Chapter 384: Preparing for the Expedition

Dalaran’s territory was becoming increasingly like a paradise—both in terms of scenery and the concentration of natural elements—comparable to any ordinary elven tribe’s settlement.
Especially within a ten-mile radius of the Tree of Life, the intensity of natural energy was on par with that of the Elven Kingdom on Sun Island.
This came as a pleasant surprise to those elves who had thought coming to the frigid northern lands meant some form of exile. Particularly for the elves from the small tribe, the environment here was far better than their original tribe’s; it was as if beggars had suddenly moved into a mansion!
After all, most of these small tribes were not high-status pure-blood elves and thus could not claim the right to live near the Tree of Life.
These elves were settled in Starlight Town, belonging to the Druid tribe. After all, it was no problem for this town to accommodate thousands of people, while the Druid tribe’s elves made up less than a fraction of that number. So, they had no complaints about these newcomers, as strengthening the elven race was beneficial for them as well!
Once the issue of the elves was settled, the specifics were left to the Grand Elder Elyia and the leaders of the two newly arrived elf tribes. Donald Yi did not get involved much in the elves’ internal affairs but began testing the operation of the alchemy factories.
Most of what he brought back from the ancient archmage ruins were standard production devices from that era. With Chikofield’s guidance and the addition of some facilities, several complete production lines were set up, capable of manufacturing low to mid-level alchemical products such as potions, energy-enhancing items, disposable items, and enchanted equipment.
Of course, this classification was based on the standards of the Great Archmage Empire. Even by today’s standards, these were still excellent alchemical products. If used to form an army, it could easily sweep through most armies on the continent and become a top-tier force for any nation!
After all, the glorious arcane civilization of ancient times wasn’t just about destructive offensive spells—it permeated every aspect of civilization and daily life. Clothing, food, shelter, and transportation all relied on it. The Sky City, intelligent constructs, steel fortresses, teleportation arrays, alchemy factories—these magnificent achievements were all created to help archmages better pursue truth and serve humanity, not for war and slaughter.

This is the core principle of the arcane civilization system—the very foundation upon which a vast empire capable of dominating the material world can be built. Yet the gods fear the growth of such an arcane empire, fearing that one day it will no longer need them. While human desire and greed are catalysts for civilization’s progress, if left uncontrolled, they can also become the root causes of its destruction.

Having understood these truths, Donald never intended to follow the old path of establishing two great empires—an arcane empire and a magic empire—as Chikofield had hoped. As a visitor from another world, to integrate better into this world, mere reforms are insufficient to keep up with historical trends; one must possess formidable strength as a solid, unshakable backing to control one’s own destiny!

Donald already had plans for his future. Though these plans gradually changed as his strength and vision expanded, with so many advantages at his disposal, he didn’t believe he couldn’t achieve them!

Full of confidence in the future, Donald delegated all remaining affairs in his domain to professionals and took turns living in the villas at Darknight Manor and Lakeheart Island Manor. By day, he practiced in his training room, and by night, he dined with Catherine, who had finished handling the domain’s business affairs, engaging in activities beneficial to both body and mind.

In the enclosed environment of his training room, Donald entered the House of Time to process the gains from his journey into the abyss.

“The soul energies of the undead and demons harvested from the Bone Wasteland and the Barbaric Demon Plane, along with those from the Heartstealer Tribe and the Supreme Brain, have now raised my soul energy reserves to over 300,000 units.”

“Even though there are many types of divinity that pose significant obstacles to becoming a god, this much soul energy is sufficient to replenish the burning soul essence and successfully ignite the divine flame!”

“And most importantly, there are tremendous gains from defeating the Embodiment of Destruction and the Supreme Brain, Aethersion!”

With these thoughts, Donald took out the divine core of the Embodiment of Destruction’s semi-divine form. This crystal, resembling a demon’s heart core, was about the size of a fist and looked more like a heart. Surrounded by mysterious light points, its red evil aura blended perfectly with divine radiance—its value was evident just by looking at it!

It appeared similar to the divine fragments he had obtained earlier, but after examining it himself and scanning it with the Book of Truth, he found that it wasn’t much different from those fragments after all.

Although the incarnation of the Destroyer Monarch had reached the strength of a true god, it was still merely a demi-god incarnation, so it could not possess a complete divine essence. Yet, just in terms of the value of this divine core, it far surpassed the empty divine essences of ordinary orthodox demi-gods.
If a demi-god who had ignited the divine flame acquired this divine core and absorbed it, they could even gain rule authority through its principles and quickly become a true god!
It contained knowledge such as the forces of the divine domains favored by this incarnation and its understanding of laws, but it lacked the Destroyer Monarch’s consciousness—out of fear of sensing each other’s consciousnesses. As long as he took out this divine core in his main world, it would be detected by its master, the Destroyer Monarch, revealing who had destroyed its incarnation!
Thus, Donald had long had the Book of Truth remove this risk.
Now, Donald’s preparations far exceeded those of a demi-god about to receive a divine office. Once he successfully ignited the divine flame, he could instantly grasp rule authority without any obstacles.
However, Donald felt his preparations were not yet complete, as his accumulation had not reached the peak of legend. Although it would be possible to ignite the divine flame with the help of the Book of Truth now, that would only make him a demi-god relying on a high-tier divine artifact, which would inevitably affect his future progress—after all, an artifact is ultimately an external object and cannot fully replace one’s own strength.
“And if I treat the divine artifact merely as an additional advantage, achieving the greatest results through my own efforts before using its power to surpass myself further, then my path ahead will go beyond this!”
That’s why, during these days in the House of Time, Donald had been slowly absorbing the vast knowledge from the memories of the Supreme Brain Aegon Targaryen to lay a stronger foundation for ascending to demi-god status!
He didn’t want to become one of those mediocre demi-gods who never had a chance to become a true god in their lifetime!
But before Donald’s progress reached his ideal level and he closed the gap to the peak legends, he had to temporarily halt this cultivation plan.
This was because his two friends, Ferdinand and Duri, came to visit together.
“The alchemical airship has indeed greatly facilitated communication and personnel movement for my Celt in various aspects. Yet, its speed still can’t compare to the convenience of magical teleportation. I wonder when Donald will be able to set up a portal in the royal capital!”

Some weary Duri stepped off the airship and, as they hugged Donald who came to greet them, spoke up.
“If it’s for the royal family, I might consider it. But if it’s for the Mage Association, forget it. Those greedy old fools can’t take a single penny from me!”
At Donald’s reply, Duri gave a bitter smile.
Ferdinand beside him said jokingly, “I told you Donald would never agree. Why force yourself to do something against your conscience just to win over the Mage Association? You know, compared to those greedy old fools who care only about profit and not the safety of Thelos, Donald will agree without you even having to make any conditions!”
Hearing this, Donald smiled and said, “If you’ve come to ask me to support the kingdom in fighting the rebels, there’s no need to say more. Even if you hadn’t come, I planned to get involved soon anyway!”
It was easy to figure out why these two had come to see him—they wanted him and his Dalaran to join this campaign!
Donald already had plans for this.
As the saying goes, “Unpolished jade cannot become a useful object.” Soldiers who haven’t experienced battlefield combat, no matter how hard they train or how talented they are, can only pretend to be warriors and cannot truly be considered soldiers.
So whenever there was a chance, Donald would send these warriors out to train, so they could develop strong mental resilience and grow into true forces capable of protecting their territory and people!
This was an excellent opportunity—firstly, it involved large-scale combat against human enemies, providing a better training environment, and secondly, it was a civil war, limiting the scale of the conflict between the two sides from expanding indefinitely.
The only concern was that once on the battlefield, it would be impossible to eliminate small groups of alien forces as easily as in the previous two times, making it hard to fully protect these warriors.
But war inevitably involved losses, so to achieve the desired results, Donald decided to be ruthless and have them fight for real. Of course, it wasn’t to let his people die in vain, but to create advantages for his side and gain the greatest possible results with the fewest sacrifices!
Hearing Donald’s words, the two finest young representatives of the kingdom couldn’t hide their joy.
Duri exclaimed loudly, “That’s great, Donald! With your and your territory’s support, Andrew and the others are nothing compared to you! I believe many nobles who were still hesitating will also make up their minds.”
Ferdinand, on the other hand, poured cold water on the enthusiasm.

“Don’t get too happy too soon. Everyone knows that Andrew is just a puppet on the surface and isn’t really worth fearing. The real trouble lies with the one behind him!”
“Yes!”
Duri’s smile also disappeared, and his brows furrowed again!
“Alright! Don’t worry too much. Although our opponent is strong, we do have the means to fight back. Besides, many forces across the continent are watching this battle. No matter how powerful the Church of the Three Glorious Gods is, they probably won’t dare to break the rules under the watchful eyes of the entire main world. With a fair and direct confrontation, we still have the advantage. That’s the key to our victory!”