Wizard: I Can Refine Everything

Over two hundred years had passed since the World Mushroom had taken root in Richard's fragment of the Secret Realm. During this time, as the World Mushroom continued to grow, it also ceaselessly expanded the space of the Secret Realm.

The larger the World Mushroom became, the faster it expanded the space.

After more than two centuries of growth, the World Mushroom had reached nearly two hundred meters in height. Through its expansion efforts, Richard's fragment of the Secret Realm had grown to about one square kilometer in size.

To a Great Wizard, this area was still within the domain of a Secret Realm fragment, but for Richard, it felt somewhat empty and desolate.

Although the Secret Realm was home to Holy Tree Elves, these tiny creatures were practically indistinguishable from insects and quite unremarkable.

Richard had originally intended the Secret Realm to serve as a field for cultivating potions. However, the emergence of the World Mushroom had made the cultivation plans almost redundant.

The Demonized Plants Richard had planted were nothing compared to the yield of just a couple of Aldo Fungi from the World Mushroom.

Now, Richard had a new idea in mind.

He wanted to breed a group of Fire Lizards within the Secret Realm as his slaves, or rather, his aides.

Dragon Beast Knights were a formidable type of soldiers. A standard squad of trained Dragon Beast Knights could easily encircle and defeat a single Second Ring Wizard without any losses. Although their strength was no match for Imperial Guard Dragon Warriors, they far outnumbered them.

Furthermore, if Richard wanted to sell his Dragonification Potion as a product, breeding Fire Lizards was an indispensable task.

The substance within the bodies of Fire Lizards was something Richard couldn't synthesize artificially; making the potion required the blood of Fire Lizards.

Having gathered up the documents strewn about the place, Richard stood up, prepared to leave the Secret Realm.

His mood had lifted after reading the documents.

Opening the Rift to the Secret Realm, Richard returned to the Red Sun World. In the few hours he had been reviewing the documents, the White Wizard Army, along with Black Wizards who had caught up, had already pillaged Luxor thoroughly.

Great Wizard Qing Shuang had returned to the Floating City. After the collapse of the Dragon Beast Knight Order, there was no longer any army within the Linksa Empire that could stand against the White Wizard Army.

Great Wizard Qing Shuang couldn't be bothered to expend more energy.

Though World Masters were incredibly powerful, every action they took still consumed a significant amount of energy, and energy meant Magic Stones. Expeditions to other Planes were already costly, so naturally, Great Wizards saved where they could.

Entering Luxor, Richard found the streets littered with injured Fire Lizards. Most exhibited superficial skin wounds, yet some bore the scars of elemental damage inflicted by spells.

These Fire Lizards now bore the Slave Mark, and upon seeing Richard, they respectfully bowed their heads, some even prostrated before him.

They were no longer "Free Men."

The moment the Slave Mark was stamped on them, they had transformed from "Free Men" into mere "Fire Lizards."

Hurrying down the streets, Richard noticed that the majority of the Fire Lizards he encountered bore Slave Marks, while those without carried Magic Seals left by Wizards.

This served as "proof" that the slaves belonged to them.

With the Wizards currently following the White Wizards to other provinces for plunder, they had left these ordinary slaves behind in their hurry.

This reminded Richard of a classic taunt from World War II when Germany swiftly invaded France:

"We don't have time to take you prisoner. Drop your weapons and leave the highway; don't impede our progress."

Walking along, Richard shook his head and said,

"It seems there's not much Magic Stone left to be found in Luxor."

However, the Wizards currently held a huge advantage. Once the Linksa Empire was dealt with, their focus would immediately turn to the other two Empires.

The war had now entered an effortless phase.

...

On the fourteenth day since Minar had been sealed, the Wizards, who had already taken over all the resisting provinces within the Linksa Empire, were finally turning their offensive towards the Morick Empire.

No, it should now be called the Minar Morick United Empire.

These two Fire Lizard Empires had already undergone a military integration while the Wizards were conquering the Linksa Empire. Military officers, once at sword's point, now found themselves together in a meeting room, jointly deliberating over the fate of the Fire Lizards.

In the meeting room, Harash took the principal seat. Beside him were two others: the one was Mai Han, the former Grand Marshal of the Minar Empire, and the other was his son, the commander of Merrick's Shield, Azuhan.

"Everyone, the current situation is quite dire for us," Harash said with a serious expression and an intimidating presence in his draconic eyes.

"The Wizards have purged their ranks and have set their sights on us. But we lack the upper-echelon strength to contend with them.

Emperor Linksa has been gloriously summoned to Heaven, Emperor Morick is missing, and Emperor Minar has been trapped by a Wizard's snare.

I am at my wit's end and would like to know if any of you have any solutions."

Everyone attending the meeting was an elite among the Fire Lizards; they were powerful and intelligent. However, they all remained silent in the face of this question.

Before such absolute strength, all tactics were futile.

The meeting room fell silent.

After a lengthy silence, a young voice broke the quiet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have a suggestion."

The attendees turned their eyes onto Azuhan, Harash's son, who broke the stillness.

"Ladies and gentlemen, since we cannot win in a head-on clash, perhaps we should consider changing our strategy."

After a few decades of maturation, Azuhan had shed his youthful naivety, adopting a more mature demeanor.

Dressed almost identically to his father, he spoke with a stable and assured voice.

"In the past ten years, the Wizards found themselves embroiled in an enduring slum war within the Linksa Empire. The disintegrated provinces of the Linksa Empire constantly harassed their supply lines, rendering their mining districts utterly chaotic.

The Wizards even had to pull the majority of their forces to eradicate the bandits.

Now, if we can't withstand a direct confrontation, why not consider breaking our armies into small teams and scattering them across every corner of the Empire?

We are easily dealt with by the Wizards' large armies and Great Wizards as a united force, but dispersed into small units, their greatest advantage disappears.

Emperor Morick has only disappeared, and Emperor Minar has only been trapped."

"Just as long as we drag this out long enough, victory will surely be ours!"

After hearing Azuhan's suggestion, the Fire Lizards in the conference room fell into deep thought.

Azuhan was indeed proposing a solution—they didn't need to expel the Wizard; they just needed to buy enough time.

"But how do we resolve the issue of military discipline?" a Fire Lizard general asked, "Once we divide the troops into small units, widespread degeneration into banditry is bound to occur."

Azuhan looked at the speaking general and uttered a cold answer.

"We won't resolve it. If they degenerate, so be it. Our primary task is to conserve our strength and hold off the Wizards. To achieve this goal, we are prepared to pay any price."

Upon hearing this, Harash turned his head to look at his son.

As Azuhan spoke, there was no expression on his face, as if he were discussing what to eat later that afternoon.

The Fire Lizard general said no more, and before long, Harash spoke:

"Gentlemen, please raise your hands to vote."

The generals sat in silence, yet their arms rose soundlessly.

One by one, the hands went up, from the entrance of the conference room to beside Harash, every Fire Lizard general's hand was raised—even Mai Han was no exception.

Only Harash had yet to raise his.

Azuhan looked at his father. Harash's expression was calm, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

"Since everyone agrees, let us prepare the plan."

In the end, Harash didn't raise his hand, but he approved the plan. As the Marshal, the plan could only be implemented with his permission.

The meeting ended, and the Fire Lizard generals filed out, leaving only Harash and Azuhan in the room.

"Father, do you disagree with my view?"

Harash didn't answer immediately but turned to look at a map hanging on the wall. The area that used to be the Linksa Empire on the map had now changed color.

After a long while, Harash finally said, "Azuhan, your method is very good, and it's the only one we can use right now.

So, I agreed to the plan.

But this does not mean that the plan is not disgraceful.

Our army can't defend our territory, can't protect our people. Faced with a mighty foe, all we can do is to disintegrate into grains of sand.

This is a great disgrace."

A rare trace of pain appeared on Harash's face. His golden vertical pupils glimmered with blood, and a grinding sound came from between his sharp teeth, as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. Azuhan had only seen such an expression on Harash when the King of the Fire Lizards, Linksa, had fallen.

This most distinguished commander among the Fire Lizards was in immense pain at the moment.

In the face of absolute power, his little tricks were useless. Without sufficient high-level strength, countless Fire Lizards were nothing but cannon fodder.

This Fire Lizard, who had defeated countless enemies in his life, had now run out of options.

"Father, this is not your fault," Azuhan said softly.

"…Go and arrange the plan, Azuhan."

Harash regained his composure, transforming back into the Marshal of the Minar Morick United Empire.

"Yes, Marshal," Azuhan replied.

As Azuhan left the room, just a moment before exiting, Harash suddenly asked, "I heard the Princess is pregnant?"

Azuhan stiffened, turning back slightly rigidly to respond,

"Indeed, she is."

A trace of a smile crossed Harash's face, "Then don't just busy yourself with work, spend more time with her.

The child is our future."

"Yes."

…

Azuhan's residence in the Minar Royal City was a newly built pyramid next to the Royal Palace.

More precisely, the pyramid was Akala's dwelling.

Minar had accorded his niece enough honor, even personally shaping the foundation of the pyramid himself.

Through a long corridor, Azuhan entered a room deep within the pyramid. The room was large, at its center stood a black obsidian bed adorned with gold, covered with luxurious satin interwoven with golden threads. Lying serenely on the satin, a female Fire Lizard's scales shone like rubies.

"You're back, Azuhan."

Akala sat up, her face expressing lethargy and boredom.

"Mhm, I'm back."

"How did the meeting go?"

"Our plan was approved."

Azuhan walked over to Akala's side, gently caressing her slightly swollen belly.

"How do you feel today?"

Akala leaned against Azuhan's shoulder, her eyes half-closed, as if she were about to fall asleep,

"Same as usual. I'm getting lazier. Is this what being pregnant is like? It's strange."

"It's like this the first time."

"Mhm, then I'll sleep a bit more... Oh, right," Akala, who was about to fall asleep, suddenly remembered something, opened her eyes wide, and said to Azuhan, "The teams you sent out have returned, they're waiting for you in the reception room."