After scanning the palace with his Perception, the attendant led Lu Cang through a Forest within the Imperial Palace.

I have to say, the Lorren Imperial Palace is truly massive.

’To think it even has a small Forest inside.’

They arrived deep within the Forest, at a building protected by heavy Restrictions.

After he showed the access token, the soldiers stationed outside the gate parted in unison to clear a path.

The attendant undid the Seal on the door.

"This is the Forbidden Book Library. Almost all of the Lorren Kingdom’s sealed Forbidden Books are kept here."

"The only ones with the authority to enter this library and read its books are the King, the Chancellor, An Zheng, and... you, in the future."

"Doesn’t Izparut have the authority?"

"Heh heh, even Master Izparut does not have the authority."

’Is it because he’s not one of the Lorren People?’

Lu Cang’s gaze swept across the room. The library didn’t contain many books, only a little over a thousand, but quite a few of them held Secrets.

And even for the ones that didn’t hold Secrets, the contents recorded within were likely extraordinary.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been classified as Forbidden Books.

After the Forbidden Book Library, the attendant brought Lu Cang to the Royal Library.

It was a colossal, spire-shaped building, also protected by a Restriction.

Stepping into the Royal Library, he saw rows upon rows of bookshelves, holding a sea of books.

"Only a very small number of members can borrow the books here. This is a collection of various fine books gathered by the Lorren Kingdom over the last two thousand years... containing in-depth knowledge in many fields."

Lu Cang’s Perception swept through the area unconsciously.

’I can’t find any trace of Pari. Did I just unconsciously let out a sigh of relief?’

After the library came the Alchemy Tower, the Enchantment Hall, the Forging Hall...

With Lu Cang’s status, he could have a Level 5 Pharmacist prepare pharmaceuticals, a Level 5 Enchanter perform an Enchantment, and a Level 5 Blacksmith forge custom-fit Armor for him, all free of charge.

Of course, the labor fee was waived.

He still had to pay for the materials himself.

But even then, he could have the Kingdom reimburse a portion of the cost.

Finally, they arrived at the Royal Mage Tower.

The Mage Tower was the giant tower one could see from afar outside Kernoya City, even before entering it.

Stepping inside the Mage Tower.

The first thing Lu Cang saw were Mages coming and going, all uniformly dressed in Mage Robes...

"This is a gathering place for Mages to interact."

"It is also the center of Magic in Lorren."

"As the Chief Mage, you are one of the most powerful individuals in this tower."

"One of several?"

"Yes. Holding the same status as you are Feize, the Chairman of the Mage Association, and Izparut, the strongest Mage registered with the Adventurer’s Association."

’Those two, huh.’

’It seems the status of this Chief Mage position is truly, truly high.’

’In that case, that guy called Jie Zhu... is he really that strong?’

’But the gap between him and Iz is just too massive, isn’t it? How can their authority be the same?’

’But then again,’ Lu Cang thought, ’among the Mages I know, are there really any others below Iz and Feize?’

’That’s true. Compared to Izparut, the gap with other Mages is like a whole generation apart. They can’t compare.’ 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Lu Cang’s Perception swept through the Mage Tower, examining the tall structure filled with Mages.

The scholarly atmosphere among the Mages was indeed very strong.

No wonder Lorren could become the preeminent Magic Empire.

’Oh?’

Suddenly, Lu Cang’s Perception picked up a familiar figure.

’Dusk?’

Dusk was in the Mage Tower, teaching a group of students who looked to be around eighteen or nineteen.

The crack of a stick on a Fire Writing Board echoed. Dusk was shouting, and Lu Cang could faintly make out words to the effect of "teaching you lot is like teaching pigs."

’So he really is in the Capital, huh?’

’It was thanks to his Space Root Magic that I managed to beat Lu Luwei.’

Dusk’s theories had actually been quite refreshing to Lu Cang.

It was just a shame that back at the War God Cup, the time limit for battles meant their discussion couldn’t be very deep.

If he had the chance, Lu Cang really wanted to have a proper discussion with him.

His attainments in Space Magic were extremely high, and Space happened to be a particularly difficult problem to overcome in the field of Magic.

Even Iz himself had said that he only had a superficial understanding of Space Magic.

"In the Mage Tower, you can take on research projects to earn Contribution Points and exchange them for rewards."

"Many Mages also come here to seek help with Magic, for example, to collaborate on magical problems or research new Magic."

"As the Chief Mage, you will receive a monthly stipend of Ten Thousand Gold Coins. You also have the right to convert this stipend into 1,000 Mage Tower Contribution Points."

Lu Cang now roughly understood the purpose of the Mage Tower.

’It seems the Mage Tower is actually a pretty good place. I won’t have to go to the Battle Arena and try my luck finding someone to talk to anymore.’

Soon, the attendant led him up past the fifteenth floor.

"This is your office area."

"However, you generally won’t be bothered with trivial matters. You are free to do whatever you wish."

"On the sixteenth floor, you’ll find Lorren’s collection of various sages’ insights and understandings of the Root Source. There are compiled volumes of their thoughts, as well as handwritten manuscripts jotted down in moments of inspiration."

"You have the right to peruse these manuscripts."

"In addition, the King will provide you with a contact list, which registers the contact information for powerful experts in various fields within the Lorren Kingdom."

"If you wish to communicate with any of them, His Majesty the King can also help arrange a meeting."

’They’ve certainly... thought of everything.’

Lu Cang couldn’t find any reason to refuse. The Lorren Kingdom could basically provide everything he needed.

"The King said that you don’t need to give an answer right away."

"Kernoya is very large. You can take your time to look around the city. The gates of Lorren will always be open to you."