Duke absorbed while paying attention to the surroundings. As he absorbed, the rock layers around him began to change visibly.

He still hadn't left to absorb more Golden Scale Celestial Iron, ready to escape at any moment.

After Duke extracted and refined about three tons of Golden Scale Celestial Iron, he knew he had to leave because the rumbling sounds from deeper within the mine tunnel could be heard.

This indicated that a large-scale collapse had begun, and if he didn't leave, he would be buried here.

He then directly surged ahead, stepping on the Metallic Yellow Sand, flying through the mine tunnel towards the surface.

As Duke flew upwards along the tunnel, he heard the rumbling behind him grow louder and closer.

He accelerated the Yellow Sand under his feet to fly out, moving extremely fast.

Having memorized the path and terrain on his way down, Duke didn't worry about suddenly crashing into anything.

Before long, Duke shot out of the mine, stepping on Metallic Yellow Sand.

The Dog-man Reed and other slave creatures were at the cave entrance, peering inside.

The Dog-man Reed naturally heard the commotion inside and was hesitating whether to go in and check.

But because Duke ordered that no one was allowed inside, he couldn't violate that command by entering.

Seeing Duke safely burst out, the Dog-man Reed also sighed in relief; as long as Duke was safe, he wouldn't be punished.

Duke said nothing upon coming out, as he didn't need to explain anything to these slave creatures, simply stating, "We can go back."

He had discovered a mineral vein, and with everything collapsed below, many traces could now be covered up.

It was unknown when someone would come to mine here, but by then, even if they saw some strange traces below, they wouldn't think too much of it.

Duke then led Reed and the other slave creatures back to the mine field, realizing he was the first to return, as the other wizard apprentices were still outside.

Master Land and others were still underground conducting research and investigation, yet to return to the surface.

About half an hour later, Master Land and others emerged from the mine, while Merrick and others returned one after another.

Only Duke and Merrick found new veins and went to the specific locations to investigate and record.

Duke and Merrick would receive some corresponding contribution rewards, to be distributed later.

Inside Duke's Yellow Sand Crystal, there were already three tons of Yellow Sand enhanced with Golden Scale Celestial Iron, still not much.

These three tons, when converted to magic stones, equate to 120,000 Level 1 Magic Stones, undoubtedly exceeding the contribution from discovering the vein.

Duke and the others stayed in the mine area for a day, mainly conducting exploration, investigation, and recording the vein locations.

Subsequently, Black Sail will dispatch manpower for mining and send troops here for garrison duty.

Their task in the meantime was to map out as many metal veins as possible before Black Sail's miners arrived, compiling detailed documentary reports to send back.

The work was generally very light, aside from traversing back and forth in the wilderness and mountains, there were no hardships.

Dirty and strenuous tasks were done by the slave creatures, almost like sightseeing and leisure.

During this time, Duke also came into contact with Alchemy, and after showing a sliver of interest, Merrick gifted him a book called "Alchemy Basic Introduction."

Master Land and the others were all wizards proficient in Alchemy, and through constant exposure, one could learn quite a bit about Alchemy.

But since Duke had no foundational knowledge of Alchemy, he could understand very little.

This was actually a loss as he missed out on free knowledge.

Duke began his Alchemy studies, and after reading "Alchemy Basic Introduction," he gained a systematic understanding of Alchemy.

Alchemy is an immense field, and Alchemy Creations encompass a vast concept, including Demonized Items, Witchcraft Artifacts, special Magic Metal Materials, and even Space Fortresses as Alchemy Creations.

During the long development on the Wizard Plane, Alchemy had become a comprehensive discipline, integrating techniques and concepts from various planes, resulting in a very complex system.

Even Rand, a master of Alchemy, regarded himself as merely scratching the surface of Alchemy.

This wasn't modesty; it was a fact.

Duke planned to start with refining basic Demonized Items, which are essentially Alchemy Creations that carry lesser Magic.

To refine a Demonized Item, suitable Magic Materials are needed, with Magic Metal being an excellent choice.

Magic Materials alone can carry magic, whereas ordinary gold, silver, and iron cannot bear the power of Magic.

However, among metals accessible to ordinary people, there is one material capable of carrying magic power, that being Mithril.

After finding suitable Magic Materials, one must engrave a Magic Model onto the material using Spiritual Power.

Only after this step is completed is a Demonized Item successfully refined.

The process of refining Demonized Items isn't as simple as merely engraving a Magic Model; it requires integrating knowledge related to Witch Arrays.

Witch Arrays are a fairly broad concept, composed of various Will Runes to form a formation, thus unleashing immense power.

A common example is a Teleportation Array that allows for transportation over varying distances.

Refining Demonized Items and Witchcraft Artifacts generally involves knowledge of Witch Arrays, like constructing a self-circulating energy Witch Array inside a Demonized Item to automatically absorb Free Energy Particles and store them.

Thus, after refining, the user only needs a tiny bit of Magic Power or Spiritual Power to activate the magic within the Demonized Item.

The majority of Demonized Items have this function and store energy internally, allowing for multiple uses until the stored energy is exhausted, after which it needs time before being usable again.

Unless the user infuses their own magic power into it, it can't continue to be used, depending on whether the Demonized Item has a corresponding Charging Witch Array structure.

Duke's Round Table Knight's protection, after a single use, requires about ten hours to recharge before it can be used again.

However, he could also choose to infuse it with Magic Power to continue using it, although the Magic Power consumed would be significant.

Learning about Witch Arrays requires mastering Will Runes, a step requiring talent.

Without sufficient talent, mastering many Will Runes is difficult.

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