From Secret Clan to the Divine Dynasty

At the Alchemy Council, “Solar Gold”, who sat near the Chairman, was still the first to speak, his tone majestic and expansive, still possessing the solidity of a mountain.

Byrne remained silent, calmly reminiscing about everyone’s situation deep inside his heart.

“Solar Gold” was second only to the Chairman in status and was privy to information about the Lorne citizens. He also trafficked knowledge of the Spirit Realm and was very likely a well-informed important person, perhaps even a top-tier powerhouse at the Monarch Level!

“Spirit Essence” was a silent, petite woman seated third in the Alchemy Council. She could casually produce a Class 4 Extraordinary Material “meteor shard”, undoubtedly also a formidable figure.

Then there were the old voice of “Time Stasis Stone”, the young voice of “Moon River Stone”, and the female “Star Metal”, who was persistent in searching for the Lost followers.

Byrne was very clear about one thing, although “Time Stasis Stone” and “Moon River Stone” sounded old and young respectively, in reality, they might not be an old person and a young person at all.

Without a doubt, everyone present could easily disguise all sorts of external characteristics; they could even fake the gender they presented.

To be honest, Byrne still couldn’t understand why Viscount Bast would bring him to such a high-level gathering of Extraordinary Exponents.

Whether regarding confidant level or personal strength, he was far from ranking among the “supporters of the Lion”.

Although he couldn’t fathom it, he still remembered that three years ago, Viscount Bast explicitly stated that he wanted to utilize some kind of value from him.

After all, what exactly did Viscount Bast value in him?

Byrne had pondered this matter for years and also knew he had to be wary of Viscount Bast to avoid being used as some kind of sacrifice.

Regrettably, up to this day, despite the Fischer family having greatly benefited from the Lion clan, Byrne still didn’t have the answer to Viscount Bast’s riddle.

Then he could only continue to take advantage of the benefits.

Once again, the Chairman in a purple robe, whose features remained completely unclear, slowly spoke in a non-human, strange voice:

“You may proceed with the exchange.”

“Star Metal” in a light blue robe sighed softly and slowly said:

“Alas, another three years have passed, yet I still haven’t found anyone from the Lost Cult. They’re really too good at hiding. However, I did find some traces left by Last Blood.”

She seemed extremely dejected, as if the inability to find the Lost followers was akin to losing hope in life.

Byrne only felt a bit fearful, not understanding why “Star Metal” was so obsessed with the Lost followers, never giving up over the years. Couldn’t she change her life’s goal?

“Star Metal” mentioned this “Last Blood”; what was it?

“Last Blood!”

Upon hearing “Last Blood”, the elderly “Time Stasis Stone” was surprisingly the first to exclaim, his voice filled with apprehension, as if “Last Blood” was a very terrifying secret organization.

Byrne made a timely comment that fit his role as the newcomer.

“Last Blood, what is that? I’ve never heard of it. Is it some kind of secret organization?”

“Moon River Stone” replied in a calm, youthful voice:

“Last Blood is a secret organization that worships the false god ‘Witch of Demise’. It has been in existence for thousands of years. They have three leaders passed down through generations, each holding a drop of the ‘Witch of Demise’s blood, also known as ‘Last Blood’.”

He paused, lowering his voice to say:

“According to the church canon, each drop of ‘Last Blood’ possesses vastly different powers of formidable strength, almost equal to those of forbidden relics with single-digit numbering.”

“More importantly, members of Last Blood can use them without a personal cost, only requiring the offering of sufficient sacrifices.”

An ancient organization existing for thousands of years, worshiping the false god “Witch of Demise”, Byrne silently noted the information about “Last Blood”.

He felt that the Eastern Four Kingdoms were becoming more chaotic. It seemed like after the oppressive power of the major churches weakened, various secret organizations unheard of before were gradually emerging.

It was clear that this was no good sign.

Actually, Byrne feared those who did not abide by order and rules, who could go on a killing spree at any moment “colleagues”—more than the churches and nobles out in the open.

“I have something to trade with you, it’s a new Alchemy Technology from Lorne people, a method to store sunlight in bottles, quite fascinating.”

“Solar Gold’s” voice was robust and powerful, the new technology making many in the Alchemy Council pause.

Byrne asked, not understanding, “There’s technology to store sunlight in bottles? I only knew that Lorne and Qi Yao People have ways to infuse sunlight into metal, to create what’s called ‘Solar Gold’.”

“Haha, indeed, my codename ‘Solar Gold’ stems from exactly that phenomenon.”

“Solar Gold” laughed heartily, continuing:

“Yes, for a long time, Lorne people and those above the Aphotic Sea have had trade relations. They exchange ‘Solar Gold’ for many important resources from the Aphotic Sea regions.”

“Solar Gold” nodded, a transparent glass bottle appeared in his hand, and surprisingly a gentle golden glow was floating at its center, undoubtedly physical sunlight:

“Now, the technology of Lorne people has advanced even further; they can now bottle sunlight, making the business of selling sunlight far easier from now on.”

He continued to smile, his voice rich and deep, “The emergence of the Spirit Realm has driven many to madness, mutation, and death, yet it has also spurred continuous technological innovation. I quite fancy this world where danger and opportunity coexist!”

The “Solar Gold” trade, which has existed for a long time over the Aphotic Sea, is exceedingly famous.

That sea area is a rather special one among the Nine Seas, perpetually devoid of sunlight, with most regions blanketed in darkness. Many citizens of the Aphotic Sea might even go a lifetime without ever seeing the sun.

The wealthy nobles of the Aphotic Sea are willing to pay a high price to obtain physical sunlight, to witness its bloom in the darkness and to feel that much-desired warmth.

For hundreds of years, Lorne and the Qi Yao People, who have mastered the technology of “Solar Gold”, would infuse sunlight into the metal, then take it to sea over the Aphotic Sea, selling the Solar Gold to the nobility among the sea folk.

“Solar Gold” is cumbersome to produce and costly, ultimately only a minority of Aphotic Sea people can afford it.

But new technology that bottles physical sunlight could potentially change everything, and even allow the common people of the Aphotic Sea to afford sunlight.

Below the White Sea lies the Aphotic Sea. Having read about the Solar Gold trade, Byrne was well aware of how lucrative the business of selling sunlight could be, especially since Nasir Town was also a port town.

He was tempted immediately.

“I want to trade.”

“So do I.”

“And me.”

The second and the third voices belonged to “Moon River Stone” and “Star Metal”, and they were both obviously very interested in this revolutionary new storage technology.

However, Byrne quickly felt embarrassed.

He was somewhat unable to offer enough stakes for payment; “Moon River Stone” and “Star Metal” had each put forward a Class 4 Extraordinary Material.

Not to mention Class 4 Extraordinary Materials, even Class 3 Extraordinary Materials were highly valuable for the Fischer family; it seemed that trade was still possible only for knowledge of the Spirit Realm.

“Knowledge of the Spirit Realm, that’s good, give it to me.”

“Solar Gold” was clearly very interested in all knowledge of the Spirit Realm.

Byrne shook his head and said,

“But I have a condition. The knowledge of the Spirit Realm I’m about to give you is very precious; you must give me another Class 4 Extraordinary Material in return.”

“Oh? That’s not out of the question, but I need to see what this knowledge of the Spirit Realm you write down is first.”

“Solar Gold” hadn’t completely refused, but also hadn’t fully agreed.

“That’s fine, you can look at it first, and then we’ll re-establish the price.”

So Byrne nodded, silently wrote down the precious knowledge of the Spirit Realm, and traded it to “Solar Gold”.

The content included information about the special, mysterious effects produced when Extraordinary Exponents traveled through the many different “Spiritual Gateways” in the Spirit Realm.

For example, passing through the “Gate of Shadow” might render one’s state abnormal, and if one went through the “Gate of Calamity”, one would inevitably encounter misfortune within thirty minutes, whereas those who passed through the “Gate of Revelation” could see fragments of the future related to themselves…

Since the Chairman had the power to discern lies, there was no need to worry about the authenticity of the Spirit Realm knowledge, but Byrne felt deep down that the knowledge of the Spirit Realm he was writing down on paper was being eyed by everyone, and the Chairman would end up exploiting it for free.

After reading it, “Solar Gold” nodded in satisfaction and said,

“Indeed, the content is very precious. Although most of the information is no longer secret, the remaining parts are still quite useful.”

“However, giving another Class 4 Extraordinary Material, I feel like I’m at a loss. How about I give you two Class 3 Extraordinary Materials instead, Mr. Mithril? What do you think?”

The various mysterious effects after passing through the Spiritual Gateways had gradually become common knowledge. Most of the new Spirit Realm knowledge Byrne offered was not very valuable.

After all, there were adventurers in the world every day who were not afraid of death, continuously entering and leaving the Spirit Realm. Basic knowledge would sooner or later become completely worthless.

Byrne nodded, speaking calmly, “That will do.”

The other people present didn’t seem to have any intention of trading; although everyone was unaware of what the Spirit Realm knowledge actually was, they understood from the discourse between the two that it was the type of information that would gradually become known to many.

The remaining members of the Alchemy Council seemed to currently have a low desire for exploring the Spirit Realm, not urgently wanting to acquire Spirit Realm knowledge of unclear value.

Byrne thought the trade was over, but then the elderly “Time Stasis Stone” suddenly said,

“I also want to trade for the Spirit Realm knowledge you possess, and I’m willing to give a Class 4 Extraordinary Material ‘Shadow Sea Stone’ as compensation.”

“Deal! The trade is on!”

Byrne nodded with great joy. It was splendid to find someone willing to take the bait since basic knowledge of the Spirit Realm was sure to decrease in value!

Come to think of it, “Shadow Sea Stone” only existed atop the Aphotic Sea and the Spectral Sea, a rather rare Class 4 Extraordinary Material, yet “Time Stasis Stone” had already traded two of them without much hesitation, both with “Solar Gold” and himself.

He couldn’t help pondering, could it be that “Time Stasis Stone” had many “Shadow Sea Stones” on hand?

Thus, Byrne acquired the alchemy technology for “bottled physical sunlight”, two Class 3 Extraordinary Materials, “Bizarre Flower” and “Eye Fiend Spirit Brain,” and a Class 4 Extraordinary Material, “Shadow Sea Stone”, through the trade of Spirit Realm knowledge.