Hidden genius: Black belly snake

Once the materials had been finalized, it didn't take long for Tang Yue to start working.

"Little Plum, melt these as well along with the Kirrion ore chunks."

She made several piles of ores and added with them the appropriate additives, starting with the strongest feasible combination and ending with the weakest feasible combination.

Thankfully, she had enough materials to try out everything.

But she didn't intend on being wasteful. She carefully started from the top and even used her skill 'One with the Earth' to make sure that the blending was adequate.

On top of the various gems and other metals, Tang Yue added her venom to the mix as well. This made the pieces of equipment even more terrifying.

Tang Yue worked on this task for several days together. 

Once she finalized the perfect combination, she then sat down to refine it and forge it into perfection by imbuing the weapons and armors with earthen essence and fire essence.

After an entire week, she was finally done with the first piece of equipment, a chest armor.

Tssss… The armor sizzled as if it was alive, but then it again went back to being dormant.

"Little snake, you got it right. This is definitely a spirit weapon." The old man surprisingly praised her.

Tang Yue, however, was pondering about other things. 

The armor in her hand was of extremely high quality, with an overwhelming defense, poisonous spine, and even a hidden attack power.

It was most definitely better than a high-quality rare-grade weapon.

But, it paled in comparison to the sword in her possession.

Tang Yue could tell apart the vast difference between this armor and the soul sword.

The difference between them was heaven and earth.

Tang Yue sighed but she didn't think about it too much. 

Both pieces of equipment had decent growth potential and this was the best that she could do for now.

She placed the armor down and started forging the next piece of equipment.

She had also gained a couple of insights from forging the first one, so she incorporated those as well in the next ones.

It took her an entire month but Tang Yue finally finished forging a complete set, including a weapon, a chest armor, a helmet, boots, and gauntlets.

Everything together definitely gave out a powerful and overwhelming aura.

And this was only the beginning stage of this set of spirit equipments.

As they drink more blood, their strength and power as well will gradually increase just like her soul sword.

Huff! Tang Yue flopped onto her bed, completely and utterly tired from making this entire set. 

As she rested her worn-out mind, several thoughts floated in her brain.

It had taken her a whole month to finish this equipment set.

Three more sets like this would mean three more months, which was a significant amount of time.

"Hmmm…" Tang Yue pondered for a while after which she shamelessly chuckled.

She suddenly remembered how these elven brothers had swindled her out of so much money.

So what she was planning on doing was definitely not as bad as that.

Besides, she knew that Xander and Charlotte wouldn't mind so much and only Xavier might throw a tantrum, which was none of her business.

So Tang Yue contemplated for a while before announcing it to the old man. "I think I am ready to leave. I will leave tonight." 

She then began preparing all the other things that she might possibly need. 

Tang Yue filled up her multiple spatial rings with potions, runes, and various beast meat.

She also kept several rare-grade equipments as a backup.

By the time she was done, it was already late in the night. 

Tang Yue looked around and sighed. 

She did not know what the future held for her and she did not know if she would be ever returning back here.

"Well, whatever." Tang Yue quietly hissed. 

She glanced slightly at the dwarf's chamber and then towards the end of the corridor where Xander resided.

Her gaze lingered on that door for a minute, before she resolutely walked away.

"Hide" She cast the invisibility illusion magic spell and quietly slithered out.

But surprisingly, she did not leave the palace just yet. 

She first slithered towards the royal courtroom.

Behind the royal courtroom, Tang Yue paused and searched for the door which Charlotte had told her about before.

This was the door leading to the underground prison cellars.

Tang Yue quietly slithered down and she did not stop even when she passed by the patrolling guards.

She quietly hissed as she slithered past them. 

She could still remember how Charlotte had sent her down here to the dungeons, plotting for her exile.

But times had quickly changed. Now they were no longer enemies. 

Tang Yue regretted that she was leaving without even saying a word to Charlotte but she had a feeling that the girl might not let her go alone.

And she didn't want the fateful prediction to come true.

Besides, the old man had told her that the place was tailor-made for her. So she didn't know if an elf could even come with her. 

So in the end, she decided to not tell the elf about her special trip.

But Tang Yue did not slither through these dark and dingy cellars for going down the memory lane.

She had come down here for an entirely different reason.

Tang Yue continued searching down the several prison cellars until she reached one with a familiar face, more precisely one with her own face.

A young dwarven girl was sitting in the cellar quietly staring at the wall in front of her.

This was the real YANA, the young dwarven girl whom she had impersonated for several weeks now.

The poor girl was captured and imprisoned for no fault of her own.

She was in this state purely for Tang Yue's sake so that she could infiltrate the Dwarven Empire.

Though this was how the world worked, with the strong trampling over the weak, Tang Yue did not have the heart to leave Kosa hanging with no news of his daughter whatsoever.

So Tang Yue decided to do this one thing before leaving and release the poor girl so that she can escape and live her life freely.

Tang Yue craned her head to make sure that the corridor was empty.

The Eldorian prison cellars, particularly, the one under Xander's courtroom was only sparsely guarded.

Except for the occasional patrolling guards no one else was around.

This was not because that they did not house dangerous criminals but because Xander was all the security that the prison ever needed.

No one could come here without alerting him and it was next to impossible to escape without getting his attention.

Tang Yue as well knew about this and this was precisely why she was currently here.

If and when Xander notices her presence, he would probably guess what she was doing.

But Tang Yue knew that he wouldn't interfere. 

Why should he the ruler of Eldoria care about an insignificant young dwarven girl?

In fact, Xander might have even released the young girl if he had remotely remembered her.

So Tang Yue hatched a plan to properly make use of this scenario.

Even though her main objective was to recuse Yana and help her escape, but in doing so, she also planned to use this chance to leave Eldoria and head towards the oceans.

This way, she wouldn't raise any unnecessary red flags with Xander or Charlotte before she successfully manages to leave the Nine Countries.

This was the best plan that she could come up with at least for now to stay under the radar and camouflage her own escape.

So after making sure that no one else was around, Tang Yue quickly slithered into the small cramped cell.

The dwarven girl looked dull and lifeless but she noticed the snake near her as soon as Tang Yue revealed herself.

Arghhhh! The girl yelled in shock.

But Tang Yue was quick to morph into her human figure and close her mouth.

"Shh. I am here to get you out of here." She whispered in her ears and gave the young girl a health potion to recover her vigor.

Yana blinked, having no idea of what was happening here. 

However, she was a simple girl and she didn't think twice before accepting Tang Yue's help.

She just wanted to be out of this prison.

She quickly followed Tang Yue's instructions and got up after drinking the health potion.

Tang Yue then cast an invisibility spell on herself and gave Yana an invisibility rune before gently lifting and moving the prison door.

In front of her strength, that door didn't stand a chance and came apart in a second.

Tang Yue then dragged the dwarven girl and began hurrying out of the prison cellar.

Yana was not a seasoned criminal so her cell was just on the first floor and they didn't have to spend a lot of time rushing out.

But before Tang Yue could step out of the main courtroom door and head back, the old nasal voice suddenly chimed in her brain.

"Little snake, wait. If I am correct, then something very valuable is there underground."