"Welcome! Welcome! Long time no see, Luke!"
In the rolling hills west of the Sea of Rhûn, Luke teleported to the outside of the Blue Wizard Rómestámo's wooden cabin.
Rómestámo, sensing the movement from inside his house, came out enthusiastically to welcome him.
With him was another Morinehtar.
He also greeted Luke with a warm smile.
Luke nodded to the two Blue Wizards: "Good day, Rómestámo, and Morinehtar. I apologize for intruding unannounced."
Rómestámo shook his head and said cheerfully, "Please don't be so formal, Luke. Besides animals, we rarely have guests here, so your arrival is very welcome!"
"Exactly. Besides, Luke, you are our savior. You are always welcome here," Morinehtar echoed with a smile.
Luke was warmly invited into the cabin by the two of them.
Rómestámo brought Luke a steaming bowl of milk, which was from the Araw Cattle.
After drinking the milk, even with Luke's current physical condition, he could subtly feel his strength increase slightly.
No wonder the Easterlings coveted the Araw Cattle so much, wanting to become strongmen.
Some Easterlings tribes even used the Araw Cattle as their tribal totem.
After all, the Araw Cattle were valuable from head to toe.
As descendants of Oromë, Araw Cattle were enormous and lived in the plains of the eastern Rhûn region.
However, due to continuous hunting by the Easterlings, Araw Cattle were almost extinct, with very few remaining.
At the height of the Gondor Kingdom's power, its territory even extended to the Rhûn region. The Steward of Gondor, Vorondil, once hunted an Araw Cattle and fashioned its horn into a large war horn.
This horn later became a family heirloom of the Steward's house, passed down through generations to the eldest son. However, during the War of the Ring, the last Regent's son, Boromir, unfortunately perished, and the horn was split in two by an orc.
That it could become a family heirloom of the Steward's house of Gondor shows how precious the horns of the Araw Cattle were.
Due to prolonged hunting and the continuous shrinking of their habitat, there are only a few hundred Araw Cattle left in all of Middle-earth.
And this is the result of protection by the Blue Wizard Rómestámo; otherwise, they would likely have become extinct long ago.
This is also why Luke sought out the Blue Wizard first when he came looking for Araw Cattle.
Because the Blue Wizard Rómestámo could be considered the owner of these Araw Cattle.
If he wanted the horns of the Araw Cattle, he would have to inform their owner.
Luke chatted with the two Blue Wizards for a while, exchanging recent news, and finally Luke revealed the purpose of his visit.
Hearing that Luke needed the horns of Araw Cattle, Rómestámo naturally did not refuse.
"Araw Cattle horns? Of course, no problem!" Rómestámo readily agreed with a nod.
Then he got up and walked to another storage room, and after some rummaging, directly pulled out a white horn nearly a meter long.
He then handed it to Luke, explaining with a smile, "This is a section of horn that Norimal accidentally broke when he was fighting with other bulls. I've kept it ever since. See if it's enough for your needs?"
Norimal was Rómestámo's mount bull, an Araw Cattle with an ancestral bloodline. Its fur was pure white, and its two horns were as white as jade, emitting a faint glow, making it look very majestic and divine.
Luke was deeply impressed by that Araw Cattle, and now to be able to obtain its horn, Luke was naturally delighted.
And besides this horn, Rómestámo also gave Luke a herd of Araw Cattle.
This was a small herd of 30 wild cattle, centered around cows, with calves, and a few adult bulls included as a bonus.
The herd lived in a valley not far from Rómestámo's cabin. Luke loaded the herd into a spatial box, intending to raise them at the foot of Weathertop.
To thank Rómestámo for his generosity, Luke wanted to give him a bottle of Elixir of Life.
But Rómestámo refused.
Rómestámo believed that the Araw Cattle did not belong to him, so Luke did not need to repay him.
Seeing Rómestámo's refusal, Luke had no choice but to put away the Elixir of Life.
Luke did not stay long in Rómestámo's cabin before formally bidding farewell and returning to the West.
Through a Portkey, he returned to Weathertop.
Luke first went to the shore of the Black Lake at the foot of the mountain.
This area, facing Hogsmeade City across the lake, was a relatively open and flat grassland. Luke released the herd from the spatial box, intending to let them roam freely here.
And with the Black Lake as a barrier, there was no need to worry about the Araw Cattle herd running away or being harmed by predators.
The Araw Cattle herd seemed a bit restless upon arriving in a strange place, but seeing the lush grassland and pleasant environment, they gradually calmed down.
Adult Araw Cattle were enormous and robust, possessing an imposing aura. Their coats were pale white, reflecting light in the sun, making them appear dazzling.
And their massive horns, as white as jade, faintly emitted a glow, giving a sense of solemnity and power.
As for the young Araw Cattle, their fur was soft and golden, and their noses were pink, making them look very cute.
Luke valued these Araw Cattle greatly. Not only were they beautiful in appearance, but their entire bodies were treasures.
Their milk could increase a person's strength, and their horns could even replace Unicorn horns in the making of Felix Felicis.
Unicorn horn was one of the indispensable important ingredients in many advanced Potions.
Since the horns of Araw Cattle could substitute for them, they could similarly replace Unicorn horns in other Potions.
This meant that some Potions that could not be made before could now be realized.
So Luke tasked the Kraken living in the lake with looking after the Araw Cattle herd, allowing them to multiply there.
After settling the herd, Luke returned to Hogwarts Castle.
Having collected the most difficult substitutes for Unicorn horn and blood, Luke began to gather other Potion ingredients.
He came to the common room in the Castle tower, where the fireplace burned continuously year-round.
Luke approached the fireplace and looked into the flames.
He saw several Fire Salamanders living in the fire, comfortably bathing in the flames and feeding on them.
These Fire Salamanders were created by Luke by modifying ordinary lizards using Balrog blood and fragments of the heart of balrog.
They could not leave the flames their entire lives; once they left, they would quickly weaken and die. Besides feeding them chili peppers to slightly prolong their lives, there was no possibility of them surviving outside the flames.
So Luke did not manage these Fire Salamanders much, nor did he worry about them running wild and setting the Castle on fire.
Luke used fire tongs to rummage through the ashes in the fireplace, which annoyed the Fire Salamanders, causing them to spit sparks at Luke.
"Hey, quite a temper!" Luke chuckled, not minding the Fire Salamanders' actions.
Finally, he found three Fire Salamander eggs in the ashes.
Fire Salamander eggs were very small; it was not easy to find them without careful searching.
He removed the three Fire Salamander eggs from the fireplace ashes and immediately froze them with a Freezing Charm to prevent them from becoming dead eggs.
Felix Felicis required six Fire Salamander eggs, so Luke went to other fireplaces to look for more.
Fire Salamanders reproduced quickly; as long as there was fire, they could multiply. So now, wherever there was a fire in the Castle, Fire Salamanders could be seen.
Soon, Luke collected all the necessary Fire Salamander eggs.
He then went to a specialized, enclosed room.
The room had many fireplaces, with Incendio burning continuously in them, making the entire room very hot.
And living within the fireplaces were Ashwinders.
Ashwinders were also created using Balrog blood and fragments of the heart of balrog, and their magic was slightly stronger than that of Fire Salamanders.
They also lived in fires, but Ashwinders could leave the fire and live for a short period, choosing to lay their snake eggs in dark corners.
Ashwinder eggs were very dangerous, emitting scorching heat and being extremely prone to spontaneous combustion.
If they were not frozen in time, they would ignite everything around them.
So Luke simply kept the Ashwinders in a separate, enclosed room to prevent them from running wild and setting his Castle on fire.
Luke did not go directly to the fireplace flames but instead searched in the dark corners of the room.
Indeed, he found over a dozen Ashwinder eggs there.
These snake eggs glowed a dazzling red, emitting scorching light, looking like glowing hot iron eggs.
Luke saw several of them already red-hot and quickly froze them with a Freezing Charm.
Fortunately, he arrived in time, otherwise these Ashwinder eggs would have hatched and combusted.
Picking up these frozen Ashwinder eggs, Luke turned and left the room.
Neither Fire Salamanders nor Ashwinders required much attention from Luke; as long as the flames did not go out, they did not even need to be specially fed, and they would continuously provide him with Potion ingredients.
Luke then made a trip to the Acromantula room, where he squeezed fresh Acromantula venom from the miserable, hard-working, weaving Acromantulas.
These Acromantulas were mercilessly exploited and squeezed by Smaug, weaving silk non-stop.
Even though Luke had the Philosopher's Stone and could continuously transmute base metals into gold, Smaug did not give up on continuing to exploit the Acromantulas.
In Smaug's words, turning lead into gold with the Philosopher's Stone was one thing, and having Acromantulas weave for money was another.
One could only complain about having too little gold, never too much, right?
So, making gold with the Philosopher's Stone could not stop, but having Acromantulas weave absolutely could not stop either.
Even before Smaug fell into slumber, he did not forget to remind Luke not to let the Acromantulas slack off, showing the complete face of an evil capitalist.
Of course, Luke, the owner of this evil capitalist, indulged Smaug's whims, not treating the Acromantulas as living beings at all. Even if they died, they would be recycled, their bodies thrown to Basilisk Herpo as food.
In the time that followed, Luke successively collected 2 pints of Mandrake extract, 1 pint of lemon juice, and 23 fresh amaranth petals.
Once all the ingredients were collected, he began to prepare to make Felix Felicis.
However, before making Felix Felicis, Luke went to Lothlórien.
Because the purification period for the heart of balrog had already expired.
Arriving in Lothlórien, Lady Galadriel was already waiting for him in the garden, and then handed him the purified heart of balrog.
Looking at the heart of balrog, which was larger than a bowl, Luke showed surprise.
At this moment, the heart of balrog was not only more than half smaller than before, but its outer red crystal had also become very transparent and clear.
What was even more captivating was that its core—the Balrog's Fire—had shed its impurities, transforming from a dark fire that exuded evil and scorching heat into a golden-red flame.
The flame emitted a sacred, warm glow; even touching the heart of balrog with his hand did not result in a burn.
Luke took the heart of balrog with amazement—no, it should be called the heart of Maia.
Balrogs themselves were Maiar associated with fire, but they were corrupted by Morgoth, fell into darkness with him, and became Balrogs.
The sacred fire of the original Maia core was also polluted by darkness, transforming into dark fire.
Three years ago, Luke entrusted the heart of balrog to Lady Galadriel, who continuously purified it with the power of Narya, the Ring of Water.
Now, the dark power within the heart of balrog had finally been completely purified, returning to its original state and transforming back into a pure heart of Maia.
"The Balrog's essence was too deeply corroded by darkness, they had long become indistinguishable, and some power was inevitably lost during the purification process," Lady Galadriel explained.
"But it is still enough for you to use it to forge the Phoenix Fire; if the original power were too strong, you would not be able to bear it. Now it is just right."
Luke nodded, holding the dazzling heart of Maia with some excitement.
"Thank you, Lady Galadriel, if it weren't for your help, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to achieve my goal," Luke sincerely thanked her.
Lady Galadriel shook her head slightly, "If you really want to thank me, then treat Arwen well in the future."
"Please believe me, Lady Galadriel, Arwen is the desire of my heart…"
Holding the purified heart of balrog, Luke bid farewell to Lady Galadriel and returned to Weathertop.
He solemnly placed the heart of balrog and the Philosopher's Stone together, waiting only for the Felix Felicis to be completed and Gandalf to return before officially conducting the Phoenix Animagus transformation experiment.
But before that, he had to start making Felix Felicis.
Making Felix Felicis is extremely difficult; only a Potion Master can succeed.
To bridge the gap with a Potion Master, Luke put on the crown of wisdom.
In the Potion room, Luke set up a pure silver cauldron, then successively added 2 pints of Mandrake extract, 1 pint of lemon juice, 10 Ashwinder eggshells, and seven drops of Acromantula venom.
Before each addition, he needed to stir thoroughly, maintaining high concentration, and after ensuring the substances in the pot had fully reacted, quickly add the next ingredient.
There could not be a moment of hesitation during the process; adding too early or too late would lead to the failure of the Potion, or even turn it into a pot of highly toxic liquid, whose emitted fumes alone would be enough to silently poison someone to death.
In particular, the Ashwinder eggshells needed to be added one by one, and the Acromantula venom also had to be dripped in drop by drop, alternating with the Ashwinder eggs, with the number of stirs entirely dependent on feeling and experience.
Generally, only a Potion Master could, based on experience and a keen sense for Potion making, know when to stop and when to stir.
Many Potion makers attempting Felix Felicis were stumped by the first step.
Luke, however, with the enhancement of the crown of wisdom, his brain worked at high speed, aided by his enhanced five senses, making the production process very stable, without any errors.
He heated this mixture over a low flame, stirring continuously until the liquid in the pot turned a bright orange.
Luke then added six Fire Salamander eggs to the cauldron and continued to boil it for three days.
During this time, it still needed to be stirred four times clockwise and three times counter-clockwise daily.
Until the liquid turned a glowing red.
Then, he evenly sprinkled 23 amaranth petals, without stirring, waiting for them to sink naturally.
After they naturally sank and dissolved, he simmered it over a low flame, stirring 7 times clockwise and 1 time counter-clockwise daily, for a continuous 25 days.
Throughout the entire making process, it could not be exposed to a single ray of sunlight, requiring production in a dark environment.
And the stirring had to be done at midnight.
After twenty-five days, the cauldron was removed from the fire.
Then, the Potion was filtered three times using a filter woven from elf hair.
This step was originally supposed to be filtered with Unicorn hair, but there are no Unicorns in Middle-earth, so Luke found a substitute for Unicorn hair—elf hair.
These hairs were all plucked by Luke from his two brothers-in-law. Ever since Elrond agreed to Luke's proposal for Arwen, Elladan and Elrohir had challenged Luke under various pretexts.
Now that Luke's physical fitness had transformed and his five senses were enhanced, he could hold his own in matches against Elladan and Elrohir.
His only shortcoming was the accumulated thousands of years of combat experience that Elladan and Elrohir possessed.
But Luke had the Legilimency talent, and every one of their intentions would be detected by Luke in advance.
So Luke did not suffer any losses; instead, he took the opportunity to pluck their hair during their matches.
Facing the overpowered Luke, the two brothers could only feel helpless, and could only intensify their training to avoid being caught up by Luke.
Arwen, who was watching the fun from the side, looked at their battle of wits with a mix of amusement and helplessness.
Getting back to the point,
Luke poured the filtered Potion into a pure gold cauldron, heated it over a low flame, and stirred it continuously with a pure gold rod.
Until the liquid turned milky white.
He then took out a small crystal vial containing Glorfindel's blood, drew one drop of blood with a dropper, and dripped it into the cauldron liquid.
He stirred 7 times counter-clockwise with a pure silver rod, then 2 times clockwise, until the liquid turned golden yellow.
He turned off the heat, allowed it to cool, and poured it into an opaque amber flask.
Then, he took out a white horn from an Araw Cattle, cut off a 1-inch piece, and ground it into powder.
Because he was unsure if the medicinal properties of the Araw Cattle horn and the Unicorn horn were the same, Luke could only carefully and slowly sprinkle a little into the liquid, stirring constantly with a pure silver rod.
At the same time, the crown of wisdom on his head was working at its limit, his brain operating at super speed, his eyes fixed on the changes in the liquid, and his mental power highly concentrated on the reaction of the golden liquid.
When two-thirds of the Araw Cattle horn powder had been added, Luke immediately stopped.
His intuition told him that this amount was sufficient.
Luke trusted his intuition and did not continue to add more horn powder.
And the golden-yellow liquid still showed no change.
At this point, all manual work for the Felix Felicis was complete.
Luke placed the amber flask containing the golden liquid in a dark, light-proof environment for a full six months.
And during these six months, the flask needed to be exposed to moonlight, but absolutely no sunlight.
Also, no one could disturb or move the flask.
Only after six months, when droplets naturally appeared on the liquid's surface, would it signify the successful creation of Felix Felicis.
To set up the environment required for the Felix Felicis's resting period, Luke had to modify a room in the tower. During the day, the room was completely dark, and at night, the walls became transparent, with a large window allowing moonlight to shine directly onto the flask.
After completing all this, Luke felt mentally exhausted.
The steps for making Felix Felicis were numerous and precise; any error in any part could lead to failure.
However, some steps, such as the dosage of ingredients and when to add them, required experience and intuition. A slight deviation in dosage, or adding an ingredient a second too early or too late, could trigger unforeseen changes.
Throughout the entire making process, Luke wore the crown of wisdom, operating at an accelerated brain speed, not daring to be distracted in the slightest.
Now that the manual process was over, his body wasn't tired, but his mind was.
He took off the crown of wisdom and rested for a full three days, allowing his brain to remain idle, before finally dispelling that feeling of mental exhaustion from overuse.
For the next six months, apart from occasionally needing to check on the Felix Felicis, Luke wouldn't need to pay too much attention to it and could do other things.
During these six months, Luke planned to resume his magic transformation experiments, attempting to design a Thunderbird magic circulation system for Sulond.
Of course, there was also a more important matter.
That was the proposal to Rivendell.
However, this matter required Gandalf, a distinguished elder, to formally propose to Elrond for Arwen on Luke's behalf, present the betrothal gifts, and, after obtaining Elrond's consent, sign the marriage contract.
So Luke was now just waiting for Gandalf to return.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
A few days later, Gandalf's figure appeared in the fireplace of Hogwarts Castle.
"Gandalf! Where did you come from? What took so long?" Luke asked excitedly.
"Haha, are you impatient to marry Arwen?" Gandalf said with a chuckle, "Sorry to keep you waiting, mainly because in Gondor, besides the Mordor army coming out of Minas Morgul, there were also pirates and Haradrim raiding in the south."
Saying this, he casually leaned his staff against the wall, then flopped onto the sofa and took a deep breath.
"It's been so busy, I couldn't stop for a moment. We first recaptured the western city of Osgiliath, then forcibly crossed the river and drove out the Mordor army from the eastern city. Then we sailed south along the river to intercept the pirates and Haradrim, finally settling down these past few days."
"I thought you might be anxious, so I declined the Regent's invitation to the celebration feast, rode Shadowfax to Lothlórien, left him there in their care, and then came to find you."
Hearing that Gandalf had come without stopping, Luke felt a warmth in his heart and immediately urged Gandalf to rest well there.
"Oh, that's right!" Gandalf seemed to remember something and handed over his spatial pouch.
He said with a smile, "This time in Gondor, I encountered a group of wingless frost dragons bred by Mordor. Three of them were killed by me, and the rest were swept into the sea by a flood. I remember you needed dragons for Potions, so I put them in the bag and brought them to you."
Luke took the spatial pouch and looked at the three cold dragon corpses packed inside, a little surprised.
He already had so many winged dragons that he couldn't fit any more, but he didn't refuse Gandalf's kindness and accepted them with a smile.
"It just so happens, Gandalf, you haven't tasted dragon meat yet. Today, I'll have the kitchen prepare some dragon meat for you to try."
Hearing Luke's words, Gandalf's eyes lit up.
"Then I'm in for a treat! Before, in Osgiliath, King Thengel boasted to me about eating dragon meat here. This time, I must have a good taste!"
As a lord, Luke naturally had dedicated chefs at his service.
Although he could easily make delicious food with magic, it was fine once or twice, but doing it himself every day would definitely become tiresome.
So, he specifically hired the best chefs from Hogsmeade and Bree.
Facing generous salaries and the honor of serving the Lord, Luke's subjects naturally vied for the positions, with some even willing to live in the Castle without pay.
Besides being responsible for Luke, the chefs also had to prepare food for Dragon Smaug, Sulond, and the Three-headed wolf Cerberus of Isengard.
In fact, the workload for Luke's pets accounted for the majority.
In the kitchen, when the butler Edward handed the dragon meat to the chefs, they were all full of surprise.
This was dragon meat! They were actually being asked to cook with it?!
For a moment, the chefs felt as if they were dreaming... After Gandalf finished enjoying the dragon meat, the two began discussing Luke's marriage.
Gandalf was very knowledgeable about the marriage process and rituals of the elven race.
According to elven rituals, when a man wishes to marry the woman he loves, he must first obtain the consent of her parents.
Therefore, the man would first entrust a person of status to go to the woman's home to propose marriage; after obtaining consent, both families would hold a banquet to announce the engagement, and the engaged couple would exchange silver rings as tokens.
According to elven law, at least one year is required from engagement to marriage; during this period, if both parties publicly return the rings, the engagement can be dissolved, and the returned rings will be melted down.
However, because elves are always devoted, cases of dissolving engagements are rare, almost nonexistent.
And at the wedding after the engagement, both families would gather for a wedding banquet, and under the witness of Varda and Manwë, they would offer blessings to the newlyweds.
At the same time, the newlyweds would retrieve their engagement rings and then exchange golden rings, wearing them on their right index fingers.
"So... Luke, you now need to personally forge a silver ring as an engagement gift for Arwen; do you have any ideas?" Gandalf said with a chuckle.
Luke hadn't thought of this. He shook his head and asked Gandalf for advice: "Gandalf, do you have any suggestions?"
"The engagement silver ring is different from the wedding golden ring. The engagement ring expresses sincerity, while the wedding ring is simpler in style. So, for the engagement ring, you can use your imagination and ability as much as possible to win the woman's favor."
Gandalf joked: "After all, it takes at least a year from engagement to marriage. If the engagement ring can't win your fiancée's favor, then the wedding might be postponed directly, and then I'll probably see you sailing west?" Gandalf joked.
Luke smiled; he didn't think Arwen would do that.
However, since it was an engagement ring made for Arwen, he naturally had to put a lot of thought into it.
After spending a night, Luke finalized the ring's design.
He went to his alchemy workshop, took out a piece of Mithril Mother, which was more precious than mithril, cut off a thumb-sized piece, and put it into the mithril furnace to melt.
The mithril furnace contained a heart of balrog crystal, which released high temperatures sufficient to melt the hardest steel, but still couldn't melt the Mithril Mother.
Luke summoned Fiendfyre and added it to the mithril furnace, only then raising the furnace's temperature enough to melt the Mithril Mother.
But the melting speed was still very slow.
Seeing this, Gandalf also lent a hand, channeling the power of the Ring of Fire into the furnace.
With the help of the Ring of Fire, the flame temperature inside the Mithril furnace surged dramatically. Even though the Mithril furnace could insulate heat, Luke still felt a heatwave.
And the Mithril Mother in the furnace was rapidly melting.
In just a moment, the Mithril Mother melted into liquid, and the scorching flames continuously burned away impurities, making it even purer.
When most of the impurities had burned away, Luke lowered the flame temperature, allowing the Mithril Mother to solidify slightly.
Then he took it out of the furnace, placed it on the forging table, and wielded the mithril hammer, striking the Mithril Mother repeatedly in a mysterious rhythm.
At the same time, magic power was injected into the Mithril Mother through the mithril hammer.
During the hammering process, Luke's magic power continuously fused with the Mithril Mother, awakening its metal memory and developing its properties to the limit.
This was the forging craftsmanship of the Goblins in the magic world; the metal forged in this way was not only indestructible but could also absorb things that strengthened it, and even if damaged, it could repair itself automatically.
Luke did not avoid Gandalf while forging.
So Gandalf, watching Luke's forging technique, couldn't help but secretly praise it.
This forging craftsmanship alone was no worse than that of the elves and dwarves; in fact, it could be said to be unique.
Through Luke's repeated forging, the Mithril Mother seemed to shed its impurities, emitting a faint silver glow.
At the same time, it gradually took the shape of a ring.
Finally, a silver ring took shape.
But Luke's actions were not yet complete. While the ring had not completely cooled and solidified, he inscribed runes in elvish script on the inside of the ring for enchantment.
Then, to Gandalf's surprise, Luke took out the purified heart of balrog and used the sharp sword of fire to cut off a small, pigeon-egg-sized fragment.
The red fragment of the heart of balrog looked like a perfectly pure red gem.
As the core of a Balrog, the heart of balrog was entirely a crystal of fire elements, containing immense energy.
Even a single speck, combined with Balrog blood, could transform ordinary lizards and snakes into magic creatures like Fire Salamanders and Ashwinders.
Luke carefully cut and polished this irregular fragment of the heart of balrog with tools.
It took Luke a full month to carve and cut the heart of balrog fragment into a heart-shaped gem with countless facets, reflecting and emitting brilliant red light, making it very dazzling.
Moreover, inside the heart-shaped gem, there was a tiny, almost invisible spark, a trace of energy separated from the core flame of the heart of balrog, filled with an aura of immortality and eternal existence.
Under the effect of this spark, the heart-shaped gem emitted a warm glow, and the surrounding fire elements continuously flowed into the gem.
Luke set the heart-shaped gem into the silver ring, completing the final assembly.
Looking at this silver ring embedded with a heart-shaped ruby, Luke slipped it onto his finger, and the ring automatically enlarged to fit his index finger.
He activated the ring's power, and instantly the ring released golden flames. The Incendio filled the entire room, as if it wanted to burn everything in this room, which had been expanded by the Undetectable Extension Charm.
However, Luke, in the environment surrounded by flames, was completely at ease, showing no signs of being burned.
With a thought, Luke caused the surrounding flames to quickly converge and condense into a fire whip.
He swung the fire whip, lashing it towards the distance.
The burning long whip quickly extended and then struck a steel armor in the corner.
The armor was instantly cut in half, and the broken parts turned into molten lava.
Luke flicked it again, and the flaming long whip in his hand transformed into a sword of fire.
It transformed again, becoming a scepter, an axe, a spear, and so on.
Luke was having a great time, and Gandalf, standing by, also showed his appreciation, exclaiming:
"Luke, your engagement ring is the most precious ring I have ever seen.
The ring body is crafted from Mithril Mother, and the gem is from the heart of balrog. The wearer is immune to any scorching flames and can release flames and condense them into weapons. Such a ring is no weaker than a ring of power!"
Luke was not surprised that Gandalf could discern the ring's abilities at a glance. He said, "Naturally, I must create the best ring; only then will it be worthy of Arwen."
Moreover, in addition to the abilities Gandalf mentioned, this ring utilized Goblin forging craftsmanship. When burned in flames, it would become even newer and brighter, and it could also absorb various flames to enhance its own power.
It could be said that when burned in flames, the ring would not only not melt but would also become increasingly stronger.
With the engagement silver ring forged, Luke and Gandalf also began preparing to go to Rivendell to propose marriage.
However, before that, Luke made a special trip to the Shire to invite his old friend Bilbo to join them as a representative.
Bilbo was both surprised and happy for Luke about his upcoming proposal in Rivendell, and he readily agreed.
He then followed Luke through the fireplace to Hogwarts Castle.
"Gandalf!" Bilbo happily hugged Gandalf.
Gandalf was very fond of Bilbo and bent down to embrace the hobbit, who was only half his height.
"Oh, it's good to see you, Bilbo. You seem to be doing well?"
Bilbo's smile was bright and shy, "Yes, I'm doing well. After all, the treasure brought back from the Lonely Mountain could buy the entire Shire, and I probably won't be able to spend it all in my lifetime."
"And who can blame me for having a lord as a friend? Even hobbits who never leave their homes know about Hogwarts Castle on Weathertop and Luke the Black Wizard, so no one dares to make any trouble."
Saying that, he smiled and said to Luke: "In fact, not long ago, the Shire even held a meeting to discuss establishing diplomatic relations with Weathertop. I voted in favor at the time."
"Oh? The Shire wants to establish diplomatic relations with Weathertop?" Luke was a little surprised, then smiled, "That's good news. After all, we're neighbors now, and more interaction between us is a good thing."
Ever since Bree became part of Weathertop, Luke's territory had extended to the areas around Bree.
Now, as Bree developed into a city and the Barrow-downs Wights no longer ravaged the area, trade and exchange between the Shire and Bree became increasingly frequent. The Shire's tobacco, ale, mushrooms, and other goods continuously flowed into Bree and even Hogsmeade.
And Bree, in turn, distributed various goods throughout the Shire region through the hobbits of Buckland.
Moreover, many hobbits from Buckland chose to come to Bree to work, such as the owner of The Prancing Pony, who hired hobbits as waiters.
Even in Hogsmeade City, one could occasionally spot one or two hobbits.
As trade and exchange between the two regions became more frequent, it was no wonder that the local government of the Shire wanted to establish diplomatic relations with Weathertop.
However, Luke did not inquire too much about this matter and left it to the mayors of Bree and Amon Sul to handle, confident that they could manage it well.
Getting back to the main topic, Luke, Gandalf, and Bilbo were all gathered together.
Gandalf smiled and said, "This time, we are going to take away the most precious treasure of Rivendell—Lady Arwen. So, Luke, you need to dress handsomely, then go to Rivendell in grand style, obtain Lord Elrond's consent, successfully set the engagement, and win the beauty!"
"No pressure!" added Bilbo.