Chapter 584: Dark Mysterious Crystal, Fire Radiance Origin Crystal (Second update, seeking votes)

As for the token Li Zhangsheng used to enter the Neicheng, it also came from the First Prince, Dou Yuande.

Half a year ago, at the wedding ceremony of Li Haoqiong and He Yan, County Princess Dou Lingsi, who was representing the First Prince Dou Yuande at the time, gifted this token to Li Zhangsheng, hoping he could find time to meet with Dou Yuande.

Although among the many princes, the First Prince Dou Yuande was a figure neither loved by his uncles nor favored by his grandmother, the title of First Prince alone was a plus, and he was quite supported by some stubborn ministers who opposed the practice of favoring the younger over the elder.

"This is the Lu Wangfu; would the visitor please state their name?"

Two rows of mighty and imposing guards stood at the entrance of the Lu Wangfu, blocking Li Zhangsheng.

After Li Zhangsheng presented the token, the guards' expressions became significantly more respectful, and one of them hurried into the residence to report.

Crack—

Soon, the tightly shut gates of the Lu Wangfu slowly opened, which actually surprised Li Zhangsheng quite a bit.

In terms of etiquette, the highest honor is to open the main gate to welcome a guest, and given the First Prince's status, even dukes and ministers might not necessarily receive such treatment; next is to welcome guests through the side gate, used for relatively important figures; as for the small gate at the end, it is for insignificant people to enter.

Now that the Lu Wangfu had thrown open its main gate, this was the highest treatment Dou Yuande could give Li Zhangsheng.

When the main gate was opened, under the surprised gazes of the guards, a young man wearing a four-clawed dragon robe walked hurriedly toward Li Zhangsheng.

From his clothing, one could tell that it was none other than the First Prince, Dou Yuande.

Li Zhangsheng subconsciously looked at Dou Yuande's shoes; they were exquisite shoes inlaid with tiny gemstones, but the problem was that he was wearing them on the wrong feet.

Seeing such a scene, Li Zhangsheng felt both amused and helpless; he was certain that in tomorrow's "street gossip," the story of Dou Yuande rushing out in mismatched shoes to welcome Li Zhangsheng would surely circulate throughout Yecheng.

As for whether Dou Yuande would secretly fuel the rumors, Li Zhangsheng didn't care; he had come this time precisely to boost Dou Yuande's momentum, and besides, it would also help increase his prestige.

Furthermore, by doing this, Dou Yuande had given Li Zhangsheng plenty of face; one might ask how many people in the Langya Kingdom could make Dou Yuande disregard his dignity to welcome them in mismatched shoes, which also confirmed the importance Dou Yuande placed on Li Zhangsheng.

Dou Yuande was quite handsome, looking refined and easygoing, and he even bore a thirty-percent resemblance to the current Emperor of the Langya Kingdom, Dou Zhangsheng.

However, among the many princes, Dou Yuande had lost his mother at a young age and his maternal family was weak, making him a fallen prince; his greatest advantage was actually the title of First Prince.

Without his mother to whisper in the Emperor's ear, and coupled with the numerous offspring, Dou Yuande was increasingly unfavored by Dou Zhangsheng, receiving far fewer resources than those princes who were highly regarded, and even now, he had only reached the Fifth Rank.

Being princes as well, the gap was truly large; Dou Yuanbin, who was three years younger than him, was already a Pseudo-King, while Dou Yuanhua and Dou Yuansheng, who were nearly ten years younger than him, were both Fifth Rank just like him, and could overtake him at any time.

After exchanging a few words, Dou Yuande hurriedly said, "This is not the place to talk, Brother Li, please come inside!"

Li Zhangsheng followed the host's lead; Dou Yuande did not put on airs, walking side-by-side with Li Zhangsheng and occasionally introducing the scenery of the Lu Wangfu to him.

The Lu Wangfu was magnificent and grand, with gardens full of flowers, slanting pine shadows, and pavilions, waterside structures, exotic rocks, and rockeries all complete.

The only shortcoming was that there were few servants to be seen along the way, lacking a bit of vitality.

There was no help for it; Dou Yuande was not favored by his father, and most of his annual resources had to be used to maintain his cultivation, so how could he have spare money to put on a show?

Not long after, Dou Yuande welcomed Li Zhangsheng into the reception hall.

The two began to chat casually, first expressing mutual admiration, and after the maidservants served fragrant tea and dried fruits and left, Li Zhangsheng suddenly said seriously, "Brother Dou, I heard you possess a Wind Element Crystal?"

That's right, this was the main reason Li Zhangsheng came to see Dou Yuande; for his Five-Rank Star Palace Lotus Platform to be upgraded to the Sixth Rank, he was still missing a Wind Element Crystal.

As for the news that Dou Yuande possessed a Wind Element Crystal, he had heard it from Ning Bizhen.

Dou Yuande was silent for a moment; he did indeed have a Wind Element Crystal, which he had originally intended to use to exchange for Alchemical Pills, potions, or Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure that could assist his Demon Pet in breaking through to the Lord level, but it had sat there for two years without anyone coming to trade.

There was no help for it; although the Wind Element Crystal was a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure of the Heavenly Essence Grade, it was ultimately too niche, and the most suitable use for it was for a Storm Spirit; if used for a Wind Element Spirit Beast, it would be too wasteful.

Storm Spirits were already rare, let alone items that assisted in breaking through to the Lord level; it was not certain that there was even a Monster Tamer in the Langya Kingdom who met both requirements.

Dou Yuande was also helpless; he only had a few types of Heavenly Essence Grade treasures in his hands, and they all happened to be niche types; even if he made these treasures public, no one would come to trade with him.

"I do indeed have a Wind Element Crystal here; if Brother Li needs it, I will give it to you right now."

Dou Yuande felt a pang of heartache, but on the surface, he appeared righteous and awe-inspiring; if he could use this to win over Li Zhangsheng, he could laugh in his dreams.

"Brother Dou, one cannot accept a reward without merit, and besides, this is our first meeting, so I cannot accept such a precious gift. How about this, I am willing to exchange it with these two potions."

Li Zhangsheng had prepared before coming; recently, Ning Bizhen had provided a few high-level demon corpses, which were eventually refined by Kailan into two Bloodline Potions.

Dou Yuande asked suspiciously, "These are?"

Li Zhangsheng then explained the use of the Bloodline Potions, and Dou Yuande was immediately tempted; these were exactly the items he needed.

As long as he became a Sixth Rank, Dou Yuande's momentum would surely rise significantly, and his father would also value him more; after all, the entire Imperial Family only had a few dozen Sixth Ranks, many of whom were County Princes, County Princesses, or princesses married off to other regions.

If he were lucky enough to become a Pseudo-King in one go, Dou Yuande would even have the capital to contend with Dou Yuanbin.

There were only thirty-something Pseudo-Kings in the entire Langya Kingdom, and although the Imperial Family was the largest force in the Langya Kingdom, the number of Pseudo-Kings they possessed was still less than ten.

"Brother Li, the value of your two Bloodline Potions is clearly higher, and I cannot take advantage of you. Let this Fire Radiance Origin Crystal serve to make up the price difference!"

Dou Yuande still wanted to win over Li Zhangsheng, so naturally, he couldn't take advantage of him.

"Good!"

Li Zhangsheng did not decline; besides, the Fire Radiance Origin Crystal was useful to him, as it was a type of Fire Element mineral of the Heavenly Essence Grade.

He now possessed branches of the Fusang Tree, remaining wood blocks of the Nine Luminaries Sun Wood, and feathers and claws of the Great Sun Fire Crow; if he added this Fire Radiance Origin Crystal, as long as he gathered one or two more Fire Element treasures, he would be confident in firing up the furnace again to refine a Fire Element Semi-Artifact.

After both parties reached the deal, Dou Yuande took the initiative to invite Li Zhangsheng into the backyard to prepare for the breakthrough.

Dou Yuande was only one step away from the Sixth Rank; as long as one more Demon Pet reached the Lord level, he could attempt to break through to the Sixth Rank.

In the backyard of the Lu Wangfu, Dou Yuande summoned his Ancestral Light Bird and Red Flame Flying Dragon.

Li Zhangsheng subconsciously stared at the Ancestral Light Bird, making it feel inexplicably cold; having absorbed the essence blood of the Hundred-Armed Giant and the Basalt Essence Blood, Li Zhangsheng was not someone an ordinary Fifth-tier Beastmaster could compare to, especially for the Ancestral Light Bird, which was sensitive to such things.

Dou Yuande asked curiously, "Brother Li, what's wrong?"

"The Ancestral Light Bird is quite rare; I didn't expect to see one here."

Li Zhangsheng made up a random excuse; his reaction just now had been completely subconscious—there was no help for it, as the Ancestral Light Bird possessed the bloodline of a Concentrated Grade Chongming Bird.

At this moment, using his special ability, Li Zhangsheng discovered that both were Superior Quality Demon Pets.

This was normal, wasn't it? Even if he was down on his luck, Dou Yuande was the First Prince after all; even if he was touching the lower limit, he was still stronger than those princesses who were destined to be married off.

After drinking the Bloodline Potions, the Ancestral Light Bird and the Red Flame Flying Dragon began to radiate white light; Dou Yuande stared at them intently, fearing that neither would complete the breakthrough.

Soon, under Dou Yuande's disappointed gaze, the Red Flame Flying Dragon failed its promotion, and the white light radiating from its body disappeared.

It was also at this moment that the promotion light completely enveloped the Ancestral Light Bird.

"It succeeded!"

When the aura of the Progenitor Light Bird surged, Dou Yuande became instantly excited, and his gaze toward Li Zhangsheng held a bit more gratitude.

"Brother Dou, you still need to prepare for your breakthrough, so I shall head back first."

Li Zhangsheng was very clear that Dou Yuande must be anxious to attempt a Sixth Rank breakthrough now, so naturally, he would not disturb him; furthermore, he also wanted to return early.

"Brother Li, please forgive me for the poor hospitality this time!"

Dou Yuande took the initiative to apologize without any airs at all, always giving people a feeling of being bathed in a spring breeze; perhaps this was the reason why, even though Dou Yuande was so down-and-out, there were still ministers willing to support him.

"Then I shall head back first; if you find the items on the list, you can look for me at any time."

Li Zhangsheng had three main purposes for coming to find Dou Yuande this time; besides befriending Dou Yuande and obtaining the Wind Element Crystal, he also hoped Dou Yuande could help him collect various urgently needed items.

Dou Yuande's status was set there, and those who usually interacted with him were basically princes and ministers; plus, having the opportunity to access the Imperial Family's inner treasury and the Core Treasury, as long as he searched diligently, his collection speed would not even be slower than Ning Bizhen's.

After returning to his room, Li Zhangsheng bathed and changed his clothes, and only after burning incense and praying did he unhurriedly use the key to open the box.

Li Zhangsheng had taken four boxes this time, and the first one he opened was naturally the box with the weakest energy fluctuation.

This was a piece of Dark Mysterious Crystal, which could assist a Darkness-type Demon Pet in breaking through to the Leader rank; Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasures that assist in breakthroughs are the most sought-after, so it could be considered quite good.

After putting away the Dark Mysterious Crystal, Li Zhangsheng opened the long wooden box.

(End of this chapter)