After reaching an agreement with Yinglun, Chen Xu and the diplomat Wu Guoyuan set off for Yinglun together.
Hale Nicholas and Hack Nicholas went ahead of them.
Led by Wu Guoyuan, Chen Xu arrived at a research base within the academy.
"Brother Wu, what are we doing here? Has the academy already developed weapons against the sea race?"
Looking at the instruments around him, none of them looked like weapons. Instead, they resembled miniature energy cores. Chen Xu did not understand why Wu Guoyuan had brought him here.
Originally, Chen Xu had planned to go to Yinglun alone. After all, once the crisis was resolved, he would still need to personally settle the final payment.
With his own survival skills being strong enough, he was not afraid of encountering any danger.
Even if he really could not stop the sea race and the worst happened—the entire island of Yinglun being submerged—Chen Xu could simply escape into the Undead Kingdom and return to the blue star from Bone Guard One's side.
He could even inspect the construction progress of the Natural Wonder projects while he was at it.
However, Xia Qiming had insisted that Chen Xu could not act alone and must take Wu Guoyuan with him.
He claimed it was a Daxia regulation that individuals were not allowed to act alone when involved in foreign affairs.
Therefore, Chen Xu followed Wu Guoyuan to the academy base instead of going to Yinglun with the Nicholas family.
Seeing Chen Xu looking around, Wu Guoyuan explained, "This is the academy's Energy Research Institute. It does not study weapons."
"Those colored ones on the left are concentrated five-element elemental energy cores. Those white and black ones on the right..."
"I know, those are light and dark attribute energy cores," Chen Xu interrupted, trying to guess.
To his surprise, Wu Guoyuan shook his head. "They are not. The white one is milk from specialized cows, and the black one is coffee berry juice."
After explaining, Wu Guoyuan walked over to the white container, took two disposable cups from the base, poured two cups of milk, and gave one to Chen Xu.
"Milk? Why set up a milk container specifically in a research base?"
Although Chen Xu was bewildered, it did not stop him from taking the cup and tasting the milk. It was smooth with a rich aroma.
"This is provided for our special employees. Ordinary machinery is too slow at purifying energy, and the efficiency is low. For these special employees, purifying energy is merely an instinct."
"It is as simple as breathing for them. Look, those are the employees."
Following Wu Guoyuan's finger, two giant butterflies flew in from a distance, heading straight for the milk container.
They practiced the routine of taking disposable cups, filling them with milk, holding them in front of their bodies, and extending their mouthparts into the cups to suck.
"Oh, isn't this little Guoyuan? What wind blew you here? Are you looking for the Queen again?"
"The Queen just gave birth to offspring, though. It will be at least another month of nurturing before they can be given to your Beast Tamers for contracts."
After finishing their milk, the two butterflies flew toward Wu Guoyuan and actually spoke in Daxia's language.
"I am indeed here for the Crystal Butterfly Queen, but not for source crystal butterfly eggs. I want to ask the Queen to help leave a Crystal Source Mark."
"So that is it. Then hurry along. The Queen happens to be free right now. If you are a few dozen minutes later, the web drama she loves watching will start broadcasting."
With that, the two butterflies flew away.
"Those are source crystal butterflies. Seventy years ago, after Daxia cleared a dungeon, we obtained the relevant pet eggs and breeding knowledge to cultivate this lineage of transcendent creatures."
"Although their combat capability is not high, their auxiliary functions are almost maxed out. They can purify energy and cast various support spells."
"Most importantly, after contracting with a source crystal butterfly, the contractor's own elemental talent can be boosted."
"To put it simply, a lower-tier elemental talent can be upgraded to a mid-tier one. Because of this, many elemental mages and cultivators choose to contract with one."
"I know that. I learned about it in class. Moreover, I heard that some source crystal butterflies with bloodline mutations can even significantly boost elemental talent after a contract. Legend has it that a certain senior in Daxia jumped from a lower-tier elemental talent to a top-tier one through a contract."
"Brother Wu, is that rumor true?"
Chen Xu had studied source crystal butterflies at Linghai Academy. The reason his impression was so deep was naturally because of the story of defying fate that circulated behind them.
"It should be true. The source crystal butterfly with the mutated bloodline is the current Crystal Butterfly Queen."
"Brother Wu, since you know so much, do you know the name of that senior?"
But Wu Guoyuan did not answer Chen Xu's question. He simply smiled slightly and walked further inside.
"Hey, Brother Wu, I am not listening for free! I can exchange other knowledge or secrets for it!" Chen Xu quickly followed.
The two walked together to the center of the research institute.
In the center, there was actually a giant tree with five colors, and many flowers were blooming on the canopy.
Inside one of the flowers, a noble lady was reclining. She had multicolored hair and wore silk robes.
Seeing Wu Guoyuan walk over, the lady sat up and pointed a finger at him.
Instantly, five-element energy gathered under Wu Guoyuan and Chen Xu's feet, forming a flower pedestal that carried them into the air.
"You heartbreaker, you finally decided to come see me."
Hearing this, Chen Xu immediately grew excited.
He had not expected such a surprise! It was a pity he did not have any snacks in his Necrotic Space; now he could only watch the drama unfold without anything to munch on.
Unlike Chen Xu's anticipation and excitement, Wu Guoyuan's face was dark with helplessness.
"What have you been watching again? I told you to watch fewer of those strange web dramas. Now your mouth is full of nonsense."
"Tch, no sense of humor at all." The lady found Wu Guoyuan's response boring, so she adjusted her posture and became formal.
"Tell me, then. What is it that brings our busy Guoyuan here in person?"
Wu Guoyuan pointed at Chen Xu. "Leave a Crystal Source Mark on him. No need for attribute boosting, just max out the defensive capabilities."
The lady nodded and pointed her index finger at Chen Xu. A streak of pure five-element energy wove together in the air, forming a miniature crystal butterfly that flew toward Chen Xu's forehead.
However, that miniature crystal butterfly kept probing at Chen Xu's forehead, unable to merge into him.
Seeing this, the lady increased the energy output. The miniature crystal butterfly grew larger and larger, but it still could not merge into Chen Xu's body.
"Wu Guoyuan, I take back what I said earlier. You do have a bit of humor. You brought a god here to have me, a mere Queen, leave a mark?"
"And you wanted the defense maxed out? I think you are the one who watched too many web dramas and broke your brain."
The lady angrily canceled the spell, and the crystal butterfly shattered like a bubble, dissipating into the air.
"A god? How is that possible? He is strong and was named a titled powerhouse by Daxia shortly after his class change, but it is impossible for him to be a god."
"Hmph. His status is even higher than mine, the Crystal Butterfly Queen. If he is not a god, what is he? Could he be the World Will?"
The lady was only half right. In terms of divine status, Chen Xu was indeed much higher than her. But he was not the World Will; he was the Lord of the Undead, who was slightly stronger than the World Will.
In any case, to the world, except for special worlds that reached extremes, the rest were ordinary worlds. Those below the transcendent were ants, and those below the special were mortal realms.
Seeing the situation fall into silence, Chen Xu had no choice but to speak up.
"Actually, I have plenty of cards up my sleeve for survival. There is no need for that Crystal Source Mark or whatever."
"It is a Crystal Source Mark," Wu Guoyuan corrected. "With this mark, if you encounter any danger, I can directly teleport the person carrying it back here."
"This is also the reason I became a Daxia diplomat. The world situation is complex, and we have to be extra careful."
"Everyone who can go abroad is a precious combat asset of Daxia. We cannot afford to lose a single one."
"Ha, you, a mere human, are worrying about a god. Why don't I see you worrying about the orphans and widows left behind here?"
Wu Guoyuan felt his blood pressure rising, the veins on his forehead bulging. He grabbed Chen Xu, turned into a streak of light, and fled far away.
Leaving the Crystal Butterfly Queen alone, she gave a light hmph, pulled out a tablet from a flower, clicked on a web drama, and began watching with great interest.
"Brother Wu, I did not expect you to actually be..."
Seeing Chen Xu's strange gaze, Wu Guoyuan sighed and defended himself, "Do not overthink it. Source crystal butterflies reproduce asexually; they do not have genders. The Queen of the race awakens the ability to give birth, absorbing the energy of heaven and earth to produce offspring."
"Jingmeng has just watched too many strange web dramas and picked up bad habits."
"So that legendary senior was you, Brother Wu?"
Chen Xu had found the key point.
Wu Guoyuan nodded, not saying more on the topic.
"Since the Crystal Source Mark cannot work on you, let us go to the Heavenly Crafts Academy and ask them for more protective items. Although my Light Escape is fast, its speed while carrying others is not quite as good."
"It is really fine. Let us not go to the Heavenly Crafts Academy. Let's go straight to Yinglun. My troops are almost there. If we do not go now, we will miss the opening act."
Seeing that Wu Guoyuan still wanted to go to the Heavenly Crafts Academy, Chen Xu quickly interrupted and pulled him toward the Akhan dungeon.
Transferring through Akhan was the fastest way to get to Yinglun.
After receiving Chen Xu's orders, Kunpeng and the others were advancing at full speed. They were almost at Yinglun now. If they did not go over, they would miss the show.
"But without enough protection, I am afraid there will be accidents."
"Do not worry. I am a Necromancer. In a way, I work for the King of Hell. He will not take me in yet."
Wu Guoyuan wanted to argue further, but feeling the aura of Sindragosa before him, he stopped struggling.
He only sighed inwardly.
"Truly, the new generation surpasses the old. In less than a year, the aura of a casually summoned bone dragon is more terrifying than Jingmeng's."
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