Horn was evidently a smart person too, as he quickly figured out the source of the problem during the journey; he knew it was the Giant Rock Commerce Association that had messed up.

Duke waved his hand dismissively and said, "It's not your problem. This matter wasn't intended to be kept confidential from you."

Even inside Black Sail, there might be eyes from the Crawford Clan, let alone organizations like the Giant Rock Commerce Association.

Duke's Dream Manor must already be known by Bell, which is one of the disadvantages of leaving Black Sail; the security is insufficient.

He could only stay vigilant and pay attention to all potential dangers.

"Rest assured, Mr. Duke, I will report this matter, and we will definitely get to the bottom of it." Horn said, rather apologetically.

Duke smiled and said nothing; this matter wasn't worth investigating; even if they found out, what could they do, the Giant Rock Commerce Association wouldn't dare act against someone from the Crawford Clan.

On this issue, relying on the Giant Rock Commerce Association was not a choice, as the association is profit-driven and cannot deal with too much.

After Duke returned to Dream Manor, he pondered for a long time.

Now that the Crystal Core wasn't obtained, there was no need to keep staying here.

Bell was surely still secretly watching him, staying longer would invite some trouble.

With this thought, Duke suddenly had an inspiration, and his Magic Power surged within, activating the Magic Model of the Shadow Perception spell.

Moments later, the surrounding Shadow Space fell within his perception, with a shadow lurking not far outside Dream Manor.

Due to the manor's Witch Array protection, this shadow couldn't pass through the array and could only keep watch from a distance.

After Duke used Shadow Perception to check the surrounding situation, he calmly retracted the perception without doing anything.

This method surely came from Bell's people, as ordinary wizards can't master Dark Attribute Magic.

These surveillance and observational methods through Shadow Space often came from the Crawford Clan.

Duke didn't alert the snake nor did he deal with that shadow but let the other side assume he didn't find anything.

Duke couldn't possibly be someone who mastered Dark Attribute Magic based on Bell's intelligence; thus, it would be difficult for him to discover such spying from Shadow Space.

From the actions he observed, Duke inferred that Bell probably wasn't planning to act against him yet, only intending to keep him under surveillance.

After all, this was Silver Hand's territory; if Bell were to act against Duke, leaving would be troublesome.

Although the Crawford Clan is vast, it is still somewhat lesser compared to Silver Hand.

Furthermore, Duke wasn't just a lone figure; he was part of Black Sail Third Legion, and if something happened, Black Sail wouldn't just let it slide without action.

But Duke knew clearly that Bell wouldn't just leave things as they are and would act against him at some point, it's just a matter of finding the right opportunity.

Both Bell and Duke were waiting for an opportunity.

Knowing that Bell is continually watching him, Duke must eliminate this hidden threat as soon as possible; otherwise, someone might secretly emerge and stab him one day.

The next morning, Duke left Dream Manor, informed Horn briefly, and then returned to the Wizard Plane via the Teleportation Array in Glann Forest.

He had arrived at Dusk City before and was returning to a city named Xiou this time.

It was also a Silver Hand territory, likewise a harbor city along the West Coast.

"It's a pity Harbor City doesn't have an entrance leading to the Flower Sea Plane; otherwise, it would be much more convenient," Duke thought to himself.

He knew this wasn't realistic; although these Wizard Organizations hadn't waged wars for many years, they would still not place an entrance to a sub-plane on another wizard organization's territory, as it would undoubtedly pose a risk.

Duke arrived at the port in Xiou, activated the Black Sail Badge, and waited for a few minutes until a small boat appeared on the sea, rowed diligently by a dark demon.

After a while, the small boat reached the front, and after Duke got aboard, the dark demon rowed the boat heading towards Black Sail.

This time, like before, Duke observed carefully, but as usual, he sensed nothing before entering Black Sail's interior, far from the coastline behind.

This time, the small boat appeared near the Deserted Island and soon reached the island.

Duke customarily rewarded the dark demon with two dried deer hearts, and the dark demon gratefully grinned, revealing its white fangs.

Upon his return, Yala had prepared hot water for him and served him a bath.

After some warmth, Duke was reflecting on his subsequent plans.

Besides continuing to find news of the Crystal Core, he had to accelerate his strength progression.

Duke closed his eyes and saw that over half of his Spiritual Power had already been compressed into liquid state and needed some more time to fully become a Level 1 Liquidation Mage.

Though originally unhurried, he now felt the need to quicken the pace.

Duke knew of magic potions that could accelerate the Spiritual Power compression process, though these potions were generally high-priced and had to be used frequently.

Concentrated Potion, a special magic potion for accelerating Spiritual Power liquidation.

Its effect is significant, enhancing liquidation speed multiple times, but the materials are expensive, and the refining is difficult.

Its core principle is to provide a pure energy flow with guidance and compression properties to advance the Spiritual Power compression process.

Duke quickly recalled the relevant content about Concentrated Potion: "Frost Flower Bud, Star Realm Dust, Active Crystal Marrow..."

These materials are all costly, and the raw materials for one Concentrated Potion are worth ten thousand Magic Stones.

The market has refined Concentrated Potions, typically selling for eleven to thirteen thousand Level 1 Magic Stones per potion, extremely pricey.

Because it requires frequent use to be effective, just using one occasionally has almost no impact on Spiritual Power compression, with little significance.

Duke would certainly not opt to purchase directly, for him, learning and refining it himself was essential.

This way, not only could he build mastery, but he could also save some expenses, and even earn money incidentally.

The raw material for one potion can be divided into many portions upon refining, far more cost-effective than direct purchases, though the initial learning phase requires some effort.

Duke contacted Harrison, "Mr. Harrison, I plan to learn the refining of Concentrated Potion recently, do you have the materials?"

"I do, I'll send someone over with ten portions of material right away." Harrison replied straightforwardly.

Given the increasingly close cooperation between the two sides, these small matters could be conveniently assisted without charging Duke.

To the Giant Rock Commerce Association, these were investments; they didn't fear Duke asking, but feared him having no demands.

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