Chapter 64: A Man and a Young Man
"But wait a second. Why weren’t the Nine Lotus Leaves technique and the golden scroll included in the total?" Rios immediately caught that point. He turned toward Sally and frowned.
"Hahaha, Lord Ozir, those techniques aren’t sold for money. The Nine Lotus Leaves technique is a gift from Supervisor Lord Anz, and the golden scroll is also a gift from the Director." Sally spoke as envy nearly tore her apart from the sheer number of gifts Rios had received today—gifts that someone like her would never obtain even if she devoted decades of her life to working as hard as she possibly could.
"Then I suppose my business here is finished. Thank you for your generous hospitality. I certainly won’t forget the debt I owe you." Rios nodded to Sally before standing up to leave.
"Lord Ozir!"
Sally called out to Rios with a smile.
"I’ve already transferred the remaining balance to your account. Also, the Red Lotus Palace has sent you a friend request. I hope you’ll accept it."
"The remaining balance?"
Rios was puzzled for a moment before quickly realizing what she meant.
"Right... I almost forgot. Thank you."
Rios returned her smile before leaving the Red Lotus Palace.
Originally, Rios had purchased all the techniques for 33,250 Prime, which he had already paid.
However, after adding the price of the Gene Tracing technique and applying the increased discount, the total dropped to 27,300 Prime, meaning that 5,950 Prime rightfully belonged to Rios and had been refunded.
"What now, Sir?"
Lily looked at Rios, who was quietly standing outside the palace gates while watching the endless stream of passersby.
Ignoring Lily’s question, Rios opened the status panel of the Eternal Night Heaven.
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Name: Ozir
Race: Pure Human (Immortal)
Law: Life
Level: Wis (4)
Age: 20
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These five pieces of information appeared beside a three-dimensional projection of Rios from his first life.
Below them were three more icons: Messages, Map, and More.
These icons had originally been locked, but after obtaining a Golden Assistant, the locks had been removed.
At that moment, the Messages icon was glowing with several notifications.
Rios tapped it and found numerous purchase receipts.
Among them was a single friend request.
[Red Lotus Palace has sent you a friend request.]
[Accept / Decline]
"Is this like the social media chats from my first life?"
Rios looked at the friend request for a moment before pressing Accept.
The moment he accepted it, a new palace-shaped icon appeared beside the More (+) icon, bringing the total number of icons to four.
Rios tapped the palace icon.
A tab labeled Red Lotus Palace immediately appeared before him.
Without any hesitation, he opened it.
A new crimson interface bearing the Red Lotus emblem appeared before him.
The screen displayed thousands of items of every imaginable kind—weapons, techniques, spells, and even strangely shaped rare treasures.
"Is this... something like an online store?"
Rios was genuinely surprised.
With this new feature, he could purchase anything he wanted without personally visiting the Red Lotus Palace, and everything he bought would be delivered directly to his account.
"Lily, I want to go somewhere that sells food—specifically grains and fruits. It doesn’t matter whether they’re infused with energy or not. I just want ordinary plants that haven’t been affected by energy yet. The important thing is that they’re cheap and available in massive quantities."
Rios closed both the status panel and the store interface before looking at Lily.
"Right away, Sir."
Countless streams of data flashed across Lily’s eyes.
One second later, she smiled and sat on Rios’s shoulder.
"Get ready, Sir. We’re leaving immediately."
---
In the central district of the Five Courts and the Eternal Night Heaven Palace...
Thousands of people appeared every single moment.
But this time, two figures immediately drew everyone’s attention.
The first was a white soul projection belonging to a young man in his twenties with overwhelmingly handsome features.
It wasn’t the gentle kind of beauty, nor the classic kind.
Nor was it the rough, masculine type.
It was a savage beauty that radiated nothing but predation.
His eyes were as sharp as a hawk’s.
His long hair surged upward and backward like an unquenchable flame.
But what stood out the most...
...was the pair of enormous wings extending from his back, each at least twice the size of an eagle’s wings.
The second man was even more remarkable.
Unlike everyone else’s white soul projection within the Eternal Night Heaven...
...his soul was actually golden.
He appeared to be a quiet, modest man in his thirties, with short hair and rectangular glasses connected to a thin chain hanging from one side.
Unlike the fiery-haired young man beside him, he had no wings.
Instead, eight whip-like appendages extended from his back.
The only thing they had in common was the fang emblem displayed on their chests.
The young man’s emblem had four fangs.
The golden man’s emblem had six.
At that moment, a tiny golden spider appeared above the golden man’s head and began playing with his hair.
"Alright, alright, Task. I missed you too."
The man gently picked up the little spider, cradled it in his hands, and softly massaged its tiny head.
Meanwhile, a blue panel appeared before the fiery-haired young man.
[Would you like an Assistant Guide?]
[Yes / No]
The young man stared at the panel for a moment before revealing a feral grin and pressing Yes.
Light gathered before him.
Gradually, a fierce golden bird of prey with a long feathered tail materialized.
It circled noisily above him before saying,
"Welcome, Sir. My name is Kairos, and I’ll be your AI assistant."
"Hahaha! Look at my assistant. Isn’t he far more majestic and handsome than your cute little pathetic assistant?" The young man laughed mockingly before looking toward the golden man with inward disdain. "But aren’t you from the Soul-Devouring Spider race with a Heaven-grade bloodline? Then why the hell did you choose such an effeminate form?"
Faced with such rude behavior, the golden man simply ignored the young man’s insolence. He looked toward the Eternal Night Palace floating beside the palaces of the Five Courts before speaking.
"You have a mission to complete within one year at most..."
"...if you wish to become an official member of the Primordial Fangs."
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