Splitting The Feast
Early into the second day, the Celestial Sage shook his head after his last question was answered, “Sigh. I feel really old now.”
The legends here were hundreds of years old, with even some sky saints approaching the turn of their first century. Most of their gazes were filled with emotion as they stared at Richard, even Apeiron herself showing a hint of awe. Both Kingsteel and Stealthwalker were limited in functionality and were crafted with weak magic souls, making them amongst the worst of saint runes, but they were still saint runes nonetheless. The important fact was that he had launched two saint runes with entirely different functions in one go, showing that he was delving into the power of laws in two different fields before he even became a legendary mage. One could tell that he had massive potential in the future, perhaps even to become an epic being.
Even more frighteningly, he had claimed that he would create another saint rune in half a year during the discussion. This was an unprecedented speed that even the South Star was impressed by, a fervent look in her eyes. It didn’t matter if these two runes didn’t match; there would be plenty of opportunities in the future. A few Norland years was nothing to these long-lived beings.
The two runes ended up being sold for a total of three top-tier sacrifices, while Apeiron also made an order of 50 more rune knights for the Sacred Alliance. This was a power move that left the Millennial Empire and Sacred Tree Empire uneasy, but the representatives from both couldn’t stop her at all.
In normal times, this would be the end of the rune convention. Both Richard and the legends would leave, having their subordinates take care of the formalities. Some legends even got up, but Richard gestured to everyone and asked them to stay as he set up the screen once more.
An image of hundreds of dragons appeared behind him.
“I’m sure all of you know what this is; a full plane of dragons. My own estimates are in the higher ten thousands, perhaps even a hundred thousand in total.”
Everyone immediately calmed down, taking their seats once more as they waited for him to continue.
“I’m certain that all of us present will have opportunities to work with each other in the future. I’ll honest; this plane is far too powerful for me to conquer in the near future, so I want to share this opportunity with you all.”
“How will you do that?” Julian asked the question on everyone’s minds.
“Simple. I’m planning to provide one-way portals to the Dragon Plane, as well as a fixed return point to leave. The entry portal can be randomised or at fixed points, that’s up to you. You can move freely in the Dragon Plane, and when you’re done you can return to Norland through one of my private planes called Faelor. This will require two interplanar portals and one that’s intraplanar, but they have all been strengthened to accommodate legendary beings. As for the few of you who are beyond that, I’m sure you know to keep such passages stable as you pass through.” Richard then smiled jokingly, “So long as you’re not too violent and keep your strength in check, there shouldn’t be any safety concerns.”
With spatial arrays on both ends of the passage, any powerhouse proficient in the laws of space would be able to obtain the coordinates of the Dragon Plane. This was how Gaton had found the Forest Plane originally. Although Richard seemed to be joking, it was in fact a veiled threat about trying anything untoward.
However, he wasn’t really worried about the possibility. His most effective means of prevention came from the two portals that could transport legendary beings; even amongst this crowd, few had the resources to throw at such a project. Legends could still tear through space to get where they wanted, but it was a huge drain on energy and put them in danger on the other end. A fixed passage was always a preferable option if the price was reasonable.
Richard looked over them all one last time, bringing up the part they were all waiting for, “As for my compensation, you’ll need to pay me a greater offering or equivalent resources for every entry. If you wish to stay for more than a month, the price will be a greater offering for every two months. Additionally, you shall acknowledge my right to own the plane as a whole; if anyone tries to steal it away, you will be obligated to help me stop them as best as you can.”
Those present were actually quite surprised by the leniency of Richard’s conditions. A plane of dragons was bound to have treasure everywhere, and a single adult dragon was equivalent to a greater offering. This wasn’t an obstacle even to a sky saint.
In fact, even with bad luck it was unlikely for someone to get fewer than four or five greater offerings in a month; considering it all, they really weren’t paying much. They all knew that the resources to maintain powerful interplanar passages were astronomical; a good chunk of the payment would go towards that alone. In fact, half of those present would have been willing to give up a full half of their profits with every trip. With this low price, even the sky saints would be confident in making a profit while some of the stronger regular saints could try their luck.
A short human smiled softly, “I assume I can stay indefinitely if I have enough offerings to give you?”
“Of course,” Richard nodded, leaving the man to blush and fantasize while he changed the screen to an image of Dragon Valley, “I have a forward base here, and I’m working on expanding it for supplies. You will be able to buy a number of rare materials in the near future, and most importantly my lab can provide some common runes and repairs. You can decide what combinations you need according to the situation, and make an appointment with me or Rosie if you need something at a higher level. I suggest you return to base frequently, I’m not limiting the number of times you can take the portal.”
“All that’s well and good, but when can we actually go?” Kenny asked anxiously.
Richard smiled, “Right now, in fact! The portal to Faelor is in Blackrose; you can get there from my island after our discussions conclude. I already have people ready to guide you once you’re in Bluewater, my capital.”
Kenny clicked his tongue, throwing a ring over, “There’s a top-tier offering in there, it should be enough for me to stay for half a year.”
Richard grabbed the ring and inspected it closely, finding that it was a spatial item with a fairly high capacity, “This is worth a full year.”
“I can only stay for half, consider the ring a gift. It’s just a small thing, don’t obsess over it!”
With someone having started, the rest of the powerhouses present lost all pretence of calmness. All of them declared their intentions of entering the Dragon Plane except for Martin, even Apeiron announcing that she wanted to practise a bit. They seemed to have a tacit understanding with each other and all requested random teleportations; they didn’t want to overcrowd one area and bring up the possibility of a fight over prey.
Outside of a few sky saints who rushed back to report to their masters, most of the powerhouses rushed towards Blackrose Castle immediately, planning to go to the Dragon Plane to gain their fortune. In such uncharted territory, being even a second late could be a massive difference. Coincidentally, they came across Sharon flying towards the Deepblue while pulling a dragon behind her. Most of them noticed the weak auras on her body as well, one of them saying softly, “Five of them!”
It was obvious where the legendary mage had come from, and the reality only made everyone more hungry. Sharon was a little confused by so many of her peers gathering nearby, but she was more worried about the condition of her new slaves and just waved before continuing to fly away at full speed. The legends continued to rush towards the castle down below.
Even Richard himself didn’t know then that this convention would decide how the Dragon Plane would be partitioned in the future. It would be called the Domed Conference after the hall they had met in, and would change the lives of the dragons drastically.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om