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At the Imperial Palace's entrance, Haru saw Svetlana enter with the Ice Queen Eira behind her.
"Want to have breakfast together, Your Majesty?" Haru offered casually amid the grandeur.
Eira blinked, ice-blue eyes widening. Then a rare smile cracked her eternal chill, "Since Your Majesty invites me, I wouldn't refuse."
He clapped and a group of Elven maids swept in, unveiling a feast—steaming honeyed fruits, spiced venison pastries, crystal goblets of nectar that perfumed the air with wild orchards and many other dishes. Eira eyed the spread warily, then dove in, mimicking his poise at first, biting tentatively.
"This is our empire's special Elven cuisine." Haru noted.
Flavor bloomed in Eira's mouth as she paused and said, "It has been tens of thousands of years since I last ate. Although attaining Godhood provides eternal life, it steals these small sparks of joy…"
He nodded, fork midair, "Eternal life is a gift as well as a curse for many. I tend to enjoy life, though. Needed or not, eating is almost a habit for me now."
Eira's gaze softened, her mask of a cold empress slipping for a heartbeat.
…
After the meal, the two returned to the main topic, "Are the Bloodline Evolution Blueprints ready?"
With a wave of his hands, Haru took them out of his storage ring. Among them, seventy percent of them were low level, while the rest were Intermediate or high level. As for top level blueprints, not only were they extremely rare, Haru would use them for his high-ranking Angels instead of selling them.
As Haru used his Divine Power, Eira also realized that his current strength was far greater than what it had been a few days ago. She hadn't used her Divine Senses to scan him this time, as that would be considered extremely rude towards both Celestia, a Supreme Goddess, and Haru, who now stood equal to her as the leader of a True Empire Level faction.
Horror flickered in her eyes, she muttered, "Your Majesty is already a peak High God? You were an Intermediate High God yesterday!"
"Ah, that happened yesterday."
She was stunned into silence by his casual response and sighed, "Your Majesty will become a Supreme God soon, eclipsing me entirely…"
"You're a single step away from the Supreme God Tier yourself, Your Majesty."
A bitter smile appeared on her lips, "For natives like me, that's a chasm that devours eternities."
"Your Majesty still needs to persist. I feel like you will definitely cross that chasm."
She nodded, inventoried the haul and waved her hands as she paid with thirteen billion Magic Crystals, a 100x return on Haru's investment when he bought those blueprints, and it didn't just stop there.
"Here's another three billion for Tigranov's natal artifact as I promised, the total is sixteen billion Magic Crystals."
Haru's grin sharpened, "Oh, I have nearly a thousand corpses of Gods here, ranging from Lower True Gods to High Gods and their artifacts as well. Tempted, Your Majesty?"
Eira: …
She fell silent. The Gods of Truth, despite ruling the Endless Continent for nearly a hundred thousand years and vaults brimming with Divine Crystals, yet they severely lacked Divine Artifacts. It was because they demanded rare Divine Grade metals and divine smiths.
Although they had plenty of smiths, those metals had run dry long ago. Ancient Gods of Faith had strip-mined them across epochs. They had no sense of 'sustainable development' at all. Sword God William was the perfect example for this situation. He was an early stage High God, yet his natal artifact was an Intermediate God Tier Artifact.
At the same time, although the Gods of Faith were currently extremely poor, they hoarded all kinds of Divine Artifacts. Eira's Ice and Snow Kingdom mirrored this drought exactly. Why else would she buy this Artifact from Haru? Although she herself had a Lord Type Artifact, her subordinates didn't.
While Gods' corpses had no appeal for her faction, almost a thousand artifacts was an extremely attractive offer which ignited raw envy within her. She also trusted his claim completely. Their war against the Evil Pantheon had spread far and wide by now, which signaled that he definitely had mountains of loot.
But the price loomed staggeringly high. Even draining every Power Stone and Magic Crystal in her vaults would most likely not cover it fully.
Haru smiled like a seasoned salesman, "We have quite a few Intermediate and High God Tier Artifacts here, aren't you tempted, Your Majesty?"
Her brows twitched sharply in response. He dangled an irresistible bait because those Artifacts could multiply her kingdom's strength several times and reduce casualties dramatically.
She gritted her teeth and declared firmly, "I'll buy them all."
His smile widened, but she countered swiftly, "But my kingdom's reserves fall short of Power Stones and Magic Crystals, I propose using Divine Crystals instead."
Haru's brow furrowed deeply at her words. Although Divine crystals mattered greatly to him, these Gods wildly overvalue them wildly. He recalled William's recent barter vividly: thirty thousand Divine Crystals for Golden Beamon Zylo's natal artifact yet happily gave five billion Magic Crystals without any complaints.
"That Saber of the Undying Bloom cost three billion Magic Crystals. What is its value in Divine Crystal in your view?"
She raised two fingers firmly, "Twenty thousand Divine Crystals at most."
That was the difference. Twenty thousand Divine Crystals vs. three hundred thousand Divine Crystals.
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