the matter, Knight Malara?"

Knight Malara performed a respectful salute, then presented a plan: "Your Majesty, this is the state letter from Queen Sheila."

Dan Ge took it and examined it carefully, his eyes lighting up.

"Aha~~ This is truly a splendid idea."

He turned to Knight Malara: "I was wondering why international grain prices have risen so fast—now I know."

"Go tell Sheila that I'm very satisfied with his plan, will fully cooperate, and give the Duke a harsh lesson so he knows he's messed with the wrong person!"

Knight Malara gave a slight bow: "I'm glad to be in agreement with Your Majesty."

"Moreover, we hope Your Majesty can persuade Kao to join the plan, to really suppress Duke Weilan's arrogance."

Dan Ge sighed: "Forget Kao. The old Kao king doesn't handle affairs; it's always the queen in charge."

"And the queen is very fond of Weilan, practically preparing to take the Duke as a son-in-law."

Knight Malara smiled: "Your Majesty, this isn't a big deal; if the queen won't agree, we can try to get the sixth princess and the third prince to cooperate."

"After all, those positions have plenty of money; taking out a few million Ogres would be enough to drive up international grain prices significantly."

"Will they listen?"

"Of course they will, after all it's a profitable business, right?"

Dan Ge nodded in agreement: "That's not bad either; let's do it that way."

The Radiant Empire.

An important piece of information entered the Central Secretariat, lingered for not even a quarter of an hour, then went straight to the Empress's study and was placed on the desk there.

The Empress opened it and saw, her brows knitting tight at once; she immediately asked her attendant maid: 'Where did the news come from?'

'Levinde, Your Majesty.'

'Levinde is so far from Weilan—how could he know about Weilan's affairs? Surely he's not just making things up?'

The attendant maid shook her head: 'Your Majesty, I don't know; I'll go check right away.'

'Investigate! We must get to the bottom of this!'

'Go investigate Levinde!'

'Also go investigate Weilan!'

'Notify Ailin, have her find a way to get the Duke's blood; if she can't get blood, anything else will do.'

The Empress has a pair of willow-leaf sword eyebrows; when relaxed they are willow-leaf brows, when focused they are heroic sword brows, and right now these brows have become two slanted swords pointing to the sky.

Just as undercurrents against Weilan began to stir across the continent, in a hidden underground chamber of Swan Castle, in a spot specially set aside for phase shifting, the air began to twist.

After several seconds, the planar travel mage Meridiana, who had been away for over two months, reappeared.

(End of chapter)