Amidst the skeptical and questioning gazes of the elders, Anxilin walked slowly to a spot a few meters away from the training dummy, where she stood. With a gentle expression, she extended her left hand and swiftly gathered a black energy in her palm. Then, with a determined look, Anxilin suddenly shot the energy towards the training dummy. With a loud bang, the dummy was sent flying backward by the tremendous impact of the energy ball.

It's important to note that since the twelve pioneers of dark magic had suddenly comprehended dark magic out of thin air, they had only been able to slowly grasp the essence of dark magic by feeling and attempting to write magic textbooks for other Dark Elves to learn from. Therefore, despite the high aptitude of the Dark Elves for dark magic, their learning was greatly limited by this self-exploratory method, severely restricting their efficiency in practicing dark magic.

As a result, over the past few hundred years, the Dark Elves had only mastered some superficial knowledge of dark magic, and the power of the spells they could cast was very limited. Apart from achieving some success in strengthening their own physical bodies using dark magic, they had no idea how to convert dark magic into direct offensive spells.

In short, these Dark Elves, who had spent hundreds of years stagnant at the beginner level, were the best embodiment of "being too ambitious for one's abilities."

Of course, being only novices in dark magic was another reason why the Light Elves felt annoyed with the Dark Elves. Because in terms of magical attainments, the Light Elves were obviously superior to the Dark Elves. Yet, even the Light Elves, who were more proficient in white magic, would often lose in combat to Dark Elves who could only use basic dark magic. The phrase "dark magic is greater than white magic" used by the Dark Elves to attack the Light Elves stemmed from this.

Watching the training dummy being knocked over by the energy released by Anxilin, with its chest armor visibly damaged, the elders were instantly stunned and impressed. It's worth noting that besides Anxilin, among the elders present, there were also eleven others who were pioneers of dark magic. And among them, the best performers could only shoot black magic energy the size of a pea in their palms to a distance of more than a meter. And they still lacked any lethality.

Therefore, when these pioneers of dark magic witnessed the power of dark magic released by Anxilin, they could better understand the difficulty of giving their magic balls such power.

"How... How is this possible?!" Elder Patrick stepped forward quickly, carefully examining the deep dent emitting black smoke in the chest armor of the dummy, hardly believing what was happening before his eyes.

"How did you do this? How did your magic power suddenly increase so much?" Patrick asked in amazement. Because Patrick knew that Anxilin's ability was to activate dark magic to produce magical flames. However, limited by Anxilin's own strength, the size of the magical flames she produced was very small, and at best, she could only use them to light an oil lamp or something similar.

Just a while ago, Anxilin was complaining to Patrick, saying that she had been stuck at the beginner stage for a long time and couldn't find any way to advance. Because of this, Anxilin was very worried, fearing that the lack of a breakthrough in the bottleneck period would delay the continued practice of the Dark Elves. But how come, in just a few days, Anxilin's dark magic power suddenly improved? And obviously, Anxilin had only been able to increase the power of her spells after breaking through the bottleneck.

After all, all the elders in the council chamber were also fervent pursuers of dark magic. So when they saw the power demonstrated by Anxilin's spell, they couldn't hold back anymore. Even Elder Borui, who had just questioned dark magic, now stared at Anxilin with eyes full of thirst for knowledge, hoping she would quickly explain.

"Hehehe! Do you all want to know how I cast such a powerful spell?" Anxilin, seeing that the elders were all stunned by her spell, deliberately raised her head and asked in a slightly proud tone.

The elders all stretched their necks eagerly, staring at Anxilin with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. And like little chicks eating rice, they nodded vigorously, eagerly waiting for Anxilin to speak.

"The answer lies in that small box over there." Anxilin pointed to the small wooden box she had brought over from the table.

Hearing Anxilin's words, the elders immediately disregarded their manners and crowded around the small wooden box. Patrick, who was closest to the box, first glanced at Anxilin and, after being granted permission to open the box, immediately used his slightly trembling hands to lift the lid of the wooden box.

"Huh? What is this?" The elders looked at the dark brown biscuits in the box with suspicion and turned to Anxilin for an explanation.

Anxilin walked over leisurely, took out a biscuit from the box, took a bite, and said, "These biscuits are the answer to breaking through the bottleneck. By eating these biscuits, you can absorb a mysterious catalytic energy. This catalytic energy not only improves our efficiency in practicing dark magic and helps us break through the current bottleneck period smoothly but also indirectly enhances the power of the spells we cast."

After speaking, Anxilin took out another biscuit and handed it to Patrick, gesturing for him to eat it.

Patrick was also a straightforward person. He took the biscuit from Anxilin's hand and, without hesitation, ate it in one bite. Then, he closed his eyes for a moment to feel it, before immediately opening them again and saying excitedly, "Wow! Although the change is very subtle, I can still feel the increase in power!"

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The elders were puzzled by Patrick's ambiguous explanation, so they urged him to provide a more detailed explanation. However, Patrick did not continue to describe his feelings at the moment but walked up to the training dummy. He also gathered energy in his palm and shot it towards the dummy. Although Patrick's spell effect was inferior to Anxilin's, the power of the spell he released was still enough to knock down the dummy several meters away.

Patrick looked at his hands in disbelief, then asked excitedly, "What's going on? What exactly is this biscuit? Why did my spell power increase significantly after eating it?"

So, Anxilin spent the next time telling the elders in detail about how she discovered the box, how she discovered the Dume ore, and how she developed the smoked biscuit recipe. However, Anxilin still selfishly covered up the fact that she found a note in the box containing instructions related to Dume ore.

As for when some elders asked about the whereabouts of the note? Anxilin shrugged helplessly, saying that because the note had been placed in a sealed environment for a long time, it had become very fragile. This led to Anxilin discovering the note shortly after it had oxidized and turned into nothingness.

Anxilin generously shared her research findings with the elders during this time. At the same time, the elders all ate the smoked biscuits one after another and cast spells on the training dummies, experiencing the brief increase in dark magic power brought about by the Dume energy. Then, the elders plunged into a lively discussion about Dume ore and this type of smoked biscuit.

The elders expressed their opinions, trying to extract more valuable information from the information provided by Anxilin. As the discussion heated up, all the elders moved into a large laboratory in Blackstone Castle and, under the guidance of Anxilin and Sevin, began learning how to make this magical smoked biscuit.

A few days later, the elders emerged from the laboratory with dark circles under their eyes but with high spirits. After several days of training, they had not only mastered the production method of the smoked biscuit but also, through a series of experiments, basically understood the characteristics of this smoked biscuit.

Overall, this biscuit did help improve the efficiency of practicing dark magic and could enhance the power of dark magic. However, this enhancement was not infinitely cumulative. It would help the practitioner reach a fixed height of training efficiency and spell power according to their own strength.

Another issue was that the Dume energy provided by the smoked biscuits was very limited, and the consumption and loss rate in the non-use state were very rapid. Therefore, only by using a sufficient amount of biscuits according to their own situation in a timely manner could practitioners ensure that there was always sufficient Dume energy in their bodies to support their dark magic practice.

Finally, the elders also had a heated discussion about Anxilin's proposed procurement plan for raw materials. Of course, given the recent unrest caused by their own elves, leading to the recent instability along the border between the two races. So, many elders expressed some concerns about purchasing Ambert flowers and Agaric grass from the Light Elves.

The reason these elders gave was that in the fights near the border between the two races, they often ended with the victory of the Dark Elves, making the Light Elves always want to turn the tide but never finding an opportunity or excuse to disgust the Dark Elves. Therefore, the elders were very worried that in this situation, the Light Elves would take advantage of the opportunity to sell Ambert flowers and Agaric grass to strike back against them by raising prices or selling inferior goods.

Unable to help it, Anxilin had to patiently persuade everyone. Anxilin bluntly stated that judging from the environment in the Dark Elf territory, it was difficult to find even a piece of land suitable for the growth of both Ambert flowers and Agaric grass, let alone how many could be planted. In this case, if they wanted to ensure the supply of Ambert flowers and Agaric grass, the main raw materials for making smoked biscuits, the only and most feasible way was to purchase them from the Light Elves.

Anxilin also said that since the quality requirements for raw materials in making smoked biscuits were not high, even if the Light Elves were to deceive them, as long as they sold them Ambert flowers and Agaric grass, it would not have much impact on the efficacy of the smoked biscuits.

Especially at this stage, the Dark Magic Association must first promote the work of breaking through the bottleneck of practicing dark magic in order to better establish the authority of the Dark Magic Association. At the same time, while reducing the doubts in society, the entire Dark Elf society would return to its former stability. Therefore, even if the Light Elves played some tricks in the trade, as long as they could obtain a sufficient amount of Ambert flowers and Agaric grass, they should prioritize the overall situation.

At the same time, Anxilin promised that once progress was made in breaking through the bottleneck of practice, she would prioritize the restoration of the ecological environment in the Dark Elf territory in the future work schedule. In this way, they could start planting Ambert flowers and Agaric grass on a large scale in their own territory and break free from dependence on the Light Elves.

Under Anxilin's patient persuasion, those elders who were concerned about the large-scale trade with the Light Elves at this time finally weighed the pros and cons and unanimously agreed to the proposal to purchase Ambert flowers and Agaric grass. After all, compared to the Light Elves deliberately causing trouble, breaking through the current bottleneck period and practicing stronger dark magic was what the elders cared more about.

So, as the elders reached a consensus on the purchase of Ambert flowers and Agaric grass, the next step was to solve the problem of mining Dume ore.

Based on the information provided by Anshilin — that Dume ore veins could be found by digging a hundred meters deep from the central location — one elder analyzed that this "central location" referred to Blackstone Castle. This conclusion was drawn because the castle was situated right at the center of the entire Dark Elf-controlled area, and the wooden box was discovered in the castle's basement. Therefore, this speculation quickly gained unanimous agreement from everyone present.

Following the elders' unified thinking, they divided into three groups. One group began working tirelessly to draft tutorials on breaking through the bottleneck of magical practice and on the correct production and usage of smoked biscuits, formulating relevant teaching plans. Another group was tasked with summoning elite Dark Elves skilled in tunneling and mining to move into Blackstone Castle. Following hints from the mysterious note they had never seen before, they started tunneling at the bottom level of the castle to search for the vein of Dume ore.