After dissecting the silk moths, Luo Wei pulled out the magic array blueprint Professor Mike had given her.

  She'd already deconstructed the blueprint. Now she needed to try copying the magic array onto another parchment scroll.

  The process wasn't difficult. After a few failed attempts, Luo Wei successfully recreated the magic array.

  By next magic rune class, she'd be able to turn in this completed assignment to Professor Mike.

  Putting away the magic array blueprint, Luo Wei extinguished the oil lamp, lay down on her bed, and closed her eyes.

  The night passed without incident.

  The next day at noon, Luo Wei met up with Hol at the academy gates. Taking the healing potion he'd sealed in a clay jar, she held her breath and didn't dare linger for even a moment as she rushed back to Star Luo Residence.

  The potion smelled absolutely awful. If she didn't get Troy to take it away quickly, she was afraid she'd pass out from the stench.

  Arriving at Star Luo Residence, she shoved the clay jar into Troy's arms.

  "Here, take this to Count Wesley. Make sure you watch him drink every drop. This is good stuff—can't let it go to waste."

  Holding the clay jar, Troy's stomach churned with acid. The smell emanating from the jar made him question his entire existence.

  "Urgh—" He clenched his jaw, face turning green, forcibly swallowing the acid rising in his throat. "Is this... really... healing potion?"

  "Absolutely." Luo Wei pinched her nose. "I had a potion master brew this specifically for Count Wesley's injuries. The effects are incredible. After drinking it, I guarantee he'll be bouncing around like new."

  She felt a bit regretful that Troy hadn't watched the magic tournament livestream. He had no idea how powerful Hol's potions were. This stuff could literally bring people back from the dead!

  "Hurry up and go. Stop dawdling. Every minute you delay puts Count Wesley in more danger. Go, go!"

  Luo Wei pushed Troy toward the door. This lingering stench was too persistent—she couldn't let it kill the flowers and plants in her courtyard.

  "Wait—wait, Your Highness." Troy turned around. "I forgot to tell you yesterday. I already brought back the magic stones and map. I left them in your study. Do you want to check them first?"

  "No need to check. I trust what you bring back. Now go—your griffin is waiting!"

  Luo Wei pushed Troy over to the griffin. The griffin's body stiffened when it caught the scent. It turned its head, its bright yellow eyes looking at the thing in Troy's arms with disbelief.

  "Screech screech screech..."

  The griffin lowered its head to sniff. The next second, its pupils contracted into vertical slits. It opened its beak wide, letting out an earth-shaking dry heave.

  "Gack—"

  "Gack gack—"

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  This smell was a hundred times worse than that rotten sea creature it had encountered before. Eyes rolling back, the griffin spread its wings, cursing as it prepared to flee.

  Seeing it was about to fly away, Troy didn't bother saying goodbye to Luo Wei. He stomped hard with his foot and immediately leaped onto its back, gripping its wings firmly.

  "Screech—"

  The griffin shot into the sky like a rocket, as if trying to leave that life-threatening stench behind.

  Luo Wei tilted her head back, shading her eyes from the light as she watched them disappear into the clouds. Only then did she dare release her nose and take a deep breath.

  "Urgh—"

  Still a bit smelly. She'd wait a bit longer for the wind to blow the smell away.

  Covering her nose and mouth, Luo Wei hurried inside and went upstairs.

  In the study, two wooden boxes—one large, one small—sat quietly on her desk. Their openings were sealed with wax bearing the Wesley family crest.

  Luo Wei checked them. The seals showed no signs of being torn off, and the wax had no scratches. No one had touched these boxes before her.

  She opened the smaller box first. Inside were two rolled maps—one showing the Wesley family's territory, the other marking the magic stone veins.

  Luo Wei carefully examined the vein map. Sixteen veins total, all within Wesley family territory. Or rather, the Wesley family had conquered territory based on where the veins were located.

  These veins varied in length. The longest was thirty kilometers long, but it was marked as a dark element magic stone vein. Dark element magic stones weren't particularly rare, so this vein wasn't especially valuable.

  Luo Wei continued reading. Of the sixteen magic stone veins, seven were actually dark element veins. Of the remaining nine, two were fire element, one was light element, one was lightning element, and five were mixed element veins.

  Mixed element veins contained jumbled magical elements that required refining before use. The extraction rate depended on the ore's magical element content. Luo Wei skipped over those entirely.

  The only thing that excited her was the light element magic stone vein with substantial reserves. Unfortunately, she had no light element affinity and no plans to mine it for now.

  All things considered, she could currently only use the two fire element veins and the one lightning element vein. She needed to figure out how to open them first.

  Actually... Luo Wei's gaze shifted to the longest vein. Actually, this vein wasn't bad either. Her dark element affinity was quite high, but she'd never really trained it. Why not use these dark element magic stones to level up?

  Now that she had the vein map, the next thing to consider was how to open them.

  According to Count Wesley, bloodline descendants recognized by the Goddess of Justice could open the veins. Roman and Rosie had received the goddess's recognition, but they weren't actually descendants of the Goddess of Justice. Whether they could open the veins was hard to say.

  Either she could have those two try first, or she could follow her original plan and draw a teleportation array to bring the dark elves over.

  Luo Wei set down the map, her fingertips tapping lightly on the desk.

  She still didn't understand why both Roman and Rosie had simultaneously received the Blade of Judgment's recognition, or why they hadn't inherited the divine position after being chosen by the godhead.

  Could they really be lost descendants of the Goddess of Justice who'd luckily awakened their goddess bloodline?

  Impossible. Luo Wei rejected this theory.

  If only one of them—Roman or Rosie—had been recognized by the Blade of Judgment, she might believe they were a descendant of the Goddess of Justice.

  But both of them? The world didn't have coincidences like that.

  If only the godhead could talk and tell Roman and Rosie why it chose them.

  Her fingertips paused. Luo Wei suddenly realized she didn't need the godhead to talk. There was one person—no, one deity—who could answer her questions.

  The God of the Undead.

  Thinking of them, Luo Wei felt a twinge of guilt.

  Troy had originally been their follower but had now pledged himself to her. Would the God of the Undead be angry about this?

  Sure, Troy had been their follower before, but Troy himself never acknowledged it. No matter how much they invested, that follower could never be tamed.

  Now it was different. Troy had willingly become her follower, and she was their follower. Rounding it off, wasn't Troy still their follower?

  Logically speaking, she'd actually helped them win over Troy. If they got angry at her, that would just be petty and ungrateful.

  Her back suddenly stung with heat. Luo Wei's heart jumped. Oh crap—they'd heard her talking smack again!

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