Chapter 205 - The Man in the Royal Bed [6]

Suddenly, Sirius remembered something.

"Hey, you said yours is a demonic refining body, right?"

"Uh... yes."

Sirius grinned. "Good, good. Such a fortune indeed."

Cale involuntarily took a step back. That grin looked a little dangerous for his puny little body.

Sirius caught him by the shoulder and pulled him back. "Where do you think you’re running off to? I’ve put in so much effort to feed the chicken and fatten it. There’s no way I’m letting it run away."

Cale sighed and resigned himself to fate.

Sirius explained the technique. He simply put his finger on Cale’s forehead, and transferred it to Cale.

’I-its like Bluetooth...’

It was called the Heavenly Demon Abyssal Titan Art. It hadn’t been called that at first. The original name had been ’Godbody,’ but Cale had changed the word to ’Heavenly Demon.’

"It’s a supreme body-refinement technique that allows the cultivator to refine their flesh, bones, blood, organs, and meridians using virtually any kind of material, whether naturally occurring treasures or artificially crafted resources. Spiritual herbs, divine metals, beast bones, refined alloys, alchemical pills, elemental crystals, even specially forged treasures can be assimilated to strengthen the body. Interesting, isn’t it? I stole this from the Heavenly Demonic Sect itself."

Cale grinned. To think he would be learning a technique the patriarchal clan had lost, and had hidden the truth from the entire world. They didn’t even know what and where it was, so they wouldn’t come looking for it.

"The technique extracts the unique properties of each material and integrates them into the cultivator’s physique, allowing the body to evolve according to the resources consumed. The rarer and more powerful the material, the greater the potential enhancement. Through continuous refinement, the cultivator gradually develops a physique resembling the legendary Primordial Demon-Titans, with monstrous strength, extraordinary durability, and a body capable of withstanding energies that would destroy ordinary cultivators.

You’ll even be able to create Dharma bodies that enlarge like titans in battle."

Cale smiled, then quickly dropped to one knee. It was a sign of respect from his side.

Seeing this, Sirius let out a wry laugh.

"What are you doing this for? Do you trust me now?"

Cale shook his head. "Ah, no. I don’t trust you a single bit."

"Huh. Then what made you bend your knee? I don’t take you for the bootlicking type."

Cale looked up, a glimmer in his eyes. "You’ve done something for me today. You’ve even taught me. In my eyes, you already deserve more respect than my parents do, so don’t stop me. Even knowing the consequences of letting someone like me live, you still didn’t kill me. So this is all I can offer. I won’t ever betray you... for now, that is."

Cale was stubborn about such things. He had been betrayed many times by people he’d thought would never do such a thing, so even making a pact of loyalty was rare for him.

Smiling, Sirius walked forward and ruffled Cale’s hair. "Alright, alright, get up. You think I need something like that?"

Cale got to his feet, and the two of them started walking back toward the main hall.

"Uncle."

"Hmm?"

"Now that we’ve gotten this close, isn’t it about time you helped your dear nephew?"

Sirius sighed. "I knew it."

"Oh, whatever do you mean?"

"You rascal, putting on such an act. Sigh... so what is it?"

Walking behind him, Cale answered, "I need help getting into the Magic Tower."

"Oh, is that all?"

Cale raised an eyebrow. "Is it really that easy?"

"Did you forget who you’re talking to?"

Realizing, Cale smiled. "The first Ninth Circle mage of Vaeloria... haha."

As they continued talking, three beautiful women came toward them from ahead. One had blonde hair, one had red, and the last had white.

As Sirius walked on, Cale took a few steps back, and the three women kissed Sirius one after another.

Cale could only struggle to hold back his laughter.

When the three finally loosened their grip on Sirius, Cale stepped forward. "Um... hello..."

"Ah, Callisto!"

"Cale!"

"Cale is here? Why didn’t you tell us?"

Seeing his uncle being bullied, Cale stepped in. "This kind of friendship between wives hasn’t reached our side of the house yet, so I’m here to learn it. I wouldn’t want to end up like the old man, right?"

His uncle nodded immediately.

The three women hugged Cale from all sides, and of course he didn’t refuse.

’Holy gods, let my wives be as harmonious as these, and not rebellious enough to start killing each other...’

Heading back ahead, Sirius looked over his shoulder. "Don’t make that complicated face. I can read it easily, you know."

"Then I’ll just ask it straight out. What do you want from me?"

Sirius sighed. "Hmm. For starters, go to the ancestral tomb opening in a few weeks. It’s a swordsmanship technique. It should be good for you, right?"

"And what do you get out of it?"

"You get stronger. Did you forget? You’re the one who’s going to fight the representatives of the other four continents."

"I see. So that’s what you had planned."

"Planned?? Didn’t you keep yapping about wanting to be the representative? Here you go." Sirius shrugged.

"Alright. Phew... only a few weeks, huh. Then I guess the ancestral tomb won’t be that difficult."

Seeing Cale grinning greedily like a maniac, Sirius looked up and sighed. "This must be what they mean by a deal with the devil. This little devil of our house..."

As they reached the main yard, Sirius turned and smiled.

"I forgot to tell you something."

Cale raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"We’re going to be visited by a few Boundless Stage cultivators in some hours."

"W-what!!! Why the hell are you telling me this now?"

Sirius sighed. "Well... they won’t exactly attack. But you should know how people from those cultivation clans are. They’re sending their envoys, but they’ll likely make trouble up here. Who knows? And if even one of them gets beaten up..."

Cale scratched his chin. "Haah. How did I not realize this common trope?"

"Common trope, you say? Well, leaving that aside, don’t worry too much. I can easily handle them."

Hearing this, Cale felt a little relieved.

He still had one question he was curious about, though. "Uncle."

"Hm?"

"How powerful would you be if you destroyed all your avatar bodies and absorbed their cultivation right now?"

After thinking for a moment, Sirius answered, "Hmm. I don’t know if I’d win, but I can certainly go toe to toe with a Divine Stage cultivator."

"Good! I chose the best life insurance!"

Sirius grinned too. "Go spend time with those two girls. Who knows when you’ll get to meet them again? The trouble won’t start for a few days, and a few days after that, I’ll take you to the ancestral grounds of the Kastors."

"Oh, so it was from the Kastors."

"Who else would have a swordsmanship-based inheritance grounds?" Sirius answered.

"Alright. I’ll go have some fun," the lustful devil answered.

***

While Cale returned to Rexa and Emma’s side, envoys and guests from all four borders arrived regularly, along with many from the other three kingdoms. This continued for months, a steady tide of carriages, banners, and anxious faces passing through the estate’s gates.

It wasn’t simply a fight or some ordinary tournament. The outcome would decide the fate of the five continents for the next five hundred years, since the Mandate crystal only appeared once every five centuries. That was why the winner was called the Overlord of this landmass. Otherwise, why would the other four continents even bother to argue with the small Vaeloria?

The Heavenly Mandate Crystal was an ancient divine treasure that governed the fate of an entire landmass, and in this case, that meant Vaeloria and the four surrounding continents. Hidden deep beneath its spiritual ley lines, it silently absorbed a fragment of the soul of every living being born upon the land, binding countless generations to its authority. Through it, its master could issue heavenly edicts, suppress the cultivation of those under its dominion, and even annihilate their souls. It could also perceive disturbances across the continent and manipulate its spiritual veins.

Of course, the world’s will would never allow a ruler to become a mad tyrant who enslaved the entire population of all five continents. Nevertheless, the crystal allowed its owner to impose their will upon the people to a terrifying degree. It could suppress the cultivation of those whose realms surpassed its owner’s, annihilate the souls of those far weaker, and monitor disturbances across the entire landmass.

Furthermore, its owner could manipulate the spiritual veins buried beneath the earth, drawing upon their energy for their own cultivation while retaining the veins’ original functions. With such authority, possessing the Heavenly Mandate Crystal was akin to becoming the supreme ruler of an entire continent, standing above countless sects, empires, and cultivators.

Obviously, Sirius, who belonged to the race of the original owners of Vaeloria, wanted the crystal far more than any of the others. Cale, for his part, had no intention of letting it fall into anyone else’s hands, so he would act as the representative whenever and wherever he could.

Cale did spend some of his time sleeping with women, but most of it went into training. After entering the Emperor stage, every breakthrough, even from Low to Mid, could take years. Given the location he was in, there weren’t many monsters around and no real danger to his life. Ironically, the more danger he was in, the faster he could grow. On top of that, there were no souls around at all to help absorb or strengthen his soul cultivation, which left him relying on far slower methods.