The Dark Elf Master Was Moved

(This chapter is free.)

Over the next three days, Chen Rui finally lived in peace. That gloomy dungeon had been cleaned until it was spotless and even lined with hay. Three meals a day were guaranteed as well, all of it naturally done by Sli under Aldas's orders.

"Chen Rui, Master Aldas wants you."

What had once been food in his mouth had now become a lord he had to serve. The beating had been for nothing, so the Lesser Devil naturally felt terribly unbalanced. Watching Chen Rui swagger away, he stomped his foot hard and gritted his teeth. "Damn you! One day, the great Lord Sli will eat your flesh and drink your blood!"

But for now, the great Lord Sli could only obediently continue cleaning the dungeon—the place where that damned fellow lived.

"Chen Rui, come quickly!" Aldas perked up the moment he saw Chen Rui arrive. Though the human's name had originally been Arthur during the interrogation and had now changed back to Chen Rui, the Dark Elf master did not care in the slightest about such trivial matters.

Aldas had now been completely won over by Huarong Dao. He no longer doubted the authenticity of Grandmaster Wukong, and the thought of killing the donkey after it had finished grinding the millstone had long been thrown to the winds.

A mere little deduction game had such miraculous appeal. If he could gradually uncover those divine medicines and artifacts capable of rivaling the gods... Whenever he thought of it, the Dark Elf could not help becoming wildly excited.

"Look at the new set I made."

Chen Rui took one look and saw that the hastily made Huarong Dao set had been remade by the Dark Elf into an exquisite work of craftsmanship. Every piece bore a finely carved relief portrait. Yet Cao Cao's face was exceptionally handsome, while Guan Yu, astride his horse with blade in hand, had somehow grown two curved ram horns, looking exactly like a Scythe Demon. Zhao Yun, Ma Chao, and the others had all changed faces as well. It was clearly a Demon Realm version of Huarong Dao.

Through his interactions with Aldas and Sli over the past few days, Chen Rui had learned more common knowledge about the Demon Realm. Darkmoon City, where he was located, was a territory of the Fallen Angel Empire. Its lord was Shea Lucifer, Alice's older sister.

The common demon races in the Demon Realm included Scythe Demons, Succubi, Horned Demons, Servant Demons, Lesser Devils, and so on.

Each of these demon races had its own characteristics:

Scythe Demons, also known as Greater Devils, were the highest-ranking demon race apart from the royal family. They were naturally powerful warriors, skilled with all kinds of weapons, and could freely choose mental or strength-based cultivation, or even cultivate both. After some Greater Devils underwent bloodline mutations, they could gain even greater power. The normal limit for a Greater Devil was High-Rank Demon, while mutants could break through the bottleneck and reach higher levels.

Horned Demons were physically strong and fearless, making them the best vanguard troops for charging into battle. Some could also become skilled blacksmiths. Their normal limit was Mid-tier Demon.

Servant Demons were physically frail but possessed powerful magic. Some gifted individuals could command magical beasts. Their normal limit was Mid-tier Demon.

Succubi were an entirely female demon race, specializing in mental powers and possessing seductive talents that could ensnare souls and steal spirits. They had an extremely high chance of giving birth to girls, and any girl born was certainly a Succubus. Their normal limit was Mid-tier Demon.

As for Lesser Devils like Lord Sli, they were the lowest class of demons and were more often used as cannon fodder on the battlefield. Advanced Lesser Devils possessed illusionary abilities that could confuse others, while an extremely small number of mutants could advance into Scythe Demons.

Dark Elves and Dark Goblins were vassal races, but they were just as indispensable to the demon family. Dark Elves excelled at stealth, assassination, and poison, though specialists like Aldas, who had become masters through dedicated study of potion-making, were exceedingly rare. A few Dark Elves also possessed exceptional magical talent and could become Warlocks stronger than Servant Demons.

Although Dark Goblins were short, ugly, and had little combat power, they possessed astonishing creativity. They were best at handicrafts, inventions, and construction, and a few outstanding individuals became master alchemic artificers.

Because the Twin Moons of the Demon Realm possessed special power, there was no such thing as mixed blood among the races of the Demon Realm. Even if two different races had children, the offspring would only randomly belong to either the father's or mother's race.

Beyond that, the Demon Realm also contained many powerful creatures, such as the Elemental Race, Evil Eyes, the Fallen Dragon Race driven from the surface, and countless magical beasts. Danger lurked everywhere.

Compared to humans, demons began with much greater strength, but they had very little room for growth. No matter how talented humans were, their starting points after birth were more or less the same. Demons were different. Their rank differences were obvious from birth, but after reaching adulthood, they could at most attain a certain limit. Advancing in rank was extremely difficult.

In other words, demons began at a higher level than humans and lived longer, but they were far less malleable. The higher-ranking the demon, the greater their room for advancement.

Shea and Alice belonged to the demon royal family. Generally speaking, the royal family, like humanity's top experts, possessed limitless potential. In battle, they held an innate pressure over ordinary demons. Most powerful of all were the special talents in their bloodlines, which could unleash terrifying might.

Perhaps out of reverence for the royal family, Aldas and Sli had not revealed much about the two princesses or the Fallen Angel Empire.

"These character designs aren't very good. The powerhouses of the Primordial World weren't like this... Even embellishment and adaptation should stay true to history." Chen Rui bluntly criticized the character designs in the Demon Realm version of Huarong Dao, entirely forgetting that whether it was history or the original novel, he himself had already mangled them beyond recognition. Grandmaster Wukong alone was enough to make Wu Cheng'en weep in his grave.

Aldas accepted the criticism and smiled sheepishly. "My hands were just itching to make it. Next time, I'll make another set according to what you said. This time, I cleared it in nine steps, much better than last time."

Chen Rui shook his head gently and sighed. "Still not enough. Grandmaster Wukong only used eighty-one steps back then, and according to his calculations, it can be done in even fewer."

Aldas knew that cutting even one step required precise calculation. The first time he solved Huarong Dao, he had been so ecstatic that he did not remember how many steps he had used. The second time seemed to have taken more than three hundred steps. When he saw Chen Rui clear it in just over a hundred, he had no choice but to be thoroughly convinced. As for Grandmaster Wukong's record, he could only look up at it in awe.

"Actually, 'Crossing the Pass with Blade in Hand' is only one arrangement of Huarong Dao. There are several others. Huarong Dao was merely a little diversion Grandmaster Wukong used for deduction back then, so don't get too absorbed in it."

Aldas was currently obsessed with Huarong Dao. Chen Rui had deliberately said that to whet his appetite, and sure enough, the Dark Elf shook his head repeatedly. "A Grandmaster truly is a Grandmaster. It may have been a mere trifle to him, but to us, it has tremendous research value."

"But you can't neglect your potion-making," Chen Rui said, changing the subject as he casually revealed his true purpose. "How about this? I'll continue testing medicines for you. The more poisonous, the better. If we can break Grandmaster Wukong's spiritual protection, perhaps your potion-making can reach an even higher level."

Testing medicines? This was clearly to grind progress for activating the Super System!

Chen Rui understood clearly. Huarong Dao could only solve his immediate crisis and was no long-term solution. Only by truly gaining powerful strength could he escape the Demon Realm and preserve his life as soon as possible. That mysterious Super System might be his only hope.

The Dark Elf looked startled. "Aren't you afraid that once the protection is broken, your life could be in danger?"

"To better understand medicinal properties, Grandmaster Wukong once personally tasted every kind of herb. Several times, he nearly died of poison, yet he never gave up. The reason he could create divine medicines like the Peach of Immortality was not merely his outstanding talent. More importantly, it was his tireless diligence and persistence." This time, Chen Rui had bestowed Shennong's halo upon the Monkey King.

"Testing medicines personally?" Aldas's face filled with reverence as he sighed. "No wonder he could become a Grandmaster capable of rivaling the gods! It seems that beyond knowledge, there is still much I need to learn from the Grandmaster..."

Seeing the fervent light on Aldas's face, Chen Rui worried that he might overdo it and cause this fellow to actually imitate Shennong by tasting herbs. He hurriedly said, "Over the past few days, I've slowly sensed some information from the Grandmaster's remnant soul, and it has deeply moved me. I've decided to inherit the Grandmaster's will. Unfortunately, I have no foundation in potion-making and cannot understand that profound knowledge. Master, are you willing to help me, even though I'm human?"

"I am! Starting today, I'll teach you the basics of potion-making!" As a Dark Elf, Aldas was certainly no simple-minded honest man. But he was also a genuine potion master, and this time he had truly been moved. He was only short of asking Chen Rui to become sworn brothers and forming a bond of Jin Lan.

"Thank you, Master! No matter how difficult it is, I'll persist!" Seeing Aldas's excited expression, Chen Rui knew that for the time being, he basically no longer had to worry about his life. Besides, learning some potion-making knowledge along the way was not bad. After all, one could never have too many skills.

Aldas found a copy of Fundamentals of Herbs and was about to begin Chen Rui's basic instruction when the little princess Alice arrived. Besides Jia, she had brought along another unfamiliar short-haired girl.

The girl was beautiful, with purple hair, red eyes, light wheat-colored skin, and an extremely well-proportioned figure. A trace of heroic spirit showed between her brows. Her orange-red leather armor was somewhat revealing, and she carried a huge sheathed sword on her back. Her entire body radiated a wild charm.

Though the short-haired girl was also a beauty, after the psychological trauma inflicted by the black-bellied loli and the essence-draining demoness, Chen Rui instinctively became wary whenever he saw a female from the Demon Realm—especially one brought by Alice.

"Athena, this is that human. He's quite interesting." Alice affectionately linked arms with Athena. If not for Athena's striking curves and beautiful face, one might have thought the two were a couple.

"Master Aldas, hello." Athena was not as casual as Alice. She politely bowed to Aldas. But that courtesy was only for the Dark Elf. When she looked at Chen Rui, her gaze was full of unabashed scrutiny.

Chen Rui felt like an animal displayed in a zoo cage for visitors to inspect, and he cast a pleading glance at Aldas.

Who would have thought the Dark Elf would be so disloyal as to pretend not to see? He secretly slipped the Demon Realm version of Huarong Dao into his sleeve. Athena was easy enough to deal with, but Princess Alice was a notorious little devil throughout New Moon City. He could not let her snatch away that carefully crafted new set as well.

Though Aldas's movement was small, how could it escape the little loli's sharp eyes? Alice blinked her big eyes at Aldas's sleeve, her little head slowly moving along with them. The deliberate gesture was so obvious that even Athena's gaze shifted over.

"Master, what are you hiding in your sleeve? Can you let me have a look?"

"Nothing. It's just a Huarong Dao set I made on a whim," Aldas said hurriedly, sensing trouble and quickly changing the subject. "By the way, Chen Rui, where is the gift you promised Her Highness Alice the day before yesterday?"

Alice's attention was indeed diverted. Her large eyes sparkled with anticipation as they settled on Chen Rui. "Big brother human, I've been waiting for my gift."

That sweet "big brother" made Chen Rui shudder. He immediately remembered what had happened three days ago and nearly jumped up to shout: The same move doesn't work on transmigrators! Your acting is too exaggerated! Too contrived!

Complaints aside, faced with the overwhelming adorableness of the little loli's act, Chen Rui hurriedly took out an item.