Chapter 1041: Reluctantly
The ice queen smiled coldly. "Do you really think three superior worlds' worth of energy is sufficient to purchase this treasure? It's laughable. I'm willing to spend five superior worlds' worth."
A human's face appeared amidst the mass of black fog. "I offer eight."
Li Zongming watched on from the side, marveling at the riches each superior king seemed to have. Comparatively, he was poor and impoverished. He had been a little happy about acquiring the world of black rain, but now...
The king of keys continued, "Hold on, I'm not finished yet. Let me finish."
The superior kings immediately suppressed their eagerness. The king of keys continued, "This would ordinarily be how things operate, but don't forget that we're all indebted."
Thinking back to the bet that they had all participated in before the war against the death spirits, the solar flame burning over the solar king's body flared up, the ice surrounding the ice queen spread and formed a blizzard, the human face in the mass of black fog lost its delineation, and the king of evil began to writhe as the monstrosities within its body howled and cried.
"The total debt incurred is thirty superior worlds' worth of energy."
The kings were shocked even though they had been mentally prepared. Thirty superior worlds' worth! Of the kings present, none but the king of keys and the king of chaos had thirty superior worlds' worth of energy on hand—it was enough to develop thirty superior worlds!
The king of keys continued slowly, "I believe that this crystal could well be worth thirty superior worlds. Do you agree?"
The king of keys turned toward Li Zongming, who seemed very reluctant. "I suppose it'll do!"
The other superior kings mentally cursed at Li Zongming. Although the crystal contained only about ten superior worlds' worth of energy, the quality of that energy was beyond compare.
The energy went beyond that of an ordinary superior world. A superior world's energy was rare, but it could be obtained at a cost—but this energy was priceless. The net benefit it could provide to a world was difficult—impossible—to estimate.
The king of keys nodded. "If there's no objection, then the spoils of war shall go to the Zongming king."
The solar king, ice queen, and king of black fog all glared at Li Zongming, as though they wanted to eat him alive.
None of them had expected that such a valuable treasure would emerge from the war against the death spirits. It was little wonder that the decaying king had been willing to give up his life for this.
It was something that could bring the gathered superior kings to the realm of the king of keys and king of chaos.
The superior kings present deeply regretted participating in the bet, and then being willing to annul their debt for the spoils of the war.
Although they were under heavy debt, they would have been able to repay it at a cost. The king of keys had already promised to take on half the debt, and they each only had to pay three superior worlds' worth of energy each.
However, they were too arrogant to pay that price. As established superior kings of antiquity, they had no intention of providing superior worlds' energy to a newly ascended superior king—indeed, they had been planning on extracting that energy from him instead.
None of them expected the spoils of war to be a huge treasure—energy beyond that of a superior world's.
Even more than before, they regretted the bet they had agreed to. The superior kings glared at Zhang Lie, the source of their misery. If looks could kill, they'd be dead a hundred times over. It was all this fellow's fault! He had planned everything from the beginning the moment he proposed fifty-to-one odds.
Now, however, it was too late for regrets. The superior kings stared at Zhang Lie as though they had just sucked on lemons, their faces twisted with envy.
The king of keys continued, "Following the original distribution, these superior kings were obligated to pay you three superior worlds' worth of energy each. In other words, that shall be the price of each portion of the spoils. I have two portions of the spoils, equivalent to six superior worlds' worth, but also owe the Zongming king fifteen."
Zhang Lie couldn't help but drool at what the eventual payout from the bet would be.
The king of keys continued, "In other words, I would still owe the Zongming king nine superior worlds' worth."
Li Zongming waved a hand. "There's no need, king of keys. I'm grateful enough that you're willing to distribute the spoils in this fashion."
The king of keys smirked. "Are you intending to buy a favor from me, then?"
Li Zongming hesitated. He did have that intention, but the king of keys didn't seem interested.
"Aren't you being a little arrogant? My favor can't be bought with just nine superior worlds' worth of energy." The king of keys, clearly having come prepared, handed over nine orbs each filled with a concentrated superior world's worth of energy.
Li Zongming blinked a few times after claiming the orbs. This was an astounding prize—he had thought himself impoverished just a few moments ago, but he had suddenly come into a fortune.
He needed some time to process this sudden reversal.
It was possible that he would be able to catapult to third in terms of overall riches among the superior kings thanks to the spoils of war.
As they glanced at the orbs filled with superior worlds' energy, the superior kings glared at Li Zongming with envy and jealousy.
The king of keys smirked. "However, if you want to claim this crystal for yourself, you'll still have to talk with the king of chaos. The king of chaos did not participate in the bet and owes you nothing."
Fortunately, the king of chaos would be a barrier against Li Zongming receiving this reward. Otherwise, the other kings might perish with envy.
No one expected, however, that the king of chaos would simply respond, "Give me two superior worlds' worth of energy."
The kings all whirled toward him in shock.
The king of keys had indicated that the crystal was worth thirty superior worlds of energy, and as long as the king of chaos could produce twenty-five superior worlds' worth, he would be able to claim it without objection from anyone, not even Li Zongming or Zhang Lie.
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