128. Direction of Breakthrough
"This is it."
Li Aozi glanced at the chat record, confirming that the luxurious student apartment in front of him was his destination. He stepped forward and pressed the doorbell.
Ding-dong~
Soon, a middle-aged voice came from inside:
"Miss Destis is resting. Please come back later."
It seemed to be the role of a butler or servant. It looked like this Destis was also a descendant of some nation's high-ranking official or noble.
With that in mind, Li Aozi spoke to the inside:
"First-year student Leoz. I have an appointment with Wendy Destis."
"Student Leoz? Uh, excuse me, there are many visitors with your name. May I ask for your surname..."
"No surname. I'm just called Leoz."
"No surname." The butler found it strange, and his attitude lost some of its previous respect as he calmly said, "Very well, verified. Please come in, Leoz."
Due to how much lineage quality affects a spellcaster's talent, magical civilizations often place too much emphasis on family background, eventually evolving into a culture of looking down on those without notable surnames.
Li Aozi didn't mind. After all, ants and queen ants are indistinguishable to humans.
The door opened, and he walked in confidently. This luxurious private dormitory was like a small villa, staffed by at least fifteen servants. They weren't only responsible for daily living and assisting with study and work; some of them were also dressed up flamboyantly, clearly showing no signs of engaging in productive labor...
It was evident that the other party had a refined pursuit of quality of life.
Following a well-dressed old butler, Li Aozi passed through the living room and study, arriving at the back garden. Gazing ahead, there was a gazebo beside the lake, with birds chirping and fish playing, a scene of tranquility more akin to a vacation than a place for learning.
"Miss Wendy, Leoz, whom you have an appointment with, has arrived." The butler bowed respectfully.
"I knew it. Judging by the time, he should be here."
Li Aozi looked forward. In the gazebo sat a mature woman with rose-colored hair, one hand holding a book and the other feeding fish. She looked incredibly leisurely—hard to imagine this was happening at White Candle Interstellar University, a place notorious for its intense competition.
The woman turned her head, giving Li Aozi a casual glance, and her eyes immediately brightened:
"Oh, I thought someone had walked out of a painting."
She put down her book and fish food, walked briskly up to Li Aozi, circled him while her eyes gleamed with interest, clicking her tongue in amazement:
"Leoz, who would've thought? You're quite the handsome young man, aren't you? Why don't you use your real photo as an avatar? Are you afraid of being harassed by girls?"
"Senior, you're flattering me. Let's get to the business at hand."
Li Aozi felt a bit uneasy. The moment he entered the garden, he sensed a strong feeling of being watched—something was secretly observing him.
"Business? Oh, what business? Sit down, have some afternoon tea, chat about philosophy and politics—that's the real business."
Wendy's eyes squinted into a smile, her words playful but not at all getting to the point.
Li Aozi didn't beat around the bush, saying directly:
"Senior Wendy Destis, I came here under Senior Mordot's recommendation. Senior Mordot has taken great care of me, and since you're on good terms with him, I consider you an acquaintance. Let's skip the formalities—Senior Mordot said you specialize in memory potions. I'd like to commission you for a potion that can deeply excavate my memories."
"Oh," Wendy rested her chin on her hand, sighing, "Finally introduced to a handsome young man, but he turns out to be a boring straight-laced type. Engineering students are always like this. I should've known better than to expect otherwise..."
Li Aozi lowered his eyes, pretending to be serious as he said:
"Strictly speaking, the first-year magical application department counts as humanities and social sciences..."
"Look at that, look at that! That's what I dislike about you techie types—splitting hairs over words. What's romance, huh? Do you even understand romance?"
"I don't usually show romance," Li Aozi shrugged, "When I first started, I was quite the romantic type, then two of my female teammates died."
Wendy threw up her hands, pouted discontentedly:
"No point in talking to you, really boring—alright, I'll help you this once for Mordot's sake, but don't bother me again."
[Such a good deal?]
Li Aozi's eyes lit up, and he nodded immediately:
"Thank you."
"Tch." Wendy rolled her eyes, then sat back down in the garden chair, crossed her legs, and asked casually, "Explain your situation. I should mention, when it comes to deep memory excavation, even third-year students can't make a potion on the spot. No matter what, you'll need to wait two days."
"No problem." Li Aozi briefly described his situation: "I need a comprehensive recollection, to deeply excavate all the details of my memory. If possible, even sounds I've only heard once or videos I've only seen once—everything should be recalled."
"Hmm... That's not an unreasonable request."
Wendy pondered slightly and began to ask some questions:
"Do you know your natal star?"
"Never tested it." Li Aozi shook his head.
"Then I'll test it for you." Wendy raised her hand, immediately forming a magic circle and shining it on Li Aozi. He felt his soul tremble slightly, and then it was over.
Wendy manipulated the circle, summoning a magic brain for auxiliary interpretation, and soon drew a conclusion:
"Libra Star Ω, personality focused on efficiency, inclined toward realism, believes the distinction between good and evil is meaningless, that benefits and order are more important than moral concepts—oh, quite accurate. It's just like you."
Li Aozi raised an eyebrow slightly.
"That's not me. I'm an emotional, sentimental person."
"Regrettably, natal stars don't lie. You should trust magic." Wendy said indifferently, "Another question—do you have any mental illnesses?"
"A bit of schizophrenia, but I've been taking medication lately, so it hasn't affected me."
"That's nothing. Who doesn't have a bit of schizophrenia or depression these days? No safety concerns, then."
Wendy entered the information into the magic brain, analyzed for a while, then raised an eyebrow and looked at Li Aozi with some curiosity:
"You're in luck."
"What do you mean—don't tell me you have the potion ready?"
"Exactly." Wendy looked at Li Aozi with an unusual expression, "Had you come an hour earlier or later, this potion would've already been sent to the workshop to be sold. I'll have someone retrieve it. In the meantime, let's chat casually."
"Thanks." Li Aozi nodded. He hadn't expected things to go so smoothly, and in a good mood, he instinctively reached into his pocket to transfer money, "How much should I—"
"Wait, what do you mean by this?"
"Uh, isn't paying the right thing to do?"
"I'm not questioning that."
Wendy stood up and walked towards Li Aozi step by step, her gaze direct, her expression strange:
"You mentioned money to me?"
"...Is there a problem?"
"Problem? Don't you know who I am?"
Wendy threw up her hands, amused:
"Wendy Destis! The name Destis—don't you know it? Mentioning money to me is an insult. Those noble families, royalty, aristocrats—they're all trivial to me. Darling, having an afternoon tea with me earns enough to buy out the entire city of Trivira."
Li Aozi was dumbfounded.
"So, you mean you don't take Dina?"
"Dina is just some scrap metal used for internal trading by your Crystal Tower civilization. You pretty fool, don't you know? There's more to the world than just Crystal Tower and the Night Butterfly Federation."
Wendy spoke in an unrestrained manner:
"My family comes from the depths of the stars, running a prosperous domain. There, we use an eternal currency called 'Ammonia Gold,' blessed by the gods and guaranteed by Red King, the power of [Soul of Plunder], giving it an almost unchangeable purchasing power—not something a civilization like Crystal Tower can comprehend."
[Ammonia Gold? That impressive?]
Li Aozi felt strange inside and suddenly thought of something:
"May I ask about your family's status..."
"The Destis Family, from the thirteenth narrative-level 「Empire of Heroes」."
Wendy spoke mysteriously:
"Our family has been managing the Fairy Planetary Belt of the Empire for two hundred years, and soon it will be incorporated into the [Intrinsic Time Domain], becoming the Empire's core territory."
"Fairy Planetary Belt?" Li Aozi blinked, "The Fairy Nebula?"
"Heh, you don't know, do you?" Wendy glanced at Li Aozi, "I'm only telling you this because you're pretty—though even if you tell others, no one will believe you."
"How could I betray a kind and stunning lady like you? Rest assured, your secret is safe with me."
"Hehehe, you sure know how to sweet-talk—well, I like that, say more nice things."
Wendy squinted, smiling:
"The 「Empire of Heroes」 differs from other narrative-level civilizations. We are a coalition of countless civilizations, all surrounding the Immortal Philosopher-King. Therefore, our expansion rate is four to five times faster than other singular narrative-level civilizations. Our family benefits greatly, with an annual income of a million Ammonia Gold."
Li Aozi glanced at his savings. In a month, Constance had already accumulated 7.8 million Ammonia Gold for him.
[Yeah, I know, stop bragging. I just think you've never seen the real world...]
Li Aozi raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise:
"Wow, I see, the Empire is truly powerful."
"Heh." Wendy smiled, "This is just the least impressive quality of the Empire..."
"Then, what exactly is the Fairy Planetary Belt?"
"The Fairy Planetary Belt is completely different from the Fairy Nebula on the star charts. It's a developing area currently controlled by the Galexy Civilization, one of the Abyss overlords."
"Of course, this also includes oversight development by its subordinate, the Fenice Federation."