Book 3: Chapter 321: The Failed First Negotiation

After staying at the Cliffside Royal Court for eight days, the members of the delegation began to grow restless. Many urged Xialanni the Sage to directly seek an audience with that Blood Queen.

Fortunately, before their persuasion succeeded, the Blood Queen summoned the delegation, but only three people were received: Xialanni, Sylutia, and Carmilla.

The meeting place was a semicircular side hall in the royal palace. The semicircular wall featured tall, clear glass windows that reflected the green vines and roses outside. The scenery was excellent, and the atmosphere was slightly relaxed.

On one side of the hall, Catella sat in a classical chair made of black wood, wearing an elaborate black gown. The long hem spread out like a fish tail, mostly draping onto the carpet, exuding a kind of luxurious leisure.

The three were led by Blood Clan maidservants to the side hall and arranged to sit down. What was rather unusual was that Carmilla's seat was beside Catella, rather than with Sylutia and the others.

Shortly after they sat down, the Queen remained calm, merely raising her hand for the maidservants to serve tea, then fell silent for several more seconds before finally speaking to break the quiet.

"Regarding your purpose here, I am already clear on it." Her finger pressed against the teacup lid.

"Let us dispense with excessive pleasantries. I can agree to let the Blood Clan trade Blood Crystal resources, but I also have some conditions." Hearing this, the seated few were not surprised. If there were no conditions and no price, that would be the strange thing.

However, Carmilla was also somewhat surprised. Since when was Catella so decisive? In the past, she would surely have gone back and forth several times before clarifying her true conditions.

"I know you are currently engaged in large-scale trade with the Hidden Grove Alliance, paying considerable resources and creations as trade goods, but these mean little to the Blood Clan."

The Blood Clan territory had a sparse population and was unsuitable for growing crops, let alone developing industrial goods when there was no one to sell them to.

"I have heard that the Blood Copper Tincture you developed against the plague was researched by Sylutia, correct?" Her gaze turned to the silver-haired girl.

"It was me." Sylutia met the Blood Queen's gaze and nodded.

During the eye contact, those crimson eyes seemed to display multiple layered spectrums. An ordinary person would likely have become dizzy by now, their consciousness affected by the other party.

Fortunately, Sylutia's mental consciousness was not weak, and the Luminous Moon Aspect was itself the sovereign of the mental domain, allowing her to remain clear-headed.

After several seconds, the other party stopped gazing at Sylutia and continued speaking.

"Miss Sylutia, since you were able to develop the Blood Copper Tincture, then I also have a request. I hope you can develop a tincture targeting the Bloodline Curse. Not necessarily a complete removal, but at least suppression to the point where it does not affect normal life."

"That is possible, but research and analysis will require time." Sylutia replied.

"I can wait, but I cannot wait forever."

"I will have my subordinates prepare a batch of Blood Crystal as trade goods first. You will need to exchange resources at five times the market price." She raised a finger.

"These Blood Crystals should allow you to produce a batch of Blood Copper Tincture for emergency use. But if you wish to continue trading afterward, it will depend on Miss Sylutia's research results."

"I have no problem with that, but..." Sylutia looked toward the Sage beside her.

After some thought, the other nodded in agreement.

"That is acceptable, though it does put Miss Ya in a somewhat difficult position, since she is not a member of the Mage Alliance." The Sage replied thus, and gave Sylutia an apologetic look.

In truth, Xialanni had long since recognized that Sylutia and Hedra were the same person. After all, it was she who had first sensed the traits of the Daughter of the Luminous Moon. But some surface-level formalities still had to be observed, and it would not be beneficial for the negotiation either.

"Your identity is not important. You have not finished stating your conditions." Carmilla shook her head and continued speaking.

"Aside from keeping Miss Sylutia to assist with research, you also need the eight Named Ones of the Mage Alliance, Their Eminences, to deliver one Fourth Tier fire seed."

Upon hearing that condition, Sage Xialanni raised an eyebrow and shook her head without hesitation.

"That is impossible. Please, Blood Queen Carmilla, change to another condition." She explained.

"That kind of fire seed is the lifeline of the entire Alliance. Its importance far exceeds what the world imagines, and the resources and manpower consumed in its manufacture are unimaginable. It is impossible to offer it for trade."

Although she did not specifically explain how many such fire seeds existed, it was likely that the entire Mage Alliance possessed no more than a handful. They were the Alliance's final trump cards for decisive battles.

Hearing this answer, Queen Catella frowned, and the atmosphere at the scene fell silent, gradually sliding toward freezing point.

Although they were the ones seeking a favor, Sage Xialanni was also clear about where her bottom line lay. That kind of fire seed could absolutely not be offered in exchange. If this Queen truly could not be reasoned with, then the upper echelons of the Mage Alliance would not hesitate to start a war and force the Blood Clan to comply and deliver.

As for the Blood Clan's current strength, although she had not conducted a detailed investigation, she was clear that it amounted to this Queen plus three Blood Clan Dukes, at most four Seventh Tier existences. Meanwhile, the Mage Alliance had over twenty Seventh Tier Sages, far surpassing the Blood Clan.

Negotiating trade was giving both sides a chance to resolve things peacefully. After all, in such times, the Mage Alliance was not particularly willing to launch a large-scale war. But if the other party could not be reasoned with and hindered the Alliance's ability to resolve the plague disaster, then the Alliance Council passing a resolution for war would be a very quick matter.

Originally, some of the Blood Clan's minor maneuvers over the years had already displeased quite a few in the Alliance. But because they were geographically distant and had never harmed any vital fundamentals, the Blood Clan issue had never been dealt with.

In this stalemated atmosphere, Carmilla stood up and spoke, easing the tension.

"I lived in the Mage Alliance for several years and am quite familiar with the prosperous things there. How about letting me handle this negotiation on your behalf, Queen Sister Your Majesty?" Her words were actually giving Catella a way out.

Knowing that continuing to stalemate would be useless, the Queen waved her hand and led her people out of the side hall.

After the others left, only three people remained here.

"Elder Sister still does not understand the Mage Alliance well enough." Carmilla sighed.

She could guess that the other party had obtained some information and knew which things within the Mage Alliance were most precious, but her understanding was not deep. This was likely the result of an outsider being unable to see the inner workings, not understanding what kind of exorbitant price the Mage Alliance had to pay to refine a single Eighth Tier fire seed.

Sylutia had once won the championship at the College Grand Competition and had only obtained a Sixth Tier fire seed. As for the next level up, the Seventh Tier fire seed, even the Sages had not each managed to obtain one, let alone the Alliance's highest-tier fire seed. That was likely the proof of the Path created by the Named One Vailenhart when he founded the Gold Steam Path.

"The Mage Alliance developed too quickly. It has only been a few hundred years since the Alchemy Aspect transformed into Gold Steam. Some elderly Blood Clan nobles still hold the impression that mages are all Alchemists." Carmilla explained.

Because they were located at the remote northern Sea Cliff, isolated from the world, even though the Blood Clan had once possessed great strength, as they fell out of step with the world's mainstream, they had slowly fallen into isolation and stagnation.

It was true that some Blood Clan members would go out on missions, but those tended to be middle and lower-tier Blood Clan members with little say. The several newly promoted Blood Clan Counts also held weak positions within the Blood Clan and could not shake the status of the old-established Blood Clan families. Even if they knew of the changes in the outside world, speaking up still could not change the situation.

As Queen, Catella was surrounded by members of old-established noble families. Those maidservants and knights also mostly came from these families. Though loyal, they largely lacked understanding of the outside world.

After hearing Carmilla's explanation, the two also understood why that Queen would propose such conditions.

Even an incomparably brilliant ruler, under a massive information gap, would likely find it hard to make correct judgments. And Sylutia even guessed at another layer: that Catella, who had awakened Clovante's memories, would not allow herself and the Blood Clan to remain in such an insignificant position.

In the centuries-long memories of Clovante's life, the Blood Dynasty had been so powerful, the leader of the entire human race, leaving behind enormous influence. Even now, all the noble systems and titles, as well as many court etiquettes, originated from this early human dynasty.

Changing one's mindset was not an easy thing, especially when using Catella's mere several decades of life and less than ten years of perception since awakening to challenge the habits of consciousness cultivated over centuries.

"Looking at it this way, I estimate we will need to wait a while longer for that Queen to sort out the current situation." The Sage sighed.

"But time is extremely precious. Right now the plague spreads every day, causing massive casualties. Without sufficient materials, the production increase of Blood Copper Tincture is slow."

"Perhaps we need to prepare on two fronts." Sylutia thought for a moment.

It had to be said that the gardener was a rather wondrous profession. Many rare resources could be cultivated by oneself. She remembered that back in the Hidden Grove, she had witnessed the power of the Demonic Blood Vine, a plant capable of absorbing the flesh and blood power of monsters and condensing Crimson Blood Fruit.

If Crimson Blood Fruit could be obtained in large quantities, then using alchemical pharmaceutical methods to convert Crimson Blood Fruit into Blood Crystal would not be difficult. That way, there would be no need to depend on the Blood Crystal provided by the Blood Clan.

So in the time that followed, Sylutia began researching in the quarters arranged for her within the Royal Court, working on how to cultivate and improve the Demonic Blood Vine to make it more efficient.