Chapter 428: Dimensional Stones and the Deal

Lei En pretended not to notice the elf wizard's mournful gaze, and immediately followed the Wizard out of the banquet into the Silver Star Tower.

Transported to the luxurious room at the tower's summit, the Silver Star Duke half‑reclined on a sofa, a booklet in hand, intently leafing through it; Lei En's gaze fell on a few lines, which were the loot list from this raid on Mazhuosi.

Besides the Silver Star Duke, her two students were present, namely Ke Li Fei Si and An De Luo.

The two turned, rose, and saluted Lei En.

Lei En also nodded in response, feeling a bit surprised; the Silver Star Duke's most faithful head guard Flink was always inseparable, but was absent today. It seemed that because of Yi Er Na's death, Flink had been affected and lost some favor.

Obviously, in the Silver Star Duke's view, Flink's status ranked behind that of several students.

Even if their relationship was that intimate, even producing offspring, Flink was still an outsider, not part of the Silver Star Duke's direct line; at most he was a powerful paramour who could be kicked away at any time, or Flink could withdraw himself.

By contrast, the students he had personally cultivated were more trustworthy.

Among the Silver Star Duke's students, the strongest was An De Luo, who had already reached Legendary Mid-stage, and was also a Ten Thousand Spirits Wizard, truly inheriting the teacher's school specialization.

Next was the Vice Dean of Silver Star Academy, also Legendary Mid-stage, but an Elementalist.

Elf Wizard A La Mi Ya and Ke Li Fei Si were both Legendary Early-stage.

Especially Ke Li Fei Si, who had just been promoted to Legendary a few months ago; although a Combat Wizard, not every Combat Wizard's strength far exceeds that of peers.

Lei En, using his Soul Eye, observed that Ke Li Fei Si followed a balanced path; the fused magic souls both enhanced physical strength, granting respectable melee ability, and incorporated several magic souls bearing multiple spells, so his casting ability was not lacking.

Perhaps to others Ke Li Fei Si seemed very strong, capable in both melee and casting, truly a magic‑martial hybrid.

But in Lei En's view, this was trying to please both sides and ending up with nothing.

Ke Li Fei Si was merely a slightly stronger magic swordsman.

Lei En sighed inwardly.

In fact, Ke Li Fei Si's situation was typical for Combat Wizards; this wizard specialization has a high ceiling but a low floor, and without exceptionally outstanding talent or fate, most become mediocre.

Thus Combat Wizards are so few; he has only encountered a handful so far, and aside from himself, none are particularly outstanding.

After all, not every Combat Wizard possesses a Soul Eye.

Lei En thought to himself, stepped forward and greeted, "Good evening, madam."

"Hmm, have a seat." The Silver Star Duke looked up at him, a playful smile on his face: "So many beautiful ladies at the banquet, and you didn't fancy any of them?"

"I have Viola." Lei En used his Half-elf status as an excuse.

"Hmph…"

The Silver Star Duke didn't believe him at all, "Don't think I don't know what kind of personality Viola has; I'm even clearer than you. She must have made some promise to you, or reached some understanding. In the past few months, how many times have you met her? And what relationship do you have with Ai Mi Li Si?"

So you knew everything.

Lei En suddenly felt a bit awkward, seeing the two men beside him cast envious glances.

"The nature of men, huh…" the Silver Star Duke sneered, seeming a bit disinterested, and tossed the booklet in his hand over, "These are the spoils from the raid on Mazhuosi; take a look."

"Alright." Lei En quickly caught the booklet and opened it.

He read only a few lines before his expression turned surprised; this haul far exceeded expectations, with nearly ten million gold coins alone, which converted to Empire Gold Shields amounted to about seven million.

There were also vast amounts of alchemical materials, magic potions, gems, weapons and armor, magic souls, jewelry, rare calligraphy and antiques, luxury goods… a dazzling array numbering in the thousands; the catalog alone spanned over a dozen pages, categorized, each item annotated with its value.

The total value of these items approached four hundred thousand Gold Shields.

Including gold and physical goods, the total haul was 10,900,000 Gold Shields, nearly draining the wealth of the port city Mazhuosi.

One material listed in the catalog caught Lei En's eye.

"Dimensional Stone!"

"And in such quantity!"

Lei En felt delighted; Dimensional Stones are extremely rare and precious gems, whose greatest use is crafting dimensional space equipment, virtually an indispensable primary material.

He had recently been researching the rune Bolt Gun; the biggest challenge was the ammunition, followed by the feeding system.

Ai Lun E Si possessed a uniquely high‑quality strange soul gun that combined a magazine with dimensional space equipment, solving the ammunition carriage problem.

This gave Lei En an idea, but he couldn't purchase enough Dimensional Stones for research.

The price of Dimensional Stones was staggeringly high, one of the most valuable alchemical materials in the world, traded in units of 'Osi'; he spent three thousand Gold Shields to acquire only five Osi, a quarter pound, not even enough to forge a single dimensional space ring, let alone conduct research.

The catalog listed this batch of Dimensional Stones at over sixty pounds in total, costing roughly 800,000 Gold Shields.

There were also other fine items that made Lei En quite tempted.

He knew well that the booklet couldn't be complete; before destroying the Eclipse Tower, the Silver Star Duke had gone in to rummage, and items inside the tower wouldn't appear in the catalog, nor would she admit which valuables she had obtained.

Lei En could only accept this, just as the loot he obtained from slaying the Black Knight City Lord and Harken could not be presented.

Lei En skimmed quickly, and on the last page found Mysterious Touch.

This creature was classified under 'Unknown'; the category contained over a dozen items, some without even names or price tags.

After finishing the booklet, he asked in a casual tone, "Are the items in this 'Unknown' category unappraised?"

"Yes." Ke Li Fei Si, who was in charge of inventorying the loot, was an alchemical Master; his appraisal skill was unrivaled in Longshande, his insight and ability in this area far surpassing his combat strength, and for years he had overseen the alchemy department of the Silver Star Tower.

Lei En smiled faintly, "How should items without a price be allocated?"

Ke Li Fei Si seemed at a loss, looking toward the Silver Star Duke.

The Silver Star Duke raised an eyebrow, considered for a few breaths, and said, "These over ten unknown items will be collectively valued at 500,000 Gold Shields; that makes the total haul 11,300,000 Gold Shields, and you may take twenty percent of it."

She seemed to sense Lei En's thoughts, and before he could respond, added, "I won't shortchange you; these unknown items are all mine, and you may pick any of the remaining gold or alchemical materials as you wish."

Lei En was momentarily stunned.

This wasn't the proposal he wanted to hear; he had expected the other side to proportionally share the unknown items, but indeed cheap gains aren't that easy.

His probing was still too hasty, and she saw through some clues.

"Madam, I'm very interested in these unknown items and would like to take them to try my luck; might you be willing to part with them?" Lei En steadied himself and asked.

Ai Lun E Si's world is mysterious and vast, with countless planes and innumerable curiosities; even deities cannot know everything, and some unknown things may conceal great power or knowledge, testing one's discernment and appraisal skill—wizards who pursue truth and knowledge are among the elite.

Lei En's reasoning was not unusual; many Wizards would do the same.

However, the Silver Star Duke flatly refused, calmly saying, "I also wish to keep them for my own research, Lei En; I cannot give you that opportunity, sorry."

The Soul Eye sees her true emotions, but she says false words.

Under normal circumstances, most unknown curios reveal little upon study and may not even be worth a few coins; the Silver Star Duke's blunt refusal indeed shows he guessed correctly.

Her expression was half‑smile, half‑frown.

Lei En was helpless and could only change his strategy.

He glanced left and right at Crifis and Andro, then smiled, "Lady, I'd like to make a deal with you; may we speak privately?"

"Sure," the Silver Star Duke's mouth corner lifted, "You two go out first." After Crifis and Andro teleported away, only she and Lei En remained in the room, and she immediately asked curiously, "Which item have you set your eyes on?"

Lei En, of course, would not tell her.

"I'll trade a piece of information for those unknown items—fourteen in total, and I want them all," he said confidently, laying out his terms.

"One piece of information?" the Silver Star Lady frowned slightly, "What information could be so valuable?"

Lei En explained, "It's an extremely important piece of information. It may be worth less than a copper token to others, but its importance to you far exceeds five hundred thousand Gold Shields, and cannot even be measured by wealth, because it concerns Longshande's safety."

His tone was solemn, his expression equally serious.

The Silver Star Duke, influenced by this, also began to take it seriously.

Her eyes showed a thoughtful hue, yet she truly could not guess the answer nor had any clue; after a while she said, "I can't agree to your terms based on a single sentence. You tell me the information first, and I'll judge its value."

Lei En's expression wavered; what if he revealed it and she refused to acknowledge it?

The Silver Star Duke read his thoughts, became somewhat displeased, and said in a deep voice, "Are you doubting my honesty? It's not even worth five hundred thousand Gold Shields?"

"I really can't trust you a bit!"

"You nearly excavated three feet of Longshande just to establish Fu Kong Cheng," Lei En muttered inwardly, yet outwardly praised, "I certainly trust the lady's noble character."

"Humph…" the Silver Star Duke knew his words were insincere, adopting a nonchalant tone, "You may choose not to speak."

The initiative of the deal rested in her hands.

Lei En understood this well; forced to compromise, he could only gamble that the Silver Star Duke would honor her word. After all, she is a Holy Soul Wizard, not that shameless.

He weighed his words and whispered, "The day last year when the Fraudster's followers attacked Longshande, Hong Shi Duke was at the Silver Star Academy."

(End of Chapter)