The follow-up work on the underground city of ice water has not made much progress for the time being due to the cold wave and the fact that the sea pit was frozen.
But Joseph and his companions discovered that, aside from all that, the ice element here was indeed much more active, even more concentrated than in the Frost Dungeon. This made it a good training ground for ice mages.
It shouldn't be long before this place attracts a large number of adventurers.
On the way back, Anna led Ellie and the others back first, while Joseph and Brie continued to handle the aftermath. They weren't sure how long they could keep it a secret.
After all, no one knows exactly where those reclusive families are.
Just a few days later, Ellie and her friends encountered visitors who claimed to be from a reclusive family.
"I thought all the family members had three heads and six arms, and were no different from those adventurers!" Luo Fan couldn't help but complain, looking at the other party's arrogant appearance.
"Simmons, hand over the Cold Marrow, or you know the consequences of offending the Fabings Magic Family!"
"Heh, what are the consequences?"
"You! We've already investigated the situation of the Ice Water Underground City thoroughly, don't be ungrateful!"
"Is this young man a complete idiot? Does he ask for favors like this?" Luo Fan thought to himself, when he noticed that Xiao Xue, who was hiding to the side, had secretly typed out these words.
"Bastards, how dare you slander our family!" The young man was about to make a move, but was interrupted by the Duke.
"What do you think you're doing? This is my ducal mansion!" A shout rang out, and several guards drew their weapons.
The atmosphere froze instantly.
"Alright, Hans, sit down!" the old man sitting to the side instructed, casually dispelling the magic power Hans had gathered.
"Duke, we only wish to retrieve the Cold Marrow that our family has stored there. If you know anything, please tell us. We will be very grateful!"
Luo Fan noticed that the old man had been observing Xiao Xue, which was why the little girl had been hiding behind Daisy.
"I don't know anything about this 'cold marrow' you're talking about. Xiaoxue, do you know anything about 'cold marrow'?" The Duke finally relaxed his tone.
Xiaoxue shook her head, and then two lines of text appeared, displaying Luo Fan's words.
"I've never seen it before. It's too cold inside, so we won't go in."
"If you've already investigated the situation there, you should know better than we do!"
"You old bastards, first you use your power to intimidate us, then you start being all nice and friendly. I don't believe you dare to go in and investigate; that cold front is that terrifying. It's not that I look down on you, but you really don't have the ability." Luo Fan continued to complain, and hinted to Xiaoxue not to type this out.
“Sir, as you can see, my Xiaoxue has never seen it before. Why don’t we go to the guild now and confront them? After all, the Icewater Dungeon belongs to them,” Daisy interjected.
"Little girl, you really haven't seen this before? Just tell me, and this Ice Spirit Grass is yours!" The old man took out a fresh Ice Spirit Grass, full of spiritual energy.
Xiaoxue's eyes were fixed on the spiritual herb; she didn't pay much attention and shook her head again. "I really haven't seen it before!"
"Hehe, you're trying to seduce my little Xue again, how shameless! Be good, little Xue, we'll find someone better in the future." Luo Fan comforted his cute little girl.
"Yes, I like Brother Fan the most."
"Grandpa, this little girl is so ungrateful! She used truth serum right away. Let's see how she hides it now!" Hans stood up again, glaring fiercely at Xiaoxue, which frightened the little girl into hiding again.
"Idiot, shut up! Can't you see that girl is a magical pet?" the old man scolded.
"Heh, so this is how you so-called reclusive families operate. Butler, see the guests out!" The Duke had completely lost his patience.
"Also, I'll go and confirm with Joseph. I remember that apart from the collateral branches that remain outside, the main branch of the Bing family doesn't usually have any new members without a special reason."
"If I find out anything, don't blame me for being impolite. I really want to see the so-called consequences!"
"Grandpa, they...!"
"Shut up, you're more trouble than you're worth! Your Grace, it's too much trouble, excuse me!" With that, the old man stood up, glanced at Xiaoxue again, grabbed Hans, and left.
"You may all step back!"
Soon, the hall returned to calm, with only Daisy and Ellie, along with their two pets, remaining.
"Tell me, what exactly happened? Xiaoxue's level is rising too fast, don't tell me it's because of the magic milk!"
Xiaoxue is now level 37. Her overall magic power distribution is very solid, without the emptiness caused by magic milk.
"I only managed to get a little bit, this is what's left!" Seeing that there was no way to escape, Xiaoxue took out a small bottle from her magic bag and handed it to the Duke.
"Xiaoxue, is this what you call Cold Marrow?" Daisy was stunned. She had always thought it was because of the demonic milk, since she knew that Ellie's demonic milk was with Luo Fan.
"I don't know what it is, but it's very useful to me!" Xiaoxue was a little embarrassed, having kept it a secret from her master.
"It's okay, it's a good thing anyway. I hope you become even stronger, hehe~" Daisy hugged her pet, very happy.
The Duke peered through the crack at the powder and confirmed it was indeed pure ice element, which should have a strong effect on his ice wolves.
While I was still hesitating, Xiaoxue typed out a line of text.
"Uncle, here you go. It should help that big snow wolf advance!"
"Really?" The Duke quickly put it away. If it really had such an effect, his magical pet could be upgraded to a higher level and its strength could be further improved.
Xiaoxue hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"This thing can improve quality. Combined with the magic milk, it should be no problem for that stupid wolf to advance. As long as we can keep the Duke in check, those so-called hidden branches probably won't be able to cause any trouble."
"Tsk tsk, I'm so clever. Now the Duke is our accomplice, so you don't need to worry, Xue'er."
"Mmm~"
Ellie was too lazy to talk. As long as there was no major trouble, she was fine with it. She had a lot of things to do herself.
Just then, I received a notification from the housekeeper that Emil and Angela had arrived.
Ellie quickly got up and went out to greet him, only to find that Emil's expression was not very good.
"What's wrong, Sister Emil?"
"There was a pervert staring at you just now, and he even wanted to be friends with you. That look was disgusting!" Angela pouted, looking very angry.
“That young man? He’s really annoying. He comes up here asking for this and that, so arrogant. He even calls himself some kind of reclusive family. I think he’s just a clown!” Daisy walked over and chimed in.
"Yeah, yeah, and he's a red-faced clown."
Upon learning that the other party was not a guest of the Duke's mansion, Emil's expression softened.
"Ellie, we've figured out that device you mentioned before. But something still seems off. Shall we take another look?"
"No problem, let's go to my room."
The group quickly left the living room, leaving only the Duke sitting there, seemingly deep in thought.
Afterwards, he got up and went to the study, then left the mansion and headed straight for the guild.
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