He had exchanged for ninety days within the Ring of Power, preparing to finally settle a few matters there.

The process of entering the realm within the Ring required little telling, for while Sauron had met a true and final death this time, the One Ring itself had not been destroyed.

Consequently, Chu Xuan’s earlier deductions proved entirely correct: the Three Elven Rings of Power were perfectly preserved. Thus, save for a fraction of the Elves who obeyed the oracle and departed Middle-earth, the majority chose to remain on the continent. The Age of Elves, which should have concluded according to the original narrative, was, in this altered world, not truly over due to the retention of the three great Rings.

When Zheng Zha arrived in the land of the Ring, his landing point happened to be Rivendell, where he first encountered Gandalf and the Elven King, Elrond.

The reunion naturally involved a flurry of emotion and deep conversation, though Zheng Zha did not elaborate much on the world of the ‘Main God.’ Seeing this, Gandalf and the others refrained from prying further, content only to recount the fates of the numerous narrative figures.

The sole Hobbit, naturally, had returned to his Shire, but for the deeds he accomplished, King Elessar Aragorn had knighted him.

He was also granted a small tract of land. Aragorn had, of course, ascended the throne, and since Théoden, King of Rohan, had fallen in battle, Aragorn was currently assisting the newly crowned Queen of Rohan in governing the land, keeping him so busy he was close to insomnia.

The Dwarves and Elves returned to their homelands; unsurprisingly, after the War of the Ring, they became immortal heroes in the bards’ songs, destined to be remembered throughout Middle-earth’s history for millennia.

As for the Reincarnation Squad, they were lauded as the Heroic Mercenaries. Aragorn even proposed that each race contribute artisans to carve their likenesses on the fringes of the Mordor mountains, serving as an eternal memorial to Zheng Zha and his comrades… “That sounds rather like those great figures who have already passed away… perhaps it’s best we forgo that. It feels strangely unsettling to have statues made.”

That was Zheng Zha’s reply, yet his heart was deeply touched, especially for those companions who had faced multiple life-or-death crises alongside him… Even if they were from different worlds, even if he could never fight shoulder-to-shoulder with them again, knowing they were safe was the best news he could have received.

Next, Gandalf proved remarkably generous. Now the White Wizard, he presented Zheng Zha with hundreds of energy stones of various colors in a single gesture. Zheng Zha quickly estimated their value to be roughly equivalent to D- to C-grade energy stones available for exchange; here were hundreds appearing at once. That wasn't all; Gandalf produced a satchel that strongly resembled the dimensional pouch Zheng Zha had just acquired. Though much smaller, holding only three cubic meters, it required no energy to open or use—a convenience far superior to a standard dimensional pouch.

After bidding farewell to Gandalf and Elrond, Zheng Zha no longer needed to travel by foot. He pulled out the Green Goblin Glider and soared toward the city-state of the other Elven realm, the domain of Queen Galadriel.

The Glider effortlessly crossed the rolling mountain ranges, soon bringing him into the Golden Wood. Indeed, just as Elrond had said, the Elves here had also chosen not to depart Middle-earth.

Zheng Zha then met with Galadriel. This time, the Elven Queen made no attempt to probe his consciousness; instead, she offered him her solemn gratitude and asked him to relay a message to Chu Xuan: they wished for the One Ring to be permanently removed from Middle-earth. The three Elven Rings of Power were completely sufficient. To covet the One Ring and risk bringing it back into Middle-earth could very well invite the return of the departed Sauron.

(He likely… wouldn’t have given the One Ring to you anyway, Chu Xuan… and besides, the One Ring is clearly in my possession…) Zheng Zha responded with agreement and a smile, but he understood that fellow all too well. A truly cunning, black-bellied genius—did one expect him to hand over something he had acquired? The odds of that were less than zero… The rest of the business proceeded smoothly. Zheng Zha presented the advanced medicines and trinkets he had exchanged for, each item eliciting gasps of wonder from the surrounding Elves. While this world possessed magic and sorcery, its technological level was quite low; many diseases lacked corresponding treatments, making these medicines as precious as Mithril. The sheer quantity and superior quality of Zheng Zha’s stock were enough to cause an uproar among the Elves.

Zheng Zha’s ornaments were not initially intended for trade; their primary purpose was as gifts. Since Elves favored refinement and beauty, these decorative items were perfectly suited.

However, he underestimated the impact of novelty on the Elven populace. Putting aside the common folk, even the Elven Queen lavished praise upon the ornaments. As a result, when the Queen commanded her people to bring forth over three thousand energy stones, Zheng Zha was quite taken aback. Three thousand-plus stones of various colors—though slightly inferior in quality to those given by Gandalf—were all equivalent to D-grade. Such a quantity meant Zheng Zha wouldn't need to exchange for energy stones for a very long time, especially since he had no techniques that required them for activation. Using all of them for setting up arrays felt excessively extravagant.

Regardless, the initial transaction between the two parties was exceptionally pleasant. After concluding the exchange, Zheng Zha took to the Green Goblin Glider once more, heading to Edoras. After meeting with Aragorn, he finally managed to hire a large contingent of farmers using his authority. The payment consisted of one thousand D-grade equivalent energy stones and the remainder of his medicines. Their task was to excavate the sunken Wizard Tower of Saruman.

The technological level of this world was truly lacking. To excavate a tower that had sunk one or two hundred meters into the earth—Aragorn gathered over five thousand farmers for him, but according to the King, this task would still take seven to nine months to complete. This was nothing like excavating the City of the Dead, where technology, machinery, and explosive rock charges were available; here, it was purely manual digging.

Zheng Zha hadn't expected to reap massive immediate benefits in this world. The acquisition of energy stones already filled him with unexpected joy. More importantly, the time he exchanged for allowed him the peace and quiet needed to refine his internal energy here.

Time flowed rapidly. There was little worth detailing in the interim, save that once the news of Zheng Zha’s return spread, Jin Pi and the others rushed to Isengard to visit him. Following that came the quiet practice and the busy excavation, with Aragorn assisting in arranging everything. Zheng Zha spent this period quite relaxed and content.

The process of refining True Essence Force was inherently perilous. This place was not the ‘Main God’ space; if the internal energy detonated here, there would be no immediate cure, and it could even prove fatal. Therefore, during each refinement, Zheng Zha could only maintain full activation of the fourth stage of the Gene Lock for delicate control, managing to condense only a trace of True Essence Force over several days. Furthermore, this energy could not be stored in the Mithril ring designed for internal energy; thus, he had to store the condensed traces within his body, mixing them directly into his Dantian with his existing internal energy. Since this True Essence Force was unique, it remained distinct regardless of how it mingled with other energies, seemingly refusing to react with anything other than the process of absorption… Occasionally, when refinement concluded and the lonely nights set in, Zheng Zha would idly wonder: if internal energy condensed into True Essence Force, what would happen if he condensed the energy of the Blood Clan? Though he dared not try—failure in condensing even the gentle internal energy resulted in a violent explosion—failure with Blood Clan energy would surely leave him utterly annihilated. Time passed quickly, and as the ninety days drew to a close, Zheng Zha had no choice but to depart Isengard and return to Rivendell, the point from which he could re-enter the ‘Main God’ space via the Ring.

“Next… it’s time for the next horror film world: Transformers!” He jumped forward.