Under the Red Dragon.

Chapter 614 Existence Precedes Essence—Weaving Technique
The western sea frontier of the Golden Empire was originally based in Neverwinter City, expanding westward across the Western Sea. It served as a crucial transit city for friendly trade between the Elf Kingdom and the Vampire Kingdom in the dense forests of the western continent.

However, due to decades of development, the westward expansion and development movement of the Golden Empire spread rapidly.

In addition, the Imperial Central Council issued the "Decree for Conscripting People to Fill the Southwest," which continuously transferred the imperial people from the most densely populated eastern coast and the central hinterland to the southwest.

Every year, tens of thousands of young and strong people migrate to meet the legal requirements. This abundant manpower has gradually transformed vast areas of wilderness and forests into territories under the actual control of the empire.

Because of the vastness of this region, it has not yet been fully developed to a high degree. However, the countless elves and fairies in the empire originated from the southwestern wilderness of the empire and were moved to the heart of the empire due to the development and pioneering movement in the southwest.

This was also the political strategy set by the Imperial Central Council: first assimilate, then divide, and finally relocate.

The twelve major towns that control the southwestern wilderness of the empire, with Sunset Town being the foremost, is one of the homes of the imperial archmage Morvanred.

Well, there's no doubt about the wealth a mage of this caliber could possess.

Archmages like Morvanred wouldn't even be tempted by the massive research funds allocated by the Imperial Central Treasury.

Even for a mage to compare with the wealth of an entire nation, especially a nation like the Golden Empire, is wishful thinking.

However, considering Morvanred's position within the Golden Empire, the benefits he gained through corruption paled in comparison to the privileges he enjoyed.

Although the Golden Empire had clear laws and strict regulations, it also maintained a strategy of paying high salaries to prevent corruption.

When the policy of paying high salaries to encourage integrity was first proposed, it was not intended to completely eliminate the possibility of future corruption throughout the empire.

Rather, it is to prevent those who do not want to be corrupt from falling into the mire. After all, the act of seeking personal gain through corruption is a self-interest inherent in the nature of living beings, and it is difficult to completely eliminate it by relying on a single policy.

Talented individuals like Morvanred not only have direct access to the unifying kings of the empire and can offer their opinions in face-to-face discussions, but they also have the right to apply for independent additional living funds from the relevant agencies of the imperial treasury.

When the Dragon Emperor first made the decision, he set an unlimited quota for this level of talent.

Of course, this "no upper limit" is not a true upper limit, but rather an upper limit within the maximum capacity of relevant fiscal funds.

This demonstrates the great favor the Golden Empire showed to such intelligent individuals.

Perhaps it is because of the abundance of material life that living beings pay more attention to spiritual pursuits, which has led many scholars and mages in the empire to be extremely particular about their conduct.

Morvanred owns more than forty magic cottages in various cities of the Golden Empire, which is even ten times more than the imperial palaces owned by the emperor.

After all, the Dragon Emperor Kalon Gogmora was no ordinary king; this guy was an incredibly powerful dragon.

He doesn't need the shelter of those residences when he's out and about, and he's not interested in wasting his wealth in vain.

When Morvanred arrived in Sunset Town using teleportation magic, the moon was already high in the sky and the stars were shining brightly.

However, the situation in the Golden Empire is quite different from that in other countries in the world of Ekania. Even at night, the city gates of every city and even every town in the empire are not closed.

As part of the empire's basic infrastructure, the road and lighting systems have been fully and universally implemented in every corner of the empire's controlled territory.

Unlike other civilizations that suffer from security problems due to nighttime lighting issues, the Golden Empire did not experience such problems.

Even in the sewers of the empire's major cities, moonlight lamps still illuminate the night.

In another sense, this also means that the Golden Empire had twice the development time of the rest of the world of Ekania.

"Well, once the Empire's legal network is fully established, it won't be as quick and convenient for me to travel around the Empire using teleportation magic,"

Morvanred wrapped his robes tighter around himself, glanced briefly at his neighbors who were already fast asleep, and then slowly roused the spirit of his detached villa to open the door for him.

Although Morvanred was not the primary architect of the Imperial Law Network, he was involved in its development.

Morvanred was involved in the structural and functional design of the core modules of the Imperial Law Network.

Although Morvanred believed that the construction of the Imperial Law Network would bring some inconvenience to the Imperial mages in the future, the benefits outweighed the drawbacks, and the benefits far outweighed the drawbacks.

"My esteemed master, I am honored to welcome you once again tonight,"

A lifelike face suddenly appeared on the wide doorway, like a face formed from molten metal, and greeted Morvanred obsequiously.

The moonlight shone on the lifelike face, making it appear somewhat eerie.

"During your absence, your loyal butler took excellent care of this laboratory, cleaning the rooms every day and inspecting the specimens and equipment every hour to ensure that nothing went wrong,"

"You only need to..."

Morvanred ignored the fawning spirit above the door and went straight into his house.

Every powerful mage, when building their mage tower and spell fortress, will use various spells to create elemental spirits that obey their commands as helpers in controlling the mage tower and spell fortress.

Elemental spirits can also act as a second spellcaster in battle, assisting their master and possessing secondary authority over mage towers and mage fortresses.

However, elemental beings are not special life forms that are easy to create; the best base for their materials comes from elemental life.

If the Golden Empire hadn't reached an agreement with the lords of the Wind Elemental Plane, even Morvanred wouldn't have been able to create more than forty elemental spirits to guard his magic hut so easily.

In the Empire's Law Net plan, elemental creatures will also be an indispensable part in the future.

For the Imperial Law Network to extend to every corner of the empire's territory, its operation and daily maintenance require the use of a large number of elemental creatures.

These elemental spirits, like tower spirits within the legal network, exist at every core node of the Imperial Legal Network, monitoring the network and enabling its functions.

However, there is still some controversy within the Imperial Magic Research Department. Some magicians believe that the elemental beings that will operate the Imperial Magic Network nodes in the future will need to have a certain degree of autonomy and active thinking in order to better utilize the Imperial Magic Network and possess more flexible self-reactivity.

However, some other magicians believe that granting elements independent consciousness is dangerous.

The mage's tower can grant elemental spirits such vitality and autonomy because the mage has complete control over the tower.

The Imperial Law Network's control is not exclusive; although it possesses supreme authority, it usually relies on these elemental spirits to maintain control, so it is not suitable to grant elemental spirits autonomous consciousness.

Instead, those elemental beings should be created as elemental reactants without their own life, mechanically operating according to the will written into the magical links they construct.

It is precisely because of this controversy that the metal dragons stationed in various mountains and rivers, such as the young golden dragon Rasu, were able to control the lower-level core modules of the Imperial Law Network. This behavior itself can be considered a pilot project before the full-scale rollout of the Law Network.

In a civilized nation of the size of the Golden Empire, even a policy or measure that is considered perfectly correct by countless people needs to undergo a series of trials and investigations before it can be fully implemented.

However, these controversies did not concern Morvanred; he only cared about his research and the pursuit of knowledge.

Morvanred will not offer his opinion until he can verify whether the future will be right or wrong.

"Open the basement,"

Morvanred stopped in front of the gate leading to the underground passage, frowned slightly, and spoke for the first time.

In the past, the elemental spirits were very perceptive and never needed their master to make any move.

Fortunately, the elemental spirits reacted very quickly, and the magically closed portal opened leisurely, revealing countless magical artifacts and sophisticated instruments displayed inside.

There are also many corpses and specimens of magical creatures, including many magical specimens from the God-Forsaken Mountains such as the Five-Headed Skeleton Ghost, Elephant Mastiff, and Skeleton Hound.

Vampires and dwarves from the western continent are not uncommon, which shows the archmage's discretion in building magic huts all over the empire.

Because the Golden Empire has good trade relations with the vampire kingdoms and even the dwarf kingdoms of the Western Continent, things like this are not suitable to be displayed openly.

However, as Morvanred stepped into the basement, which was heavily sealed and hidden by magic, the door to the passage behind him suddenly slammed shut with a loud bang.

An eerie aura quietly emerged in the underground laboratory. The magical creature specimens that Morvanred had sealed in the magical instruments suddenly opened their long-dried eye sockets, and pairs of dark, hollow eyes stared at the archmage.

Do you yearn for a power that is beyond the reach of ordinary people?

Do you yearn for wisdom that transcends the mundane world?

Do you yearn for eternal life?

Ancient, eerie, overlapping murmurs echoed in Morvanred's ears, accompanied by a terrifying mental pressure that caused the archmage's mind to waver, as if he had fallen into a dream.

The mummified corpses that had come back to life were spinning in his eyes, as if they were falling endlessly into an abyss in his dream.

The magical runes on the archmage's robes lit up one after another, and the rings on his hands and the emblem on his chest shone as brightly as moonlight, scattering magical light like water.

These magical protective spells and the enchanted spells of mental alert and counterattack roused Morvanred from his relaxed state of mind, and he realized that the eerie voice was the tone of an elemental spirit.

"what are you?"

Morvanred pulled his staff from the wide sleeves of his robe, frowned, and asked in return.

Wherever his gaze fell, the magical specimens and mummies that had once been resurrected returned to calm, as if what had appeared before was entirely an illusion.

But Morvanred knew this was not an illusion.

If he cannot come to his senses in time and believe that the mummies have come back to life, then the specimens and mummies will truly come to life through his spiritual approval.

However, the owner of the voice did not answer his question, but asked again: "Do you crave a power that is beyond the reach of ordinary people?"

Do you yearn for wisdom that transcends the mundane world?

Do you yearn for eternal life?

"What can you give me? Power that is beyond the reach of ordinary people? Can you make me stronger than the emperor of the empire?"

Morvanred showed no fear; his staff was enveloped in a cloud of magical light, shielding him from the omnipresent mental attack.

Even as the eerie, living voice grew louder and echoed in his ears, containing unimaginable evil power, hearing that voice would involuntarily cause his will to weaken and his mind to become hazy.

Morvanred knew that this must be the alien evil god lurking in the world of Ekania that the Imperial Dragon Kings had warned him about.

However, the reason he did not try to escape directly was because he wanted to know why these evil gods chose to target him and why they were specifically targeting him.

"A power that is beyond the reach of ordinary beings is naturally greater than that of all mortal creatures."

"The lost magic, the very magic that allowed the high elves to reshape the world and rebuild their homes—I can bestow it upon you!"

The repeated murmurs relentlessly eroded Morvanred's mental defenses, tempting the archmage to weaken his spirit and waver in his will.

Morvanred then asked, "And what about wisdom? Since you could bestow upon me wisdom that transcends the mortal realm, you can also take it away."

"Then what's the difference between me and being your dog?"

"As for eternal life, even the great gods cannot claim to be eternally immortal. What kind of wild god are you to dare claim to have granted me eternal life?"

"If you have such ability, why are you hiding and afraid to come see me in person!"

The terrifying, eerie, and living voices disappeared for a moment, as if they were also pondering something.

But Morvanred had already sensed the presence of that consciousness within the elemental beings.

It seemed that the consciousness that had descended from afar revealed fluctuations in its thinking after a brief moment of contemplation, and was no longer merely a medium for casting spells as before.

"Existence precedes essence. Since you have personally entered the material world and intersected with present existence, then there must be an essential existence dependent on you in this present world."

"Let me see what exactly this evil god is!"

Rumble,
A terrifying aura rose heavily from the archmage, and one after another, the arms of the weavers stretched out behind him.

It seemed to blot out the sky, filling the entire basement space.

Sixteen arms of the weavers were lined up in a row, each holding a staff, which they pressed heavily into the void.

The resounding chants of magical incantations caused the entire house to shake.

(End of this chapter)