Price For Greatness

Edrick blew out smoke into the air, spinning the wooden pipe in his hand as he did so. He had several plans in motion at the same time, but they were progressing quite slowly… Naturally, setting up an entire business and preparing a shop just outside the outskirts of the Elt territory, where a small city of sorts was situated, was best, even if it really was just a place of transit where people passed by to buy things or rest…

In any case, this was the perfect place for him to set up the permanent shop, and being that he was a greater noble, his shop couldn’t just be a typical one.

It needed flair and personality. Which was why he planned on getting his sixth wife to be the one to do the designing and such. Haoyu had proven himself to be capable of building in just about any style once he put his mind to it.

However, he also had the matters of the three script-havers… Unfortunately, Linfeng remained completely untouchable so far, and it seemed like he would remain fully protected for a long while. As for Yechen and Zhicheng…They didn’t benefit from the same level of protection as Linfeng, but he had set up fairly precise ‘take-down methods’ for those two. Besides, they just weren’t making much progress.

Zhicheng was an indecisive man, and while he had taken the bait, he was resisting it by sheer force of weak will… And when it came to Yechen, Edrick and Lui had both agreed that they wanted him to progress his alchemy a bunch before breaking him.

…And Yechen was awfully thorough about alchemy, making his progress slow... Which was a good thing, in his regard. The more solid his foundation and knowledge, the better asset he would turn out to be in the long run... There were no chances of him escaping his fate anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Regardless, this meant that Anoteros needed to find ways to spend his time productively. Playing with his wives and maids all day might be very enjoyable, but it wasn’t the most efficient use of his time. He could play with them any time he wanted, after all. Whenever he desired, they were ready to be claimed in any way he saw fit.

When it came to training, it was just the same old things over and over again.

He did have Bai Xing and Jingyao Zhenniao to make into his wives... But on that front, he had been somewhat conspiring with Ku and Ting to increase his chances of successfully wooing them on their first proper meeting. As charming and desirable as Anoteros already was–Being just about exactly in line with what an attractive man was supposed to be–He was dealing with noble girls of the same status as him, and ones with rather unconventional personalities.

They wouldn’t be as easily swayed as some peasant girls by his status, and he couldn’t brute-force his way by making them experience corruptible amounts of pleasure, either. Jania and Tylia had been rather simple to seduce, but there was an entire realm of difference between nobles like them and nobles from great clans.

As such, the plans Ku and Ting were preparing were to set up scenarios for him to show up in and play a role that the two young women would definitely enjoy. He was just waiting for those two to send him letters containing the specifics…

So, being that most of his plans involved a whole lot of waiting, he decided to find something else to occupy himself with. Thus, he went on the hunt to find cultivation techniques to cultivate in the future once he was done with his current ones.

Specifically, he was seeking powerful techniques which required a lot of commitment and time–And where else to look than directly within the Elt clan? What was freely available wasn’t exactly to his tastes, but he knew that the real treasures were either held by individuals, or safeguarded directly by certain sects subservient to the clan.

In particular, he had set his sights on the techniques possibly held by two of his Elideues: Wenxiong and Niediao.

Or as they were often referred to within the clan: The Biesta Lover, and the Monsterfucker.

They seemed like the kind to actually have techniques stashed away that would suit Edrick. He had already shown himself to have a certain affinity for inhuman beings, regardless of whether said beings were sapient or not.

In fact, he had an affinity for shapeshifting and appeared more adept at integrating bloodlines than the norm. Thus, it only seemed logical to look on the side of the two members of the clan who were known for their expertise in beasts and monsters, respectively.

This was why he found himself smoking on the edge of a cliff with the two Elideues, overlooking an enormous field blossoming with what looked like giant sunflowers with crooked stems… These plants actually moved a bit, always staring directly at the sun as it moved through the sky.

‘Huh… Is there a Biesta or Monstrosia equivalent for plants? These look fairly… Active’

“Well, not that I don’t mind giving you techniques, Zixu… But you are talking about the REAL deal, right? The valuable stuff that even if people can’t use it, they would fight to get it just for the rarity and price of it? Even I wouldn’t give that away to anyone”

Wenxiong spoke with a cigar tucked in the corner of his mouth, with a cat-sized Princess sitting on his lap.

“Same here”

Niediao echoed the same sentiment. The masked man, instead of smoking, was chewing on something that could be said to be akin to tobacco.

“Of course, I wouldn’t just ask for charity… I was just wondering what the price would be to get access to such techniques? Surely, there are things that you want? I’m going to be travelling and meeting a whole lot of people in my ventures, so perhaps I can get you both something”

Edrick actually already had a very precise idea for what Niediao would want. He was more curious about what Wenxiong might desire… The scion’s first assumption would be something for Princess, but she was already an incredibly developed bestial companion–And he was doubtful that Wenxiong hadn’t already done everything he could do to make her more powerful.

She was his beloved, after all. It was no coincidence that Wenxiong was unmarried.

“What I might want, huh? Well… There is only a single thing that is preventing me from making good progress anymore, and it’s the fact that I don’t have a Bloodbath Hyena’s bloodline, or rather, not strong enough of one… I was never able to find an individual with an acquirable bloodline or a crystallised bloodline of one”

“All I have is some mixture made from the blood of several powerful individuals, but it can’t be called a proper bloodline. As a greater noble, taking on such a bloodline would frankly be a disgrace... And it isn’t guaranteed to work for what I am looking for”

Anoteros nodded.

“I see. In this case, I shall be on the lookout”