Stone stared speechlessly at the sky. She must have drunk too much milk in her past life; she was now destined to be obsessed with milk. It seemed even the finest Mengniu milk couldn't beat Stone's charm!
When Dio returned, he practically dragged the two scoundrels who had left with him back. It was unclear what kind of ordeal they had suffered, but they looked only slightly better than the one in the infirmary.
"You little rascals! That's all for today. You can practice here this afternoon or go back to your dorms to rest. Anyway, that's all I have to say. From now on, we'll have a test every three days, and the losers will still get the same punishment. Alright, school dismissed!"
She glanced back at the infirmary. Although her earlier visit hadn't had the desired effect (it had, in fact, had caused harm), she felt that for Issa Terunsu's physical and mental well-being, she'd better not visit her again. Sigh, sometimes, good intentions don't always lead to good results…
Seeing that everyone else had gone back to their dorms, Stone patted her behind and decided to check out Ironforge. She hadn't been to Ironforge for several days because of things at the academy. Aside from anything else, it was time to take out the things from her ring space.
"Beautiful master, it's been a long time. You are still as beautiful and charming as ever, absolutely stunning..." As soon as Steward Hua saw Stone, he immediately praised Stone with his characteristic expressionless face and flat, emotionless voice.
Stone shuddered, shaking off the goosebumps on his skin. He decided to ignore the guy: "Wushuang, let me see the accounts."
The head steward immediately handed over the account books.
Actually, what Shi Tou meant by "checking the accounts" wasn't really like the accountants in his previous life, slowly examining the books. He just wanted to see how much money he actually had: "Hmm, not bad, business has been pretty good lately. Oh, by the way, I have something for you."
Steward Hua took the thing handed to him by Stone, frowned and examined it carefully for a long time, but still couldn't understand it: "Beautiful master, your wisdom is like that of a god, which is beyond the reach of us mortals."
Looking into the distance, Shi Tou wondered, "Is she really that powerful?"
"This is a bomb, much more powerful than the previous 'Boom'." The so-called "Boom" refers to the fireworks and firecrackers that Stone first developed: "But it's still not as powerful as the Huo family's explosive rocket launcher."
Actually, according to Shi Tou's wishes, she had long wanted to sell the Blazing Rocket Launcher in bulk, but as a member of the Huo family, she couldn't do something so foolish. There was no way around it; although the Huo family had grown into one of the great clans of the capital after hundreds of years of development, their very foundation lay in the Blazing Rocket Launcher.
"Beautiful master, there's something I've been wanting to ask for your opinion on." Steward Hua paused, then continued, "Please consider persuading the Huo family to sell the Explosive Flame Rocket Launcher!"
Do you think she doesn't want to?!
Shi Tou curled her lip. Arms dealing was definitely a highly profitable industry. But as long as she was a member of the Huo family, she couldn't do anything that would harm them: "The Explosive Flame Rocket Launcher has always been for sale, it's just that I sold it to the Huo family."
"The price..." Manager Hua reminded her tactfully.
“The price is good too. The Huo family has never treated me badly.” Stone waved his hand at Steward Hua: “Wushuang, forget it. I can’t repay kindness with enmity. Anyway, I’m making quite a bit of money now. As for the Explosive Flame Rocket Launcher, the Huo family’s price isn’t low either. There’s no need to offend the Huo family over something like this.”
"Beautiful master, you've misunderstood me. What I mean is, of course, the real explosive rocket launcher can't be sold to the public, but what about the inferior ones? Like disposable ones? Those with low power? Or ones that can only be used against ordinary people?" Steward Hua had no intention of giving up on persuading Stone.
Stone hesitated for a moment: "The bomb I gave you is a similar weapon, but it can only deal with targets below one star. Is it necessary to deal with ordinary people?"
“Of course it’s necessary.” Steward Hua explained to Stone in detail: “Although Princess Irene systematically improved magic six hundred years ago, and magicians are now very common, you must know, Master, that not everyone has magical talent. Six hundred years ago, people who couldn’t learn magic could learn martial arts, but now? Fewer and fewer people are learning martial arts.”
Princess Irene?
Stone didn't hear what Steward Hua said next; her attention was completely drawn to the word "Princess Irene."
That's right, it's Princess Irene. She'd heard this name from Huotong's mouth before, and seemed to have heard it from many different people afterward. This name seemed to belong to the former owner of the steamed bun, perhaps her past life…
Although Stone has been denying that he is not the true owner of the steamed bun and that he is just a fake, more and more things prove that even if he is not the true owner of the steamed bun, then its former owner must have been a time traveler.
Now, Stone heard the name again from Steward Hua's mouth, and she felt extremely curious about the so-called Princess Irene.
"Wushuang, put the matter of the Explosive Flame Rocket Launcher aside for now. I'll find a way to persuade Grandpa later. Now, can you tell me about Princess Irene? I'm very curious about her."
The head steward, who was eloquently recounting his future business plans, suddenly stopped speaking, his gaze towards Shi Tou filled with disbelief: "Beautiful master, didn't you know Princess Irene before?"
"Uh," Stone said a little nervously, "I know a little, but not much. I know she's a very powerful magician."
"Yes, Princess Irene is the most talented magician to date." Chief Steward Hua nodded with certainty: "She single-handedly improved all magic to date. She established a complete system for the previously chaotic magical world, clearly categorized various types of magic, and made a tremendous contribution to the advancement of magic..."
"Stop! Stop!" Stone felt she had to call a pause. There was no other way; although Steward Hua was expressionless, he was also a chatterbox, and if she didn't call a stop in time, Stone suspected he would keep talking and talking.
Taking a deep breath, Stone decided to focus on the key points: "Now, when I ask you questions, you just need to answer yes or no."
"Princess Irene is a magician, a nine-star magician, isn't she?"
"yes."
"She's an all-elemental mage, and proficient in all types and levels of magic, isn't she?"
"yes."
"You're saying she categorized magic? So, in the original magical world, there were no categories for different types of magic?"
"yes."
"What about advancement? Did she also create the classification from one star to nine stars?"
"No." Steward Hua knew that Stone was annoyed by his rambling, so he quickly replied in the simplest language: "The classification from one star to nine stars is a classification of attack power, not a classification of magic. Mages have their own classification methods, and what magic they learn at what level. These were all created by Princess Irene."
Shi Tou pondered for a moment. Could this be a perk for time travelers?
"What does 'making a huge contribution to the advancement of magic' refer to? It can't just be about classification, right?"
After thinking for a moment, Steward Hua did not directly answer Stone's question, but instead asked, "Beautiful Master, six hundred years ago, the Qi Master Association's influence spanned the entire world. In the Fallen Nether Empire, the Qi Master Association held even greater power than the royal family. However, all of that has now vanished. Do you know why?"
Stone frowned. The current president of the Qi Master Association was only a five-star Qi Master. Although it was said that his attack power was quite good, it was no match for the dozens of nine-star mages in the Mage Association.
"Because the Mage Association is getting more and more powerful?" Stone hesitated for a moment before answering.
"Yes. And all of this is because of Princess Irene. Six hundred years ago, it was extremely difficult for mages to advance in their ranks, and the entire Mage Association was in a state of magical decline. The magic branch of the Imperial Capital Academy often faced a shortage of students, and it was considered very good if one-tenth of the freshmen in each year could eventually advance to the level of a one-star mage. But now..."
Shi Tou was stunned. She hadn't expected that the status of mages six hundred years ago would be so awkward. Keep in mind, Huo Xiaoxiao had only been studying at the Imperial Capital Academy for a little over two years, yet she was already a five-star mage.
"Why? What exactly did Princess Irene do?"
-----
Turns out, today is Monday, not Sunday o(╯□╰)o
Okay, I admit I've gone crazy living life to the fullest, so I'll be posting two chapters today to make up for the extra chapters from the weekend.
Hey everyone, let's just pretend today is Sunday.
...
☆, Chapter 171: Ancestors of the Six Great Families
From the head steward, Stone heard about a figure who was almost mythical.
That Princess Irene was definitely a transmigrator with a super cheat code. From how to judge whether a person has magical talent, to using various natural fruits (such as the Blood Pearl Fruit from the Crimson Forest) to stimulate magical talent, and using various magical means to further stabilize and increase magical talent, then the requirements for each advancement, and finally she even left behind how to advance to become a nine-star mage.
"She's not even human!" Stone concluded after listening to Steward Hua's account.
“Princess Irene is certainly not a person.” To everyone’s surprise, Chief Steward Hua nodded in agreement: “She has already become a god-like being.”
Seeing the longing look on Hua Da Zongguan's face, Shi Tou felt it was best to talk less with such a brainless fan.
"Actually, my beautiful mistress, as far as I know, the person who knows Princess Irene best is none other than the descendants of the six great families of the East. If you want to know more specific details, you can ask your grandfather."
Stone was taken aback: "Why?"
Steward Hua glanced at Shi Tou speechlessly: "The six great families of the East originated from Princess Yilin's six personal guards. In other words, the current members of the six great families of the East are all descendants of Princess Yilin's personal guards. Moreover, it is said that before Princess Yilin died, she gave each of her personal guards a divine artifact."
Shi Tou pursed her lips. The information she received from Baozi told her that, apart from the ancestors of the Chu family, everyone had indeed obtained a divine artifact. However, she didn't know exactly what it was.
"Yes, the Explosive Rocket Launcher seems to be one of them." Stone thought for a moment. Since these things had already spread outside, he figured he might as well tell Steward Hua directly.
“I know that, which is why I hope you can persuade Old Master Huo to let us sell the Blazing Rocket Launcher. Actually, there’s no need to sell the real Blazing Rocket Launcher. As long as it looks similar, it doesn’t matter even if the power is much less.” Steward Hua reminded Stone again to prioritize the interests of Ironforge.
Stone looked at Steward Hua, somewhat puzzled: "The bomb I gave you is just this kind of thing. Why do you insist on using an explosive rocket launcher?"
"Because the Blazing Rocket Launcher is a divine artifact, and it's a divine artifact left behind by Princess Irene." Steward Hua explained very seriously, "Master, you don't understand the significance of a divine artifact to a strong person. Even if it's just similar in appearance, it's fine. Even just having the same look is enough; we can sell it as a high-end collectible."
Suddenly, it dawned on Shi Tou: this was the celebrity effect from his past life! Just a name and an appearance, even without any substance, could fetch an astronomical price. Judging from Chief Steward Hua's description of Princess Irene, the Fallen Nether Empire certainly wouldn't lack such brainwashed fans.
Tsk tsk, once she figured it out, Stone seemed to see a shower of gold coins flying towards her...
$_$
Seeing Stone's greedy expression, Steward Hua finally breathed a sigh of relief. Great! It had taken him almost three years to convince this little girl to agree; it hadn't been easy at all. But now that she had agreed, things would be much easier. As long as he could get his hands on the real explosive rocket launcher, then…
As long as that matter succeeds, he wouldn't care if it meant being made a servant for life, or even if it meant losing his life!
Stone waved for Steward Hua to leave. She then locked the door to the lounge and entered the ring space.
"You lazy bum, have you finished writing?"
Upon entering the ring space, Stone subconsciously asked a question, but when she saw what Baozi was doing, her eyes widened in surprise.
What Stone saw was this: Baozi was upside down, a pen tucked between its folds, and below it, of course, was the large stack of papers Stone had given it. Although Baozi's appearance wasn't exactly pleasing, it was at least diligently completing Stone's task.
"Ahem." Shi Tou coughed twice before forcibly suppressing his laughter: "Baozi, hmm, not bad, not bad, you did very well today."
Baozi let go of the pen and hopped over to the stone in a few moments, staring at it with an infinitely mournful look: "Hehe, Master, how cruel you are!"
Look up at the sky.
Stone asked innocently, "What did I do now?"
"Giggle, Baozi is just there to make things easier for Master's memory device, why does it have to write books too? Aww, Baozi is so pitiful!"
Seeing that Baozi was about to throw another tantrum, Shi Tou quickly stopped him: "Stop, stop now. I have some questions for you."
"Huh? You don't need to write anymore?" Baozi stared at Shitou in disbelief.
Stone nodded: "You can take a rest."
Baozi hesitated for a moment, but quickly agreed. In its opinion, as long as its shoes weren't damaged, nothing else mattered: "Hehe, Master, ask away!"
Shi Tou found a clean spot to sit down and casually shoveled the steamed buns in front of him: "Tell me, do you know what the divine artifacts of the six great families of the East are?"
"Huh?" Baozi was dumbfounded: "There aren't six divine artifacts, there are five!"
"By the way, the Chu family doesn't have any divine artifacts, is that right?" Stone asked again, "Then what are the other divine artifacts?"
"Hehe, I really don't know who took which bun! All I know is that there are five magical artifacts in total!"
"The first item is the Huo family's Explosive Flame Rocket Launcher. You can use it after a short period of learning!"
"The second thing is the Misty City. Strictly speaking, it's not a divine artifact, but rather something that gives your descendants a high chance of becoming space mages!"
"The third item is the Spirit of All Things. It's not exactly a divine artifact, but rather something that can awaken the ability of future generations to communicate with all things!"
"The fourth one is the real artifact, called Awakening. It's actually a healing artifact that can instantly heal any injury, no matter how severe. Of course, if life force has been lost, then there's nothing it can do!"
"The last artifact is a really strange artifact!" Baozi thought for a long time but couldn't figure out how to describe it: "Well, Baozi only knows that its name is Hidden, but as for its function, Baozi really has no idea!"
Shi Tou tried hard to recall Huo Xiaoxiao's words, pondering how to connect the artifact with his family.
“Baozi, I think the Qin family is the one that obtained the spatial artifact, which is the Misty City. Huo Xiaoxiao told me before that the Qin family has an artifact that can create space. The Lin family has an artifact that can communicate with plants, which is probably the Spirit of All Things. As for the Shui family, Huo Xiaoxiao’s mother went to the Shui family to heal her injuries, so she should have awakened.”