Chapter 512: The Secret of the Black Soul

When daybreak came, the wind and rain had already ceased.

Accompanied by Lei En, Ai Mili Si held her son Lei Kes in the Dragon Hall to meet the ministers, announced Lei Kes's name, and held a ceremony to confer upon Lei Kes the title Count of Dragon Crystal Island. This is a tradition of the Dragon‑Blooded family, signifying Lei Kes's status as heir.

Within a day, the news of the new heir's birth spread throughout the Kingdom of Kangjiatuo.

The heads of the various duchies dispatched envoys to congratulate the queen and the crown prince, presenting lavish gifts. The kingdom's subjects also called Lei Kes's name, sincerely supporting and cherishing the queen and her eldest son.

It was a good thing, but Lei En constantly felt uneasy; whenever the Voice of All Things heard someone mention Lei Kes privately, his eyelids would twitch.

This made his gaze toward his son become somewhat odd.

"Coincidence!" Lei En could only console himself. "It's all just coincidence. If this kid ever dares to rebel in the future, I'll make him know that his father is forever his father!"

For the first time in two lifetimes, he experienced the feeling of being a stay‑at‑home dad; Lei Kes had a huge appetite, grew rapidly, and in just a few days his body expanded by a circle.

He ate until full then slept, slept until full then ate, and when briefly awake he would relentlessly trouble his mother and wet‑nurse; his vitality was several times that of an ordinary child, and a typical couple without servants would have been exhausted long ago.

This also showed Lei Kes's uniqueness; unlike other children, he had never suffered the torment of the Blood Soul Curse.

Fortunately, the wet‑nurse, servants, and Scale‑Wielding Blood Guard assumed it was the strength of the Dragon‑Blooded lineage, that the Dragon Soul suppressed the curse, and did not realize Lei Kes's curse had already been lifted.

Ai Mili Si watched her son grow larger each day, with Lei En by her side all the time, feeling joyful, her whole being radiating a glow of happiness.

Just a few days after Lei Kes's birth, she began, consciously or unconsciously, to tempt Lei En.

She kept nothing hidden; during an intimate moment, she heard Lei En say that in the future he could lift the Blood Soul Curse at a lesser cost, without the pain this time, so she thought of having more children.

Lei En did not refuse and thoroughly enjoyed it.

However, Ai Mili Si finding herself pregnant again was very difficult; her Dragon‑Blooded secret technique could be used only once in a lifetime, and back then Lei En hadn't yet reached Legend, so a single use would have taken effect. Now Lei En has been a Legend for three years, and she herself is a fifteen‑level Dragon‑Blooded Apostle; the stronger a transcendent becomes, the harder reproduction is, and with their current power it might take years without success.

Thinking that, Lei En contentedly enjoyed the queen's service, setting aside everything except daily meditation.

He lived in Red Dragon Fortress for half a month.

Until one day, Black Dragon Yi Geng appeared before him. The mighty black dragon had taken a new form, no longer disguising as a Minotaur Druid, but as a dark‑skinned, lanky human youth.

"Boss!"

At the first sight of Lei En, Yi Geng's face fell, and he vented bitterly: "I can't stay in the Deep Mud Swamp any longer! The Pegasus Knights of Bu Lanta Ni Ya still haven't given up searching for me, and that Holy Grail Knight flies around the swamp every month or two; I've nearly been exposed many times."

Three years ago, Yi Geng looted several million Gold Shields from the Bu Lanta Ni Ya Knight Nation and, with Lei En's help, escaped disaster.

After the Dragon‑Blooded Restoration ended, Ai Mili Si's three‑headed dragon all departed.

When the Dragon Summoning contract was first signed, both sides agreed that the great dragons could leave when there was no trouble. Ai Mili Si's reliance on them became optional due to her cooperation with Lei En and Weizelan Fu Kong Cheng, and they even failed to play a decisive role in the war.

The greatest contribution of the three‑headed dragon was that it raised Ai Mili Si three levels, promoting her to Mid‑stage Legend.

Moreover, Ai Mili Si has now converted to the God of Magic, which conflicts with the dragons' faith, violating the contract's will, so both sides should reduce contact.

Xinda La returned to the Thousand Island Ice Sea, occasionally visiting Jin Si Lan as a guest.

Jialadelos moved into the Great Dragon Forest within the Augustus Duchy, not far from Lei En's mithril mine, and built a new lair atop a peak.

And Black Dragon Yi Geng returned to Deep Mud Swamp.

It was his favorite environment; after centuries of living there he was accustomed, and he struck a deal with Lei En to return to the swamp to cultivate Black Soul Mushrooms and brew Black Soul Elixir.

It is one of the world's most elite soul‑refining elixirs; for those below Legend, a single bottle taken over three months dramatically boosts soul power with almost no side effects, low tolerance, and can be used repeatedly. Even transcendants above Legend find the Black Soul Elixir effective, though its duration is shorter.

On the market, the Black Soul Elixir is priced but unsellable; its main ingredient, Black Soul Mushroom, is exceedingly rare, growing only in the coldest, dampest places.

Yi Geng's transformed Minotaur Druid, "Black Horn Master," is the most renowned alchemist of Black Soul Elixir; if he went to the Empire Alchemy Association for certification, he could easily earn the title "Master of Magical Elixirs."

In fact, after centuries of research, Yi Geng has mastered a method of artificially cultivating Black Soul Mushroom—a secret technique of his own!

He returned to Deep Mud Swamp to grow the mushrooms, then brewed them into elixir and sold everything to Lei En.

In the past two or three years, Lei En, to train several students and the Gun‑Wing Knight Corps, poured money without regard to cost; just buying Black Soul Elixir cost over a million Gold Shields, all ending up in Yi Geng's pocket.

Given a Black Dragon's greed for wealth, cutting off this lucrative source would be more painful than killing him.

Lei En smiled.

"How did the people of Bu Lanta Ni Ya know you returned to the swamp?" he asked.

"It must be the 'Lake Goddess' prophecy technique," Yi Geng said, his face grim. "When I was in Bu Lanta Ni Ya, I dreaded dealing with that woman; she is the Divine Chosen of the lake spirit, her power comparable to a Holy Soul Wizard, and her specialty is prophecy."

Lei En had heard of this Chosen One from the northern Empire; her status in Bu Lanta Ni Ya even surpassed the Knight King, and historically she once commanded the Holy Grail Knights to depose a tyrannical Knight King and install a new ruler.

He dared not provoke such a figure.

"Then there's nothing I can do," Lei En shrugged. "I can't intervene; if mishandled, it could spark hostility between the Empire and Bu Lanta Ni Ya, and the Supreme Council would hold me accountable, and my master couldn't protect me."

"Are the Empire and Bu Lanta Ni Ya's conflicts any fewer?" Yi Geng sneered, urging, "Lei En, you needn't fear them; Ma Xiu*An Sai Long and his Silver Dragon couldn't withstand a single hammer from you. If you can drive away the Holy Grail Knights, I'll give you a ten‑percent discount on the Black Soul Elixir... no, fifteen percent off!"

"Only fifteen percent off?" Lei En said with a disdainful expression.

Yi Geng clenched his teeth and coldly said, "Twenty‑percent off, I can't go lower."

"Even a ninety‑percent discount won't help," Lei En rejected outright. "I have two suggestions: first, return the money to the Bu Lanta Ni Ya, second, relocate and grow the Black Soul Mushroom elsewhere."

"Ugh! I spent decades tricking those foolish nobles out of that money; why should I give it back?" Yi Geng's face showed resentment, recalling past hardships, and he replied, "I also want to move, but Black Soul Mushroom is picky about its environment; cold, damp conditions are just the basics, it also needs plenty of corpses as nutrients..."

He suddenly fell silent, noticing Lei En smiling at him.

"Lei En, you won't leak it, will you?" Yi Geng wished he could slap himself twice, shocked that such an important secret had slipped.

"Fifteen percent off, otherwise I'll research the Black Soul Elixir myself," Lei En said with a faint smile.

"Fine, fifteen percent it is," Yi Geng almost cried. He had originally tried to coax Lei En into helping, hoping to clash with the Holy Grail Knights and cause a big stir to distract himself, but it backfired and he lost a huge sum.

Lei En did not follow up on the matter.

He produced a Nebula Ring and tossed it to Yi Geng, saying, "This is the ring you wanted; all your stash of gold treasure is inside, tally it yourself."

Yi Geng was ecstatic, quickly catching the ring and inspecting its contents.

Last year he noticed Lei En's Nebula Ring, shamelessly tried to buy one, begged Lei En several times without success, then quoted a sky‑high price of two million Gold Shields—over three times the value of a 1,500‑pound source crystal—and, having a slight surplus of source crystals, Lei En finally agreed to exchange one for him.

Titan Elder Suo Li Mu also found forging Nebula Rings laborious, the materials exceedingly rare; after Lei En exchanged three Nebula Rings, Suo Li Mu removed them from the exchange list.

Yi Geng examined the four‑plus million Gold Shields inside the ring, feeling both joy and sorrow.

He was happy that Lei En kept his promise, safeguarding the treasure for three years without deducting a single Gold Shield; he was sorrowful that he had spent two million Gold Shields on the ring, about a third of his own fortune.

"Lei En, thank you."

Irene cherished the nebula ring, keeping it close, let out a breath—from now on she no longer needed to worry about having nowhere to stash her treasure, and could flee whenever she met an enemy.

He didn't know where Lei En had obtained such a ring with enormous spatial capacity, but he could guess it certainly wasn't easy.

"According to our agreement, you owe me a favor." Lei En said calmly.

"Yes." Irene nodded solemnly: "If you have any use for me, please tell the Queen, and I will respond immediately."

But he thought, given Lei En's strength and background, opportunities to use him would be rare.

Lei En saw through the black dragon's thoughts at a glance, but did not expose them. Irene underestimated her own importance; the Black Soul Potion was indispensable. From that slip of the tongue just now, he immediately formed a hypothesis: if he could verify it, he would definitely bind this fellow to his side in the future to make use of his talent in alchemy.

As for Irene's entanglement with Brittany, Lei En didn't want to get involved at all; he hoped Irene would be forced to leave the Deep Mire Swamp and come seek refuge with him.

The two each had their own thoughts, chatting idly for a moment.

Irene had seen Emily; after giving Rex a heavy gift, she quickly turned into an ethereal griffin, concealed her form, and flew away from Gislan.

Ka wen, this chapter counts as yesterday's……

(End of chapter)