Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 227 Demonstration

A month and a half later.

Ever since Stephena became a formal wizard, she would follow Richard about ten meters behind him whenever he went out. Although Richard felt that Stephena was making a mountain out of a molehill, he thought it was only a fifteen-minute walk, so he let her be.

Richard spent almost all of this time traveling between the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood headquarters and Fana's villa, going back and forth between the two points.

The Azure Flame Cult, which was originally quite active in the Tug City area, disappeared again after a few small-scale battles.

Later, with the help of a second-level archmage specializing in divination, the officials of Tug City finally located one of the main strongholds of the Azure Flame Cult. It is said that the battle was fierce and the results were quite fruitful, with dozens of cultists and several deacons killed, and even a cult priest killed.

Richard was initially quite excited when he heard the news.

But after he read the battle report and inquired with the wizards of the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood who had participated in the battle...

Richard knew that the priest who was killed was not Nicol.

This left Richard feeling both disappointed and somewhat relieved.

Disappointingly, Nicol managed to escape despite such a well-organized encirclement, demonstrating his formidable strength.

Fortunately, since the other party was not dead, Richard still had the possibility of killing him with his own hands.

Regarding the Azurefire Cult, due to the recent attention paid by the Grey Dwarfs' official authorities, some information has been disclosed within the wizarding organization, and Richard has also learned about it through various channels.

As the saying goes, if you know yourself and your enemy, you won't be in danger in a hundred battles.

Now that we know the other party is a formidable enemy, there's no reason not to study them carefully.

But the results Richard learned were quite surprising. After more than a hundred years of recuperation, the Bihuo Cult had become a behemoth.

Originally, the officials of Tuge City did not discover or regard the Azure Flame Cult as a major enemy. However, after the sealing incident, they gradually discovered that the cult's influence had infiltrated every aspect of Tuge City, including bakery clerks, millers, innkeepers, and so on.

Even some members of the city guards, wealthy businessmen, and even officials were lured into becoming followers of the Bihuo cult.

Otherwise, there would be no way the other side could have set up a large-scale witch formation right under the noses of the city guards.

However, one thing that surprised Richard was that the Azurefire Cult was causing trouble not only among the Grey Dwarves but also in the Night Elf territories. Therefore, the Night Elves also adopted the same policy of eradicating cults.

So here's the strange thing: why did the spider women who were tracking him last time end up with Nicol, this cult priest?

This question baffled Richard.

Richard has successfully modified the vengeful spirit again. Just like last time, he inscribed a complex witchcraft array deep within the vengeful spirit's abdomen to imprison all vengeful spirits that are currently or will be contained within it in the future.

However, since all the vengeful spirits were released last time and exhausted in the battle, they have not been replenished. Therefore, the current vengeful spirits are only in name, and their combat power has been greatly reduced.

Unless Richard replenishes it with a large number of vengeful spirits or even malevolent spirits sometime in the future.

However, Richard has not considered this matter in the short term, because his strength is still relatively weak.

Therefore, Richard did not participate in either overseas missions or in the suppression of the Bihuo Cult.

Right now, the priority is to improve our strength.

Otherwise, they could avenge Desol and also gain energy points by killing the cultists; Richard would have been involved long ago.

The fundamental reason for not participating is still insufficient strength and the risks involved.

This month, in addition to completing his daily tasks within the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood, Richard often went to the mission hall on the first floor. If he came across a suitable mission, Richard would accept and complete it.

Therefore, after more than a month, Richard currently possesses 18/27 Flame Crystals and 6/9 Flame Essences, a remarkable achievement.

Flame Crystals are relatively easy to collect.

Richard's Flame Crystals came partly from the spoils in the Gray Dwarf's waist pouch, partly from completing missions, and partly from acquiring Magic Stones.

This has resulted in Richard being practically penniless every day, but his collection progress is quite encouraging.

Richard managed to acquire five Flame Essences within a month, which clearly wasn't obtained by completing missions.

Instead, Richard sold his remaining 30% stake in the new beer brand to the wealthy woman, Fana.

Currently, the business of new-style beer has been fully launched and the situation is promising.

However, the person in charge has already changed Desol into Fana.

Richard couldn't help but sigh whenever he thought of this!

My dear friend has passed away!

Fortunately, little Bandi is still around.

Currently, little Bandi is being cared for by Fana.

Perhaps subconsciously, Richard also considered this factor, which is why he sold all his shares to Fana.

Richard has even taught Fana the entire cultivation technique for hops.

However, to Richard's surprise, although Richard had sold all his shares, Fana still kindly left him 10% of the shares and gave him the title of advisor.

Seemingly to make it easier for Richard to accept, Fana also proposed that Richard could not trade this 10% stake, and would only have the right to share profits, but not the right to make decisions.

Simply put, Richard traded 30% of the shares of the new beer for five Flame Essences.

In this matter, it's really not fair to say that Richard was short-sighted.

For him, improving his strength is always the top priority, and the residual period caused by his last use of the Swamp Giant Bloodline Essence is about to end.

Therefore, Richard is currently pondering a question: whether or not to sell the Tier 1 Crystal Aggregation Witch Array to the Gray Dwarf Brotherhood.

However, after thinking it over, Richard still felt it was inappropriate.

After all, he was a master in both the potion and explosion branches, which could be explained by the fact that both branches were within the larger system of alchemy.

But the first-tier crystal aggregation witch array that I'm about to submit is a witch array, which has absolutely nothing to do with alchemy.

If this were submitted, it would be too conspicuous!

People would definitely see him as a monster!

However, the three missing Flame Essences must be collected.

Therefore, Richard made the decision to sell the improved version of Fire Dancer to the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood.

He was certain the other party would be interested, because Fire Dance Star was the most important component of the Alchemy Combination Bomb.

The improved Fire Dance Star has increased explosive power by 17%. If the combination bomb uses the improved Fire Dance Star, the power of the alchemical combination bomb can be increased by about 12% according to actual tests.

Secondly, this was an improvement to the explosion branch of alchemy, and submitting it himself was consistent with his status as an alchemy master, so it was reasonable.

Having made his decision, Richard was not one to hesitate and immediately set off for the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood headquarters.

However, before going, Richard contacted Fritz through the mark on his chest.

Fritz replied shortly afterward.

"Master Levi, Lord Hawkins is currently at headquarters. If you arrive within twenty minutes, I can inform him now."

"Okay, Fritz, I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

After making the reservation, Richard strode out of the room.

As Richard walked along the road, he noticed that in the past two days, there had been a gradual increase in the number of pedestrians on the streets of Tug City, and their expressions were no longer as hurried as before.

Since the seal on the Scorched Earth Secret Realm broke and the cult incident occurred, Tug City has been in a state of panic.

but

After more than a month of easing tensions, the city guards' patrols and inspections have also relaxed somewhat, and the overall atmosphere in Tug City is finally not so tense, and it is slowly regaining some of its liveliness.

Richard walked toward the headquarters of the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood.

At that moment, a woman wearing a black hood and a black wizard's robe walked towards him. Although his face was not clearly visible, his graceful figure made it clear that she was a woman.

For some reason, Richard felt a strange sense of familiarity upon first seeing her, and then naturally thought of Stephanie.

Just as the other person was about to pass Richard, he suddenly asked:

"Hello, could you tell me how to get to McDowell's armor shop?"

"Mike."

Just as Richard was pondering the name of the shop, suddenly, a dazzling black light pierced straight into Richard's chest from the right!

This cold light was as fast as lightning and as swift as thunder!

"Whoosh!"

A black feathered arrow flashed past.

"clang!"

Richard used the metal shield conjured from his right wrist to block the incoming arrow, but the arrow was so powerful that it sparked when it collided with the hard metal shield in his hand, causing him to shudder.

"A great opportunity!"

The black-robed woman opposite Richard, who had been asking for directions, suddenly lit up her eyes and thrust her sword heavily into Richard's abdomen!

This sword strike was unusually gleaming with a silver light!

There was almost no time to react; Richard instinctively raised his hand to block.

"clang!"

A crisp sound of metal clashing rang out.

Richard grunted. Due to the hasty defense, the metal shield that had materialized from the mimicry wristband in his left hand trembled violently, and he almost lost his grip.

At the same time, Richard felt a tingling sensation throughout his body as he was sent flying by the impact, crashing into a shop on the right side of the street.

However, while Richard was still in mid-air, alarm bells rang in his mind again, for two cold lights were also coming from behind him!

"not good!"

Richard immediately used his innate sorcery, the Magic Armor Technique!

But with nowhere to brace against in mid-air, one can only contract muscles and twist the body to avoid vital points.

"Boom!!"

Two sparks flew in quick succession, accompanied by a piercing metallic scraping sound.

Richard looked down and found that although he was protected by black bone armor, his side abdomen had still been pierced in two places.

Fortunately, I reacted quickly enough and dodged in time, so the injuries I suffered were only superficial.

However, traces of blood were still seeping out.

Richard rolled on the spot and quickly poured himself a bottle of antidote.

Who knows if the weapon the other side is using is poisoned? Better safe than sorry.

The entire assassination took only two seconds!

"Ah!!" The pedestrians around saw the fight and immediately scattered and fled.

The little bit of life that had just appeared on the street vanished because of the fight.

But for this assassination attempt, the fight just now was only the beginning. Although it was unsuccessful, Richard was already injured.

At this moment, the three assassins no longer concealed themselves and subtly surrounded Richard. The most threatening of them was the assassin with the bow, who was aiming his bow at Richard and locking onto him.

The reason the other party didn't shoot was probably because they were waiting for their partner to launch a coordinated attack.

At the same time, this also serves as a constraint, preventing Richard from fully concentrating on dealing with the attacks from the other two.

Richard had a premonition that the next attack would be a joint effort by the three of them, a fatal blow!

Before Richard could think it through, the black-robed female assassin who had asked for directions earlier uttered a short word in front of him. The next second, the silver light of the longsword in her hand shone brightly, and instantly, it emitted a crackling sound of electricity.

Richard's pupils contracted. No wonder his whole body felt numb after taking the hit head-on. He had thought it was due to the impact, but now it seemed to be the electric current on the opponent's silver longsword.

It seems the opponent is now using some kind of secret technique to release all the energy stored within the longsword.

Richard, of course, was not going to sit idly by and wait to die, so he delivered a mental shock to his opponent.

However, while unleashing the silver arc of electricity, the other party suddenly looked up and glanced at Richard. Richard saw a pair of purple eyes like a vortex that captivated his attention.

"Oh no! It's a rare Enchanting Eye!"

At the same time, the tall man in black robes behind Richard, wielding two swords, swung them rapidly, and instantly, several arc-shaped light green wind blades, each more than three meters long, attacked Richard.

"Chirp!" A sharp sound of air being torn apart came from the side, and the black light was faster than the sound itself!

When Richard heard the sound, the black light was already right in front of him!

At this moment, he was still in a dazed state from the Enchanting Eye!

Just when the three thought Richard was doomed, a blurry figure suddenly appeared in the center of the arena, beside Richard.

Before the three attacks could hit Richard, in an instant, Richard turned into a blurry shadow!

Although the three could vaguely see Richard, Richard's entire aura had vanished from this world, giving them a sense of disorientation that the person was right in front of them, yet they couldn't touch him!

This left the three of them stunned for a moment, their eyes filled with disbelief. How could this be?

"Boom!"

A violent explosion occurred where Richard had been standing!

When the smoke cleared, Richard appeared unharmed in the same spot, with a woman in a black robe wearing a veil beside him.

However, to Richard's surprise, after he and Stephanie returned to the real world from the shadow world, the three assassins seemed to have vanished without a trace along with the scattered crowd.

Richard looked around but found no trace of the enemy. However, he remained highly vigilant and immediately contacted Fritz.

"Frezz, I've been assassinated and I'm currently on Morris Boulevard."

A moment later, the mark on his chest trembled slightly.

Richard looked and saw it was a message from Fritz, just one sentence:

"Master Levi, Vice President Hawkins has arrived in person!"

(End of this chapter)