Chapter 43

Luo En pondered for a moment, then stood up from the chair and patted Andre on the shoulder:

"Don't be so dejected, I have never seen the dignified Thirteenth Highness like this."

He walked toward his cabinet, teasing while searching: "If those girls in the Royal Capital who worship you saw you looking so miserable now, they would be heartbroken."

Andre was still looking miserable, but was amused by his teasing: "Don't mention those boring social occasions, they are all hypocritical."

He shook his head, but the melancholy in his eyes lessened slightly.

"Here, look at this." Luo En took out an exquisite crystal bottle from the depths of the cabinet, containing slightly glowing blood-red liquid, and threw the bottle to Andre casually.

Andre caught it, almost missing it: "Hey! Be careful, this isn't playing pinball."

He curiously held the bottle up to the light: "What is this? Smells a bit like... strong liquor?"

"Ha! If strong liquor could sell for five magic stone fragments a bottle, I would have gone to open a tavern long ago."

Luo En grinned slightly: "This is the 'Qi and Blood Potion' I made under Lady Ailan's guidance yesterday, specifically for knight cultivation."

Andre's eyes lit up instantly: "Are you kidding me? I know this kind of potion, it can't be bought in the market at all!"

He carefully examined the liquid in the bottle: "Wait... you can really refine this level of stuff? Your progress is too amazing, from a probationary apprentice with sixth-grade star aptitude to now... simply a different person."

"Come on, you wouldn't really treat me as some kind of monster." Luo En took out several small bottles of different colors from the cabinet and placed them on the table casually:

"Look, these are all my recent 'masterpieces.' This blue one can stabilize mental fluctuations, the green one can relieve meridian pain..."

He picked up a transparent-colored potion and shook it: "And this treasure, it's especially effective for breathing method cultivation, at least it can increase efficiency by 30%."

Andre reached out to take a look, but was slapped away by Luo En: "Don't touch, this is my collection, each bottle is worth almost ten magic stone fragments."

"You weren't so stingy before." He pretended to complain, but expectation flashed in his eyes: "Is it really that magical?"

"Want to try it?" Luo En raised his eyebrows, "I'll give you a bottle to take back later, I guarantee it will make your breathing method progress by leaps and bounds."

Andre blinked and asked vigilantly: "Need to state the conditions first. Although we have a good relationship, I don't want to sell my butt."

"Get lost, I don't have that disgusting hobby." Luo En shook his head with a smile, stepped forward and almost punched Andre into a stagger:

"You guy, you really grew up in the palace, your vigilance is so high."

He put away those potion bottles and suddenly put away his joking expression: "Having said that, Andre, Lady Ailan promised to teach me a gemstone-level meditation method after I broke through."

Andre's smile froze: "What did you say? Gemstone-level meditation method?"

He looked at Luo En, not like he was joking, and was so surprised he couldn't speak: "God! She actually has... aren't those core knowledge that the school strictly guards?"

"The condition is that I have to help her collect some special materials." Luo En shrugged: "To be honest, those things on the list are not easy to get, but the opportunity is rare, so I decided to try."

"You know, Luo En." Andre shook his head and sighed: "I started to regret treating you as a dandy before. If I had known you had this potential earlier..."

"Don't think so much." Luo En waved his hand, also recalling the friendship of the two going to certain places together: "I was indeed a jerk back then, thinking about drinking and promiscuity all day."

The two laughed at the same time, and the atmosphere suddenly relaxed a lot.

"Seriously." Andre put away his smile and looked at Luo En seriously: "If you can really help me get through the difficulties, I am willing to be your guard knight."

Luo En was drinking tea and raised his eyebrows with interest when he heard this: "Are you serious?"

"I have never been more serious than I am now." Andre's eyes were incomparably firm: "I would rather follow a familiar friend than be treated as a plaything by that crazy woman."

He smiled self-deprecatingly: "Anyway, on the Royal Family side, I am already a failure. But my knight cultivation talent is indeed quite good. Following you... at least I can keep my dignity, right?"

Luo En put down the teacup, his expression also becoming serious: "Then I will be impolite to order you around, but here is a suggestion you can refer to—fully improve your knight strength."

"What do you mean?"

"Imagine it." He tapped the table with his finger:

"If you can break through to become a formal knight, it will be different in front of the Royal Family. Even your brothers and sisters, facing a formal knight, have to be polite, right?"

Andre felt he had found a countermeasure: "You guy, your brain turns fast! Indeed, a formal knight has an independent status in the kingdom, even the Royal Family cannot assign them at will."

"So, right." Luo En smiled proudly:

"I provide potion support, you focus on cultivation, neither is delayed."

"Wait..." Andre looked at him suspiciously: "What do you mean by potion support? I know very well that these things are expensive."

"You find the materials yourself, I'll give you a discount on the refining fee." Luo En blinked and weighed the magic stone bag at his waist: "Friend price, a little cheaper than on the market."

"You kid!" Andre scolded with a smile, "You are really good at doing business now, but..."

His expression became serious: "I accept this deal. I will help you collect intelligence and supplies, and I will be on call when there is a battle or when you need errands. You help me improve my strength, fair and reasonable."

"That's a deal!" Luo En reached out.

Andre held his hand, and the two looked at each other and smiled: "Deal!"

"By the way." Luo En suddenly remembered something, "That Xin Xi Ya you mentioned earlier, is she particularly fond of wearing purple dresses and always speaks with a southern accent?"

"Do you know her?" Andre asked in surprise.

"I certainly wouldn't know her." Luo En smiled somewhat mysteriously: "But I heard her name at Lady Ailan's place. It seems that a certain potion she took some time ago had the wrong medicinal properties, and she almost poisoned herself to death."

Andre widened his eyes: "Really?"

"Absolutely true." Luo En spread his hands, "Lady Ailan also muttered something like 'big-chested, brainless idiot'."

(End of chapter)