Sovereign of the Ashes

Just as Sein thought of the Insectoids, they appeared at his door.

They had come to discuss a deal involving inert crystals.

The one who arrived was a Rank Six Insectoid Bladeist whom Sein had never met before. His stern expression made him seem rather difficult to deal with at first glance.

However, the Rank Six Bladeist immediately offered Sein an extremely generous price.

The Insectoids’ offer was calculated mainly in energy crystals and souls.

Both were considered hard currency throughout the Astral Realm, but the Insectoids preferred to pay Sein in soul crystals.

Aside from a small number of specialized units, the breeding of most Insectoids did not require large quantities of soul crystals.

Hence, this type of crystal was considered a slow-moving resource within the Insectoid swarm.

If Sein agreed to accept soul crystals as payment, the Insectoids were even willing to add another ten percent to the original price.

Sein quickly did the calculations. With his current stockpile of inert crystals, this single transaction alone would earn him nearly three hundred million magicoins.

In truth, those ordinary inert energy crystals were no longer that useful to him.

If he needed to produce more magic bombs in the future, he could just find other types of energy crystals instead.

What Sein truly valued were the top-grade inert crystals.

Unfortunately, the two he had obtained from the ruins of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization had been used up almost immediately.

Sein was not the only one who needed top-grade inert crystals. The Insectoids needed them as well!

In fact, they were willing to pay an even higher price for crystals of that grade!

Had Sein not used up those two top-grade inert crystals so quickly and instead sold them to the Insectoids, he might have earned an even greater profit.

The transaction proceeded smoothly.

Sein had only recently obtained seven large vials of life mucus from the Empress of Blades’ hive, and the value of that life mucus alone far exceeded the compensation the Insectoids were offering him now.

Not to mention that the Empress of Blades had already saved his life once before.

Sein had no reason to refuse the Insectoids’ offer to purchase his inert crystals.

However, after confirming their intention to trade, he asked whether they could use a different form of payment.

The Rank Six Bladeist remained composed. He simply watched Sein in silence, waiting for him to state his request.

Sein took out the peak Rank Six pyro-attribute divine relic he had just received from Sethem and said, “There are nearly a thousand secondary divine relics scattered throughout this large-sized world, all of which once belonged to the Divine Descendant Overgod.”

“The Insectoids were primarily responsible for this overlord-level battlefield at the time. You also have the greatest strength and the largest military force in the entire world, so it stands to reason that most of Marduk’s secondary divine relics ultimately fell into your hands.

He paused for a moment before asking, “I was wondering... could we use some of Marduk’s secondary divine relics as payment instead?”

The Bladeist pondered his request for a bit before nodding.

“That will be fine.”

Sein’s eyes immediately lit up.

“I would prefer pyro-attribute divine relics. Aside from those, I only need another one with dendro attribute. They don’t have to be particularly high-ranking. Rank Four or Rank Five divine relics will be enough,” he said.

Within the Magus Alliance, a divine relic belonging to an ordinary Rank Four creature was generally worth around three million magicoins.

A Rank Five divine relic could fetch twenty million.

Rank Six divine relics were far more expensive, with their value often fluctuating around one hundred million magicoins.

Marduk’s secondary divine relics contained traces of an overgod’s power, so they were clearly worth far more than the standard market price within the Magus Alliance.

More importantly, such treasures were exceedingly rare and had no true market value!

Aside from the Insectoids, it was unlikely that anyone else on the current battlefield would be willing to sell such treasures to Sein.

The inert crystals in Sein’s possession were simply far more attractive to the Insectoids than those divine relics.

The Insectoids did not follow the faith-based system.

They were not as interested as other cultivating beings in studying the mysteries of law contained within divine relics.

After readily agreeing to Sein’s request, the Rank Six Bladeist took the opportunity to make a small request of his own.

“Since Master Sein possesses inert crystals, I assume you have conducted considerable research into this special type of crystal over the years. We Insectoids would like to purchase all of your academic findings in this field,” the Bladeist said earnestly.

“Rest assured, Master Sein. The value of your research will be included in the compensation we offer,” he quickly added.

Sein was caught off guard, but he quickly replied, “Not a problem!”

***

The Insectoids were rather efficient.

Just one day after Sein completed the transaction with the Rank Six Bladeist and signed the magic contract, around a dozen transport-capable Host Bugs appeared outside the mountain range where his temporary experimental base was located.

In truth, if the transaction had involved only divine relics and soul crystals, there would have been no need to send so many Host Bugs.

The enormous volume of goods was due to an additional clause Sein had included in his agreement with the Rank Six Bladeist.

Any remaining soul crystals could be exchanged for rare metals and mineral materials the Insectoids had gathered over the years while traveling through the Astral Realm.

Sein had not visited many foreign worlds, so these specimens would greatly enrich both his material reserves and personal collection.

In the end, the Insectoids handed over five pyro-attribute divine relics and one dendro-attribute divine relic.

Among the five pyro-attribute divine relics, one was Rank Six, two were Rank Five, and the remaining two were Rank Four.

The dendro-attribute divine relic was also Rank Five.

Aside from studying the law power and divine abilities contained within the pyro-attribute divine relics, Sein could later give one to each elder of the Verdant Flame Faction and still have one left over.

As for the dendro-attribute divine relic, it was naturally meant for Lorianne.

***

After the Host Bugs left, Sein called Yuri out to help him sort through the mountain of resources.

More than a hundred intelligent angels that had awakened to sentience also emerged from the Magic Cube to assist Yuri and the Burning Flame Unit.

Once again, Sein found himself grateful that Tourmaline had given him such a spacious conch.

Over the years, he had filled it with countless materials and experimental specimens used in his daily research, yet the conch was still only one-third full.

Together with the other spatial storage equipment in his possession, packing everything away and taking it with him would not be a problem.

Just as the intelligent angels under Sein’s command began moving the resources, Belphane and Mel returned with the God of Black Mist and the others.

They not only saw the mountains of materials piled outside Sein’s experimental base, but also caught sight of the swarm of Host Bugs disappearing into the distance.

When they met again, Belphane wore a broad smile. Clearly, this Rank Six knight had also gained quite a fortune from the war in Divine Descendants World.

Mel, on the other hand, was pouting as though something had upset her.

Upon seeing the enormous pile of resources outside Sein’s experimental base, Belphane could not help but marvel at the sight.