Chapter 347: Chapter 346: Becoming the Spirit King
This was an absolutely massive blunder. After learning the truth, everyone felt incredibly awkward, especially the Spirit Race Ancestor, who was mortified. He had once served as Spirit King, so he was more aware of the entire process than anyone—most importantly, that he had been a *fake* Spirit King!
So many of the previous Spirit Kings had been fakes. Announcing this to the public would be utterly humiliating. For the many disciples of the Spirit Race in particular, the revelation would cause their faith to instantly collapse.
All the previous Spirit Kings had been fakes, completely unqualified. How could it not be embarrassing that they called themselves Spirit King without even having obtained the Overlord Stele?
"I brought you all here to discuss this very matter. Should we announce it publicly? My recommendation is that we don’t. Let the past be the past. Announcing this won’t do anyone any good. Of course, every one of them was worthy of the title of Spirit King. The Ancestor, for example, is a Divine Rune Grandmaster. If someone of his caliber isn’t qualified to be Spirit King, then who is?"
"The focus now should be on how to find a more powerful Life Crystal or another place for us to live. As you’ve all seen, the Power of Life in this Life Crystal is already quite weak. I doubt it will last more than a few years before it’s completely depleted. When that time comes, we won’t be able to sustain our race, even if we stay here!"
Yi Tianyun looked at them. Every face was grave. This was truly a matter of life and death for the Spirit Race. Fortunately, they had discovered it early. If they had assumed everything was fine and only noticed the problem after a few decades, or even a century, they would have been doomed.
"I agree with the Spirit King. What’s past is past. Let’s just consider it a beautiful mistake. Right now, we should be thinking more about the Life Crystal and how to resist the Netherworld Empire!" The Spirit Race Ancestor wasn’t trying to evade their past errors; he just knew that dwelling on the issue wouldn’t change anything.
One had to know how to weigh their priorities.
"Yes, I agree with the Spirit King. It’s just... I never imagined such a huge mistake could have been made. It’s truly unthinkable..."
They all shook their heads. In their hearts, they had already accepted Yi Tianyun as the Spirit King. Not only had he obtained the Overlord Stele, but he had also saved the entire Spirit Race. He was more than qualified to become their king.
"Right. We need to devise a new plan now. We must constantly gather information about Life Crystals and then purchase them in large quantities. If we do that, this problem can be solved," Yi Tianyun said gravely. "Life Crystals may be Rare, but no matter how Rare, they can still be found and collected. For the Spirit Race, Life Crystals are the very source of our life, so we must acquire them, no matter the cost!"
"Yes, we must collect more Life Crystals," Yi Tianyun said with a nod. "As long as we have a solution, everything becomes much more manageable."
Their eyes shimmered with hope. Finding a solution was the best possible news. The problem had plagued them for so long that they’d thought it was some kind of Curse. Now it seemed they just needed to collect more Life Crystals, and everything would be all right.
"It seems our ancestors were a bit harsh, requiring us to master this Overlord Stele before we could learn the solution. If no one had ever managed to master it, would our race have been doomed to extinction?" The Spirit Race Ancestor shook his head. ’Mastering this Overlord Stele is no simple task.’
"Not necessarily," Yi Tianyun said. "If things had truly become critical, I believe the Spirit Race would have ultimately chosen to evacuate. The root of the problem lies with that Spirit King from the past. Because he couldn’t master the Overlord Stele himself, he just assumed the Divine Rune Stone was the Overlord Stele, which led to this whole massive blunder. If we were to assign blame, the second Spirit King is without a doubt the greatest culprit in the history of the Spirit Race!"
This was no exaggeration. He had lied for the sake of becoming the Spirit King. While the Spirit Race was united, it was not without its share of petty individuals. It was a good thing the second Spirit King was already dead. Otherwise, he would have been verbally torn to shreds.
"Alright. Then for now, we won’t speak of this. We’ll just announce the issue with the Life Crystal and, at the same time, declare you the new Spirit King!" The Spirit Race Ancestor gave a slight smile, growing more and more pleased with Yi Tianyun.
He never thought that one of the Foreigners would be the one to teach them so much and even successfully obtain the Overlord Stele! If Yi Tianyun hadn’t discovered the truth when he did, by the time they figured it out for themselves, their losses would have been catastrophic.
Having decided on a plan, they now knew what to tell their people. Just as they were about to head out, Yi Tianyun smiled and said, "Hold on, I want to grab something."
As he spoke, under everyone’s watchful eyes, he promptly plucked the Soul-Nourishing Grass. Of all the many Spirit Grasses, he had a unique fondness for Soul-Nourishing Grass. Only it could provide an explosive amount of experience. The others were useful to him, but their effects paled in comparison to the Soul-Nourishing Grass.
"This..." Seeing this, Ye Qingxuan couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him. He was so fixated on the Soul-Nourishing Grass, paying no mind to any of the others.
The elders said nothing, though they found it a bit strange. ’Soul-Nourishing Grass is decent, but its uses are rather limited for us. Especially once one’s Divine Rune proficiency reaches the later stages, the boost from Soul-Nourishing Grass becomes negligible. It’s usually just given as a reward to talented disciples.’
"Hehe, I just have a thing for Soul-Nourishing Grass. If any of you happen to have extra, I’d be more than happy to take it off your hands," Yi Tianyun said with a laugh. ’A single stalk is worth nearly a hundred million experience points. How could I not be tempted by that?’
They then returned outside, where many members of the race were gathered, all of them discussing matters related to Yi.
Once they emerged, the Spirit Race Ancestor announced, "I’m sure you are all confused, but I want to say that the Overlord Stele that Yi has produced is the absolute proof of recognition from our forebears. It carries far more weight than the Divine Rune Stone we have used in the past. This is a Treasure left to us by our ancestors, and he is the only one who can perfectly master it. Therefore, he is destined to become the king of our Spirit Race!"
After the announcement, the crowd was stunned for a moment. Though they didn’t know what the Overlord Stele was, they understood one thing clearly: Yi Tianyun was worthy of being their king!
"Spirit King! Spirit King! Spirit King!"
Just then, someone shouted loudly, and soon, other members of the race joined in, chanting the title of Spirit King! There was no grand ceremony. As long as one produced the Overlord Stele, they could become the Spirit King. It was as simple as that.
The resonant chants of "Spirit King" made even Yi Tianyun feel a surge of excitement. ’Looks like this trip was a great success. Just like that, a major power is now under my command.’
"Wait! I have something to say to everyone!" Yi Tianyun motioned for them to quiet down.
The crowd quickly fell silent, all eyes turning to him, wondering what he wanted to say.
"Now that I have become your Spirit King, there is something I must tell you all: the matter of my true identity," Yi Tianyun said in a serious tone. "I have had ongoing conflicts with the Netherworld Empire, so I was forced to use an alias and even change my appearance. As I am now your Spirit King, it is only right that I show you my true face!"
He then removed the mask from his face, revealing handsome and remarkably young features. In an instant, everyone saw him. With the exception of Ye Qingxuan, they were all stunned.
’A Spirit King who’s only seventeen or eighteen... He’s so young!’
"This is my true face. My real name is Yi Tianyun. I am an Elder of the Merak Sect from the Earth Realm Continent and the Mansion Master of the Celestial Extreme Mansion! I was also responsible for the recent events in Julong City." Yi Tianyun looked at them and declared, "Knowing this, are you still willing to have me as your Spirit King?"
’If I’m to be their Spirit King, I must show them my true face. This is the only way to be truly honest with them.’
After a moment of silence, the crowd erupted in an uproar.
"Such a young Spirit King! No matter who you are, you are our Spirit King!"
"That’s right! The Spirit King who saved our Spirit Race is the greatest Spirit King!"
"Spirit King! Spirit King! Spirit King!"
They continued to cheer, not caring in the slightest about his true identity. What mattered to them was the man himself, not his face!
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