Chapter 362: A Blood Emperor of His Own

Cassian snapped his fingers, as though remembering one small detail.

"One more thing. I already hold administrator authority over the Five Elements Temple. For a fair exchange, you’ll need administrator authority over the Firstborn Gate too. Then you can relocate it to my Region."

"You..."

Anger flickered across Evander’s face. Yet the condition itself was perfectly reasonable.

Cassian stepped through the Gate.

"When you have the Gate’s administrator authority, we can exchange payment and property. Mira, look after our guest."

"Of course, boss."

The Gate closed. Mira turned to Evander with a bright smile.

"Would you like to stay for lunch, Lord Ardent?"

"No."

His expression was dark.

She watched him leave through a teleportation formation. Once he was gone, her smile disappeared and she contacted Cassian.

"Boss, what if Fivefold Heaven refuses?"

"They’ll agree."

Judging by Evander’s behavior, he was at least seventy percent certain. If necessary, he could show them a little more of his strength. That should settle the remaining doubt.

Then he smiled.

"Remember, the exchange depends on Fivefold Heaven obtaining administrator authority over the Firstborn Gate."

"Yes?"

"I never said I would stop competing for it myself."

Mira stared at him.

So there was more to it than making the Western Beacon pay. He was buying time as well.

To gain administrator authority over the Gate, a claimant had to hold ten billion First-Age Coins. Even if Fivefold Heaven could increase its drop rate, collecting that many would take time.

By then, Divine Province might have founded a Nation. Perhaps even a Realm. With the National Fortune already held by the thirteen Crown Provinces, its strength would rise enormously.

"Boss..." Mira finally found her voice. "You’re going to drive them mad."

——

"What?"

Gavin had been enjoying a generous lunch. The envoy’s report destroyed his appetite.

"Fivefold Heaven wants to exchange our Firstborn Gate for Cassian’s Temple?"

The envoy offered a miserable smile.

"Yes, Lord Roswell. Those are the terms Fivefold Heaven has agreed to with Cassian. They’ll also provide an additional trillion Aether."

He hesitated, then continued.

"They’ve asked me to inform you that they will buy all the Western Beacon’s First-Age Coins at a hundred Aether each."

"Bastards!"

Gavin struck the table. The lavish meal crashed to the floor amid splintered wood.

After the second Provincial Ranking, the Beacon had moved Lords to Windward Isle in great numbers. They wanted to collect First-Age Coins as quickly as possible, claim the Gate, and gain a steady supply of Mythic goods.

The Gate was supposed to be their greatest weapon against Cassian.

Instead, he had used their own plan to lay claim to the Wonder in Sunhaven Province.

If the exchange went through, Divine Province would trade one Wonder for another and receive a trillion Aether on top. The Beacon would be the one surrendering a World Wonder for nothing.

They had done this to themselves.

The thought filled Gavin with such fury that he could scarcely breathe.

"What kind of great Realm is Fivefold Heaven? Afraid of one little Province! Even if they fear Divine Province, do they think the Western Beacon is so easy to bully?"

"I’m afraid they do," the envoy said carefully.

Gavin almost choked.

"Then tell them the Homeworld donated the Five Elements Temple. Not the Firstborn Gate!"

"I already did. But..."

"But what?"

"Lord Evander said the Temple is what they want. Once the exchange is complete, the Firstborn Gate will still belong to the Homeworld."

Gavin went still.

Cassian was a Homeworld Lord too.

There was nothing wrong with that argument.

Blood burst from his mouth.

Before long, Fivefold Heaven’s flying vessels began landing on Windward Isle. One powerful figure after another descended from them.

The Western Beacon’s Lords watched in bitter anger. None dared stop the newcomers.

News of the proposed exchange soon spread throughout the Homeworld. Lords read the terms, stared, and began to laugh.

[They tried to give away Divine Province’s Wonder and ended up paying with their own!]

[If you want to be generous, donate your own property. They’ve finally learned how!]

[Cassian even made Fivefold Heaven back down. What a man.]

Some laughed until they could barely breathe.

Divine Province’s Lords felt an enormous weight lift. Trading the Temple for the Firstborn Gate seemed a fair outcome. The Beacon’s Lords looked as though they were attending a funeral.

Very few people knew that Cassian had never intended to settle for a trade.

He wanted both.

And he had reason to believe he could get them.

——

Another day passed.

In Cassian’s Domain, dark-gold lines began spreading across a huge cocoon of blood.

It burst open.

Wings more than ten meters long tore through the shell, their dark-gold surfaces shining as they stretched.

"It works."

Cassian watched the transformation with undisguised delight.

"Emperor Blood Essence condensed through the Chalice really can advance a Blood Prince into a Blood Emperor. Give me enough Legendary blood, and I can keep producing Mythic troops."

A woman stepped out through the swirling blood mist. Her skin was pale as snow, her beauty surpassing even Odette’s. Blood gathered around her body and hardened into dark-gold armor, though not quite quickly enough to hide everything from him.

She approached and dropped to one knee.

"Katrienne thanks you for this new life, my lord."

He had chosen the name himself, a reminder of Katerina Revan, the Bloodkin Prince whose death had yielded the Chalice early in the sector.

Half a month earlier, he had bought Blood Prince Troop Sigils through the Exchange and paid to recruit several hundred Blood Princes. He had kept the twelve women he found most beautiful and dismissed the rest.

Several hundred million Aether. A minor expense by his present standards.

Those twelve would stand out even among the women already living in his Domain. Veyra and the others had made their opinion of his selection process perfectly clear.

Katrienne was the finest of them. She was a welcome change from the elderly Blood Emperors the Chalice usually called forth.

"Rise."

The more Cassian looked at her, the more pleased he became.

Unlike a summoned Emperor, she was a permanent troop. Blood Emperors might sit in the lower half of Mythic fighters—she might not even defeat Rhea, a Legendary Nine-Star—but this was his first way to produce Mythic troops repeatedly.

Even if the production rate was painfully slow.

"Katrienne, from now on, you’ll control the Blood Moat around the Domain."

"Yes, my lord."

Cassian began considering the cost.

Before the attempt, he had consumed the required Legendary Troop Souls and paid the Battle Essence to bring her to Nine-Star. Then, over repeated paid summons, he had used the Chalice’s Blood Emperors to condense the essence she needed. Each drop had consumed ten minutes of a summoned Emperor’s service.

"Three hundred and forty-eight drops to cross into Mythic."

At roughly three hundred drops of Legendary blood for each drop of Emperor Blood Essence, that meant a little over a hundred thousand drops. The initial summoning costs were separate.

Advancing another three would swallow roughly another three hundred thousand drops. He still needed blood to maintain the Chalice’s summons. With powerful enemies on every side, pouring everything into permanent troops would be unwise.

"Buy what I can through the Exchange. And I need to kill a great many more monsters—Epic and above."

The three hundred and forty thousand drops he had loaded into the Chalice earlier had come from blood gathered almost in passing during his first year in the sector. He had never made collecting it a priority. Some of that stock had already gone into summons and their upkeep, and now this advancement had taken a substantial share.

It was time to gather more.

He opened the Homeworld Channel.

[Cassian Vale: Buying Legendary Blood Essence at 220,000 Aether per drop. No quantity limit. This offer lasts one day—sell while you can.]

He posted the announcement three times, then set up an automatic purchase order on the Exchange. The price was roughly ten percent above the market rate.

Next, he called Darian.

"How many foreign Lords have moved into Pandora?"

"About one million four hundred thousand." Darian had the figure ready. Anticipation entered his voice. "Are we moving?"

Cassian nodded.

"Send me all their coordinates. Have Divine Province’s special operations team move into position. We seal the area in half an hour."

For an instant, vertical pupils showed in Darian’s eyes, betraying his excitement.

"Leave it to me. This time, none of those bastards are getting away!"