Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 525: Secret Treasures of the Two Clans
When Harvey and his men rushed to the alchemy laboratory, they saw two teams of alien visitors who had just arrived. They were standing in the hall glaring at each other, and the situation was tense.

The leader of the elves was a man whose exact age was unknown, but he had a gaunt face and a slender figure. His unusually pointed ears could be clearly seen from the temples of his long, dark green hair. His hair color and ear shape indicated... he was a pure-blooded elf.

On the dwarf side, there was a short and stocky male leader, who stood next to Steel Mane, a "foreign student" who had lived in the area for a long time. He pointed at the elves with a look of disdain on his face, and many dwarves behind him directly raised their index fingers to their ears - this was an insulting gesture that the dwarves had always used to mock their "enemies" the elves.

Judging from the expressions of both sides, it seemed that a "war of words" had just entered the halftime break and was interrupted by Harvey who happened to arrive.

Chris, who was secretly having a headache, saw Harvey coming and quickly walked over to him and whispered, "To avoid any conflicts, I have asked Egno and the other hybrid elf experimenters to leave the laboratory first. Your Majesty... what should we do next?"

The elf leader also noticed Harvey leading the group in. He immediately turned and saluted, greeting you gracefully, "Your Majesty Saint Valen and His Excellency the Deputy... Forest Heart, a founding member of the forum, extends his warmest greetings to you on his behalf."

"Oh? You know my code name?" Harvey was a little surprised. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "Are you also a member of the forum?"

"Percival Randy, codenamed Windtalker, a non-staff member without even the right to speak." The rough-looking dwarf leader sneered, turned to Harvey, and saluted with a chest pounding. "Your Majesty, please call me Aaron. The Frost Giant and the Rock Titan also asked me to give their regards to you."

The elf leader, codenamed Windtalker, snorted coldly and added faintly, "Codenamed Lava, a non-staff member who also has no right to speak."

The Spellcaster Forum is still considered a special spellcasting organization in the human spellcasting world in the southern border, which is known to everyone but always remains secret. However, when it comes to the dwarves and elves, it is basically in a semi-public state of activity. Due to the blockade and control of magic learning by human spellcasters, these foreign wizards regard the forum as a valuable channel for contacting magic, which can perfectly bypass the traditional High Wizard Council and Federation, and no longer be restricted and discriminated against everywhere.

Harvey coughed, pretending not to notice the unfriendly exchange between the two sides. He smiled and said, "You have come from afar to escort such a precious clan treasure for us. You deserve the most solemn and formal reception... However, Spark City is currently busy, and the situation in our country has just stabilized, so we have been a little slow."

The dwarf Lava was straightforward and honest. He quickly waved his hand and said, "You are His Majesty. No need to be polite with us. Mr. Iron Legs was originally going to take us to his residence to rest after picking us up from the teleportation array...but because everyone was worried about the treasures we were escorting, they rushed to the laboratory to find a way to store them first. This way, it would be safer."

Chris, known as "Mr. Iron Legs", shrugged helplessly, causing the guards behind Harvey to snicker.

The elven leader, Windwhisperer, nodded in agreement and said softly, "After all, we are responsible for the transportation, so we must prioritize the business. The Great Elder also instructed me before I came here. If there is anything I can help you with, Your Majesty, please feel free to ask."

It seems like the founding members of both tribes are very understanding...

Harvey nodded in satisfaction and said bluntly, "Then please follow us into the laboratory to check the condition of the secret treasure first."

"Is this the golden tree heart?" Chris said in astonishment. "It doesn't look like a plant at all... On the contrary, it looks more like some kind of crystalline mineral."

Harvey also felt a little confused. If no one reminded him, he would even mistake the spindle-shaped crystal wrapped in the broad leaves of the golden tree in front of him for the earth crystal core from the dwarves.

The Earth Crystal Core was even more unusual, being placed in a clay jar painted with countless primitive runes. It was a liquid substance like diluted clay, more like liquid magic power that had been repeatedly compressed and was in a semi-solidified state.

"Your Majesty, there's no need to be confused. The Golden Tree Heart and Earth Crystal Core were originally named by human spellcasters. They weren't referred to by these terms in the ancient languages of the two races... I'm not familiar with the Earth Crystal Core, but the Golden Tree Heart is indeed found within a golden tree over five hundred years old. It's a rare creation formed by the condensation of highly concentrated natural elements."

The Windtalker gracefully picked up the Heart Crystal and showed Harvey the elemental light flowing within. "It's no exaggeration to say it's a secret treasure unique to the elves. With gradual mining and consumption, the output of Heart Crystals has been decreasing. In the past fifty years, there have been fewer than ten. The Golden Tree can't catalyze the growth of Heart Crystals in any way. The Elders predict that within a few decades, these precious crystals will be completely depleted. All we can do is place our hopes on a long wait."

Harvey nodded and carefully took the tree heart from the other party's hand. The ancient books and documents of the Federation did not clearly describe the specific properties and appearance of this magical material, but they emphasized the preciousness and rarity of the tree heart. Even the Alayeh Sky Domain Treasure House had never been fortunate enough to obtain and collect it.

Upon seeing this, the dwarf Lava quickly picked up the earth core pot and said to Harvey in a tone of comparison, "Your Majesty, the Earth Core is also a rare treasure that our people have painstakingly mined. It grows in a lava region nearly eight thousand meters underground, inaccessible to both mortals and spellcasters. Only the fire armadillos, specially domesticated in the Underground City, can exploit the cracks in the earth's crust and retrieve small amounts by swallowing them... Once the armadillo returns to the surface, it must be slaughtered and opened to remove the core from its stomach. Any delay will completely absorb and transform the core, making all your efforts in vain."

Harvey gently shook the pottery jar and estimated that the liquid crystal core inside was at least half a pound. The fire armadillo was only half the length of a dwarf's arm. To collect this amount of crystal core, at least three or more would be needed... It is very difficult to artificially tame armadillos, and the dwarves have also invested a lot of money this time.

It seems that Harvey's proposal... to establish a new federation based on the Spellcaster Forum, in which both races can have some seats, is indeed very tempting.

He nodded approvingly to the dwarf Lava and said aloud, "I learned from a secret ancient tome that, through a ritual, the golden tree heart and the earth crystal core can create a life stone that promotes the birth of all things. Therefore, I have also verified the content recorded in the ancient tome with members of the two tribes' respective forums, and they have confirmed that it is indeed true... However, there are still too many ritual details that cannot be verified, so I need your assistance and cooperation."

The Windtalker coughed lightly and explained hesitantly, "Your Majesty, what you learned from the ancient texts is indeed correct, but...but creating the Stone of Life is not difficult. The difficulty lies...in driving and controlling it. According to the records of our clan, this thing only promotes the growth of herbs that do not contain any magical substances. It has no effect on potion plants at all. Moreover, it seems...seems to have an independent consciousness, like a thinking living creature!"

A sentient being? A Philosopher's Stone?

Before Harvey could react, the dwarf Lava gruffly chimed in, "Yes, it's recorded in our tribe's texts. This stone looks like an ordinary magic stone, but the catalytic effect it produces when infused with magic is uncontrollable... When you try to manipulate it to make a field of wheat seedlings grow rapidly, it ends up withering from germination in an instant, making it impossible to strictly control them until they reach the ear-forming and mature stage."

(End of this chapter)