Xiao was initially quite pleased with himself for easily obtaining the law of the Ancestor Spirit King.
But he quickly realized that there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world; everything was ultimately an exchange of interests.
This was because the power controlled by the Ancestor Spirit King was precisely the Principle of Regression, which occupied an extremely important position within Golden Order Fundamentalism.
The ability of the Ancestor Spirit's law was to absorb the souls of all living beings and convert them into its own power, thereby inheriting the memories and strength contained within those souls.
At the same time, beyond the Ancestor Spirit itself, there existed a realm belonging to souls, allowing the souls of believers to continue existing after death and even be reborn through reincarnation.
This caused Xiao to fall into deep thought. The so-called Golden Order was essentially something jointly funded by numerous ancient Outer Gods, and traces of almost every old god's power could be found within it.
It was no exaggeration to say that the Golden Order's ability to develop to its current scale was entirely dependent on the silent contributions of these sealed ancient gods.
They had contributed far too much to The Lands Between.
But precisely because of this, these ancient Outer Gods had become increasingly difficult to kill, as their powers had already integrated themselves into the Golden Order itself.
Naturally, as long as the Erdtree prospered, they too would flourish, and as long as the Golden Order remained eternal, they too would become immortal. No wonder even the Greater Will considered these old monsters troublesome.
If the Golden Order were compared to a corporation, then Marika would be the chairwoman who held absolute controlling authority and controlled the company's lifeline.
Meanwhile, these ancient Outer Gods would be the original shareholders of the company. Although they no longer participated in its management, Marika still had to distribute dividends to them.
If Marika wanted to eliminate them, she would first have to destroy her own company. Wasn't that absurd? It was simply outrageous.
Even Xiao himself, while looking at the Ancestor Spirit's law in his hand, found it difficult to determine whether this law was truly a trophy he had seized or merely an initial investment deliberately handed over by the Ancestor Spirit King.
If he used it, then the Ancestor Spirit King would become tightly connected to him. As long as Xiao himself did not die, the Ancestor Spirit's law would continue to exist, making the Ancestor Spirit King extremely difficult to truly eliminate. Even if killed, he would regenerate rapidly.
However, if Xiao simply gave up on using this law entirely, he felt unwilling to do so.
After all, the Ancestor Spirit's law involved the authority of Soul Reincarnation and could even create an independent soul world, allowing him to further complete his Law of Death.
In that case, he would possess the powers of Destined Death (the Book of Life and Death), Necromancy (souls), and the Realm of Death (reincarnation).
Once these three laws fused together, they could form the legendary Underworld.
The law of the Ancestor Spirit King could be said to perfectly complete the final missing piece of Xiao's Law of Death.
If Xiao chose to abandon the Ancestor Spirit's law and instead relied on himself to comprehend a similar yet distinct reincarnation law from scratch, it would likely take an extremely long time.
And that was precisely what troubled Xiao the most. It felt like spotting a steamed bun that had fallen onto the ground while starving to death.
Eat it, and it felt dirty. Don't eat it, and he might starve.
It had to be said that these old monsters who had survived since the dawn of the world were all cunning old foxes.
In the end, Xiao still compromised. If the Ancestor Spirit King wanted to invest in him, then so be it. He would simply treat the Ancestor Spirit King as a pet.
At that time, he could just have the Ancestor Spirit King guard the gates of the Underworld for him.
There was no helping it; the power of reincarnation was simply too important. So important that Xiao could not possibly ignore it.
On the Xiao Clan's side, after learning their lesson from the Ancestor Spirit King incident, their exploration of hidden realms became far more cautious and restrained.
Especially when encountering places with significant hidden seals, they would absolutely avoid touching them whenever possible.
Even if they truly could not resist the temptation, they would first gather large groups of brothers and sisters together and challenge the BOSS collectively.
As time passed, the Xiao Clan continuously grew stronger through their exploration of hidden locations across The Lands Between, while their business empire expanded further and further.
Their footprints spread across every inch of The Lands Between, and their reputation swept through the world like the wind itself.
With unmatched strength and courage, they became one of the most respected forces throughout The Lands Between, and no one dared provoke them lightly anymore.
Moreover, the value of ancient treasures was immeasurable. Even seemingly useless antiques could be exchanged for enormous wealth in the hands of nobles.
As for those ancient treasures imbued with extraordinary power?
Whether it was mysterious sorceries, incantations, or Ashes of War, each of them could grant unimaginable enhancements in strength.
Naturally, this caused countless nobles to covet them desperately and pursue them at all costs.
The reason was simple: everyone understood that as Starscourge General Radahn's period of seclusion gradually came to an end, the second battle for the Royal Capital, Leyndell, was about to erupt.
This war would determine everyone's fate. Whoever emerged victorious would preserve their status and glory.
Thus, every lord desperately sought to accumulate more power during this rare period of peace in preparation for the coming war.
As a result, all resources related to warfare—such as weapons, equipment, and magical items—were frantically purchased by the lords.
Prices skyrocketed, yet demand still far exceeded supply. People were willing to pay any cost at all, just to gain one extra chance of survival in the coming war.
The Xiao Clan almost completely monopolized the supply of all kinds of goods. Their products were high in quality and reasonably priced, earning the favor of every race across The Lands Between.
Volcano Manor also earned massive amounts of wealth by supplying battlefield reserves, and this wealth continuously flowed into the Xiao Clan's pockets.
But what puzzled everyone was that the Xiao Clan never purchased anything from The Lands Between.
Even when others attempted to sell them precious gemstones or rare materials, they would merely smile and politely refuse.
Every Rune they acquired was strictly sealed within the Cyber Dimension, and not a single Rune was allowed to circulate back into the outside market.
This meant that once Runes entered the Xiao Clan's possession, they almost never appeared on the market again.
If any other merchant guild operated this way, their capital chain would have collapsed long ago, leading to bankruptcy and making continued trade impossible.
But the Xiao Clan was different. Backed by multiple worlds, they possessed unimaginably vast resource reserves and did not rely on external currency circulation at all.
This peculiar behavior naturally aroused the curiosity and suspicion of many people, but the Xiao Clan remained tight-lipped and never revealed their true motives.
The Xiao Clan naturally had their own plans. In fact, in a corner unnoticed by anyone, a silent currency war had already quietly begun.
Of course, The Lands Between was not entirely devoid of intelligent people. Many merchants with keen business instincts had gradually begun to realize that something was wrong.
However, in The Lands Between, merchants did not hold particularly high status, and commerce itself was looked down upon by many lords, leaving them with very little influence or authority.
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