Sovereign of the Ashes

Perhaps the earlier bidding frenzy over Goddess Dith had simply been too intense.

By the time the item Sein had come for finally appeared on the auction block, many of the top-tier powerhouses present still seemed caught up in the previous excitement.

As a result, Sein managed to secure Venerable Muge’s overlord blood at what could almost be called a bargain.

Of course, “bargain” was a relative term. He had still spent several hundred million magicoins on it.

Although the Arriba Interstellar Chamber of Commerce accepted magicoins, Sein ultimately paid using tangible assets such as energy crystals, rare ores, soul crystals, and even divine relics.

He simply did not have that much cash on hand. Besides, the chamber valued physical resources slightly higher than their equivalent worth in magicoins.

After Sein successfully won the bid, the God of Dusk Desire beside him could not help but remark, “This is the second-lowest price ever recorded since Venerable Muge’s overlord blood first appeared at auction. It’s only slightly higher than the price fetched by the first batch.”

Sein was not particularly surprised.

“Oh? Perhaps everyone assumes the auction house will gradually release more overlord blood in the future,” he replied.

“And that bidding frenzy over Goddess Dith certainly opened my eyes,” Sein added with a smile.

Under normal circumstances, a divine relic belonging to a Rank Six being would fetch around one hundred million magicoins, depending on its quality.

Yet Goddess Dith’s final auction price had reached an astonishing 1.365 billion magicoins!

From the rational perspective of a spellcaster, Sein believed that even if Goddess Dith were dissected down to the smallest detail and every part of her body sold at the highest possible price, her total value would still fall short of two hundred million magicoins.

And yet someone had willingly spent more than a billion to purchase the “widow” of an overgod... Sein could not help but wonder whether they had some sort of twisted fetish.

By comparison, the overlord blood Sein purchased had cost him assets worth only 710 million magicoins.

“If those overlords ever find themselves short on cash, selling a little of their blood might be one of the fastest ways to make money,” Sein remarked with a sigh.

***

After securing Venerable Muge’s overlord blood, Sein rarely placed another bid for the rest of the auction.

He occasionally competed for experimental materials that caught his interest, but most of them were nothing more than trinkets.

It was not that Sein lacked funds. He had considerable wealth at his disposal, but nearly all of it had already been allocated to specific experiments.

At times like this, he could not help but miss Aurelia, the Goddess of Wealth who had remained behind in Magus World to earn money on his behalf.

He wondered how much wealth she had accumulated by now.

The advanced experiments Sein intended to carry out on his path to Rank Six were all enormous money pits.

Without sufficient wealth and resources, even law-wielding mages would face a bumpy road in their pursuit of truth.

***

After spending a fortune at the auction, Sein’s days gradually returned to tranquillity.

Inside his laboratory, he examined the vial of deep green overlord blood before him.

Unlike Venerable Tianyang’s overlord blood, which had already crystallised, Venerable Muge’s blood remained in liquid form.

Sein could also detect an astonishing amount of powerful toxins within it.

“Overlord blood truly is no ordinary substance. Venerable Tianyang’s overlord blood requires the life force of beings from Divine Descendants World before its essential essence can be extracted. I wonder what method I’ll need to use to neutralise the toxins in Venerable Muge’s blood?”

“This toxin is potent enough to bring down an ordinary Rank Six creature. Fortunately, I won’t have to uncover the profound truths behind it myself,” Sein murmured, furrowing his brow.

He had bought this portion of overlord blood as a gift for Lorianne.

Compared with the Heavenly Sun Blood, which the others in the Verdant Flame Faction could readily absorb and utilise, Venerable Muge’s blood was undoubtedly much better suited to her.

As for how to remove the toxins from the overlord blood, that would be Lorianne’s problem to deal with in the future.

“Hmm... Just like the Venerable Tianyang’s blood, Venerable Muge’s blood also lacks that peculiar energy capable of instantly restoring an overlord to their peak condition. What exactly was that energy...?” Sein murmured.

“Without a physical sample to study, I’ll have to visit Sky City once I return to the Magus Civilization. Perhaps the Arcane Light contains records on the subject,” he said with a sigh.

***

More than three hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.

For a peak Rank Five mage like Sein, time seemed to move frighteningly fast. He had merely completed a handful of experiments, yet several centuries had slipped away before he even realised it.

At last, the time had come for him to return to the Magus Civilization’s main battlefield.

As a Magus World mage, Sein was required to return ahead of the other allied forces and report on his work. Hence, he was among the first to depart, leaving even before Gongsun Wudi and the Dawn Empire’s legions, as well as the Insectoids.

The demon legions had left much earlier.

More than a century ago, after the demons of the Quatar Star Pirates had reaped their fill of rewards across this large-sized star domain, they vanished into the void. No one knew where they had gone.

To this day, the Magus Civilization continued to deny that the Quatar Star Pirates had any connection to Magus World’s high command.

This was despite the countless clues and incidents throughout the Clash of Civilizations that strongly suggested these infamous devils and demons were covert operatives secretly trained by the Magus Civilization.

But if the Magus Civilization refused to admit it, what could anyone do?

Before leaving Divine Descendants World, Sein met with Gongsun Wudi one last time.

After knowing each other for so many years, the two had grown increasingly in sync.

Gongsun Wudi was constantly occupied with military affairs, while Sein spent most of his time buried in experiments.

Even so, whenever they met, there was never any sense of distance between them. On the contrary, they often found themselves thinking along the same lines.

This meeting was no exception. Before Sein could even explain why he had come, Gongsun Wudi already knew that he was there to say goodbye.

“Our Dawn Empire legions will also be heading to the Magus Civilization’s battlefield soon,” she said. “It won’t be long before we meet again.”

She made it sound simple, but Sein knew full well that finding each other again across the vast and boundless battlefields of the Magus Civilization would be no easy matter.

After all, it had already been many years since he had last seen his mentor, Leena, and the others.

Still, Sein was never one to dwell on things like this. Neither was Gongsun Wudi.

Sein smiled and nodded.

“Before I leave, there’s a gift I’ve owed you for a long time,” he said.

With that, he led Gongsun Wudi out of the main tent.

Outside the Dawn Empire’s encampment, a pure white dragon hovered low in the sky.

It was the White Jade Dragon, a Rank Six female dragon.

After capturing her all those years ago, Gongsun Wudi had entrusted the dragon to Sein for training.

Now that the war in Divine Descendants World had come to an end, the once-stubborn dragon had finally lowered her proud head.

Sein had completely tamed the White Jade Dragon and was now returning her to Gongsun Wudi as a mount.

Gongsun Wudi did not hesitate. She leapt straight onto the dragon’s neck.

A pair of sturdy, pale-gold reins extended from either side of the White Jade Dragon’s cheeks and wrapped beneath her body.

Gripping the reins with one hand, Gongsun Wudi looked incredibly heroic.

The moment she settled onto the dragon’s back, the White Jade Dragon spread her wings and soared into the sky.

It was obvious that Gongsun Wudi was extremely pleased with Sein’s gift.

As the White Jade Dragon climbed higher into the skies of Divine Descendants World, a piercing roar echoed from beyond the clouds.

***

When the time came for Sein to leave, Gongsun Wudi escorted him, Belphane, Mel, and the others all the way to the edge of the Divine Descendants Star Domain.

The God of Black Mist and Sein’s other subordinates would have to remain in Divine Descendants World for some time, so Sein had already asked Gongsun Wudi to look after them in his absence.

As Sein’s figure gradually disappeared into the teleportation array, a faint smile appeared on Gongsun Wudi’s usually frosty face.