Oh No! We've Been Set Up by Chu Yuan!

After the distribution was complete, Jiang Lan tossed her two portions of Jormungandr's Blood to Gu Xiaobei.

Gu Xiaobei, who had been happy enough just receiving her own share, was momentarily stunned as she caught the containers Jiang Lan threw at her.

Then, Shang Chuan and Riesling tossed their portions to her as well.

Since they were all forest elves, it seemed only natural to give the blood to Gu Xiaobei, who was both their Clan Leader and the inventor of the process.

At least, that was how they saw it.

In Gu Xiaobei's eyes, however, things looked quite different.

“I was wrong. I was so, so wrong. I knew I was wrong from the very beginning.”

“I never should have made the Breath of the Forest Elf into a cocktail. If I hadn't made it a cocktail, I wouldn't have to shake the bottles. If I didn't have to shake them, I probably wouldn't get tired no matter how much Breath of the Forest Elf I made. So, why on earth did I think using cocktails as evolution items was a good idea?”

Staring blankly at the three thousand milliliters of Jormungandr's Blood in her arms, Gu Xiaobei muttered to herself.

Truly, it was a sight to make the heart ache and bring tears to the eyes.

Unfortunately, most of the people standing here were individuals who lacked much in the way of sympathy.

“By the way, the President of the Supreme Council asked earlier how much longer it would take to finish that batch of Breath of the Forest Elf you're working on.”

Pfft!

They say lies aren't blades, but the truth is a sharp knife.

Chu Yuan's words were like a sword thrust straight through Gu Xiaobei's chest.

Indeed, several months had passed, and Gu Xiaobei still hadn't finished the order of Breath of the Forest Elf she had taken from the Supreme Council.

And now, she had an additional three thousand milliliters of ancient blood—enough to make sixty thousand more servings of Breath of the Forest Elf.

“I… I'm going back now.”

Gu Xiaobei's mouth hung open as she clutched the six bottles of blood, wanting to say something, but in the end, no words came out. She simply lowered her head and turned to leave, looking as though she had made some sort of grim resolution.

Her pace was slow, and her departing figure radiated a sense of desolation and misery.

Once Gu Xiaobei vanished into the teleportation circle, the others turned their gazes back to Chu Yuan.

“That was just cruel.”

“That's inhuman… or at least, it should be.”

“Does your conscience not prick you at all?”

“As expected, anyone who can make it to the position of councilor has a heart of coal.”

“Oh, please. Why didn't any of you stop me then? You all just stood there like wooden statues. What, were you waiting for a cue?”

Faced with the group's verbal onslaught, Chu Yuan remained perfectly composed, even firing back a retort.

“I'm out of here. Time to go back and make some evolution items.”

“The harvest this time was pretty good.”

“Glad I came. It looks like I'll be busy for quite a while.”

The others ignored his rebuttal. With skin as thick as city walls, they turned and left one by one, giving Chu Yuan no further chance to speak.

“By the way, High Priestess.”

“What is it?”

Just as the High Priestess was about to leave with the others, Lan Qingyou called out to her.

“That Platinum Dragon King's Blood you got in the dungeon—do you still have the container it came in?”

Lan Qingyou's goal was simple. Since there had been a Seeker of Fire Crucible, there should have been other containers for the blood as well.

“I do.”

Vivian, knowing what Lan Qingyou was getting at, nodded and then spread her hands with a shrug.

“But I used it for my own kin. And unfortunately, it's not something an alchemist would find useful.”

“I see. Well, alright then… Once I'm back, I'll send you the Star Dragon King Essence Blood.”

“Sure. Here, take the Platinum Dragon King's Blood first.”

With that, Vivian tossed a container to Lan Qingyou.

“One thousand milliliters. Make sure you get it.”

Vivian finished with a smile, then with a sharp snap, she unfurled the fleshy bat wings behind her back and flew into the teleportation circle.

“I don't think she had those fleshy wings before, did she?”

Chu Yuan remarked, staring at the empty teleportation circle.

“She probably gained some kind of enhancement after the battle with the dungeon boss,” Lan Qingyou replied, having a bit more insight than the others.

Since she had obtained those saps, it stood to reason that the guardian bosses and monsters the High Priestess encountered would have similar effects.

The only difference was that she had cleared her dungeon with everyone's help, so she felt obligated to give gifts.

The High Priestess and her group had fought on their own, so it was perfectly normal for them not to share everything. Lan Qingyou didn't mind at all.

After all, she hadn't contributed to their fight.

“Tower, you'll probably summon all the witches once you get back, right?” Chu Yuan asked suddenly.

“Don't worry. I'll have the witches send the potions the Supreme Council needs on time. But their remaining time will be their own to manage. Witches need to learn and progress too; they aren't going to be your beasts of burden. Besides, I doubt the Supreme Council wants to see them stuck making low-level potions forever.”

Knowing roughly what Chu Yuan was after, Lan Qingyou stated her intentions directly.

“Fair enough. All the Supreme Council wants is the potions produced by those ten thousand witches and the right to distribute them.”

Seeing how 'sensible' Lan Qingyou was being, Chu Yuan nodded and shared the Supreme Council's true objective.

Then, clutching his two bottles of blood, he left the area.

“Witch, your summoning of the Witch race isn't mandatory, is it?”

Chu Yuan had barely left when Shang Chuan approached.

“No. They can come and go as they please. Witches are a race that prizes freedom.”

Lan Qingyou glanced at Shang Chuan, then tilted her head and rolled her eyes.

“The witches under you are already from the Abandoned Land, so what are you afraid of? Besides, I actually think it would be good if you moved your people and all those factories over to my place.”

“To your place… the Witch's Habitat?”

Knowing how the Adventurers' Guild operated, Shang Chuan was well aware that those developments were Lan Qingyou's handiwork.

The fact that she was asking him to move his people and factories there meant she clearly intended to develop the outskirts of the habitat.

After all, a city couldn't be composed entirely of witches or a single race.

It needed supporting personnel to provide services for the witches' daily lives and research.

“Of course not inside the habitat itself. It's the outskirts. You'll also have to take on the task of building the housing.”

Just as he thought.

However, since he had already planned on riding the witches' coattails and they were business partners anyway, moving there would definitely have more pros than cons.

After doing the math, Shang Chuan agreed to Lan Qingyou's request, and she gave him a set of coordinates.

“Oh no! We've been set up by Chu Yuan!”

Just as the two were finishing up and preparing to leave, Ingrid, also known as 【The Sun】, cried out while fiddling with the blood in her hands.

“Hmm?”

The remaining few who hadn't left yet turned their eyes toward her.

“The door-in-the-face effect! Don't tell me none of you realized? That guy actually had the gall to use such a shameless tactic on us!”

“What?!”

Upon hearing Ingrid's reminder, the pupils of the remaining few contracted sharply.