"Excellent! Thank you, Lord of Light, for your guidance to the dwarf race!"
Chieftain Stuwick and his people prostrated themselves again, their faces beaming with smiles.
Did they want to craft high-level magic artifacts? Yes, desperately. More than anyone. But the material sources for high-level magic artifacts were either occupied by half-demons or ravaged by demonic beasts. Lacking the strength to reclaim them and fearing exposure of their tribal location, they had merely endured.
However, with the Lord of Light's presence, things were different. They would exert their utmost to seize their rightful resources. Even if the demon race dispatched powerful beings beyond the dwarves' match, wasn't there still the Lord of Light?
Though many dwarf warriors didn't grasp Bai Ye's profound teachings, they deeply felt the most direct impact: the bolstering of their confidence.
"Come, let us celebrate the arrival of the Lord of Light and lead the dwarf tribe to a new dawn!"
"Cheers! Let's drain this cup of Pandar wine, and may our light endure forever!"
"May our light endure forever!"
The entire tribe was elated; even the children raised their cups.
Bai Ye took a few sips. It was likely around thirty percent alcohol. Initially bitter, it then yielded a sweet aftertaste. After a few more sips, Bai Ye's face flushed slightly. Honestly, he wasn't fond of strong spirits. However, with Bai Ye present, the dwarves seemed to temporarily set aside their anxieties and sense of crisis, heartily downing cup after cup.
Alliances were forged over drinks. To encourage the stout Chieftain to generously demonstrate the dwarf tribe's magic artifact crafting techniques later, Bai Ye resolved to drink, downing two to three jin of wine in quick succession.
Normally, this amount would leave Bai Ye utterly inebriated. But as soon as the wine touched his lips, Bai Ye immediately used his flame energy to incinerate all the alcohol within his body, expelling it with his breath. Thus, after several rounds of drinking, the stout Chieftain and the tribal warriors were swaying, while Bai Ye remained spirited and alert.
"Lord of Light has an incredible capacity for drink!"
"I, Dilov, am the most capable drinker among the warriors of this tribe. I never expected to meet someone who can outdrink me today!" A burly warrior at the same table was utterly awestruck.
Bai Ye felt the opportune moment had arrived. He turned to the stout Chieftain and said, "Chieftain Stuwick, I've always enjoyed learning and research, especially when encountering novelties. May I have the opportunity to examine the tribe's magic artifact crafting documentation?"
"Certainly!" The stout Chieftain responded without hesitation, laughing heartily. "It's a pleasure that Lord of Light is interested. Please, follow me!"
The stout Chieftain swayed as he stood up, taking several deep breaths, and suddenly became much more energetic. Truly, his drinking capacity was astonishingly immense!
"Let's go, the documentation, storage, and forging chambers are all in our underground facility!" The stout Chieftain led the way, and Bai Ye followed, instructing the snake woman to stay and continue drinking with the tribal warriors. Due to her association with Bai Ye, everyone showed her immense respect. However, judging by her flushed face, she wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.
Outside a small wooden house in the center of the village, a warrior clad in full armor and holding a sword, with a small wine flask, watched his tribesmen singing and dancing with a smile.
Upon seeing the Chieftain approaching with Bai Ye, he immediately placed his hand on his chest in salute.
"Open the entrance, so our Lord of Light may have a look!"
"Yes, Chieftain."
The warrior turned and pressed a wooden plank. A rumbling vibration echoed from within the small wooden house. As the door opened, it revealed a grand staircase descending underground.
Descending several tens of meters, the underground area opened into a vast, empty space, a small plaza. Above it were numerous furnaces and forging platforms, with countless stands beside them. Along the edges of the plaza were several rooms, presumably various storage areas.
What surprised Bai Ye even more were the mechanical arms on the forging platforms, as well as the pressing machines, bearing a resemblance to industrial factories on the Blue Star. If Bai Ye weren't lucid, he would have suspected his vision was blurred by alcohol.
"If the dwarves were to go to the Blue Star, they would likely become excellent technicians and even scientific researchers!" Bai Ye mused inwardly.
"Lord of Light, the documentation archives are over there." The stout Chieftain led Bai Ye toward a forward room, introducing him to the various workstations and rooms along the way. Bai Ye secretly utilized the system's live broadcast function to record everything, preparing to send it back to the Blue Star.
Although it felt somewhat unethical, Bai Ye felt no guilt. Firstly, it was for the future of the Blue Star. Secondly, in a way, this was a transaction; he was preserving the dwarf tribe, and this was their compensation to him.
"Dong!"
The stout Chieftain opened a large warehouse, containing ten rooms within. Each room was marked with peculiar runes. These characters seemed familiar to Bai Ye. After careful consideration, Bai Ye immediately recognized where he had seen them before.
Magic artifacts! The runes on magic artifacts.
"From steel components one to seven are the materials for different grade magic artifacts. The other three rooms contain documentation on mechanical manufacturing." The stout Chieftain introduced them to Bai Ye without any reservation.
Grades one to eight? Different grades! Bai Ye was slightly startled. The lowest grade of magic artifact was D-grade, and then ascending... wouldn't that reach a terrifying SSS-grade? One level higher than Demon King grade?
"Ao! I forgot to mention, Lord of Light, our documentation is in our ancient dwarf language. You might not understand it, so I will translate for you."
"Excellent!" Bai Ye smiled faintly. With the "Little Language Genius" skill, all he needed was ten sentences to learn, and no matter how mysterious the script, it wouldn't be a problem!
"Let's look in that room first!" Bai Ye pointed to the two rooms at the deepest end, which likely housed the manufacturing documentation for SS and SSS grade magic artifacts.
Indeed, a hint of surprise flickered in the stout Chieftain's eyes, and he sighed, "As expected of the Lord of Light, you have such discerning eyes."
"Within those rooms are stored our tribe's most treasured documentation, concerning SS grade magic artifacts and the ultimate weapon, SSS grade magic artifacts." The stout Chieftain led Bai Ye forward. Reaching the doorway, he gazed at the door, his expression dimming slightly. "However, much of the documentation has been lost over the past few centuries of turmoil. What remains is not much, especially for SSS grade magic artifacts."
Slowly opening the door, a puff of dust billowed out, indicating it had been sealed for a considerable time.
Inside were about a dozen shelves, with hundreds of compartments. Yet, only a few compartments held any books.
"These are books on materials for some SSS grade magic artifacts, those are rune books, these few are guides for engraving patterns, and those two are on the theory of magic crystal energy release... Only these remain."
The stout Chieftain spoke with great heartache. Seeing these books was like witnessing his tribe's decline from glory. At this moment, not a trace of intoxication remained on him.
"The dwarf tribe will eventually return to its former glory!" Bai Ye spoke, his tone calm yet striking directly at the Chieftain's heart, rekindling a spark of light in his dim eyes.
Bai Ye picked up a material book and handed it to him, saying, "Help me translate a few sentences."
"Yes, Lord of Light." The stout Chieftain received it with trembling hands. Whether they could return to their past glory, he didn't know, but with Bai Ye present, he had a premonition that the dwarf tribe could endure. This was the fundamental reason he was willing to reveal the dwarf tribe's reserves to Bai Ye!
"SSS grade earth-attribute magic sword ore materials. Rock Radiance Ore: Its entire body is brown, often forming hexagonal blocks, possessing excellent malleability and toughness; Tri-Color Dark Stone: A gem that can directionally influence the cohesion or disintegration of soil, found only in extremely dense rock layers..."
Of every material the stout Chieftain mentioned, Bai Ye had not only never seen it but had never even heard of it!
"Does the Blue Star have such materials? Or are there any substitutes?" Bai Ye himself didn't understand and lacked the time or expertise to research. Such matters should be left to the scientific researchers of the Blue Star to furrow their brows over!
"Alright, I can read them myself now." Bai Ye interrupted the Chieftain's recitation and took the book from his hand.
The stout Chieftain blinked in astonishment. "Lord of Light, could it be that you... you've already learned our ancient script?"
"Yes, it's alright." Bai Ye replied perfunctorily before immersing himself in reading. Reading was, in essence, translation. He used the live broadcast system to record, convert the runes into Da Xia characters, and create audio data for the system to upload back to the Blue Star.
Chieftain Stuwick gazed at Bai Ye as if stunned for three hundred years. Even among their own people, after the Tetes World's occupation, many had forgotten their ancient script, knowing only the Tetes common tongue.
Difficulty of learning was also a contributing factor!
Yet, Bai Ye had managed to learn it in mere seconds. And judging by his engrossed expression, he wasn't lying!
"Truly worthy of being the Lord of Light!" the stout Chieftain sighed inwardly.
"Then, Lord of Light, please take your time reading. I shall leave now and not disturb you." Chieftain Stuwick slowly withdrew, his gaze lingering on the forging platforms for a moment before a thought struck him.
"I have no gift to offer Lord. Perhaps I should craft a sword for him?"
Decoding, translating, recording. Bai Ye processed information at an astonishing speed, reading multiple lines at once. A book of several hundred pages could be finished in about ten minutes.
Soon, the sound of clanging echoed from outside. Bai Ye extended his senses to investigate, his eyes showing a flicker of interest.
The stout Chieftain was diligently and intently forging a magic artifact.
Bai Ye's thoughts stirred, and he immediately used the God's Eye live broadcast system to record, simultaneously translating and capturing the process.
On the Blue Star, nearly two months had passed since Bai Ye's departure. In just two months, the World Alliance had completely mastered the production technology for C and D grade magic artifacts. B grade magic artifacts were already being produced on a small scale, and even A grade magic artifacts were undergoing experiments in core alliance nations like Da Xia and R Country.
In society, numerous D grade super warriors had gradually appeared among the general populace. Some with exceptional talent had already reached C grade levels...
First-generation weapons, demon-breaking weapons, had become widespread. Various countries had authorized numerous large enterprises to produce them, and ordinary people could acquire one with a little effort.
Second-generation weapons, magic artifacts. To obtain one, there was a prerequisite: at least becoming a D grade super warrior. The acquisition methods were primarily two. One: Join the World Alliance's special forces, and the Alliance would provide them free of charge. Two: Possess sufficient personal strength, defeat a sufficient number of demons, and pledge to stand firm during times of disaster.
Additionally, there were some underground black markets where they circulated, an inevitable aspect of human nature.
Consequently, at 16 of the Blue Star's 17 demon combat zones, tens of thousands of adventurers stormed in daily, and hundreds perished in the forests each day. Of course, a small number also saw their strength surge and became rich overnight.
The remaining location, Wo Jiao Ranch, remained untouched by various governments, as they dared not intervene without Bai Ye's permission. Many harbored desires but lacked the courage.
Those who emerged from the other 16 adventure zones immediately gained fame and became the day's hot topic.
"Holy crap! Zhao Dezhu walked out alive from the forbidden zone of the Da Xia Nation's eastern adventure zone, advancing to C grade super warrior, a 14-year-old C grade super warrior!"
"A heaven-shattering talent emerges! British Empire super warrior, Lofsfa, B grade, 20 years old, wielded a B grade magic sword to slay an A grade monster, breaking the European record!"
"Shocking! Chaos erupts in the central forbidden zone of the Da Xia Nation's adventure zone. The captain of the Da Xia Nation's Qilin Special Forces personally dispatched to suppress it. The reason? A mysterious warrior wielding a high-grade magic artifact went on a killing spree, suspected to be a peak A grade super warrior!"
Upon the release of such news, they would be closely monitored by various countries, which would offer various incentives for recruitment. Although they were an overall alliance, there was an unspoken rule: strengthen one's own nation's power first!
As for the prominent families, they were unwilling to decline in the new era. Demon-breaking weapons, magic artifacts, and super warriors were all being invested in without regard for cost...