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Soon, Richard descended from the second floor to the first-floor hall and from afar, he noticed an elderly man in blue clothes standing there. The man was thin and slightly curious, looking at several maids operating various complex instruments on nearby tables. The maids were well aware of the man's significant authority and feared causing trouble, so they busied themselves silently, not even daring to breathe loudly.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
Richard walked toward him. Hearing the footsteps, the elderly man turned his head, and on seeing Richard, he hurriedly bowed and greeted, "Good day, Lord Richard."
"Hmm." Richard nodded, wasting no time and directly asking, "Mr. Delon, you came to see me, is there something you need? What does my esteemed father, King of Donnas, want to do?"
"Uh..." The old man spoke, his voice slightly hoarse and hesitant, "Actually, Lord Richard, this is not an order from His Majesty..."
"Then it seems I have the right to refuse." Richard replied coolly.
The old man's expression tensed as he hurriedly said, "Of course, Lord Richard, you are a prince and the second heir to the king. Naturally, you have the right to refuse unless it's a command from His Majesty. Just... Just..."
"Just what?" Richard asked.
"This is how it is." The elder sighed and said slowly, "Lord Richard, recently because His Majesty has been ill for quite a long time without improvement, the Eldest Prince suggested... that we should reduce day-to-day expenses to find better doctors for His Majesty's treatment.
Although the Eldest Prince only proposed it, he has indeed started to implement it. From today, he has voluntarily reduced expenses in his palace by one-third. So, if you do not respond, Lord Richard, it may not look good for the Eldest Prince, and after all, this matter is for His Majesty's sake, and His Majesty…"
"Reduce expenses to treat the king? Has the Blue Lion Kingdom become this poor already?" Richard spoke with a slightly cold tone.
"This..." The old man trembled, cold sweat breaking out on his face, "Naturally, it's not like this. The Eldest Prince may just want to express his filial piety..."
"Mr. Delon, there's no need to say more." Richard's cold voice rang out, "I know my dear brother, William Austin's thoughts and intentions. It's just... He is he, and I am me. Let him express his filial piety as he wishes, reducing expenses if he likes.
Mr. Delon, I know your coming to speak to me about this is out of goodwill. However, my expenses cannot be reduced for now. As you see, there are so many people here in the hall who I need to produce various chemical materials for me. If I have to make them myself, I would tire myself out with just one experiment.
So, things will remain the same here; the expenses will not change. It perfectly contrasts with my dear brother's expression of filial piety. As for whether my dear brother looks good or not, what others and my respected father, King of Donnas think is up to them."
"This, this..." The old man looked at Richard, wanting to say something but stopped.
Richard, instead, motioned him out of the door.
The old man had no choice but to bow again, exit the door, and leave the palace.
Out in the palace's courtyard, the old man, with some distress, couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Lord Richard, you don't need to reduce expenses by one-third like the Eldest Prince. Even doing it by one-tenth or one-twentieth would be fine as a gesture. But not even caring to make a gesture, this is... sigh..."
The old man's silhouette disappeared in the square; inside the palace, Edward approached Richard and couldn't help advising, "Prince, I think we can actually reduce a little bit of expenses. The palace's funds are slightly abundant, and the money earned from the shops you opened in the city has been left untouched outside the palace. It's a waste to leave it like that. Why not..."
"There's no need to bring this up again." Richard waved his hand to stop Edward from continuing, "The money from the shops has a different purpose. Some of the palace's money also needs to be reserved for emergencies. Therefore, there is no part for creating a façade. I won't even reduce a single copper coin."
"Uh..."
"Alright, I'm going to the laboratory to conduct some research. You keep an eye on the palace. Don't disturb me unless it's urgent," Richard said as he walked toward a separate laboratory.
Edward hurriedly reminded, "Prince, you haven't had breakfast yet?"
"It's fine. I'll eat when there's a breakthrough in my research."
"But, you didn't have dinner yesterday either, today…" Edward's words trailed off as Richard had already entered the laboratory, shutting the door behind him with a "bang."
With a sigh, Edward swallowed his remaining words, unable to help himself, "Sigh, Prince, you make it really hard for me as the Captain of the Personal Guard…"
...
Richard walked into the independent laboratory, finding it had already been cleaned.
The snake carcass on the table in the center, and the bloodstains from yesterday's dissection on the floor, had all been tidied up. There was a faint scent of disinfectant in the air, indicating it had been cleaned as per his specified instructions.
Nodding slightly, Richard walked to a wooden shelf, took out numerous bottles, jars, and tubes, and began connecting them, finally assembling an extremely complex apparatus.
He placed some whitish plant powder into the first jar and then began heating for a reaction.
Richard was attempting to create a plant alkaloid anesthetic. The reason for this was to try scientifically unraveling the Monroe Chapter's described challenges of the three stages of Life Remolding.
According to the Monroe Chapter's account, those with wizard talent innately possess potent spiritual power, which can intentionally or unintentionally affect lightweight objects, such as preventing a scroll from falling.
Only individuals like this can let their bodies automatically enter a special Super Body State, connect with the vast universe, absorb the energy projected by stars in the universe, and complete the first remolding of life.
After that, utilizing spiritual power, they put their body in a highly activated state, letting spiritual power act on the body and become highly solidified, constructing a special container called "Magic Origin" to store the absorbed star projection energy for later use, completing the second remolding of life.
Finally, using spiritual power to let life enter a High Energy State, melting the energy stored in the "Magic Origin," turning it into actual "Mana," which can be used to cast real spells, completing the third remolding of life.
Simply put, the three remoldings of life are the preconditions a person must meet to cast spells. After completing these preparatory steps, one can proceed to the casting. How many steps are required for casting is a separate matter. However, if these three steps are not achieved, casting would be an unattainable goal.
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