Chapter 2118 - 564: Hot Spring Peak Must Have Hot Springs

Hot Spring Peak, nightfall.

In the height of summer, the temperature at the foot of the mountain is often thirty to forty degrees, yet the temperature at the summit is pleasantly cool. In the open-air hot spring pool, the swirling steam rises gently, rendering the sky full of stars a soft haze.

In that misty atmosphere, a young dragon with light golden scales is leisurely floating on the water's surface, its golden slit eyes narrowed into an "L"-shaped line.

Life in the Otherworld—

It's really too comfortable.

"...Speaking of which, isn't it really a problem not helping your subordinates?" Taufu said lazily, in the tone of an old senior commenting on juniors.

"Not necessary; my subordinates can take care of themselves." Luo Yan, leaning against the rocks at the pool's edge, slightly closed his eyes. His lazy voice carried an air of casual ease, as if dismissing some bothersome little kid.

"Tch, such a cold-hearted man."

"Not cold-hearted; I just give my subordinates a sense of involvement, or else how would they know who they're working for?"

In fact, besides this legitimate reason, there's another reason.

It's that this war has now entered its garbage time, where neither side can do anything to the other.

With Marinus, the major shareholder, being slashed, more and more Ryan people are being rescued. The Academic State's experiment in the Ten Thousand Ridges Mountain Range has completely lost the sponsorship from the Ryan Kingdom, and the Holy Water project has become an unprofitable and dangerous unsolved project.

As Luo Yan understands those cold-hearted Mages, they certainly won't continue wasting resources on projects with no clear benefits.

The beheading of Professor Edgar Kaufman is partly to pay for losing something important and partly as a signal from the Academic State to the Three Races Alliance Army—

They plan to move the laboratory back to the Northern Wilderness.

Anyway, the experiments that needed to be done have been completed. They've successfully found a method to purify the pure soul quality and also completed the theoretical complement.

The next step is production.

Purifying soul quality isn't very difficult technically, but what's challenging is the need for a large number of soul donors.

Though it's a pity they can't obtain more soul ore from the Ryan Kingdom, this so-called pity is far from being fatal.

If needed, they could relax the assessment for Magic Apprentices and recruit more young dreamers from the vast vassal states of the Aus Empire... This group of Mages always manages to get what they need.

Reflecting on this, Luo Yan felt a surge of sentiment, realizing he hadn't noticed such blasphemous deeds while the Academic State was laying out its plans.

Perhaps, it was time to let the Science School withdraw.

Though Luo Yan believes the Academic State hasn't the guts or necessity to take action against the Imperial citizens, not all his students are Imperial citizens, with many coming from the Rhode Kingdom and other vassal states.

Staying in such a place would inevitably be affected.

In any case, the Academic State needs time to retreat from the Ten Thousand Ridges Mountain Range.

Similarly, the Three Races Alliance Army needs time to digest the victory, consolidate the occupied areas, and extend that long supply line all the way from Spinor Earl's Domain.

And why give the Academic State time to retreat?

That's because we must pick soft persimmons to pinch, eat the meal bite by bite. The Demon King's next target isn't the Academic State, but Roland City.

Luo Yan is an extremely clear-headed Demon King; he realized from the beginning that the water in the Ten Thousand Ridges Mountain Range is deeper than imagined, hence he didn't throw everything onto the newspaper of Thunder City, only mentioning the encounter of the Ryan people and the collusion between the Ryan Kingdom and the Ratmen.

If the atmosphere was set, and nothing happened in the end, wouldn't it sap their own army's morale?

Moreover, the Dwarves' relationship with the Academic State isn't bad; if they truly acted against the Academic State, even the High Mountain Kingdom likely wouldn't want to deal with the Ratmen anymore.

This isn't just Luo Yan's contemplation; it's Edward's thought process as well.

Behind closed doors, Edward often curses the Mages of the Northern Wilderness for not being human, but during the battle meetings with the Dwarf King...

The two of them tacitly never mention those Magic Scrolls.

Taufu flipped over, her pair of short legs splashing twice in the water, clearly disdainful of Luo Yan's reasoning.

"You guy... I've found that anything that comes out of your mouth turns into a good thing."

Watching Taufu floating on her back in the water, Luo Yan smiled silently.

Congratulations, Researcher Taufu from the Zeta Empire, once again you have uncovered the essence of mystery... the reward is a Hot Spring Egg.

Unfortunately, little Taufu didn't read the intentions in the Demon King's eyes; otherwise, she surely would have been scared to drop one right then and there.

Taufu floated for a while, comfortably narrowing her eyes and letting out a sigh.

"Speaking of which... I never expected there to be such a good place in the Ten Thousand Ridges Mountain Range after all these years. When I was making my mark back then, I actually missed this place."

"That indicates you never really looked carefully at the lands you ruled, just playing a map coloring game."

Taufu pretended not to hear, turning her head away and blowing bubbles into the air.

Luo Yan did not continue to bully her on this topic, just leaned back against the rocky wall behind him, enjoying the warm spring water soaking into every inch of his skin.

Indeed, this is a treasure trove of feng shui.

When Mi Xi discovered this place while surveying the terrain of Hot Spring Peak, he regarded it as a treasure and eagerly presented it to the Lord Demon King.

Luo Yan did a simple survey beneath the hot spring's geology and discovered that below it could very likely contain a high-quality Magic Crystal Mine.