Inside the Amon Sûl Tower.
Luke and Gandalf were in the seventh-floor tower.
This place had been transformed into a meditation room by Luke.
Gandalf had carved runes on the floor and surrounding walls, imbuing them with mystical power to calm the mind.
Luke, not idle, had specially built two large fireplaces, tall enough for him to walk into upright.
Luke inscribed Runic script on the fireplace floor, then, holding his staff, continuously poured magic into the gem at its core, chanting complex and lengthy incantations.
As the immense magic was consumed, and just as Luke felt almost drained, a silver-blue flame appeared.
The flame was small, but it exuded a hint of indestructibility.
Even without any flammable material nearby, it burned in mid-air, neither increasing nor decreasing.
Looking at the flame, Luke smiled.
Gandalf noticed the commotion from Luke's side, walked over, and looked at the flame in the fireplace, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
"What kind of magic fire is this?"
"This is Palantír fire, also known as the Eternal Flame, a kind of fire that can burn forever," Luke explained.
Palantír fire is a rather profound magic, and only a few Wizards in the magic world can achieve it.
Luke himself only managed to conjure such a small flame with the help of his staff's amplification.
Palantír fire can burn forever without fuel and is extremely stable; although it is extremely difficult to cast, it is not as violent and uncontrollable as Fiendfyre.
In various parts of Amon Sul Castle, Palantír fire provides illumination, burning continuously from the time of the four founders until Harry Potter's enrollment, and likely will continue to burn indefinitely.
Dumbledore also once had Rubeus Hagrid carry a Palantír fire as a gift for the Giants, hoping to persuade them to side against Lord Voldemort, and the Giants were very interested in this gift.
"The Eternal Flame, truly a miraculous fire," Gandalf nodded, praising it with admiration.
Then he came before the fireplace, raised his hand, "Let me help you with the fire."
As he spoke, a brilliant ruby light shone from his finger, and a grand power was infused into the Palantír fire.
The small flame, as if doused with gasoline, instantly erupted into a blazing inferno with a roar.
The empty room instantly brightened, and the temperature rose.
Luke looked at the Palantír fire in the fireplace, which was taller than himself, smacking his lips in shock, and looked enviously at the Ring of Fire on Gandalf's hand.
He himself, with all his might and the help of his staff, could only produce a small Palantír fire, while Gandalf easily magnified it dozens of times.
There's really no comparison!
Luke then composed himself and released Palantír fire in the other fireplace as well.
Gandalf also magnified the flame.
Under the illumination of the two tall Palantír fires, the meditation room was brightly lit, becoming warm and comforting.
Palantír fire, as one of the most profound magic in the magic world, is not only reflected in its ability to burn forever but also because it can draw magic from its surroundings.
Therefore, the magic energy around it will be richer than in other places.
Under the blazing Palantír fire, Luke quickly felt that the entire meditation room's magic was much more abundant.
Meditating or practicing magic in such an environment would yield twice the results with half the effort.
"Thank you, Gandalf!" Luke thanked Gandalf.
If not for Gandalf's help, those two Palantír fires would not have achieved such an effect.
Gandalf smiled, accepting Luke's thanks, and suggested, "When you meditate in the future, you can put the meditation herbs into the Palantír fire; the meditation effect should be even better then."
Luke nodded thoughtfully.
Just then, in the teleportation fireplace outside the meditation room, a green flame suddenly ignited.
Bilbo's head emerged from the flames and he shouted to Luke, "Luke, Luke, the village chief of Amon Sul, has arrived outside, and he's brought guests."
Brought guests? Luke wondered.
Immediately, he and Gandalf used Floo Powder to teleport to the first-floor fireplace.
The tower was over a thousand feet high, with sixty floors in total; going up and down floor by floor would be too strenuous.
So Luke simply opened a fireplace on each floor, then connected them all with the Floo Network, forming a local Floo Network, and installed a Floo Powder jar next to each fireplace.
This way, he could directly teleport to any floor, saving the hardship of climbing stairs.
Currently, Luke had made a whole large barrel of Floo Powder, and Rivendell had also agreed to regularly send moonstone, only requiring a small exchange of Floo Powder.
So Luke was now wealthy and used Floo Powder without hesitation.
Upon arriving on the first floor, Luke immediately saw the guests.
"Lord Luke," Luke stood up and said respectfully. Luke waved his hand, signaling him not to be so formal.
Then his gaze fell upon the tall guest beside him, revealing a surprised smile.
"Alphaor, what a rare guest; I didn't expect the guest with Luke to be you."
The visitor was Alphaor, a Dúnedain, whom Luke had met once at the Prancing Pony Inn in Bree during the Lonely Mountain expedition.
Alphaor bowed respectfully, praising him with reverence and admiration.
"Wizard Luke, your deeds at the Lonely Mountain are well-known even west of the Misty Mountains."
"Dragon-subduer, Orc-bane who killed two generations of Orc kings, the one who turned the tide in the Battle of Five Armies - the Elves sing of your bravery, and bards praise your deeds in poems; it won't be long before your name spreads throughout the Eriador region!"
Luke humbly shook his head.
"That's an exaggeration; it wasn't my effort alone. Gandalf, the Dwarves, the Elves, and others contributed no less than I did."
Then he casually inquired:
"May I ask, Alphaor, what brings you here on this visit?"
Seeing Luke change the subject, Alphaor did not press further but stated the purpose of his visit.
"Wizard Luke, the herbal plants you asked us to collect earlier, we've almost finished gathering them. However, you weren't here before, so we couldn't deliver them to you.
This time, hearing you've returned, we specifically brought all the herbs we collected."
Upon hearing this, Luke's eyes immediately lit up.
After sweeping the Barrow-downs, Luke had traded the corpse creature ancient sword with Alphaor, asking the Dúnedain to help collect various herbs.
Now, almost a year had passed.
If Alphaor hadn't mentioned it today, he would have almost forgotten.
He immediately felt a sense of anticipation: "Oh, did you bring the herbs? Where are they?"
"They're outside. Because there's quite a lot, it's not easy to bring them in, so we came to ask for your opinion," Alphaor said.
Hearing this, Luke became even more curious.
A lot? How much is 'a lot'?
"Let's go, let's take a look!"
Luke took the lead and walked out, while the others also followed curiously.
Upon arriving outside, Luke first saw several tall Dúnedain.
However, Luke's gaze was immediately drawn to the several large carts behind them, piled high with goods.
Countless herbs were categorized and stacked, packed into large wooden boxes.
Most of them were live herbs, planted in soil, with both flowers and leaves.
Luke's eyes lit up, and he quickly walked forward to carefully examine the herbs.
"Is this Athelas, King's Foil?" Luke looked at a wooden box densely packed with hundreds of herbs, like chives squeezed together, and couldn't help but widen his eyes.
So much King's Foil? It was his first time seeing so much.
Alphaor, who had followed, nodded and explained, "King's Foil has strict and slow growth conditions, and it's a bit difficult to transplant, so we could only get these live plants. Please forgive us."
Luke was so happy he almost burst, how could he mind?
He had been a little envious when he saw King's Foil planted in Lady Galadriel's garden in Lórien.
After all, the healing effect of King's Foil was too miraculous; it could not only heal wounds and slow down toxicity but also ward off evil forces.
But he also knew his limits, so he didn't ask.
Now, the Dúnedain had suddenly brought him so much King's Foil, which made him overjoyed.
He looked at the somewhat withered King's Foil and felt heartbroken.
He had to transplant them quickly; if even one died, he would be in agony.
However, he knew he couldn't rush and shifted his gaze to look at other herbs.
Soon, his gaze fell upon one of the wooden boxes.
Inside, there were dozens of flowers.
Half of them were golden-yellow, star-shaped, with slender petals;
The other half were white flowers, identical to the golden ones except for their color.
"The golden flowers are called Elanor, and the white ones are called Niphredil," Alphaor introduced. "They are two types of the same species of flower; one blooms during the day, and one blooms at night, and they generally only grow in places where Elves reside."
Luke had also seen these two types of flowers in Galadriel's garden in Lórien.
He just hadn't expected these Dúnedain to be able to find such flowers.
Then Alphaor introduced him to the Simbelmynë, a flower that grows in the Kingdom of Rohan.
This is a small white flower, often growing on burial mounds, with eight petals, blooming year-round.
There was also the even more magical eight-colored flower—the Flower of Entwives.
This flower grows in the Old Forest. In ancient legends, eight Entwives entered the Old Forest and disappeared, and their respective flowers, in eight colors—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, and white—grew where they vanished.
Entwives are the female of the Ent race, while Ents are male.
It is said that the Ents and Entwives of the Tree-folk do not live together, only meeting for reproduction.
But since the eight Entwives entered the Old Forest and disappeared, the Tree-folk race has only consisted of male Ents, all living in Fangorn Forest, and can no longer reproduce.
There are even rumors that the Huorn, who are more like trees in the Old Forest, are actually a degenerate form of the Ent race.
However, none of this concerned Luke; he only regretted not having encountered these Flowers of Entwives in the Old Forest before.
At the same time, he was surprised by the Dúnedain's efficiency, being able to obtain such flowers that grow in the Old Forest.
Besides these magical flowers, there were also the blood-red flowers of Seregon, the detoxifying Nightshade, the Sea-foam flowers growing by the sea, the Sun-lillies growing in the gardens of Ithilien in Gondor, and the Stonecrop growing on cliff faces—