Chapter 124: Opening Ceremony Address 【Double Feature】

“What should I do?” Yu Sheng’an chuckled. “Of course, it’s for the Source Essence! Making money is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Yu Sheng’an’s brazen words made the Goddess of Wisdom find it ridiculous, feeling he was extremely arrogant.

Before she could get angry, Yu Sheng’an continued:

“We’re the same kind. Let’s not beat around the bush! I’ll be straightforward, are you interested in forming an alliance? I can open a music sanctuary-like section on the Internet for you to manage, and we split the Source Essence it collects fifty-fifty.”

“I don’t have the authority of the Internet, how can I manage it?”

“Let’s exchange virtual Divine Sparks, then we’ll both have it.”

“Daydreaming!”

The Goddess of Wisdom sneered, looking at Yu Sheng’an as if he were an idiot.

She was not like Afnora, such a weak god.

Apart from alliances, there were few alternatives.

It’s known that besides the Grand Duchy of Greg, her missionary territory spanned multiple worlds, with two small planes fully under her control.

Why would she need to cooperate with the Internet God?

When it comes to benefits, she didn’t think the Internet God could bring her more Source Essence.

On the contrary, the Internet God would erode her believers.

Moreover, once virtual Divine Sparks were exchanged, her Divine Spark’s weaknesses would inevitably be exposed.

This would put her under the Internet God’s control.

Then, if he demanded to spread the Internet to her missionary territory, what should she do?

Comply or refuse?

What? Threaten to expose the Internet’s Divine Spark weakness instead?

Ha, does he think she’s stupid?

Since the Internet God dared to exchange virtual Divine Sparks, it means the Internet’s Divine Spark flaw isn’t significant.

Or even if it were exposed, it wouldn’t matter.

In summary, this deal was a loss for her!

How could she possibly agree?

At this time, the Goddess of Wisdom’s attitude made Yu Sheng’an sigh quietly.

He had already anticipated this outcome.

The premise for a divine alliance is either a common enemy or common interests.

They had a common enemy in the Five Prime Gods and other deities.

But this enemy wasn’t enough to make the Goddess of Wisdom fear for her existence.

To put it bluntly, even if she lost the Grand Duchy of Greg, she could still live well and even make a comeback.

As long as she accumulated Source Essence over time, there was a possibility of hunting other gods and ascending to the path of the King of Gods.

As for common interests?

He had fewer Internet users than the Goddess of Wisdom!

Although he could virtually exhaust the Source Essence naturally nurtured by his users daily, far surpassing the efficiency of the gods.

But this point was clearly hard to use to persuade her.

Ultimately, it boiled down to one thing.

The Goddess of Wisdom possessed a strong Divine Spark, even when allied, it had to be under her leadership without compromising her interests.

Expecting her to give first before benefiting was unlikely.

Especially when it involved exposing Divine Spark weaknesses.

“Well, everyone has their ambitions. Since you look down on the Internet, I won’t insist. If one path doesn’t work, we try another. How about this, I’ll exchange half a bicycle production line for free trade rights in the Grand Duchy of Greg?”

Saying this, Yu Sheng’an raised his hand. “Hey, don’t rush to refuse, wait until I finish speaking.”

“I admit, my promotion of bicycles is to rely on merchants to help spread the Internet, but this doesn’t actually impact you much. Without merchants, take a look at the Greg nobility, how many aren’t my users?”

“You don’t need to be frustrated about this. They don’t worship me; they just want to freeload my online knowledge. They’ll even prevent the lower classes from freeloading me, stopping them from gaining power to usurp their status. Am I right?”

“So, the Internet’s spread isn’t just blocked by you, they’re also stopping it. Effectively spreading it won’t be easy.”

“Besides, even if spread, so what? It’s just Divine Magic, I’m not proselytizing, does it threaten you?”

“Think about it, when bicycles are popularized in Greg, everyone will attend worship more conveniently, won’t your Well of Origin also grow stronger?”

The Goddess of Wisdom looked at Yu Sheng’an speaking eloquently, expressionless, unmoved.

Yu Sheng’an sighed, knowing that merely piecing together these concocted reasons was not enough to persuade the Goddess of Wisdom to open trade.

With this thought, he directly said, “Do you know why I only want to give you half a bicycle production line?”

The Goddess of Wisdom scoffed with disdain.

Such mundane things, even if given entirely, would be useless. Yet he was so stingy, only willing to give out half?

Does he really think I care about a few coins of mortals?

What a joke!

However, this disdainful expression only lasted for a second before Yu Sheng’an’s next sentence shattered it completely, leaving her face full of shock.

“Because this thing can mass-produce flintlocks!”

“What?”

The Goddess of Wisdom’s pupils suddenly dilated.

To be honest, flintlocks weren’t particularly powerful in the multiverse.

A general bullet’s power was equivalent to a full blow from a Dou Practitioner.

A second-level magic shield from a formal magician could completely withstand bullet shots.

Dou Practitioners could even dodge bullets;

At the Dou Shi stage, catching bullets with bare hands was no problem.

Yet, even so, the appearance of flintlocks still shocked the world, becoming strategic resources akin to magical tools.

This isn’t because specially modified bullets could reach the strike power of a Dou Shi or even a Dou Zong!

These powerful bullets are impressive, but their cost is also quite high, akin to advanced magical tools, making them less preferable compared to the latter.

The true value of flintlocks lies in their simplicity of operation and immediate usability.

They could quickly grant a farmer with no training the potential to slay Dou Practitioners or even magicians.

Perhaps in single combat, a farmer had no chance.

But on large-scale battlefields, a sweep of metal storm could overwhelm even Archmages.

If Dou Practitioners were equipped with flintlocks, their combat power would be even more frightening.

In other words, a flintlock was worth three years of training for a soldier!

How could it not be valuable?

“Is what you’re saying true?” The Goddess of Wisdom looked doubtful.

“Snap!”

Yu Sheng’an snapped his fingers, and a virtual screen flashed into existence next to him.

“Don’t measure my production line with your outdated hammer forging techniques. This is industrial thinking and technological power!”

“Look, even the Dwarf King is secretly learning my techniques! That foolish drunkard dared to sneak in under my nose, thinking he could learn by just looking?”

With Yu Sheng’an’s mocking words, the Goddess of Wisdom distinctly saw Dwarf King Kauth sweating profusely while tightening screws.

The continuous stream of flowing parts overwhelmed him, leaving him no time to look up.

Yu Sheng’an wondered what Dwarf King Kauth was thinking?

He probably thought he could learn by sneaking a glance.

In the end, not only did he fail to learn, but he also became his laborer.

What a fool!

Didn’t he realize the Dragon Factory, where machine tools are made, wouldn’t let just anyone inside?

“Half a production line might not be able to produce flintlocks, right?”

The Goddess of Wisdom looked serious, knowing from a small part the whole.

The Dragon Factory’s endlessly flowing production line shook her worldview and stunned her!

She understood what Yu Sheng’an meant by “mass production.”

If she could get this technology, exchanging it for the Grand Duchy of Greg was worth it!

The value of this technology was immense.

If her followers could each be equipped with a flintlock, aligned with the Wisdom Legion, her power would soar!

“Of course it can’t produce flintlocks, but it can produce barrels, and you can manually grind the rest of the parts, or try to crack the production line to turn it into a flintlock line.”

Yu Sheng’an spread his hands.

“I want the entire production line!”

“Fine, give me the Grand Duchy of Greg!”

“You’re stalling for time?”

“You are too!”

The Goddess of Wisdom understood.

Yu Sheng’an offered half a production line, just as she opened the Greg trade market.

Both gave each other an opening, whether they could reach their objectives depended on their abilities.

During this process, they would certainly obstruct each other.

“I want to inspect the goods first.”

The Goddess of Wisdom no longer insisted on the entire production line. After all, the hardest part of flintlock production was the barrel. Since it could make barrels, the rest shouldn’t be a big issue.

The Internet God was just trying to annoy her!

She didn’t care about such petty tricks.

“No problem!”

Yu Sheng’an smiled slightly.

The initiation of the industrial enlightenment in Aezia would inevitably lead to low-end machine tools leaking.

He could protect the Dragon Factory but couldn’t safeguard the production lines for the Quever nobility.

Everyone has weaknesses.

As long as he addressed their vulnerabilities and breached the Quever nobility’s psychological defenses, acquiring production lines was inevitable.

Even if Yu Sheng’an spent a fortune blocking them, it would only prolong the process.

Hence, the leakage of low-end machine tools was unavoidable.

Unless Yu Sheng’an hoarded all production lines under his nose.

But if he did, what about industrial scale?

What about mass-producing soldiers?

Don’t make the mistake of withholding development by overreacting!

Following and utilizing these objective laws of development is wise!

Only fools go against nature.

So, using the inevitable low-end machine tool leakage as leverage to open Greg’s trade gates was a profitable deal!

As long as he controlled the core technology and established technical barriers to dominate the supply chain, the enemy’s efforts would turn them into his low-end manufacturing base.

Moreover, under the drone swarm tactics, there’s no fear of soldier mass-production and swarm tactics.

With hidden agendas, Yu Sheng’an and the Goddess of Wisdom completed their transaction.

After returning to the Dragon Factory, Yu Sheng’an began considering how to deal with Dwarf King Kauth.

Dwarf King Kauth’s power was of little concern, at most demigod level.

Why was he so sure?

The reason was simple. Kaisadum was a medium plane with a power cap at the divine level, excluding gods.

In other words, the strongest power in this world approached divinity but could never touch it.

Hence, the Dwarf King’s strength was, at best, demigod level.

He had no divine power fluctuation.

The possibility of becoming a god was minimal.

Therefore, killing him would be easy.

However, killing him alone wasn’t significant.

Yu Sheng’an was considering if he could leverage this to gain the entire Dwarf race’s interests.

“Tap, tap, tap…”

Yu Sheng’an left his desk and paced in his office, deep in thought.

After long contemplation, Yu Sheng’an’s plans gradually perfected, and he even had a concrete execution proposal.

He decided to leave the fate of the Dwarf race to the Dwarves themselves.

Thinking about this, he called White Reed, whispering orders.

“This…” After hearing the command, White Reed was initially surprised, then solemnly nodded before leaving to make arrangements.

Just after White Reed left, Yu Sheng’an’s mansion welcomed two guests.

Dundar, accompanied by a young Grand Mage, entered.

Yu Sheng’an recognized this Grand Mage.

His name was Lucien, the Empire’s youngest Grand Mage and the most promising candidate to ascend to the Archmage realm.

He was also one of the few in the Empire who knew Yu Sheng’an’s true identity.

“Mr. Ajef, sorry to bother you!”

Dundar entered the office and bowed.

Lucien also nodded and bowed!

Seeing that they seemed not to be in a hurry, Yu Sheng’an pointed to a nearby chair, saying, “Sit!”

Both nodded and sat down.

“Mr. Ajef, I’m here to ask for your help with something,” Dundar got straight to the point.

“Oh?”

“Lucien, why don’t you explain to Mr. Ajef?”

“Yes!”

Lucien nodded, his eyes bright and clear.

“Mr. Ajef, I’d like to invite you to attend the opening ceremony of the Felix Magic Academy and give a speech!”

“I hope you can speak favorably of Light Element Magic at the ceremony. To be honest, since you confirmed that Lightning Magic can be converted into Light Element Magic, the already popular Lightning Magic has gained even more favor, whereas Light Element Magic has suffered severely.”

“As a conventional branch of the seven elements, Light Element Magic has often been criticized for its lack of early offensive and defensive strength, thus making few magicians choose it as their main focus after graduation. Now, after this setback, I’m worried that even fewer magicians will specialize in Light Element Magic in the future, which is detrimental to the Empire’s magical heritage.”

“Currently, only you have the ability to change this situation. I sincerely hope you can attend the opening ceremony and give a speech!”

Lucien earnestly pleaded.

Light Element Magic is quite practical.

Light Burst is an effective opening magic.

Yet it still cannot hide the early-stage shortcomings in offensive and defensive power of Light Element Magic.

In contrast, even Lightning Magic’s first-level magic includes “Electric Snake Paralysis,” a considerably powerful offensive spell.

Light Element Magic only gains real lethality with the third-level “Focused Beam!”

Undeniably, when fully developed, Light Element Magic can be as powerful as or stronger than other types of magic.

For example:

Fourth-level magic: Sunburn, Invisibility.

Fifth-level magic: Mirage, Light Distortion.

Sixth-level magic: Absolute Purification.

…and so on.

But how many can reach high-level magic?

Most magicians stop at the fourth-level magic, if not sooner.

Therefore, practical considerations dictate the choice of main magic after graduation.

Originally, the Light Element was somewhat declining.

Now, after Yu Sheng’an confirmed that “Lightning Magic could convert to Light Element,” the status of Light Element Magic plummeted.

If this continues unchecked, no one will practice Light Element Magic anymore, and as high-level magic gradually becomes lost and only textbook material remains, what would differentiate a conventional magic system from a special one?

“No problem!”

Yu Sheng’an nodded.

He thought to himself, buddy, you really came to the right person at the right time!

If you had come a few days earlier, I might not have agreed.

But now!

I have the Divine Spark of Contracts, holding part of the authority of light. In all of Quever, no, even in the multiverse, probably no one is more suitable than me to promote Light Element Magic.

“Great, thank you for your help!”

Lucien looked pleasantly surprised.

He had brought Dundar along because he feared Yu Sheng’an’s refusal.

Yu Sheng’an smiled but said nothing.

“Mr. Ajef, to be honest, I plan to appoint Lucien as the vice principal of Felix. Once he’s familiar, I’ll also hand over the principal position to him.”

Dundar spoke, explaining why Lucien was interested in the lineage of Light Element Magic.

“Oh, and you mean?” Yu Sheng’an was surprised.

It’s known that magician training heavily depends on the master-apprentice relationship.

Thus magicians place great value on their affiliation.

Being the principal of a magic academy means holding not just a school but influence across countless disciples worldwide.

“I want to truly live up to the title of Archmage!” Dundar was filled with longing.

Yu Sheng’an was taken aback.

The magician realm is divided into:

Magic Apprentice, Magician, Grand Magician, Mage, Grand Mage, and Holy Mage.

Because Holy Mages possess near god-like power, some started calling them Archmages.

In reality, the true Archmage is a realm above Holy Mage.

It’s rumored that in the ancient era of the Titan gods, true Archmages existed.

But later, for unknown reasons, these Archmages, like the Titan gods, mysteriously vanished from history.

The magical path to divine power thus developed a gap.

“I look forward to this day!” Yu Sheng’an sincerely blessed.