Chapter 155 – Florida Man Scams Copium-Addicted Senators during Sports Conference. No Press Has Been Charged.
Yan Xiang's assertiveness and passive-aggressive attitude caught Leo off guard. He reluctantly agreed to the unfair bet as he had no intention of eradicating his dynasty just yet.
'I guess he knows what I did in that world. Welp, I need them to visit my domain, so I can extract their lifespan. Killing them here is a waste.'
While thinking, Leo recalled something that he had planned to ask the emperor. It was related to the reason why Leo readily accepted Tang Xuan's invitation and came here brazenly.
Leo gazed at Yan Xiang with a solemn expression.
"If you agree to my two conditions, I'll accept that unfair bet."
The corners of Yan Xiang's mouth curved down. Then, he narrowed his eyes, wondering what Leo wanted.
"Speak."
Leo paused and took a deep breath. As this matter was related to his power and origins, he was cautious.
"First off, I'm a collector. I've come to this world in searching for unique artifacts. Have you ever heard of…Fate Crystal?"
"Fate Crystal?"
Yan Xiang narrowed his eyes while everybody in the throne room looked at each other and murmured in confusion. They had never heard of this item's name before.
On the other hand, Yan Xiang was aware of the existence of this item. His face reddened in anger as it was related to his country.
"I know of it. Why do you ask?"
"Aside from what you've offered, I want a Fate Crystal as a part of the bet."
"Impossible!" Yan Xiang stood up and shouted, "Earth Fate Crystal of the Yan Dynasty is the pillar of our continent's protective arrays! Without it, the barbarians from the other continents would have invaded and destroyed us all!"
Leo had a wry smile on his face. He silently mocked Yan Xiang as he didn't understand what Fate Crystals were for.
From what Leo had learned from the four guardians of the mystic realm platform, Fate Crystals came in five grades – Earth Fate Crystals, Sky Fate Crystals, Heavenly Fate Crystals, Entity Fate Crystals, and Karmic Fate Crystals. Each grade offered a different power and perks if they were used correctly.
For example, Earth Fate Crystals could bless the item owner with the power of "Luck". Had a modern human possessed it, that person would have won a lottery every time they bought one. However, aside from material luck, they couldn't influence somebody's lifestyle or change one's life. Moreover, the profound "Luck" energy in the crystal could be depleted after a few usages.
Sky Fate Crystal was a bit better. Aside from providing luck to the owner, it could also bring a major opportunity or a fortuitous encounter to the item holder. After giving the owners enough opportunities, it would lose its power.
Heavenly Fate Crystal was a huge leap from the previous tier. Not only did it bless the owner with infinite luck and opportunities, but it sometimes came with a mysterious "System". If it was put inside one's body, the person would gain the "System" power. The black-winged angel commented that whoever had it could be considered a "Protagonist" of the era.
As for Entity Fate Crystal, Leo had two of them inside him. The first one enabled him to use three systems – The Online Shopping System, the Shop Domain System, and the Lifespan System. The second Entity Fate Crystal from the mystic realm enabled him to upgrade non-electrical appliances by using his lifespan. It had other powers, but Leo hadn't fully explored it yet.
Unfortunately, the Karmic Fate Crystal was something out of Leo's reach at the moment. The angel statue said that it didn't exist in his world.
In summary, these fate crystals were the clues that Leo had been searching for as they might relate to "Players" and the PVP mode. In addition, the angel statue hinted that he needed to collect as many fate crystals as possible to boost his abilities.
Fortunately, Yan Xiang misused his Earth Fate Crystal. Although the earth-graded one was useless to Leo, he wanted it nonetheless.
"If you need a source of energy, I can provide you a better one. Have you ever heard of soul stones?"
"Soul stones?" Yan Xiang widened his eyes as he had heard of it. They were the rare cultivation resources that his ancestors always desired. "You have soul stones?!"
Leo shrugged. He didn't have one on him at the moment, but he knew the recipe to make some.
.
[Alchemy Recipe – Soul Stones]
One Molg Lich's Bone (Any Piece)
Yin Essence
.
[Alchemy Recipe – Soul Stone]
1,000 Essence Stones
Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Earth Catalyst
Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Earth Essence
.
There were two ways to make them. The first one required the bones of Esen's dead comrades. The second recipe required 1,000 essence stones and some catalysts.
"One of my store's merchandise is soul stone, but we'll talk about the trade some other time. For now, the fate crystal is one of my conditions. Will you agree?" Leo steered the conversation back to the topic.
Yan Xiang gave Leo a meaningful look. He hesitated if he should continue pressing on the hidden agendas that he and the officials had agreed upon.
Still, Yan Xiang thought of the death of his son. He pressed on.
"Earth Fate Crystal will not be included in this bet."
"Then, the bet is off."
"But we can offer something of a similar value."
Yan Xiang snapped his fingers. Then, the first prince Yan Luo, who had been hiding behind his father, gestured his subordinates to drag a group of people out from the next room.
A group of eunuchs carrying multiple golden chests walked out and put the containers in front of Leo. Then, they opened them.
Inside the chests were countless essence stones and spatial rings, which the imperial court had salvaged from the Death Sword Sect and the Fatui Cult. Yan Xiang presented them to Leo.
"If you win, we give you the essence stones and the spatial rings inside the chests instead. How about it?"
The crowd's eyes reddened as they were envious of the bet. They wished that they could take some of the chests back home.
Leo pursed his lips as if he didn't hate this counteroffer. He slightly nodded, "You are quite a haggler, your majesty. Very well. I accept that. But I still have my second condition."
"Speak!"
Leo widely grinned. He then laid a bait.
"If I win, I want you and your court official to pay my store a visit. You can bring your army if you want to. I will not defend or resist if you suddenly attack me or my people."
"Huh?"
The ugly smile on Leo's face was so wide and heinous that he revealed his pink gums and 48 teeth. He rubbed his hands and leaned over like a crooked villain.
"I'm a merchant, so I want nothing more but customers. Will you agree to my humble condition?"
"…"
Yan Xiang grinned while the court's cultivators sneered at Leo. They silently whispered, mocking him for being stupid.
'Is that a declaration of war? It sounds stupid to me.'
'Yeah. With that condition, we can just mobilize our armies there as a pretense to visit his stupid store, right? Then, we can just raze that place to the ground.'
'I have a better idea. Since we have a reason to access his territory, we can secretly set up a killing array to slaughter everybody inside. He can't complain if we suddenly invite some immortals from the higher realms to kill this idiot.'
'That's what I'm thinking. This immortal is a fool! He's so overconfident in his strength to the point that he forgets about other immortals from the higher realm! Once our ancestors come back, he will surely piss his pants and beg for his life!'
Leo's ears twitched as he could hear their whispers, but he pretended not to hear them. He kept staring at Yan Xiang, waiting for his answer.
Yan Xiang inwardly agreed with the gossipers. He had no issue with it.
"Fine. I'll accept the second condition. Now, bring me a scroll, so we can make this bet official!"
"Alright."
As if the scroll and brush had been prepared before the conversation, a eunuch among the crowd came out and presented a blank golden scroll to Yan Xiang. The latter picked the brush and wrote on it.
After Yan Xiang was done, the scroll floated by itself. Then, it ejected Chinese words. They instantly multiplied into two and flew into Leo's forehead and Yan Xiang's forehead.
The golden Chinese word "Contract" appeared like a tattoo.
Yan Xiang snorted and warned Leo, "With this, the bet is official. Nobody, even me, can go back on our words. Remember, if you lose, you will be expelled from this continent and never come back. If you win, you get to stay and keep those chests."
Leo widely grinned, "Don't forget the visiting part."
"…Yeah, that too. Now that you're done here. You can follow the servant outside to the prepared resident. He will tell you where the tournament will be held tomorrow."
Suddenly getting kicked out of the throne room, Leo smacked his lips. He found this emperor uncultured and rude.
Leo turned around to leave the throne room. But when he reached the exit, he stopped his feet as he remembered something.
"Say, Your Majesty."
"What?"
"What about the night banquet? Can I bring my people to join?"
"…"
Yan Xiang frowned while the other cultivators laughed at him. Yan Luo also sneered and mocked Leo.
"The banquet indeed will be held here. But for you and your people, I'm afraid that you cannot join us. After all, the invitation only extends to the members of Jianghu Alliance and our allies."
"…"
"But since you ask for it, we will not be rude and leave you out. You can join us, but we might not have a seat for you and your men, senior. You will have to sit on the ground outside the palace."
The crowd laughed. None of them hid their disdain expressions.
"…"
Leo deeply sighed. He admitted that the local people were quite bold. He thought that cultivators respected seniority and stronger cultivators. But here, they didn't hide their hostility.
'If I were a villain, these fools would have been long dead. I guess I didn't kill enough. Rather, these guys are born stupid.'
Leo secretly touched the pistol in his suit as he had the urge to shoot Yan Luo's mouth, but it was not the right time.
"I'll see y'all in the tournament. See you tomorrow, your majesty. Also, you, the smart mouth…" Leo turned around and gave Yan Luo a meaningful look, "I wish you a long life… REALLY long life."
"…"
Leo snorted and let go of his gun. He left the throne room and followed a servant, who had been waiting for Leo outside the room.
"This way, please. We'll go and pick up your comrades. Then, we'll head to your designated courtyard."
"Okay."
Both men returned to the entrance of the palace checkpoint to regroup with the others.
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