Chapter 988: Surprise, a Seed! (Second update, requesting everything)

"Old gentleman, what about you?"

At this moment, Li Zhangsheng looked toward the last person.

This was an old man with white hair and beard, leaning on a cane.

He was named Shi Da, and was a Fourth-rank Monster Tamer.

"Reporting to His Majesty, I have a precious seed in my possession, though I do not know if it meets your requirements?"

Shi Da took out a Jade Box; this Jade Box was covered in a large number of twisted runes, clearly having had a Restriction placed upon it.

A seed treated with such solemnity and placed in this Jade Box was, in all likelihood, no ordinary item.

Shi Da opened the Jade Box, and a grey-brown seed the size of an adult's palm floated slightly upward.

Li Zhangsheng's Mental Power had long been in a state of projection; after receiving the feedback from his Mental Power, he was slightly stunned, and his heart was immediately filled with waves.

This grey-brown seed radiated fire-element energy fluctuations, and crucially, its energy fluctuations were not just ordinarily powerful; they were several times more intense than the seed of the Tree of Life from back then, and the Tree of Life was a Mid-grade Top-tier Spirit Plant.

In other words, if this seed could be cultivated, it would be at least a Mid-grade Top-tier Spirit Plant, and possibly even higher.

It was just that this seed seemed to have been stored for too long; its vitality was already extremely faint, making it very difficult to cultivate.

However, in Li Zhangsheng's view, this seed could still be saved; after all, he possessed a mass of Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, and coupled with the innate abilities of the Dangkang Necklace, as well as Xiaoguai's meticulous care, the possibility of it surviving was extremely high.

Without a doubt, Li Zhangsheng was determined to obtain this seed, even if he had to pay a huge price, he would not hesitate.

Li Zhangsheng nodded and said: "It is acceptable. Do you have any information on this seed? What kind of spirit plant will it eventually grow into?"

"This seed was something I swiped from a sect that was on the verge of destruction back then; I know absolutely nothing about its details."

"Very well, state your requirements?"

Li Zhangsheng felt a bit of regret, but he did not show it.

Shi Da clearly had a draft prepared, and said: "Your Majesty, I hope you can provide protection for me and my family."

"The reason?"

"I do not know why, but the hostile sect from back then is still searching for me and my family, and now they have even tracked us to the Dai Kingdom."

"What about information on the opposing sect?"

While speaking, Li Zhangsheng carefully observed Shi Da's expressions, movements, and changes in demeanor to avoid being deceived.

"The Sunset Sect; this is the number one sect of the Yuancha Kingdom. Currently, they still have two Kings sitting in command. It is rumored that the founding ancestor of the Sunset Sect once killed a Three-legged Golden Crow, which is why they took the name Sunset."

When introducing the Sunset Sect, Shi Da revealed a look of terror and hatred. The sect he belonged to back then was merely a third-rate sect in the Yuancha Kingdom, but for some unknown reason, it was targeted by the Sunset Sect, which led to the disaster of the sect's destruction.

As for how Shi Da and his family escaped, he did not say, and Li Zhangsheng did not ask.

After finishing, Shi Da's face was filled with nervousness, fearing that Li Zhangsheng would not agree.

There was no helping it; that was, after all, the Sunset Sect, which possessed two Kings in command.

Li Zhangsheng frowned slightly. From Shi Da's description, the Sunset Sect and his sect had no intersection whatsoever. Shi Da still did not understand why the Sunset Sect destroyed his sect, and even after two or three years had passed, they were still hunting him and the others who had escaped the sect.

"The Sunset Sect could not have destroyed a third-rate sect for no reason. Could it be related to this seed?"

What Li Zhangsheng could be certain of was that the Sunset Sect must have had a reason; otherwise, they would not have gone to such great lengths. And judging from the energy fluctuations of this seed, there was a high probability that it was for this seed.

"This seat agrees to your request!"

Li Zhangsheng chose to agree. Although with his abilities he could forcibly take this seed, if the Sunset Sect was truly after this seed, he feared the people from the Sunset Sect would eventually come looking for him anyway.

As for destroying the evidence, don't be ridiculous; there was no telling how many people knew that Li Zhangsheng had met with Shi Da.

Most importantly, Li Zhangsheng was very confident in his own strength.

Currently, he possessed the level of a Top King and was also a member of the Human Emperor Mansion. Besides that, he had Ning Bizhen, Xu Wenhua, and Zhao Yuanqing as support.

The Sunset Sect, with only two Kings, could hardly pose a substantial threat to him.

After Li Zhangsheng agreed, Shi Da was slightly stunned, and then immediately overjoyed; the heavy burden in his heart was suddenly lifted.

"Many thanks, Master!"

Fearing that Li Zhangsheng might regret it, Shi Da immediately took the opportunity to cement the relationship between the two parties.

Li Zhangsheng took the opportunity to arrange a position for Shi Da, having Shi Da take his family to the Hurricane Fortress to act as the steward of that palace.

Shi Da was filled with surprise; he had not expected Li Zhangsheng to give him such an important position.

As the saying goes, a seventh-rank official at the prime minister's gate, and a King's status was far above that of a prime minister. From now on, even a Pseudo-King would likely have to be polite when seeing Shi Da.

As for why he arranged the position of steward, it was mainly because of this seed.

From the inheritance of the first Principal, it seemed that there might be causal relationships in this world. Li Zhangsheng did not fully understand the specific meaning of karma, but out of a mindset of taking precautions, he prepared to compensate Shi Da as much as possible.

First, he had to ensure the lives of Shi Da and his family. The safest place in the Dai Kingdom was likely his palace; even if he were away on business, the arrangements within the palace would be enough to hold out for a period of time under a King's offensive.

Secondly, besides ensuring the lives of Shi Da and his family, Li Zhangsheng also prepared to improve Shi Da's strength. For one, to compensate for the 'price difference' as much as possible, and for another, as his steward, it would not do to only have Fourth-rank level strength.

For the current Li Zhangsheng, he was fully capable of raising Shi Da to the Pseudo-King realm within a year or two, and he would not feel pained by the resources consumed.

After Shi Da went down, Li Zhangsheng's figure suddenly disappeared from the Xuande Hall, and when he reappeared, he was already in front of a pavilion.

This pavilion was not far from the Xuande Hall and was also specially constructed for Li Zhangsheng by the Dai Kingdom's Imperial Family. The books and Inheritance Jade Slips seized from the Langya Kingdom's Imperial Palace were placed here, usually guarded by Zhang Kaishuo.

As for Ning Wei, Qian Yuanfei, and Xu Fanghua, they had all gone to the Hu Kingdom, and along with them was Xu Wenhua, to suppress the second Abyss Gate of the Hu Kingdom together; this was also something Li Zhangsheng had promised back then.

Originally, Li Zhangsheng had planned to let Zuo Qiulin become a King to help him suppress the Hu Kingdom's Abyss Gate, but unfortunately, he could not let Zuo Qiulin become a King for the time being, otherwise, there was a possibility he would be 'bought off' by the Dark Night King.

Thus, Li Zhangsheng could only let Xu Wenhua sit in command for a while.

For the sake of safety, he also spent a large amount of resources to create a two-way teleportation gate connecting the Dai Kingdom's Hurricane Fortress and the Hu Kingdom's Jibei Island Fortress.

Since the two countries were not very far apart, it did not cause Li Zhangsheng any major strain.

(End of chapter)