There's a big problem with dreams in this world.

"If you don't mind, could you treat me as a friend?" Lu Qing looked at Eileen with a very sincere gaze.

(End of this chapter)

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Chapter 601: The Operation of the Guiji Sect

Eileen looked at Lu Qing, her gaze drifting back to decades ago when she was taking care of the princess. It seemed that the princess's personality had always been so gentle.

How long ago was that memory? Eileen couldn't quite recall it now, but she vaguely remembered that the princess back then always radiated a light that made people want to follow her.

Perhaps this is why, fifty years later, she is still willing to tell him everything.

"If you want to check the fire element status, I might have a way," Eileen said to Lu Qing after thinking for a while.

"Really?" Lu Qing asked with some surprise.

Even the core members of the Steel Order didn't know the exact location of the fire element. All they knew was that the fire element was located in the heart of the Steel City, providing warmth and power to the entire city.

That is the heart of the steel city, the reason why the people of the steel city have survived to this day.

Lu Qing only wanted to get some information about the Steel City from Eileen, never expecting that she could provide her with information about the location of the fire elemental.

“Of course it’s true. The Guiji Sect has been secretly searching for the location of the fire element.” Eileen nodded and continued, “The reason why the Steel Order was able to control the city is ultimately because they control the core power source of the Steel City.”

"If the top leader of the Steel Order wants, they can paralyze the entire city at any time."

"This is the foundation of the Steel Order's status. If the Silent Sect wants to overthrow the Steel Order's rule, they can only find the location of the fire element first."

"The Guiji Cult wants to overthrow the Iron Order and take its place?" Lu Qing asked with some doubt. "What are their reasons for doing this?"

In her mind, the Guiji Cult was a group of madmen corrupted by the power of the void. The entire cult's ideology was that the Sacred Tree affected human evolution, and only by destroying the Sacred Tree and exposing all of humanity to the power of the void could the world make progress.

The Sacred Tree has already been withered by Archbishop Angus using large-scale ritual magic. If they just wait patiently until Archbishop Angus completely devours the core of the Sacred Tree, won't their goal be achieved?

From this perspective, whether they wanted to overthrow the Iron Order's rule over Iron City or spread Void Potion throughout the city, it was all pointless.

“The Guiji Sect wants to increase its members,” Eileen said, noticing Lu Qing’s confusion. She was also a member of the Guiji Sect, and although her position wasn’t high, she was quite knowledgeable about some of the sect’s affairs.

At the very least, he knows more than Lu Qing.

"The Guiji Sect is actually paying attention to the movements of every branch of those Void Potions that have been leaked. They observe those who have been injected with the Void Potions until someone has perfectly or semi-perfectly integrated the potion."

"The Church of Return to Silence will recruit those who have perfect or semi-perfect fusion potions to become part of their organization. That's how I joined the Church of Return to Silence."

“I understand,” Lu Qing said, lowering her head slightly as she pondered, “The Guiji Sect’s actions will definitely be blocked by the Iron Order. They have designated Void Potions as contraband and prohibited all private transactions involving Void Potions.”

"This greatly affects the expansion of the Silent Sect's membership. If they can control the Steel City, they can distribute Void Potions at will, right?"

"That's about right."

"Hmm," Lu Qing nodded, then looked at Eileen and asked, "What about the location of the fire elemental?"

“Actually, I’m not sure if we can get information about the location of the fire elemental.” Eileen shook her head and said, “It’s just that tomorrow afternoon, a core member of the Steel Order who loves dancing will be hosting a dance party.”

Eileen pulled out a portrait from somewhere, depicting an elderly nobleman dressed in light red aristocratic attire with a dignified expression.

"This is what that core member looks like. He used to be a nobleman from Vanhustan, very particular about etiquette, and loved watching dances. After coming to the Steel City, because of the environment here... you know."

"In short, he now enjoys watching dances even more, and he holds a dance party almost every now and then."

"Because I am the owner of this tavern, I have two tickets to the ball, and I can also bring a highly skilled dancer."

“Someone from the sect came to see me and asked me to bring a member of the sect with me to the ball tomorrow.”

"However, I don't know the identity or appearance of that member. I can only guess that he is a high-ranking member of the sect and is very likely to have a number."

"Number?" Lu Qing asked curiously.

“Hmm.” Eileen nodded and said, “The core members of the cult all have their own numbers, ranging from one hundred to one. Only the first five numbers are qualified to attend cult meetings. As for number one…”

"Is it Archbishop Angus?" Lu Qing asked before Eileen could continue.

"Yes."

"..." Lu Qing subconsciously tapped her leg with her fingers. After thinking for a while, she said, "If it is a core member with a number, is it possible that the other party is someone who saw my appearance fifty years ago?"

"The numbering has changed quite frequently in the past fifty years, but it's not impossible," Eileen said after recalling what Lu Qing said.

“I can prepare a veil or something else to cover your face. If people only see your silver hair, no one should associate it with you.”

"No need," Lu Qing shook her head and said, "I have other ways."

"That would be perfect." Eileen was curious about what method Lu Qing was talking about, so she asked, "Could you tell me what the method is?"

"."

Without answering Eileen, Lu Qing closed her eyes and then transformed her body into the form of the [Black Rose Vampire].

"What is this?" Eileen asked in surprise, looking at Lu Qing's drastically changed appearance.

“Just treat this as a form of disguise,” Lu Qing said to Eileen.

"That's great! I was worried that your figure might not be enough to get in as a dancer, but now I don't have to worry about that anymore!" Eileen said, looking quite pleased.

Lu Qing: "???"

What's wrong with my figure? Just because I'm shorter, flatter, or my butt isn't as perky, does that mean I can't be a dancer? This is discrimination! Lu Qing protested indignantly in her heart.

Unfortunately, Eileen couldn't hear what she was saying, and Lu Qing was too embarrassed to say it out loud, so she could only keep her protest to herself.

(End of this chapter)

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Chapter 602: The Ball

Putting aside the issue of body shape, in short, with the help of the Black Rose vampire form, there's no need to worry about my identity being exposed for the time being.

Eileen was thinking about something else: if she wanted to blend into the ball as a dancer, she would at least need to know how to dance. Although she knew that Her Highness had studied dance when she was young, she didn't know her exact level.

When Eileen voiced her concerns, Lu Qing told her that there was absolutely no need to worry.

Her dancing skills may not be the best, but they can easily surpass the vast majority of people, as evidenced by the purple skills [Dance Master] and [Black Rose Dancer's Steps] on her skill bar.

These two skills are not some dubious product bestowed by the game system; they are genuine skills that Lu Qing herself comprehended. Their value is so high that it doesn't need much explanation.

"In short, you can rest assured," Lu Qing said to Eileen.

The plan was pretty much settled at this point. After she and Eileen finalized some details of the plan, Lu Qing asked about some rumors and gossip within the Steel City to see if there was anything worth noting.

After listening to a lot of the topics, I found that many of them were just empty talk, and many others sounded true but were obviously false upon closer examination. The only noteworthy one was a rumor about the builders of the steel city.

The builder of the Steel City and the leader of the Steel Order is a very mysterious person who has not appeared in people's sight for nearly thirty years.

There are rumors that he is dead and that the current leader of the Steel Order is someone else, but there are also rumors that he is not dead and is just staying by the core of the Steel City, maintaining the normal operation of the core.

After all, the core operates using the power of the fire element, and the burden brought by such a huge power must be very heavy. In order to prevent any accidents from happening to the core, the leader of the Iron Order lived next to the core and checked its operation at all times.

Of course, this is just a rumor, and Eileen doesn't know if it's true or not.

"Hmm~" Lu Qing stretched and yawned, making a comfortable sound. There was still a long time until tomorrow afternoon, and she couldn't just do nothing during that time.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Qing left Eileen's room and walked down from the second floor of the tavern.

It happened to be the tavern's opening time, and Lu Qing saw a scantily clad woman with a hot figure standing on the tavern's stage, performing a very provocative and amusing dance.

This is the norm in the red-light district. Even if it's a pub, how could it just be a place to drink?

Fortunately, Lu Qing won't have to dance like that when she goes on stage tomorrow, because the core member's former aristocratic status makes him prefer gentle and comfortable classical music and traditional dance styles.

Unfortunately, in the steel city, such a hobby is destined to be very niche. It is said that, so far, no dancer's performance has been able to elicit genuine praise from that core member.

“Traditional dance, I’m very familiar with that,” Lu Qing thought to herself with a smile.

She was the princess of Fanhusi Dan fifty years ago; no one understands traditional dance better than her!

Leaving the tavern, Lu Qing recalled the road she had come from. She avoided the pedestrians on the road and quietly returned to the dark tunnel.

Summoning Vayne from the old capital, Lu Qing took out a box containing the Void Potion and placed it on Vayne's paw, saying, "Take this to Jaegers and see if it can help his research."

The flesh giants were a byproduct of the Church of the Dead's research into the Void Elixir, and even this byproduct helped Jaeger to research methods to eradicate the energy within the roots of the Sacred Tree.

What if she simply gave the finished Void Potion to Jaegers?

It's just a blue-quality item with so many side effects. She doesn't mind giving it to Yeager to speed up the research at all. On the contrary, Lu Qing is very much looking forward to it. She hopes that Yeager will give her a surprise after she returns.

"Ugh, all you do is order the bird around. It must be exhausting to fly that far," Wayne said after receiving Lu Qing's order.

"It's not that far at all, you're just lazy," Lu Qing said, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

For her, the distance between the Steel City and the old capital would be a long one, but for Vain, who could fly and possessed a whole host of strange and wonderful abilities, the distance was nothing.

It's just that Vayne isn't big or strong enough yet, otherwise she could sit on Vayne's back like Maevelyn and have him carry her and the Spiritfly to the Steel City.

"Hmph, I'm off first." Pretending not to have heard what Lu Qing said, Wayne spread his wings and flew away into the distance of the tunnel.

"Ha~" Watching Wayne's departing figure, Lu Qing suddenly yawned wearily.

"I suddenly feel so tired," she said, rubbing her eyes a couple of times.

"Go back and rest if you're tired," Ling, who was hiding under Lu Qing's cloak, said after hearing what Lu Qing said.

"Ah."

The thought of continuing to wander around the Steel City was dispelled by drowsiness. Lu Qing turned and left the tunnel, returning to the tavern managed by Eileen.

Lying on the large bed in the room Eileen had prepared for her, Lu Qing slowly closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Lu Qing woke up from her sleep. The lighting in the steel city seemed completely unchanged, so much so that she couldn't quite tell the time.

Fortunately, Ling was very accurate in calculating time, letting Lu Qing know that there was still a long time before the ball was held.

Just in case, after she woke up from her sleep, Lu Qing kept her body in the form of the [Black Rose Vampire].

At this moment, Eileen pushed open the door, carrying the prepared food in her hands, and on her arm was the dance costume that Lu Qing would be wearing to the ball that afternoon.

"Fifty years have passed, and you still remember the time I get up early," Lu Qing said, looking at Eileen with some surprise.

“Of course I will never forget such a thing.” Eileen nodded with a smile and said, “Because the time I spent taking care of you was the happiest time of my life.”

"Are you serious?" Lu Qing asked, slightly taken aback after hearing Eileen's words.

"Of course I'm serious." Eileen nodded with a smile, then took out the dance costume and said, "Try it on after dinner. This is a dress I found yesterday that's about the right size. If it doesn't fit, I can alter it for you."