The Grand Fortress City.
Bao Ligen crushed the iron dumbbell in his hand during training, shouting in rage.
"Damn it, damn Long Fu!"
"Do you think returning the corpse is enough to end the vendetta?"
"Wishful thinking!"
"Even if the higher-ups forgive you, I will never forgive, nor will I let any enemy who slaughtered my comrades go!!"
As a soldier, a hot-headed soldier who treats breaking military discipline as routine, he simply couldn’t accept such a result.
He consumed Divine Grace and directly contacted Mei Lin.
Mei Lin was equally dissatisfied.
Bao Ligen roared: "Are we just going to let the enemy go unpunished, even flaunting themselves in front of us?! I want to kill him! I want to crush him!!"
Mei Lin sighed. She too was displeased and uneasy. From the latest intelligence, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ actions were relentless. Using the Dragon-man youth’s promotion to a duelist as an origin, they were leveraging relationships and aggressively roping in other duelists.
If this continues, it would be very disadvantageous to Mei Lin and others.
Mei Lin said: "Long Fu has shown potential for the Holy Domain; this was both intentional and deliberate."
"If my guess is right, they will next showcase considerable strength. This strength, not combat prowess but more on alchemical capabilities."
"The Alchemy Guild and the Royal Family will collaborate with them more because of their alchemical products."
"By that time, revenge for our comrades will be hopeless."
"But now, we still have a chance."
"As long as Long Fu continues to participate in this duel tournament, we have an opportunity."
"I am currently stretched too thin; in fact, even if I could personally duel Long Fu, I wouldn’t be his match."
"This guy is deeply hidden; the combat strength he shows is only a part of it."
"So, the only thing we can rely on is you."
"How far has your magic construct progressed?"
Bao Ligen gritted his teeth: "Too slow, too slow! The Ministry of Armament is still assembling it, it’s not done yet!"
Mei Lin shook her head: "It should be soon. The National Ceremony Grand Duel has already started, and you, as the representative of the Kingdom Military, won’t be left in the shadows."
"You’ve trained for nearly two years for this; your day to fight is near."
After breaking off contact, Mei Lin fell into deep thought.
She compared the combat strength differences between Bao Ligen and Long Fu based on the current intelligence.
On the surface, Bao Ligen appeared stronger than Long Fu. But secretly, both had hidden many of their tactics.
Much like Mifang, Mei Lin was convinced that Long Fu’s so-called rapid progress under Long Meng’s mentorship was merely an illusion. The truth was that Long Fu was gradually releasing his original combat strength. Long Meng cooperating with Long Fu in this act indicated a shared understanding and cooperation between them.
"Although Long Fu has mysterious methods to take on three at once, once Bao Ligen fully masters his magic construct, he will also possess the combat power of the Golden Summit!"
As a duelist and a senior military officer, Mei Lin knew much high-level intelligence.
The so-called magic construct is a whole set of equipment, intricately linked and complementary to each other. It provides the wearer with a tremendous boost, not just in one area, but covering all aspects like offense, defense, healing, and mobility.
Feng Lian possesses a Bronze Mask, part of the magic construct, ranked at the Holy Domain level, allowing him to grow larger in stature and significantly increase attack power.
However, being Holy Domain level, it consumes an enormous amount of energy.
Even Feng Lian cannot independently support it. So, when activating it, he often connects himself via Wind Chain to a demon energy ship, borrowing the ship’s mana pool.
The Kingdom Army provided Bao Ligen with a complete set of magic constructs.
Its level is Golden Level, yet its consumption is likewise immense.
Therefore, it has its own energy core. It is challenging for Bao Ligen alone to meet the energy demands of fully activating the magic construct.
This is one of the characteristics of magic constructs; all have their own independent energy supply. This energy source often surpasses the reserves of a transcendent of the Golden Level.
And precisely because of this, magic constructs offer powerful enhancements in all aspects.
Mei Lin, being a Mage, understood the power of magic constructs very well.
"In some ways, magic constructs are like a wearable mage tower on an individual scale."
"The army has given its all for the National Ceremony Grand Duel and for its own arms sales with this plan. Three years ago, they conducted a selection across the entire army to find a suitable candidate, and Bao Ligen emerged victorious."
"He has diligently trained for nearly two years, and his combination with the magic construct is definitely something to look forward to!"
"The better his performance in the duel, the better the product showcase on the Warm Snow Cup, and the higher the Kingdom’s arms trade revenue will climb."
The Ice Sculpture Kingdom takes alchemical product exports as a major pillar industry, and its prosperous alchemy industry has also made it an international arms dealer.
Bao Ligen’s combat power, concerning the military’s honor and interests, made Mei Lin believe that the Kingdom Army is giving its all this time.
Alchemy Guild.
The second major segment of this year’s Warm Snow Cup competition begins—the showcase of alchemy products.
Each exhibition hall is adjacent to one another, crowded with people, creating a very lively scene.
In the exhibition hall of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps, Yao Ma (Zi Di) is overseeing the scene.
Zi Di presented three products.
The first is the undead detection device that holds Elder Jiu Jin to account.
An alchemy apprentice hired is publicly demonstrating the effectiveness of this alchemical instrument using various undead materials.
The second item is the Song of Ice and Fire, which Zi Di had planned long ago to sell in the Ice Carving Kingdom market.
This is not a magic potion but a horn.
Once activated, the horn plays a song. Within the range of the song, the frost element transitions from its normal fixed state to a flame-like free state.
From the outside, it looks like frost is burning white flames, rapidly melting away.
The third item is the Frost Crystal Talisman.
Made mostly of ice crystals, this defensive equipment is only palm-sized and, when activated, can release a hexagonal defense barrier. The barrier isn’t large, even smaller than a normal one-handed round shield.
The impressive part is that multiple Frost Crystal Talismans can be activated simultaneously. The semi-transparent hexagonal barriers can connect, creating a defensive wall of adjustable size.
"With this instrument, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps has grasped evidence against that waste, Jiu Jin!" Hua Ni mused darkly, pondering over the intelligence in her hand.
She now hated the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps deeply, longing for revenge, thus greatly valuing intelligence gathering on the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps.
Since the emergence of new factions like Cai Jing, not only were they not suppressed by the Guild Master, they were even supported, dealing a significant blow to Hua Ni’s influence and prestige within the guild.
Then, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps selling a large amount of Snow Honey for Shuanglian further added insult to Hua Ni.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see, Hua Ni was thoroughly defeated in her rivalry with the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps, and it was a rather crushing defeat.
The public truly pummeled Hua Ni’s face, yet she could do nothing.
Thus, she frantically researches various information on the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps, hoping to find weaknesses to exploit, ready to strike. Of course, she would limit her actions to a certain extent, not making it difficult for the higher echelons of the Royal Family.
"It’s really quite sensitive..." Watching the magical image of the undead detection’s effect, Hua Ni changed color slightly.
Then she cursed again, "Jiu Jin, you’re just a waste."
The intelligence Jiu Jin was coerced by the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps to provide came from the Lijian family to Hua Ni.
Hua Ni didn’t react much to this.
In her view, what’s the big deal about Jiu Jin being contaminated with the undead mage’s aura? Who doesn’t make some deals with the undead mages? The blame lies mainly with the fact that such matters cannot be publicly acknowledged.
Mages’ faith is quite flexible, this group tends to research and are most tolerant of the undead mage community.
Their interests and those of the divine are largely inconsistent.
"This Frost Crystal Talisman is quite good, though the design concept is clever. In terms of defense and energy consumption performance, it’s merely average."
"The greatest value lies in the second item—the Song of Ice and Fire!"
From a professional perspective, Hua Ni immediately identified the enormous value of this second alchemical product.
It can turn the fixed state of frost elements into a free state, offering a wide range of practical applications.
For example, developing icebergs and glaciers, it can make ice blocks automatically burn away.
Or on battlefields, many spells and magic tools operating principles, once involving frost fixed state, can easily be disturbed or even destroyed by the Song of Ice and Fire.
What Hua Ni valued most was the combination of Song of Ice and Fire with Mixo.
"Leveraging the Song of Ice and Fire allows Mixo to be more fully consumed and transformed into energy. Estimating the increase in this conversion rate slightly shows its considerable scale!"
As Hua Ni analyzed to this point, her brows furrowed even deeper. She found the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps to have a distinct advantage not only in the field of mount magic potions but also a competitive edge in other areas.
"Who is the arms dealer backing them? With such strength!"
Even enemies like Hua Ni could not help but admit that the three products introduced by the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps are very enticing.
"They came prepared."
"The Song of Ice and Fire is especially suitable for our country, and the Frost Crystal Talisman’s universality can almost be equipped for the military."
Hua Ni suddenly understood why Long Fu would reveal himself as having "assets of the Holy Domain."
"The cooperation level and business scale require at least a Holy Domain Level to oversee."
The truth is, Zi Di had discussed with Cang Xu before reducing the original five products to three.
Better not to overly provoke the Alchemy Guild.
Currently, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps needs to demonstrate excellence, and value for cooperation, but not too excellent.
Just like the Dragon-man youth ascending as a duelist, he cannot earn divine favor.