Chapter 359: Chapter 359: Politely Declined

Duke tried his best to be polite and tactful to avoid putting Caroline in an awkward situation. Caroline, however, took it well. The disappointed expression quickly faded away, and she smiled saying, "Since Mr. Duke has matters to attend to, I won't take up your time. Whenever you want to come to Harbor City for some gourmet food, feel free to contact me at any time." She hadn't expected Duke to politely refuse her invitation, considering she had already hinted quite clearly. After all, who would go advising a beauty late at night on refining Magic Potions, especially at Caroline's house? The intention is already quite clear. However, Caroline quickly adjusted herself and hadn't given up. She roughly knew that Duke wasn't that easy to win over, and relying solely on looks and figure is likely insufficient. For a Wizard, beauty was never a scarce resource; there were too many ways to acquire it easily. After Duke bid farewell to Caroline and returned to Black Sail three days later, he received a message from Caroline. The research results he submitted for the Concentrated Potion were priced at five Arcane Master points, meaning any other Arcane Master wishing to view the material would need to pay five Arcane Master points. This pricing was beyond Duke's expectations. In the Arcane Master Association's resource exchange space, he had seen many valuable pieces of knowledge priced at just a few points. Duke thought for a moment and agreed to this pricing, sending a message to Caroline to help him handle the procedures. Once published, Arcane Masters across the West Coast could see this material, spending five points to gain access. In the short term, there shouldn't be too many points coming in, unless Duke specifically goes out to promote it, spending some fees on publicity. But doing so would be too troublesome, a significant investment and too high-profile. Anyway, this is also a matter of slow and steady income, no need to rush. In the following hundreds, even thousands of years, the points would steadily accumulate. While Caroline helped him with these matters, Duke was also organizing materials related to Blood of War, intending to sort the Bloodthirsty Trait materials and submit them to the Arcane Master Association. Blood of War was a crucial piece of material in his possession, second only to the Automatic Meditation Trait materials. The Bloodthirsty Trait is extremely valuable to various forces as it can directly enhance the Slave Legion's combat power without requiring much resource investment for training. It coincided with the impending war in the Devourer Plane, making Blood of War, possessing the Bloodthirsty Trait, more important. The Bloodthirsty Trait is similar to the Awakened in the Devourer Plane, capable of absorbing energy from killed life forms to strengthen themselves, but the Bloodthirsty Trait only works during the Blood of War potion's effect. Duke moved swiftly. The optimization plan for Blood of War had importance and potential impact far exceeding previous Magic Potion research results. He dedicated more effort than ever, transforming the torrent of knowledge bestowed by the Skill Tree into a logically tight, data-rich research result. This report not only included how to more stably induce and maintain the Bloodthirsty state, reducing the probability of negative effects, and process improvements, among others. Two days later, Duke went to the Arcane Master Association in Harbor City again, with Caroline once again responsible for receiving Duke. This time, however, Caroline was not waiting at the entrance of the Arcane Master Association but had arrived early at Harbor City's port upon receiving Duke's message. Caroline had evidently prepared carefully. She chose an outfit that highlighted her impressive figure, wearing a tailored dark waistcoat with a simple silk blouse underneath, with one button undone at the collar, revealing a portion of her exquisite collarbone. Below she wore a knee-length skirt of excellent texture, harmonizing with her waistcoat. Beneath the hem of the skirt, a pair of long legs wrapped in pure black stockings displayed lines as polished as a work of art, glistening with a delicate and alluring sheen in the slightly dim light of the port. The top of the stockings conveniently hid under the hem of the skirt, sparking imagination. On her feet were pointed black high heels, with thin and tall heels, which not only made her already tall figure even more graceful but perfectly showcased the elegant curve from the calves to the ankles, making her look impressively statuesque. When Duke arrived at the front sea of Harbor City, he immediately spotted Caroline, surprised that she came to the port this time to greet him. Without looking back, Duke tossed a piece of smoked deer heart to the dark demon and then proceeded straight towards her. Caroline quickly noticed him, her face instantly blossoming into a radiant yet professional smile, as if all the waiting hadn't brought her the slightest impatience. She stepped forward to meet him, the high heels on the pier's stone slabs producing crisp and rhythmic sounds, her long legs wrapped in black stockings fully revealed.