The whale almost spat blood. What a ridiculous and senseless rule was this? How does 10 thousand turn into a million?
Everyone saw his expression sink. Fom the line, a voice sounded in disdain. "What? The Black Phoenix Clan, who adores whales, is so poor? Your son-in-law is so flashy and exuberant; I think you bit off more than you could chew."
"Dexo, you bastard! How dare you!" Lirelia roared, trembling with the name of her clan ridiculed.
For Alm and Bruno, the involvement of the major clans in this became clear now. ’Why are they targeting us like this? Beating up Dexo wouldn’t be a reason for the Golden Asuras to move.’ Bruno thought.
’Because we are involved with the Black Phoenix Clan, even if by mistake.’ Alm responded promptly. ’It seems Lirelia’s engagement with Dexo wasn’t a joke, and the clans are planning something dark against them... we got involved in this shit unintentionally.’
Without enough money, Alm and Bruno thought dazedly for two seconds. Then, a voice from above sounded lightly.
"We will pay."
The whale turned around and saw a figure of the same height as Lirelia land next to her. It was a woman who had a figure two levels below, but her appearance was almost identical. The Black Elf blood was much more apparent in this woman.
The Golden Asura nodded. "The leader of the Black Phoenix Clan will pay then, great."
The woman paid, making Alm and Bruno intrigued. A spatial ring was received. Following that, the Golden Asura turned to the whale, asking for identification. Quickly, he received and placed a rune.
"Registered Supreme Boss..." He turned with red eyes to the whale, and Bruno almost let out a laugh. The Golden Asura coughed and continued. "Goku, half Human, half Earth Whale."
They received the mocking nameplate from the Furious Asura. Right after, they turned around, finding the woman who was smiling lightly. She turned to Lirelia and saw the small black elf beside her with indifference, quickly leading them away from there.
Away from the crowd, they landed gently. "Mom!" Lirelia approached joyfully and pulled Yanson forward. "This here is..."
"I know who he is. It doesn’t matter." The response came dryly. "I am Veria, Lirelia’s mother and the leader of the Black Phoenix Clan." She spoke, looking deeply at the whale.
Alm and Bruno felt very strange. They were calmly assessed; Veria clearly felt with her QI that they were still at the seventh level of the Heaven Stage. But when she used her soul to assess more deeply, her primitive instincts exclaimed, and her eyes trembled.
She was in the Divine Emperor Realm, the eleventh cultivation realm, very close to the maximum limit of divine cultivators. But... she felt immense pressure coming from them, as if glimpsing an abyss trying to stop her.
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It took a second before she stabilized and waved it off casually. They were approved without any reservations. She turned again to her daughter and the black elf and didn’t care. She figured her daughter was young and wouldn’t take long to realize who was truly powerful, and she would discard this little trash. In the meantime...
Leader, Leader, Leader, Mom, Leader.
Five female figures approached the group. One of them was Lirelia’s older sister. Veria’s intentions were as clear as day. ’Shit, she wants to use us as breeding studs. We have to clarify this soon.’ Bruno thought dazed.
Alm retorted, ’No. Yanson doesn’t seem to care, and Lirelia is so foolish that she hasn’t noticed the mistake until now. Let’s take advantage a bit.’ He added with a sinister tone.
Alm took on the appearance of the whale and looked at the five women who were a few levels below Lirelia but not bad. Then, he pretended to evaluate and nodded. Soon, they turned to Veria, and their gazes met. They seemed to understand each other without exchanging a word, and Veria became much more satisfied. He was clever and knew how to recognize the treasure given to him.
"Will my mother-in-law show me around the city? We have fifteen days until the entrance." The whale spoke with a light smile.
"Of course, let’s go." She spoke lightly and waved to the five, who approached the whale gently.
Lirelia saw her sister in the middle and thought she understood something by seeing her holding the whale’s arm. So, she interpreted that the whale would join her clan in this way, not that she was involved, and smiled. Alm thanked the combination of her foolishness and naivety. Yanson was naive but not foolish; he clearly understood everything. However, he couldn’t sense any malice or that the whale really wanted this. So, he remained silent.
Veria, seeing her daughter’s smile, became excited. If her sister helped, things would flow more easily. Soon, the group walked through the city leisurely.
They visited various notable places, alchemist shops, and libraries. The whale walked with the women very closely, and Alm pretended satisfaction. Bruno was incredulous at the pretense; when Alm had malicious plans, he didn’t care about appearances; he could even pretend to be a woman if necessary. Finally, they entered a building dedicated to forging.
The whale soon showed genuine interest, not escaping Veria’s eyes. He began analyzing the weapons and gave them ratings. These were weapons for divine cultivators, something only people at Veria’s level could sense, and surprisingly, he got everything right without knowing the price... until he described the material of the weapon in detail.
"I’m not very familiar with the minerals here; they are all peculiar. My master was right in saying that I still have much to learn." The whale said lightly.
"Well, you’re a blacksmith?" Veria asked lightly, and the whale nodded calmly and indifferently.
Hearing that, Veria bought a large quantity of all available ores for her ’son-in-law.’ Money was not a problem to secure this son-in-law.
Alm got excited and started asking and requesting different ores and woods. Veria bought him everything he wanted without hesitation. Later, they entered a very busy and flashy shop.
The whale calmly looked at all the weapons until he spotted something in the distance that made his body freeze immediately. It was a grayish spear, and on it, a small and unmistakable runic seal was engraved.
Veria saw the reaction and followed the whale’s eyes. Suddenly, they walked closer to the spear and carefully observed every detail. It was displayed within a formation, and obviously, they could only see, not touch.
The whale then audibly murmured to everyone, "A runic seal... this one I don’t know, master didn’t teach me. It must be from some of my brothers. By the shape... it must be something related to distortion... linked to space... fascinating."
Suddenly, Veria petrified, and her eyes widened. She knew exactly what this weapon was. It was made by a disciple of the god of forging. Veria herself had seen the mystical effect of this weapon before but considered the fact that she didn’t use spears and didn’t buy it. They, with just one look, got it right... it couldn’t be... her mind was a mess.
Alm internally laughed at her reaction, and they continued to observe it. It didn’t take long for Veria to regain her leader’s mask and speak, pretending to be calm.
"The son-in-law... is a disciple of the god of forging?"
The whale turned and murmured emotionlessly, "Hm? Ah, master. Yes, they call him the god of forging. He told me that I learned the intermediate level, so I can be considered one of his disciples."
Intermediate... Veria dropped the mask again. This spear was the most expensive weapon in the whole city, and any weapon made by a disciple of the god of forging was a treasure for any cultivator, and its price was abnormal.
She took a deep breath... then Alm and Bruno felt her send a mental message to a distant place. In seconds, she spoke. "Did the son-in-law like the spear? It doesn’t represent much to be considered a gift from our clan, but if he liked it, we’ll take it."
Alm almost let out a laugh. Veria turned to a distant attendant, and he stated the price. Just ten million black gold. More than double the amount of the entrance fee to the whale’s world.
Everyone felt that Veria was shedding bloodtears as she indifferently smiled and paid for the spear. The whale received the spear, thanked his mother-in-law, and promised to study and try to replicate it.
They left the shop shortly after, then three new figures landed near the whale. "Sisters!" Lirelia spoke lightly.
They were three women, older than Lirelia and with powerful divine-level cultivation. Veria looked at the whale, and the message was clear. They would have to pay for that by contributing to the clan’s natality as much as possible and with the highest possible quality. The whale just smiled excitedly and approached the growing group. But internally, Alm and Bruno broke into a cold sweat, who would handle this?
Alm then continued the walk... and now he was more at ease... and soon Veria began to almost bleed real blood. They started asking for everything they wanted in exorbitant amounts, and they were all different and the most expensive ores.
Sometime later, in the middle of the city, the whale felt something and approached a stall. Inside, he saw a piece of black wood. Alm was stunned. ’Pure Yin... as pure as what we generate with the tattoo...’
"What is this, mother-in-law?" The whale asked cheerfully.
"Hm? It comes from a tree called ’Nemesis of Life’; something very rare in the underworld, born under very specific conditions."
The whale observed, sighing, and his eyes sparkled, much to Veria’s despair. Then his words came. "This wood looks a lot like something master taught me to manipulate. I think I can quickly make a weapon with it. But my cultivation is still low, when I reach the Elemental Condensation Realm... yes! I think I have a 90% guarantee of success."
Veria jumped, astonished. That wood was rare, and at the same time, few could use it. If a disciple of the god of forging said he could do it with 90% certainty... and he was her son-in-law...
"Well... if you like it, I’ll give it to you. But I also feel a connection with this wood..." She murmured.
The whale responded immediately. "Did the mother-in-law like it? Great, I will dedicate myself to making a perfect weapon to please you with this." Their eyes met, and the pure and naive look of the whale almost brought a tear to Veria’s eye.
She turned to the stall owner. 6 million... she handed over a ring with a smile. But everyone could see her trembling hand squeezing.
’I hope she doesn’t have any more daughters. She only spent 20 million on us, I hope she doesn’t want the same number of descendants.’ Bruno said strangely.
In the end, they returned to the Phoenix Black Clan, with Alm satisfied. Yanson was grabbed by Lirelia, who wanted to show him around. All the women looked at Veria, who waved, and they all disappeared.
"Son-in-law must be tired. The rest room is already being prepared. We have two weeks to prepare, and the son-in-law should rest well." She spoke, repeating son-in-law twice with emphasis. Her hidden words were all too clear.
Alm then smiled back, saying, "I don’t know... I felt very inspired after seeing so many ores and good weapons. Master says inspiration is the best time for forging, and the chance of success is much higher."
Veria trembled excitedly, and the whale felt it and continued, "Is there an isolated forge here? I need total concentration and isolation from everyone. I want to thank my mother-in-law; I’ll do my best to create everything for my new home."
"Yes!" She replied loudly, dropping her leader’s mask.
So Alm and Bruno were taken to the underground forge. It was perfect, so they could work without being bothered until the day they departed. The first thing to do was to retrieve the grayish spear with the runic seal. Soon, the system message arrived.
[01 Runic Seal Unlocked!]
[Scope]
[If applied to a weapon, when activated, it will gain the property of having an increased size. But the increment is completely invisible to anyone not holding it, and its hardness is equivalent to that of the weapon.]
’Hmm... it’s interesting, but not worth it currently.’ Bruno commented thoughtfully. ’But for there to be so many runic seals, there must be a level where we can put more than one on a weapon for sure. We have to raise the Dao level for these things to become useful.’
Then the days passed slowly. And with twelve hours left for the entry into the Elemental Condensation World, they left.
Veria waited for them without caring. At the exit of the place, the whale would work hard in another area. So they handed her a spatial ring, smiling.
"I used 80% of the mother-in-law’s gift. I managed to forge 50 Yin weapons, which you like. I put various runic seals on all of them. I hope you like it." The whale spoke lightly.
She forgot to breathe, watching the weapons inside the ring. They were treasures that would be used as legacies for her clan forever. And she now had an infinite stock to create. All the expense was worth it.
Of course, it was an absurd lie. They did everything on the first day and didn’t even use 1% of what they earned. Soon after, they left with Yanson, Lirelia, and other clan members for the city center. Finally, the world would open up.