Chapter 41 A Sincere Exchange of Talents

After a friendly display of talents, the two sat down again.

Roman rested his hand on his knee. The rings on his fingers shimmered in the firelight, making him look rich and powerful. He put away his smiling facade, and at this moment, his demeanor revealed his true, unfathomable strength.

Zhou Jing seemed to sober up from the alcohol. He grasped the character's mindset and displayed the awkwardness of someone who had thought his friend was an ordinary person but now realized he was a hidden master, meeting his true self for the first time.

After a moment of restraint, as if unable to suppress his strong desire for knowledge, Zhou Jing couldn't help but ask,

"What is this power called witchcraft? Why have I never heard of it before?"

Hearing this, Roman slowly explained,

"The history of witchcraft is not long. It appeared at the end of the tribal era. How the world's first witch discovered this power is unknown. All that is known is that he taught this power to three disciples and told them to keep the secret of witchcraft, believing that this power was not suitable for large-scale dissemination.

So the three disciples decided to make a rule that a witch could only take a maximum of three students, secretly passing on this mysterious power... This is the sixth generation.

Witches usually hide among the people or live in seclusion, not revealing their witchcraft, so it's normal that you haven't heard of it. And for safety, witches almost never contact each other. After completing their apprenticeship, they leave on their own. Unless they meet by chance, they don't deliberately look for others. I only met another witch once with my teacher in my early years, and I haven't seen anyone else since."

Zhou Jing was a little surprised that the history of witchcraft was so short, far shorter than that of the Alien Beast Hunters... He wondered if this power system was born locally or brought by lifeforms from another plane.

Lynn was a self-taught novice who had luckily picked up an introductory witchcraft guide. He knew nothing about the origin or current status of witches. Now that Roman, an insider, was speaking, he could learn more information.

According to Roman, witches generally live alone and do not contact each other. In other words, they have no organization at all, even more scattered than a heap of loose sand, scattered among the people.

Zhou Jing's mind raced, and he feigned surprise, "So there are many witches in the world?"

If calculated according to the 3x multiplier of this inheritance rule, the sixth generation could have more than two hundred witches.

Roman shook his head, "Not everyone is willing to take students. Compared to teaching, most witches would rather spend their time on themselves. Also, for some special reasons, taking students is not beneficial to witches. In addition, witches often frequent the wilderness, and sometimes they encounter difficult alien beasts and die, so the number of witches that exist now is not too high."

"What are the special reasons?"

Zhou Jing perked up his ears, his tone curious.

Roman pondered for a moment and explained, "Well, it's okay to tell you first... Although practicing witchcraft is not as dangerous as alien blood potions, you must frequent the wilderness to find a special existence called the Spirit of Nature. The power of witchcraft mainly comes from it.

The Spirits of Nature are very rare and are distributed in some strange areas. Their numbers are not unlimited. Once a witch obtains one, it disappears. The regeneration of Spirits of Nature in an area is extremely slow, and they may never regenerate. So every time a new witch is trained, there will be one less Spirit of Nature. This is why the first witch told his disciples not to spread witchcraft on a large scale, which later became the consensus of witches."

Zhou Jing blinked. This matched the information he had obtained from Lynn.

Spirits of Nature are limited. To become a witch, one must at least fuse with one Spirit of Nature. To become stronger, one must fuse with more. So training students is equivalent to training competitors.

It seemed that only witches who no longer needed Spirits of Nature to become stronger would have the leisure to take students.

"What kind of power is witchcraft, exactly?"

Zhou Jing acted like a curious baby.

Roman was not stingy and explained a little, which was similar to the content of Lynn's witchcraft guide, but in more detail.

At this moment, he changed the subject and said, "Master Bill, have you considered it? Are you willing to accept my conditions?"

Zhou Jing thought for a moment, "If a witch can only teach three people in his lifetime, can I learn?"

Roman nodded, "I have never taken a student. If you agree to my conditions, I will teach you witchcraft. You don't have to worry about the risk of obtaining a Spirit of Nature. I will help you."

Zhou Jing pretended to hesitate,

"But can I learn witchcraft? Does this power really not require any talent?"

If Roman answered no, it meant that he had no intention of teaching him at all and was just using witchcraft as bait to lure him.

But Roman shook his head, "Not everyone can practice witchcraft. It requires talent, but you don't have a problem."

"How can you tell?" Zhou Jing asked in confusion.

Roman sized Zhou Jing up and down and said slowly,

"Witches have a simple way to determine whether a person can practice witchcraft. First is the perception of nature. Your special talent for analyzing various herbs and potions is a manifestation of the deviation of this aptitude, which is the basic condition for becoming a witch.

Second, witches need strong mental power... In words you can understand, it's being energetic and having an active mind for a long time. You can work tirelessly in the workshop, which proves that your mental power is stronger than ordinary people."

Hearing this, Zhou Jing's expression became slightly strange.

So people who can stay up all night have the potential to become witches?

The standard was not only down-to-earth, but also down to the underworld.

The [Item Analysis Function] had always been considered his special talent, and his dedication in the workshop relied on the Apostle's placement mechanism... These two things made Roman misunderstand his aptitude. He estimated that in Roman's eyes, he was still a genius in the witchcraft world.

No wonder this guy wasn't worried about the awkward situation where he used witchcraft to win him over, but he couldn't learn it. It turned out that he directly determined that he had witchcraft aptitude through these two misunderstandings.

Zhou Jing seemed to be caught in a dilemma. After more than ten seconds, he gritted his teeth, "Okay, then I agree to your conditions. If you can teach me witchcraft and have a reliable plan for me to regain my freedom, I'm your man."

Only then did Roman reveal a satisfied smile, "Believe me, compared to the power of witchcraft, everything the royal family promises is worthless... You don't have to worry about me restricting your freedom like the royal family. Only rulers want to control everything. I don't need you to work for me forever. Our relationship is more like a cooperation. You provide the craftsmanship of potions, and I give you power."

Zhou Jing did not respond.

There was not a high degree of trust between the two. They had limited understanding of each other. He was worried that Roman would go back on his word after he escaped, and Roman was also worried that Bill would sell him out after the showdown.

But without showing witchcraft as a hard currency, empty words would be difficult to convince Bill and there would be no reason to lure him to be tempted.

After saying so much information, Bill was already on the thief's boat. If he backed down, Roman would not allow it, but he did not say the threat.

Even a cooperation where each took what he needed would bear risks at the beginning, worrying about this and that. If one party could completely avoid the risks, it could only prove that the other party was mostly passive and at a disadvantage in the cooperation... In the current situation, neither of them could get a 100% guarantee and could only admit that there was a gambling element.

At this moment, Zhou Jing asked something he had always been curious about:

"You say you are a powerful witch, but why did you come to be a court minister and oppose the royal family? What are your goals and what are you planning?"

Hearing this, the smile on Roman's face disappeared. "Just think of it as me not being able to stand the so-called 'royal family'."

Seeing that he didn't want to go into details, Zhou Jing did not give up easily and pressed,

"But I know nothing about your goals, I know nothing about your power, how can I rest assured to join you? At least you have to tell me, which side do you represent?"

Roman thought for a while and said casually, "The Terra Empire has never belonged to the Tarn royal family alone, but to all the tribes... What I represent are the interests of the various tribes, and I have a legitimate position, so you don't have to worry about the royal family's hostility. Outside the royal capital, the royal family doesn't have the final say."

He didn't hide this aspect, but he still didn't say his goals. However, this person would probably not reveal them... Zhou Jing thought to himself.

He changed the subject and asked, "Then how do you plan to take me out of the Golden Fortress? You won't take me out of the main entrance of the Golden Fortress all the way to the royal capital, right?"

Roman was amused and shook his head, "It's too much effort. There's no need to make such a big commotion. I have a few ideas, you can listen."

"Speak."

"Don't look at the Golden Fortress's strict defenses, but actually there are my people everywhere, and there are some secret passages. It's not difficult to send you out of the Golden Fortress. What's difficult is not being discovered. The most troublesome thing is to avoid the two guard teams that are following and monitoring you and try not to have a head-on conflict with them."

Zhou Jing agreed. The teams of Dimwit and Disgruntled had been monitoring him, making it difficult for him to carry out any actions. Now the two teams of guards were still waiting outside, and they could be seen as soon as he went out.

"Then what do you plan to do?"

Hearing this, Roman broke his radish-like fingers and said in a low voice,

"The first way is to slip away at the wedding banquet. Two months later, you will marry the princess. The king will hold a court wedding banquet. At that time, the guards will not monitor you as closely as usual, because that would be too much of a scene, like a prisoner, so you can get a chance to act freely.

At the wedding banquet, you seem to be the most watched, but in reality, others are least wary of you. The king thinks you are about to marry a member of the royal family, and others don't think you will leave your wedding... It is the time to act. My people can take the opportunity to take you away."

Zhou Jing was noncommittal,

"Try not to drag it to the wedding banquet... Are there other ways?"

Roman touched his chin and pondered, "The second is the stupid way, find an opportunity to get rid of the guards' monitoring within two months and let my men take you through the secret passage to leave the Golden Fortress, but the chance is not great. Your two guard teams are not weak, and they work day and night shifts. There is usually no gap. Even if I let my men switch places with you and pretend to be you, the alien blood warriors' sense of smell can immediately tell the difference."

"Then this is the same as saying nothing, is there anything else?"

"The third method is to take action in the chaos. If you can convince the king to let you travel, I can arrange for people to intercept and kill you in the chaos and take you away. If you can only stay in the Golden Fortress, you can set fire to the city or assassinate the king. In short, cause chaos and try to divert the guards... Of course, they may be more vigilant in protecting you."

Zhou Jing held his forehead.

After listening to a circle, the most reliable thing was actually running away from the wedding.

What kind of drama was this, The Runaway Prince Consort's Escape?

"Why don't you just take me out all the way? Even if it fails, I can still argue that I was kidnapped."

"Hehe."

Roman didn't want to talk.

He paused and suggested, "There are still two months. You can consider what method to use. I'll do some preparation first."

"Okay, I'll go back and think about it."

Zhou Jing nodded.

Roman hummed and suddenly leaned forward, his expression serious, "We are on the same path now. Don't leak what we talked about tonight."

"Don't worry, I understand. Don't doubt my determination to regain my freedom."

Zhou Jing also put on a straight face and pretended to be serious.

The two discussed the details for a while and completely confirmed their intention to cooperate before ending the meeting.

Zhou Jing opened the door and disappeared into the darkness under the escort of the guards.

Roman watched his back disappear before calling a few confidants, closing the door and instructing.

"Activate everyone in the Golden Fortress and put them all on standby, ready to receive orders at any time."

Several confidants nodded in agreement.

Roman tapped the table, pondered for a while, and said, "Also, contact the various tribes and notify them that the plan can begin. The king has vaguely sensed the threat of the tribes, so he is using new potions to strengthen the royal power and train a larger army. Tell the tribes that it will be increasingly difficult for them to be independent in the future, so they can no longer wait. The longer it drags on, the greater the difference in strength will be.

As long as we get the new alien blood potion formula, or a potion master like Bill, we'll start immediately!"

"Understood!" Several confidants solemnly agreed.

Roman lowered his voice and said, "Also, let our spies pay attention to Master Bill's actions these days. All information must be told to me."

He couldn't completely trust Bill. He still had to send people to monitor him, for fear that Bill would sell him out and hug the royal family's thighs again.

The confidants all took their orders and left in an orderly manner, leaving Roman alone in the room.

Roman sat behind the desk, kneading his temples, his eyes changing.

After preparing for so long, he was finally going to take action... Although he had planned to act long ago, he didn't expect that the person who would ultimately detonate this change would be a pharmacist.