A fantastical journey across the heavens, beginning with the Witcher.

"A cross-dimensional...teleportation portal?"

Li De narrowed his eyes, his golden cat-like eyes flashing with a chilling light, his tone so cold it seemed to drip ice.

"You're kidding me? With the El race's teleportation technology, do they even need a manuscript?"

"Of course, not those ordinary portals with extremely unstable magic that require precise coordinates."

Olivia herself is a sorcerer and knows the reason why the witcher is angry.

No other reason than that the portals are a total rip-off!

Magic is inherently fragile, and the slightest carelessness can lead to tragedies such as body tearing and organ leakage. When encountering magical interference, one may be transported to an unknown dimension, and sometimes even the caster himself does not know where the portal will open.

Li De's pupils dilated involuntarily: "What do you mean? You mean this portal doesn't need coordinates?"

The moment I made that guess, a thought that had been buried deep in my heart for many years suddenly popped up—go home!

After wandering in this damn alien world for so many years, has he never thought about going back? Of course he has!

Especially when he was gnawing on hard-to-swallow black bread, wiping his bottom with cracked tree bark, and riding coal briquettes day and night through the wilderness, he missed life on Earth terribly.

A comfortable bed, delicious meals, ordinary yet safe days, even the toilet paper used to wipe his bottom—all these are things he misses!

"Um... it's not that magical." The sorceress paused for a moment, then added, "The El race's teleportation technology is quite advanced, but it's only limited to building stable channels to and from the known world. To go to a completely new world, you still have to rely on magic ships."

After saying this, fearing the Witcher might think it wasn't worth it, she quickly emphasized her words, her voice carrying a deliberate seduction: "The advantages of the portal in the manuscript are its extremely high stability and reusability. More importantly, it allows for the observation and locking of the landing point before the portal is formed—meaning that even with only a vague set of world coordinates, absolute safety upon landing can be guaranteed."

"As you probably know, without a professional navigator, the chances of a portal malfunctioning are extremely high. But with this, you can go wherever you want without worrying about getting lost in another dimension."

"I only translated half of that notebook. The rest must contain even more valuable knowledge. Even if you don't need it yourself, you can sell it to ambitious monarchs or knowledge-obsessed sorcerers who would be willing to spend their entire fortune for it."

Olivia enthusiastically described the promising future the manuscript could bring, trying to entice the Witcher.

But Li De keenly sensed that the other party seemed to be deliberately concealing something.

"So, what's the price?"

Those few words made the sorceress's heart skip a beat. She thought she could win over a powerful ally with her charm, but she didn't expect this guy to be so stubborn.

Not only did his attempts to tempt her fail, but he also had his weaknesses discovered by the other party.

After a moment of panic, she quickly calmed herself down and, while recalling the information she had just revealed, gave an explanation.

"The cost is that the portal is very expensive. Even though the sage has already built a base, it still costs a lot of money to fill it with materials. That's why we went to plunder that wealthy lord."

This explanation made sense, but Li De felt that something was off, and he fell silent in thought.

The air suddenly became quiet.

If you ignore the steel sword resting on the back of the elf's neck, this scene actually resembles a long-separated couple pouring out their hearts to each other.

Unfortunately, the icy atmosphere surrounding the two completely dispelled any potential romantic feelings.

The elves watching from a short distance were practically grinding their teeth in frustration.

Even in their most desperate times, they never considered relying on the saintess to sell her body for survival. Now, however, they can only watch helplessly as the pure and noble saintess is "molested" by a demon hunter.

Olivia's breathing quickened involuntarily, not out of shyness—she wasn't so thirsty as to become aroused with her negotiating partner—but because she realized she had made a bad move. Her three parts truth and seven parts falsehood had backfired, and the Witcher had probably already noticed something.

As expected, after a few seconds of silence, Li De spoke again, his words causing the female elf to stiffen: "So, what you really want is the foundation the sage has already built, not those precious materials that can be bought with money, right?"

"The base is ready-made. After we leave this world, you can continue to use the portal we left behind."

Olivia tried to act like, "These are minor issues, I'm just looking out for you."

Li De sneered, "No, you won't leave a portal. Otherwise, neither I nor the Wild Hunt could find you by following the trail, and you'll just destroy it completely before you leave."

"you!"

Having said that, the female elf could no longer pretend to be stupid.

She suddenly straightened up, her neck slamming against the blade. Even though Li De quickly moved the steel sword away, a shallow, bleeding wound remained.

Olivia completely ignored the pain in the back of her neck, staring intently into the Witcher's eyes, her gaze filled with both the panic of her scheme being exposed and the fear of her trump card being revealed.

The two stared at each other for a long time, until beads of blood trickled down their spines, staining their backs red. Only then did she grit her teeth and say viciously, "I should have used up all my life force just now and killed you outright."

"I bet you can't kill me."

Li De raised an eyebrow, his tone full of provocation.

After a few more seconds of stalemate, Olivia's gaze softened: "Besides the manuscript, we can trade something else."

"I don't think you have anything left to offer that would sway me."

The female elf puffed out her chest defiantly, her tone tinged with pride: "Me neither?"

"You can't either."

The air fell silent once more.

Olivia's heart sank lower and lower.

She could tell that he was telling the truth. There was no lust in his golden cat-like eyes; he looked at her as if she were a commodity waiting to be sold.

The druid, who was not far away, was so anxious that he stamped his feet. He wanted to know how the two were talking, but he had overdone his spells and was now deaf and blind, and even standing was difficult for him. He couldn't hear a single word.

The surrounding elves also noticed that the negotiations had reached a stalemate, and their mood grew increasingly gloomy.

Later, the few remaining elven warriors quietly gripped their weapons, secretly determined: if negotiations broke down, they would tear two pieces of flesh from the witcher, even if it meant biting him with their teeth! This would buy their companions time to escape.

For a moment, only the sound of everyone's panting and the crackling of the firewood burning in the brazier filled the air.

Just then, the female elf suddenly spoke, her tone carrying a certainty: "You are a born magic source, aren't you?"

"You can tell that?" Li De was slightly surprised.

"Your sign is incredibly powerful, and when I passed through the portal, I could feel it vibrate violently. Either you possess some kind of exceptionally powerful magical item, or you have a vast amount of magical power flowing through your body."

"You're smart, so what?"

The guess was confirmed, and the female elf's eyes lit up instantly, as if she had grasped at the last straw.

"In the battle just now, you only used signs, but not any orthodox spells. I suppose you don't know how? I can teach you spells that are far more powerful than signs!"

"I studied under a sorceress for a month, and she still couldn't get me to cast even the most basic spell. Can you do it?"

Li De's tone was nonchalant, but only he knew the bitterness in his heart.

Other sorcerers cast spells as if they were transforming ore (life force) into metal (magic), then forging it into a weapon through a spell circuit, and releasing it precisely.

His use of the Dharma Source Physique was like guarding a mountain of gold but not knowing how to forge it into a weapon; he could only use brute force to throw the gold out and hit people.

It's not just a waste, it's downright wasteful!

Even so, they still managed to kill many powerful enemies.

If one can truly unleash magic, not to mention the convenience it brings, combat power alone would increase by at least one level, comparable to evolving from a mature form to a complete form.

But he just couldn't learn it! The incantations, gestures, and magic circuits were all fine, but the spell just wouldn't come together.

What can he do?

The sorceress couldn't have lied to him before, since she had seduced him in bed. During the day, she taught him so diligently, and at night he reciprocated with double the gratitude. Back then, the two were so inseparable that they wanted to be together all the time, almost to the point of showing each other their hearts.

The female elf was somewhat taken aback; she had never seen anything like this before.

But since the survival of the entire race was at stake, he had no choice but to take a gamble. He immediately patted his chest and guaranteed, "I'll teach you! If I can't, you can do whatever you want with the portal's base!"

"Deal. Sign the magic contract."

Olivia had expected to argue a bit more, but to her surprise, Li De readily agreed, and she was overjoyed: "Okay!"