Chapter 731: Section 519: Shuanglian: I Do Not Approve of Your Marriage! (Supplement: 3/11)
The Ice Wall was so towering that it nearly matched the size of a city wall.
The blizzard raged on, yet was powerless against the Ice Wall.
The space enclosed by the Ice Wall was vast, and Cai Jing and his two companions stood as if they were at the foot of a city wall.
Cai Jing was gasping heavily as he looked at the Ice Wall, exclaiming in awe, "Could this be a Holy Domain Level spell?"
"It used to be," said Master Da Bei. "This scroll was excavated from an ancient relic. It was originally Holy Domain Level, but due to lack of maintenance, its power has significantly diminished."
"To study the ancient Frost Magic recorded in the scroll, the Alchemy Guild did much damage to it, causing its power to drop even further."
"By the time it came into my hands, it retained only a fraction of the Holy Domain Level power."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a loud crack echoed.
The three of them saw a massive crack appear on the Ice Wall.
Cai Jing and the others were instantly unsettled.
"We can’t even hold this off?" Zhong Bei clutched his head, completely losing composure – his emotions had already collapsed.
"So it seems, the elder Shuanglian didn’t use full force before," Master Da Bei’s expression also became blank.
Cai Jing’s face darkened: "We can’t expect help anymore. We must save ourselves!"
Having said this, Cai Jing suddenly yelled out, "Mage Shuanglian, you are so powerful, we are completely outmatched by you!"
"Master Zhong Bei has been scared to the point of paralysis on the ground by your might."
"If you want to teach him a lesson, I completely agree. My visit this time was in no way intended to support him. You may have misunderstood my intentions!"
Upon hearing this, Master Da Bei’s expression changed instantly.
But Cai Jing could no longer concern himself with that.
After all, he had now established a connection with the Alchemy Guild through Master Da Bei and even become a member of the Alchemy Guild himself.
For Master Cai Jing, the priority was to placate the infuriated elder Shuanglian.
He clearly knew what Shuanglian cared about and continued shouting, "Your student Bu Quan is not safe now. You may not know yet that the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps has encountered serious trouble."
"They have been attacked by a mysterious organization, their squad leader once ambushed in Cold Wind Valley, and their trade caravan has been shattered by a Gold Level assault."
"The forces the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps left at Snowbird Port have only Silver Level strength at best. If I were the enemy, I would definitely strike at the weakest part of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps."
"So now, Bu Quan is also in a place of great danger."
These words immediately moved Shuanglian.
In fact, Shuanglian had not finished reading all the letters when Cai Jing and his companions arrived.
Cai Jing’s words could be easily verified.
For Shuanglian, obtaining the latest status of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps was not difficult.
The Alchemy Guild of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom was everywhere on Ice Sculpture Island and radiated out to many surrounding islands. It was a national behemoth with points of presence or shops in almost every town. In places where few dared to tread, they often set up hidden Alchemy Laboratories.
The Alchemy Guild was extremely well-funded. Thus, aside from naturally gathering vast amounts of information through its widespread reach, it also had the resources to buy intelligence. The Thief Guild would never dare to skimp on such an important client!
As Shuanglian leveraged her privileges to investigate the current situation of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps through the Alchemy Guild, the howling blizzard seemed to lessen a bit.
Cai Jing hit right on what Shuanglian was concerned about.
Suppressing her rage, Shuanglian pulled her attention to quickly peruse the rest of Bu Quan’s letters.
Finally, in the last one, Shuanglian saw Bu Quan’s call for help.
"This foolish child, not only did he sell himself, but he also gifted his Alchemy Workshop to the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps."
"It’s precisely because of these Alchemy Workshops that the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps had the capability to mass-produce Dragon Power Riding Potions."
"This Magic Potion in itself is only considered decent, but it hit the empty space in the Magic Potion Market of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom, causing a huge impact."
"The Alchemy Guild’s reaction was too slow. Being cumbersome in structure, many of its members are mere fillers, and they are only starting to operate in this area now."
"That’s odd, according to logic, the Jingxiang family is the first family in the Magic Potion Market; have they also not taken any action?"
"Is it because the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps has partnered with the Lijian family that the Jingxiang family has concerns? No, perhaps, the Jingxiang family has already made a move. The previous ambush that destroyed the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ transport caravan, was it their doing?"
Even though Shuanglian was engrossed in alchemy experiments, being a Tower Master and achieving such success today naturally meant she was a quick-thinker.
She quickly analyzed the current situation from the intelligence, and the conclusion she reached was the same as Master Cai Jing’s – the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps was in dire straits, and so was Bu Quan’s situation.
"With the current situation, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps has also realized the weakness of their branches."
"Hmph, to think they’d actually use Bu Quan to leverage my power!"
"That Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps is too astute, using Bu Quan’s strength and connections in such a way – clearly a very clever scoundrel!"
"Poor Bu Quan, sorry, such a scoundrel doesn’t deserve you."
"Alas, it’s my fault for focusing solely on teaching you alchemy knowledge and not training you in romance."
"This time, teacher must learn from past lessons. Don’t blame me; I won’t allow relationships like yours! I do not approve of your marriage!"
With these thoughts, Shuanglian’s intention to discipline Zhong Bei and the others lessened.
Disciplining Zhong Bei could be fully postponed until later.
But with Bu Quan’s situation so precarious and time being of the essence, it was wise to prioritize this matter.
The ferocity of the storm disaster gradually diminished.
Perceiving the changes in the outside world, Master Da Bei quickly realized that Cai Jing’s earlier words had struck a chord with Shuanglian.
He hurriedly shouted out, expressing his willingness to pay a price to appease the elder Shuanglian’s wrath.
Before coming here, Master Da Bei had prepared thoroughly, immediately withdrawing a large number of Mage resources from his storage equipment.
Among these, to appease her tastes, he had specially prepared many rare high-end Alchemy Materials.
Although Master Da Bei himself wasn’t formidable in combat, with such a status and his seasoned skills in negotiation, he usually managed to acquire plenty of valuable items.
The gifts of appeasement he offered had cost him a pretty penny.
He bore the heartache, for he had no other choice.
After all, who else but Zhong Bei was his own son!
By this time, the massive Ice Wall was riddled with cracks, with snow and wind squeezing through several of them.
Shuanglian took note of the resources Master Da Bei had taken out. Only then did she truly confirm that Master Da Bei and the others had indeed come to offer their apologies.
The storm disaster weakened once more, its power diminished to less than a third of its previous strength, yet it continued unabated.
From the ebbing storm, Cai Jing understood Shuanglian’s cryptic intentions. Gritting his teeth, he took out the legacy results of the Prosperity·Hybrid Master.
Master Da Bei was startled but showed no intention of stopping him.
After offering up a piece of the Prosperity·Hybrid Master’s legacy, they finally satisfied Shuanglian, temporarily quelling her fury.
The next moment, the three of them saw a blur before their eyes and were back at the Alchemy Association headquarters, standing in front of the Honey Snow Tower once again.
"We’ve been kicked out of the Half-plane!"
"Mage Shuanglian has accepted our compensation..."
Cai Jing and Master Da Bei exchanged a quick glance, each seeing in the other’s eyes the relief of having narrowly escaped death and overcoming danger.
As for Zhong Bei, he lay on the ground, still sobbing uncontrollably.
The teleportation ripple flashed and was gone, as Shuanglian transported from the Half-plane to the peak of the Mage Tower.
"Little Quan Quan, you’re in grave danger. Your teacher is going to bring you back!" Shuanglian made up her mind and began to manipulate the Mage Tower.
The entire Honey Snow Tower radiated a pale blue light.
In just a few seconds, the glow intensified rapidly, turning brilliantly blinding.
The Honey Snow Tower trembled slightly, as did the ground beneath it, while the Alchemy Association’s alarms blared continuously, issuing warnings.
The nearby Mage Towers immediately emitted Mana fluctuations, with many Tower Spirits sending messages, inquiring about what the Honey Snow Tower was about to do.
The response from the Honey Snow Tower Spirit was: Everything was under the direct control of the Tower Master.
"What else can be done?" Shuanglian’s lips curled slightly, her eyes gleaming with a cold light.
The next moment, the Honey Snow Tower detached itself from the ground and began to rise slowly.
The students and disciples living in the tower, caught completely off guard, swayed violently, some falling on the spot. Numerous alchemy reagent bottles crashed onto the floor tiles with loud clangs.
Amidst the apprentices’ screams, amidst the inquiries from the surrounding Tower Spirits, under the stunned gaze of Cai Jing, Master Da Bei, and the others, the Honey Snow Tower ascended into the sky.
Then, with a burst of intense light, it propelled the entire structure upward like an ignited massive rocket, shooting into the heavens!
In the blink of an eye, the Honey Snow Tower vanished, rocketing into the clouds and disappearing from everyone’s sight.
Leaving behind an endlessly blaring Alchemy Association and a massive crater, which was the spot where the Honey Snow Tower had once stood.
"It just... flew away like that?!" Cai Jing’s mouth hung open slightly.
Master Da Bei swallowed hard, attempting to analyze, "Although Shuanglian built this Mage Tower with the support of the Alchemy Guild, she had long since repaid her debts."
"In the Half-plane, she has established the nation’s largest Snow Honey production base."
"Every year, the Snow Honey she sells to the outside world is in scarce supply."
"The most frightening part is that her main customers are the military of the Kingdom!"
Master Cai Jing also swallowed hard.
A surge of intense envy and jealousy welled up within him.
Snow Honey.
He knew it was a peculiar resource, consumable by humans; it not only staved off hunger but also replenished Fighting Energy. Additionally, it could be used for ships by converting into Mana when added to the Mana Pool, though its conversion rate was lower than that of the ice element.
Snow Honey was incredibly practical, which had long made it standard provisions for both the land and Navy forces of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom.
Thus, Shuanglian had earned a fortune, becoming immensely wealthy.
Her naming her Mage Tower the Honey Snow Tower was no mere coincidence!
The current Guild Master of the Alchemy Guild was extremely tense, fearing that Cai Jing and others had not carried out their duties properly, and quickly communicated with Shuanglian, "Elder Shuanglian, where are you intending to go? Elder Da Bei doesn’t have my backing, I hope there’s been no misunderstanding between us."
Shuanglian’s voice was icy cold, "I’m going to Snowbird Port, to pick up my student. Reserve pit number three for me."
"Understood, that spot is definitely yours. I wish you a swift departure and return, and fair winds!" The Guild Master of the Alchemy Guild finally breathed a sigh of relief and settled down.