Chapter 396: Who Would Harass a Book?

Since they weren't thieves, everyone openly searched and quickly found the planting sphere; on the way back, Negrilis had Ang leave behind a small bag of elf beans, then mumbled for the little believer to come and collect them.

"Spread the truth; the God of Knowledge bless you," Negrilis muttered.

The little believer held the elf beans and devoutly bowed toward the darkness.

On the way back, Negrilis gloated: "The biggest one, the most believers…"

Du Luo was driven mad by the noise and snapped: "Subgod."

"La la la, subgod is fine—if Ang grows stronger, I'll feel better too. Right now I'm completely bare, and I keep feeling uneasy—if we get into a fight and I lose, and Ang's body shatters and my consciousness retreats, what do we do?" Negrilis lamented.

Du Luo nodded: "Right, I need to find materials and forge this body's heart into a phylactery—so if anything happens, I can resurrect."

"Huh? You have a phylactery—what about me?" Negrilis said enviously.

"You can become a book. Who would bother a book?" Du Luo said.

"... You make a good point," Negrilis said. "Gleaming gold looks expensive—might get auctioned off and end up on a shelf. I'll just sneak out when no one's around."

After discussing their survival tactics, Negrilis suddenly said: "A few more believers are praying. I wasn't wrong about that kid—he didn't hide the elf beans but shared them with everyone, telling them all it was the God of Knowledge's blessing."

"That's excellent. Now the lord has several more devout followers," Du Luo said.

Negrilis fell silent for a while, then sighed dejectedly: "Still, I feel like my magic crystal card balance got transferred to someone else's account."

The magic crystal card was an account-based card issued by the Mage's Guild, allowing users to deposit or withdraw magic crystals at any Mage's Guild branch, ideal for large transactions.

For instance, if you had millions of magic crystals, you couldn't carry dozens of heavy chests everywhere—if someone stole them, it'd be a disaster.

Of course, Ang had a vast personal space and had no need for such a card; otherwise, he'd be the Mage's Guild's most prestigious, prestigious, prestigious… Guibin.

Back in the stone chamber, they began studying the planting sphere.

"Have you opened it?" Du Luo asked Ji Li.

Ji Li shook her head: "I don't even know how to open it."

"Such a massive energy circuit disconnection structure—you can't see it? Obviously press here," Du Luo said, pressing a spot.

Ji Li said: "I pressed it—no reaction."

Well, no reaction indeed. Du Luo felt embarrassed: "Probably no energy left. Let me check—the elemental conversion structure can use crystals and mana. We need to get some crystals."

Ang extended a finger and pressed it against the planting sphere; an endless stream of mana poured in. Remote transmission caused massive loss—each pulse delivered only about one level's worth—but the sheer volume compensated.

Twenty one-level mana injections per second for three or four minutes successfully activated the planting sphere.

Ji Li stared at Ang in stunned silence: "Saint spirits use holy light energy—why is your magic so powerful?"

"Of course—we're holy magic skeletons specializing in magic," Du Luo lied offhandedly, then pressed the activation structure.

Still no reaction.

"That's odd—why no reaction? Is something broken?" Du Luo traced the sphere's circuits, inspecting and dismantling pieces, searching for damage.

Only after disassembling the entire planting sphere into parts did he curse: "Damn it! This is a half-finished product! Your damn ex-boyfriend tricked you with an incomplete alchemical device!"

Ji Li's face darkened: "You can drop the word 'damn,' and he's not my ex-boyfriend—don't make things up."

"Your dead friend fooled you—this thing's unfinished. Even the core isn't complete. This spot needs a triggering structure to force the core open. The best material for that trigger is a World Tree branch."

"Pfft!" Ji Li burst out laughing. "World Tree? Where does that even exist? That's just fantasy knight novels lying to fools. You're an alchemy master—surely you don't believe those nonsense—"

Before she finished, Ang handed her a segment of World Tree branch. Du Luo had been speaking to Ang, but Ji Li had misread the situation.

Du Luo took the branch and asked, puzzled: "There's no World Tree here?"

"Aren't you from here too? Don't you know if there's a World Tree? You're not saying this piece of junk wood is a World Tree, are you?" Ji Li said.

"I've been asleep too long—I'm not sure. Are World Trees gone now? Well, you're lucky—you'll witness the World Tree branch's powerful decomposition-triggering ability."

Du Luo forged a triggering structure and, using leftover materials, upgraded the gloves' decomposition function, instantly boosting their power several levels.

Ji Li, half-skeptical, slipped on the gloves, infused mana, activated "Decompose," then touched a gold coin.

Whoosh—the coin split into two substances: golden granules and a larger quantity of gray-black granules.

Ji Li gasped. This decomposition power exceeded her imagination—she now believed the wood was truly a World Tree branch.

Then she immediately realized: "Cheater! My gold coins are lead-filled! Counterfeits! Cheater!"

She frantically pulled out all her gold coins, decomposing each one—undoubtedly all lead-filled fakes. She burst into tears: "Cheater… counterfeits… cheater… counterfeits… my hard-earned money—all gone!"

Du Luo asked, confused: "You're an alchemist—why are you so poor? What did you do before?"

Ji Li blushed: "I mostly turned sand into blue stone powder for dyeing cloth."

Ang and Negrilis didn't understand, but Du Luo immediately cursed: "Cheater—you deserve this."

He explained: "Sand-turned-blue-stone dye fades fast. Buyers wear it for a few days and it's gone. Cheater."

Ji Li pouted: "My skills are this bad—I can't do anything else."

"Hmph. You've got a chance now. I'll teach you—learn well. If you ever cheat again, I'll turn you into a wooden doll—so you don't tarnish my reputation as the King of Alchemy."

Ji Li shuddered and instinctively cried: "Yes, Master!"

"Wait—you're the King of Alchemy? Then what is the Saint Spirit?" Ji Li remembered another question and asked weakly; technically, Du Luo was Ang's student.

"God of Alchemy," Du Luo said offhandedly, mentally adding: the god of the King of Alchemy.

As he spoke, his hands never stopped—forcing the half-finished planting sphere into completion.

He assembled it into a sphere, held it in his palm, and said: "Done. This planting sphere seems designed for the Void—no gravity, no air, so most support structures are light. I modified them."

"Good thing it couldn't activate—if it had, the fragile supports would've collapsed instantly under gravity, beyond repair. I strengthened the trigger structure and changed it to a semi-submerged design—most of it buried underground, using soil temperature to regulate internal heat."

Ang tilted his head.

Du Luo quickly emphasized: "Best to bury it first, then activate."

Ang nodded, took the sphere, found an open stretch of sand, buried it deep, then activated it.

Boom! As if a giant creature sneezed, a geyser of sand shot skyward, then settled as a haze of dust.

A semicircular "dune" rose from the ground. Closer inspection revealed a massive translucent sphere half-buried in the sand.

At least two-thirds of its volume lay underground; only a small portion protruded, forming a dome like an inverted basin. Sand coated its surface, turning it yellow and dull—seen from afar, it looked like an ordinary dune, utterly unremarkable.

But once inside through the entrance, they discovered a vast interior.

Ang glanced around: "Fifty meters in diameter."

"Fifty meters? How do you know? Did you use the Scale Ring to measure? Can you even use the Scale Ring?" Negrilis exclaimed.

Ang nodded.

"I get it—the Scale Ring measures what you see. You observe here, your body measures there—it's just information exchange, like calculating east while counting west," Negrilis mused, then added: "Diameter fifty meters—volume V equals 4πR³/3, equals 6541667￥*#…@#—quite a space."

"Not just space—look at these racks. They rotate. Each has grooves to hold soil for planting. These are capillary water tubes—pour water into the reservoir, and they automatically draw it into the grooves, precisely maintaining soil moisture."

"As for the rest of the design—I don't understand. Lord, you'll have to explore it yourself," Du Luo said.

Ang nodded, eyes gleaming.

Negrilis sighed heavily: "Now it's over. Now it's over—he's fixated on this thing. When will he ever go find Your Majesty?"

Ang divided the large racks into multiple zones for easier comparison, brought in soil and sand, mixed in insect ash, and dripped insect ash solution into the water reservoir.

Thanks to its three-dimensional, multi-layered design, the sphere's planting area rivaled dozens of acres outside, with controlled temperature—safe even against frost during desert nights.

Ang's only regret: he couldn't use the Rapid Death Aura to accelerate crop growth—he needed to find a way to get it.

Involved in planting, Ang's initiative surged—he was already devising solutions.

At that moment, flames suddenly lit up the night sky outside the planting sphere. Ang rushed out and saw a crimson meteor streak across the dark heavens above the Desert Town, crashing to earth in a burst of fire.

After a long while, a faint "boom" echoed from afar, followed by a gust of wind—the weakened shockwave.

"Level 8 spell: Meteor Fall. That location must be Desert Town," Negrilis said, worried.

"Level Eight Magic: Falling Meteor. That location should be Desert Town," Nage Lisi said with concern.