Chapter 26: Transaction and Journey to the Divine Land
The king's hall fell silent, the tower keepers all remaining quiet. What happened here today would not be known to the outside world, nor would it be recorded, and even the kingdom's Right Chancellor had no right to know of these matters.
Su Xiao looked at the magnificent crown in his hand. The crown was made of pure gold, with many gems embedded around it and on top. The crown's diameter was at least fifty centimeters. Without the inner ring's fixing band, Su Xiao could wear this thing as a helmet and it would still be several sizes too large.
Ted walked out from the side door of the king's hall. This fellow was wearing silver armor, looking as alert as could be.
"The King's Blood and the Crown are both here."
Su Xiao pulled a white membrane from his chest. Inside the membrane was the remaining King's Blood he held.
"Let me catch my breath. Burning King's Blood is difficult enough on its own, let alone igniting it from a distance."
Ted sat on the steps and rested for a good while before standing up. He clasped his hands together, and the King's Blood floating near Su Xiao surged toward him. It had been the crown attracting the King's Blood just moments ago.
Su Xiao tossed the somewhat exaggeratedly large crown to Ted. Ted caught it and put it on his head. The crown's inner ring clamped onto his forehead, and he muttered something about it being really heavy.
At this moment, Ted possessed all the King's Blood. He walked step by step toward the throne, finally stopping before it and kneeling on one knee.
"In the name of the Edri Royal Family, I inherit the First King's Blood. I shall..."
Ted chanted loudly. All the tower keepers in the king's hall knelt on one knee, raising both arms high, embracing the sky as they welcomed the new king's coronation.
As Ted chanted, sparks drifted from his body, and the crown turned blazing red.
When everything quieted down, Ted stood up, sat on the throne, and looked down at the tower keepers.
"Me, a discarded child from the slums, accidentally became king."
Ted on the throne was very calm. He shifted his gaze to Su Xiao. He now had a choice: to risk mutual destruction and eliminate this almost terrifying ally. He was genuinely worried that one day he would stand opposed to this ally, and the other party would come to assassinate him. Such a thing, just thinking about it, sent chills down one's spine.
Su Xiao was also looking at Ted, contemplating. If he killed the new king and all the tower keepers present, roughly how much World Source could he obtain, and what cost would be required to gain that World Source?
From the very beginning, Su Xiao knew what kind of person Ted was. The premise of cooperation was based on equal bargaining chips from both sides. In life-or-death mission worlds, beautiful ideals simply wouldn't work.
"Tower keepers, withdraw."
"As you command, my King."
The tower keepers retreated from the king's hall. Ted chose not to fight to the death because the gain didn't match the cost. He would very likely die here.
"This thing is really heavy."
Ted smiled and patted the crown on his head, then took it off and tossed it to Su Xiao.
"Where is the Divine Land?"
Su Xiao knew the Tower Forest journey was about to end. Ted knew the general location of the Source Divine Land.
Su Xiao had come for the Source Divine Land this time. If he found it, he could not only have a chance to upgrade [Divine Judgment] but also use the "Ba Soul" to exchange for rare items.
"Within the Tower Forest Kingdom, there's a place called Kodo Eison. Keep advancing into the inner reaches of Kodo Eison, and you'll reach a Misty Swamp. Bring the crown to the Misty Swamp, and the path to the Divine Land will open. That's all I know."
Ted paused here, then continued after a few seconds:
"Take the 'Seed' to Kodo Eison. For the Seed, that's the safest place. I can't guarantee I won't die. The tower keepers of Kodo Eison will protect her."
"Oh."
Su Xiao carried the crown and walked toward the exit of the king's hall. After a few steps, Ted, seated on the throne, spoke.
"Kukulin... we're barely friends, right?"
"... ..."
"If you have time, occasionally remember to visit me. Becoming king... is lonely."
"Farewell."
"Hahaha, cooperating with you is really reassuring."
The two metal doors of the king's hall slowly closed. Ted leaned back on the throne. From now on, he would bear the king's mission until the day he died.
After walking out of the king's hall, Su Xiao immediately removed the [Primordial Mask] from his face. As he took off the mask, his appearance, aura, clothing, and everything else returned to their original forms.
He left the royal palace unimpeded. Every kingdom official he encountered along the way stared blankly, because Su Xiao was carrying the crown.
Half an hour later, at the temporary residence.
With a bang, Su Xiao tossed the crown onto the table. The final part of his cooperation with Ted was still pending and couldn't be completed yet.
"This thing is the crown? It's too big. Without the inner fixing ring, it'd be several sizes too large even if you put it on your head."
"Woof."
Baha and Bubu Wang started studying the crown, while Su Xiao checked the reward notification.
[You have killed Edri Walsh.]
[Because Edri Walsh is a member of this world's royal family, you have obtained 16.1% World Source. Current total World Source: 95.55%.]
...
World Source was about to reach 100%. There weren't many other gains, but having enough World Source was sufficient. This would determine how many True Attribute Points he could obtain during the world settlement.
Su Xiao didn't plan to linger in the royal capital. It was wise to head to Kodo Eison as soon as possible, because before long, the drawbacks of killing multiple Edri royal family members would erupt.
He took out a map to check. Kodo Eison was very far from the royal capital, almost at the edge of the continent. On the map, the other side of Kodo Eison was blank.
To reach Kodo Eison, it would take at least eight days of travel. Fortunately, Kodo Eison was marked with a red dot on the map, indicating there was a teleportation tower there.
"Bubu, go wake up Amu. Liu, pack your belongings."
"Where are we going?"
Liu had been in a daze recently. She didn't even know why she had come to the royal capital, but the food here was quite good.
"To Kodo Eison."
Su Xiao wrapped the crown in thick cloth and tossed it to Amu, who had just walked out of the room. After leaving the temporary residence, he headed straight for the royal capital's teleportation tower.
Over twenty minutes later, inside the teleportation tower.
Clatter, clatter, clatter~
The metal elevator descended. Standing inside the elevator, Su Xiao took a test tube from his bosom. He was about to complete the final cooperation with Ted.
The elevator vibrated slightly and then stopped. The tower keeper beside Su Xiao pulled open the iron railing, revealing a circular stone platform ahead.
No other tower keepers were guarding near the platform. This was an order from Ted.
Su Xiao stood on the stone platform. The tower keeper not far away turned a stone disc to adjust the teleportation location.
"Mr. White Night, you may begin."
The tower keeper took out a wooden box. Seeing this, Su Xiao tossed the test tube in his hand.
The wooden box and test tube passed each other in midair. This was Su Xiao's transaction with Ted. Back in the royal palace, Ted had drunk a slow-acting alchemical poison. It wasn't a matter of whether he wanted to drink it or not; Su Xiao had watched him swallow it. If he didn't drink, he would die.
Su Xiao had long anticipated that if everything went smoothly, Ted would become the new king. At that point, Ted could command all the tower keepers. Su Xiao naturally had to take precautions to prevent Ted from turning hostile after becoming king.
As Su Xiao caught the wooden box, Baha nodded. He had checked this teleportation array, and it was fine.
[Notification: You have obtained Source Water (This Source Water is extremely pure, a special item of the Holy Guard Kingdom).]
That's right. Su Xiao had used the antidote to the alchemical poison as leverage to obtain [Source Water] from Ted.
After Su Xiao disguised himself as the old king, he had the opportunity to get this item, but Ted had also kept a card up his sleeve. That fellow had somehow met with the leader of the tower keepers and voluntarily revealed part of the plan.
Actually, Ted's actions were quite normal. During the time Su Xiao was disguised as the old king, he only needed to give an order to the tower keepers, and Ted would have died on the spot.
From the description of [Source Water], this type of [Source Water] was very rare. At least, there was no such pure [Source Water] within the Tower Forest Kingdom. It had been refined by the Holy Guard Kingdom. This was Ted's sincerity, and also a subtle indication that he didn't want to be Su Xiao's enemy in the future.
Su Xiao's main mission required [Source Water] to complete. The purer this item, the higher the mission completion rate would naturally be.
Su Xiao put away the [Source Water]. The tower keeper not far away pressed the stone disc. Spatial fluctuations appeared around Su Xiao, and the surrounding space turned into strips, quickly healing in an instant.
Dong, dong, dong~
A long, resonant chime sounded in Su Xiao's ears. Kodo Eison had arrived.