Half an hour later.

The stone house in the test field.

The four were tied together in pairs, their mouths stuffed with rags. Paliya slowly woke up from her unconsciousness.

Inside the dim room, the light flickered. Tables filled with various experimental tools stood before them, stained with a large amount of dark red blood.

Paliya heard one voice questioning another.

It was a young male voice.

"Why are there only three rules of meditation?"

"I... I don't know. I only know that the mentor said that doing so can sense the fluctuations."

"What are fluctuations? Are they some kind of vibration?"

"I don't know, I really don't know! Let me go! I've told you everything I can! I've said everything!!" The questioned male mage cried bitterly, letting out desperate wails in the room.

"No, I have even more interest in you." Li Cheng Yi was still smiling.

"You said you like music?"

"Yes, yes! I love it, damn it, I love music, I love the harp...! Please, don't do that!!" The male mage cried, snot and tears flowing.

"How did the harp first appear, do you know?" Li Cheng Yi changed the topic, beginning to ask seemingly unrelated questions.

"It is said that it was broken off from a branch of the World Tree..." the male mage explained haltingly.

Then, the two discussed everything from famous harp pieces, to the history of its development, to various masters.

If it were in a different place, Paliya might have thought it was a solemn music exchange meeting.

But when the mysterious powerhouse asked the final question and then slashed the male mage's throat, she trembled all over and woke up.

This was not an exchange meeting at all, but a devil's tormenting purgatory!

"Next, the Weng An mage. Please tell me about your story of studying magic. I'm very interested."

Li Cheng Yi continued to ask with a gentle smile.

The questioned mage felt cold all over, and tremblingly told his past.

Then, their topic shifted from spellcasting to the mage's interest in carving, the details of carving, the feeling of creating good works, and so on.

Li Cheng Yi seemed interested in everything, as long as it was knowledge.

Soon, the second mage was also killed with a single slash.

Then came the third.

Seeing this, Paliya was so nervous and terrified that she could hardly breathe.

Her mind raced, flashing rapidly, trying to figure out the other party's true purpose.

Suddenly.

An odd, mysterious, and powerful creature uncontrollably appeared in her mind.

A Bronze Dragon!!

That kind of dragon, who talks a lot, also pursues knowledge, and is extremely powerful, seemed extremely similar to the person in front of her.

Many years ago, she had seen a Bronze Dragon living in seclusion in a distant valley. That Highness had a very gentle temper, but was also interested in any knowledge, and was generous with time to chat with all creatures.

Aside from talking too much, they had no other shortcomings. Their strength was also among the strongest of the dragons.

'If this person has the same personality as a Bronze Dragon, then... as long as I give him enough knowledge of various types that he is interested in, I can attract his interest!'

Paliya instantly determined the other party's needs and thought of an excellent way to escape.

Soon, the third mage was also finished being questioned.

Li Cheng Yi solved him with a single slash. Finally, he looked at the elf he had caught unexpectedly.

"Next, I—"

"I can trade you a large amount of knowledge! I only ask that you let me leave. We elves have long lifespans and possess enough knowledge, so we can definitely satisfy your needs!" Paliya spoke in the fastest and clearest tone of her life, saying a sentence that could touch the other party.

Li Cheng Yi felt the furnace fire in the sword furnace rising another section, and looked at the elf whose eyes were flashing with fear.

After thinking about it, he suddenly showed a sincere smile.

"Of course, you can."

A new perspective, observing the world and nature, as well as the vast amount of information accumulated by long-lived species, all of this was enough to move him.

So, he agreed.

Paliya also safely stayed and remained in the stone house of the test area, becoming Li Cheng Yi's assistant and consultant.

And the team of mages sent by the White Tower to investigate the Tig case also mysteriously disappeared in the dense, snow-white sea of trees.

From this day on, every day, Paliya had to tell Li Cheng Yi a large amount about elven history.

How they lived, how they lived in harmony with nature, how they faced other races, how they were born, aged, sick, and died.

And as Paliya explained, the flames of the sword furnace in Li Cheng Yi's mind also began to slowly spread outward, beginning to dissipate like flowing water, flowing out of the platform where the sword furnace was located.

And there was still nine-tenths of the distance to fill the entire Yuanshen Sword Palace.

But even so, Li Cheng Yi felt that his flesh and blood had become more resilient under the expansion of the sword furnace's flames.

Under this impetus, his physical fitness further began to undergo new changes and new improvements, reaching eight times the strength of Milton.

But at this moment, the disappearance of the three new mages once again caused shock throughout the Eastern Territory and among the White Tower mages.

The White Tower was furious.

If the previous two mages might have had accidents, then this time, the three mages were attacked again with the premise of openly releasing investigation information.

This proved that the murderer did not care about the White Tower's deterrence at all.

Under such circumstances, the White Tower finally truly sent a White Tower mage, leading a powerful investigation team composed of thirteen joint high-level mages.

*

*

*

Black Fort.

"Is Carlos still working on his research?" Melissa had lunch and found that her son still hadn't come to eat, and sighed slightly.

"Yes." Old Buck nodded slightly.

"I heard that he also misappropriated military funds for his latest experiment?" Melissa continued to ask.

"...Yes." Old Buck responded again helplessly.

"The White Tower is still investigating, the barbarians are eyeing us covetously, and Knight Milton has led people to repel two waves of their plundering attacks. How can he still be in the mood to misappropriate military funds for his experiments?? He said he was going to the front line? How..."

Melissa wanted to be angry, but when she thought that her son was doing experiments near Black Fort, it was safer than going to the battlefield and fighting the barbarians.

She suppressed the words that were about to come out.

"He's sixteen years old. Miss Mina of Pals Territory has come to see him again on behalf of the Youth Association. Is he still not seeing her this time?" Melissa was a little tired.

"No, this time the Baron saw her. They may be talking in detail now. The members of the Youth Association, when united, are actually a considerable force. The adults of each family are happy to see their younger generations connect with each other." Old Buck nodded.

"Do you think there's a possibility this time between Mina and him?" Melissa immediately felt a glimmer of hope again.

She had met Mina Pals, the second daughter of Baron Pals, who was a good match for Carlos.

She was beautiful, had a good figure, and was suitable for childbearing.

"This... It may not work this time. Miss Mina didn't come alone, she also brought her friend." Old Buck coughed, hearing the meaning in her words.

The old lady wanted to use medicine to promote the two cooking rice in advance.

Anyway, it seemed that Mina was quite infatuated with the young master.

It's just that such things can't be rushed...

"But I think the Youth Association came to find the young master because of the rumors circulating in Pals Territory recently about the Abyss of the Cedar Forest." Old Buck reminded, "The rumors say that a mysterious and terrifying powerful creature appeared in the Cedar Forest, who easily killed the griffins that haunted there, and also killed the two waves of mages and their attendants sent by the White Tower."

"The Abyss of the Cedar Forest?"

Inside the experimental stone house.

Li Cheng Yi washed his hands and received Mina, who came to visit, and another girl named Havina.

Both of them were of extraordinary origin and had received knight training. Mina's figure was better, with curves in all the right places. Havina's appearance was even better, and her temperament vaguely revealed more nobility.

"Yes, our Youth Association has connected with Dila, the genius mage of the White Tower." Mina smiled, "Everyone will work together to collect all the information and news about the Abyss of the Cedar Forest, even small talk, and give it to Dila as a favor."

"Not interested. I'm busy." Li Cheng Yi said casually.

"Okay, I knew you wouldn't be interested. It's your turn now, Havina." Mina smiled and stepped aside, letting the white-gold short-haired girl sit in the main seat.

"Hello, Baron Carlos, I am Havina Elstone. I heard that you want to collect a large number of books, and you also have a large number of books in your hands. I wonder if you are willing to join our Tower of Knowledge to exchange and share knowledge and books with each other?"

"Tower of Knowledge?" Li Cheng Yi raised his eyebrows. After reading a large number of books, he was no longer in the situation where he was unclear about many things as before.

"Yes. We are a large exchange organization composed of three pinnacle mages, which is different from the White Tower. The main purpose is to share knowledge, not to monopolize it. After hearing Mina mention your situation, we all unanimously believe that you are very suitable to become a member of our Tower of Knowledge." Havina smiled.

"Are there any restrictions on joining? What are the obligations, what are the rights?" Li Cheng Yi asked. He was very interested in this.

"The rights have already been mentioned. The obligation is to pay a total of one thousand gold coins in membership fees to the Tower of Knowledge every year. After all, many of the organization's internal liaison agencies and institutions for exchanging and preserving books need to be maintained." Havina smiled.

"Okay. Very reasonable request." Li Cheng Yi nodded.

"That's good. Next, as long as you participate in an internal exchange meeting of our organization, once a year, and participate nearby, it will meet the requirements." Havina continued to add.

"No problem."

"Then it's settled." Havina took out a strange book with a black cover and handed it to Li Cheng Yi.

"This is our meeting gift from the Tower of Knowledge, and it is also a special magic book to test whether there are any bad traces on you."

She took the book, got up, and approached Li Cheng Yi.

"It can test whether you have any violations of the Mage Covenant..."

Before Havina finished speaking, she saw the surface of the black book begin to release wisps of dark red light.

The smile on her face stopped abruptly.

The fact that a magic book for testing would emit red light generally only had one explanation.

That is, the person in front of her had recently committed particularly egregious acts of killing Imperial mages...

"Excuse me, what's the situation? Why is it emitting red light?" Li Cheng Yi looked at the book and asked curiously.

Havina watched the red light on the black book gradually brighten, even beginning to turn black.

Her heart sank rapidly.

Because red turning black meant that the person in front of her not only had the crime of killing mages, but also might have other more troublesome evil deeds, such as colluding with evil races, committing crimes against humanity, etc...

Combined with the various rumors circulating nearby, the greatest possibility instantly flooded her mind—collusion with elves!

Cold sweat slowly oozed out from her back.

"This... This is because it will appear this way at the beginning of the certification." Havina still maintained a smile on her face, but her heart had begun to tense up even more.

"But why are you afraid?" Li Cheng Yi raised his head and looked at Havina's pretty face.

"I—"

*Swish!*

In an instant, a heavy blow slammed into the back of Havina's neck, knocking her unconscious.

Mina, who was on the side, suddenly stood up, but Li Cheng Yi appeared beside her in an instant and covered her mouth and nose.

"Don't worry, I just want to protect you."

"Protect... me?" Mina struggled, making a muffled sound.

"Yes... Because if you call out and attract other people, I will have to deal with one more person..."

Li Cheng Yi said softly.

Mina tensed up all over, and an uncontrollable fear quickly climbed up from her back.

(End of this chapter)