Draco clobbered the two unruly fellows for a bit to straighten them out and bring them back onto the path of righteousness, justice, and world peace. He then left the castle with the duo skipping along happily behind him, wondering what kind of trouble they would get the chance to cause today.
They noticed that the marketplace seemed to be much more lively than usual today, prompting the trio to share a silent look. It seemed like the buzz the items Draco had put on sale had yet to die down, leading them to believe that either they had all sold out or there were still people out there furiously bidding for more.
Seeing this, the three immediately knew what to do. With sly smiles, they wore disguises in a variety of forms and mingled into the crowd. Draco wore a pair of square rimmed glasses only his face visible, whereas Qiong Qi wore an open-eye mask that covered all but his eyes.
As for Clarent, he had fished out his old set of Daoist sect leader robes with the fake white beard and Chinese top knot. He connected his huge sleeves together and walked around with his eyes squinted, pretending to be an old master descending into the world after millennia of cultivating.
When they squeezed through to the front, they could see what was going on. They had been exactly right, the crowd was fighting for the various Legendary Items and equipment on display through auctions.
About 11 days had passed since Draco had opened the shop and put his items on display, and half of the inventory was already gone. The fact that the other half had remained wasn't due to a lack of demand, but heavy contention.
The battles going on were fierce, an aura of competition and rivalry palpable as people furiously tapped into the shop displays that came up before them. Many were rapidly using their remaining score points to offer up goods for their items while others were putting up those, they had already claimed but had no use for.
Draco was willing to accept anything and everything, after all resources were resources. Even if he managed to claim the maximum amount of points on every subsequent floor, that alone wouldn't be enough to redeem every unique reward that tower had to offer, not even if he used up the free selections upon passing those floors.
Of course, the reason why there was so much commotion in his shop was due to the rules Draco had set. Firstly, no two items could be claimed at the same time. In other words, if Person X used Epic Material A to add to his bid for a Legendary Item, Person Y would be rejected if he added the same Epic Material A.
After all, with Refinement, Draco had no such issue with sustainable development and production of resources. His only problem now was the acquisition of said resources, which was why he had bothered with this plan and the rules in the first place.
If he acquired a resource below the Divine Rank, he could study its molecular structure and spit it out freely within his Inner Universe as long as he dedicated time to it.
To summarize, Draco was that wretched fellow who visited supermarkets solely to eat his fill of free samples without ever buying the actual product.
As for finished goods like equipment or potions, his limit was still the Rare Rank. Anything above the Epic Rank was not feasible, as they possessed item spirits and unique enchantments that made their entire web of components too complex to even fathom, much less understand.
However, back to the shop, the Shameless Trio shared looks and marveled at how effective their plan was unfolding. Maybe the resources Qiong Qi and Clarent wanted had already been redeemed, so all they had to do was collect them.
Excitingly, enough resources had also been gathered for Eva to upgrade her Inner Sun by one tier! Draco was looking forward to how much more OP she would become after doing so.
As for his Inner Universe, he was still missing some resources but he was not bothered. However, since he had already unveiled his priority item, Draco was certain he would get everything in time.
Draco collected all the stored items and tweaked the shop settings a little. He also added a few new items which were for Roma, Zaine, and Hikari. Added to them were some requests from his concubines which would help them either purify their bloodlines or help them with their trades.
Unlike the human maid concubines, the Goddess Descendant concubines were all Grandmasters of their various fields, and could yield a whole slew of items in the Inner Universe.
Of course, the human girls were special because they had fully human bloodline and had been enhanced by Richmond as a parting gift, which had made them perfect breeding mates.
Even though Draco's kids with the other concubines had a variety of mixed bloodlines, none were as pure and powerful as those with full human bloodlines.
After doing so, the trio sneaked away and returned to the castle. They had initially wanted to cause some trouble, but upon seeing the scene there, they had decided to wait until next time.
People believed the Legendary Items on display were scarce, so if they saw a sudden influx of almost 2000 new ones, they would be reluctant to pay as much as they were doing now, so Draco had opted to add them slowly over time to maximize his gains.
They returned to the Inner Universe and split the gains. Qiong Qi skipped off to find Sheera and give her the items he procured so that she could increase the grade of her Manticore bloodline and hopefully evolve into an Epic Manticore variant.
As for Clarent, he flapped his wings and soared up to his Dragonperch to give Chrona these precious items that would allow her to finally evolve from a Drake to a Dragon. He was most excited about this, as the former wyrm's special bloodline would only activate once she attained a true Dragon form.
Of course, Draco was not one to be left out. He happily Apported to Eva's Heavenly Palace, where she was discussing some matters in a court-like system with her Angels who she had released from her Eye of Miracles within the game.
She wanted to gain more of an understanding of her Heaven and how to manage it, as well as understand why the cycle of Heaven and Hell was limited to just them instead of running automatically to encompass the entire earth, if not the whole universe.
When the angels saw Draco had barged into the palace like it was his backyard, all of them except Samael displayed unhappy and antagonistic expressions, which the trouble maker naturally ignored.
He was already aware that no matter what he did, it would be in their nature to hate him for he represented the opposite of what they stood for. Eva waved her hand and collected all the angels back into her Seven Heavens then gazed down at Draco imperiously from her throne.
Draco smiled and then bowed subserviently. "O' Great, beautiful, magnanimous, lovely, attractive, sensual and supreme Goddess, this magnificent, handsome, wise, charismatic, cheerful and divine Devil greets you."
Eva's lips twitched as she jumped off her throne and landed in Draco's outstretched arms which were waiting to catch her.
"Fine, you win again, Boss Draco. Anyway, what's up?" Eva admitted defeat with a charming smile.
Draco lazily tossed Eva into the air, who agilely did a few flips before perfectly landing in Draco's grasp once more.
"Why not read my mind?" He asked curiously.
Eva glanced at him askance. "No thank you, doing so has been rated a nuclear level hazard."
Draco chuckled proudly. "Hahaha, how many in the world can make a person like you recoil from reading their minds due to the sheer manner of wise and visionary thoughts going through their head!"
Eva wiped a red liquid that appeared from the side of her mouth and sighed. Even when she didn't read his mind, she still suffered damage. That was one of the reasons she started learning his Dao, so that she could build immunity towards it.
Draco tossed Eva high into the air, and the Celestial Maiden flipped in all manner of angles before landing on the ground perfectly, standing right before Draco with a curious expression.
"Don't keep me out of the loop, Handsome Devil. What do you have in mind?"
Draco removed some items from his Inventory and placed them before Eva as she sat on the ground cross-legged. Eva did the same as she observed the items one by one before remarking in surprise.
Then, she smiled widely then put them down. "I can finally upgrade my Inner Sun by a tier. That thing has been with me since I got compensation from that retarded Goddess, but I've never found the time to search for the resources."
Draco rubbed his chin, feeling like a proud peacock. "I realized when you showed me your memories. I also saw the list of items you needed to upgrade it through your eyes, so I got them for you as a surprise."
Eva did not hold back her praise knowing what Draco wanted. "Truly handsome, visionary, wise, supreme, capable, profound, and magnanimous! If all the men of the world could have 0.001% of your traits, we would long have achieved perfection!"
"Bwahaha, that's true! That's true!" Draco chanted as he smiled. His eyes curved into crescents so deep you could no longer see his pupils and his face was flushed due to excitement and joy.
Draco then scratched his head. "Anyway, I just wanted to give you a heads up. I'll first have to analyze the composition of these resources - among others - so that I can freely reproduce them."
Naturally, the same applied to the resources meant for Sheera and Chrona. Clarent and Qiong Qi were simply doing the same thing as him and showing off to their wives that they thought of them, but they wouldn't use the items just yet.
That would be a waste of Draco's special abilities. Eva understood this, so she simply waited. It was not like she directly needed to upgrade right away, anyway. As such, she used this chance to check up on her Inner Sun's status.
As she closed her eyes and gazed within her own self, she saw a floating ball of fire within a black void that radiated intense heat despite its small size. If taken out of her, it would only be the size of a grain of rice, yet the amount of energy it gave off was insane.
Eva usually let the energy passively enhance herself because she had no real way to access it. It was currently at Tier 0, which meant that apart from some passive effects, everything else was blocked to her.
She called up its details and checked them.
｢Sun Seed – Fusion item (Tier 0)
Rank: Divine
Durability: MAX
Effects:
Passive 1 – Energy Generation: Your Inner Sun constantly spins and combusts to generate endless heat and Light Energy for you. No matter your mana or stamina stats, you will always be able to use techniques and skills related to these two elements.
Passive 2 – Power Boost: The fundamental nature of the heat and Light Energy used in your skills and techniques has been replaced by what is produced by the Inner Sun, increasing the effectiveness of both elements by 10,000%.
Active 1 – Sunderpress: The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. When it rises, it sunders the horizon with its might and when it sets, it suppresses the horizon with its power. All enemies with a zone of your designation will either go through the effect of being sundered or being suppressed. Duration: Variable. Cooldown: Variable.
Active 2 – Raze: The heat of the sun can only be borne by special fire species like the Sun Crow, the Phoenix, etc. Any other species subjected to its heat will turn into ash, without a chance to fight back. Summon your Inner Sun out into the real world and allow its explosive heat to sweep through the battlefield. Duration: Variable. Cooldown: Variable.
Note: At Tier 0, only passive 1 is usable and its effectiveness is limited to 0.1% of its full output.
Description: A Young Sun that is currently in its growth phase within a Divine Being with the Heat and Light Domains. Even though it is still in its infancy, it boasts a great chance of growth and amazing compatibility with its host, allowing it to manifest abilities that are beyond what most could acquire.｣
Eva licked her lips. She had already been moved by the abilities of the Sun Seed when she had first laid her eyes upon it. However, she had only been able to sigh with lament and put it at the back of her mind when she had seen the limited power available to her and especially the types of resources it had needed to grow.
Had it not been for this tower, most of that stuff would not have been easy to acquire on the deficient main plane, if it had been possible at all. Having realized that, Eva had just decided to let things sort themselves out in the future.
She had intended to look for a chance to acquire those resources during the Great War with the Demons or by barging into the Realm of the Gods. After all, for Sunna to have this seed but not use it meant that the Sun Goddess must have an Inner Sun of her own.
Surely that dumbass would at least know where to acquire the resources Eva would need for an upgrade, right?
But now, it was not necessary anymore. Draco had gone above and beyond to make sure she could easily upgrade it to the first tier, which should unlock more of its power.
Thinking like this, Eva smiled gently and opened her eyes to see Draco who was focused on inspecting the items put before him one by one. After fully grasping the nature of one and committing it to memory, he would use his Refinement to reproduce it right on the spot.
This caused intense fluctuations in energy as they were devoured to facilitate the transmutation. In truth, were it not for the Eternal Tree that produced an infinite amount of energy for the Inner Universe, what Draco was doing could have greatly damaged Vita Kingdom, perhaps crippling it for decades or centuries.
Not wanting to disturb him, Eva resumed her meditation, entering her Seven Heavens to continue her council with her Angels. This made for a serene scene in the Heavenly Palace, one that was begging to be captured in painting to be hung on the throne of a king or emperor.
However, soon enough the peace would be disturbed.
One lion and one dragon head peeked in from the outside, inspecting the area carefully with vigilant eyes, their usual playfulness gone.
"Do you see the Lady Boss?" Qiong Qi asked Clarent in a whisper.
Clarent shook his head. "Should be safe to enter. Even if she is inside, I doubt she'll kill us on account of our relationship with Draco."
Despite saying that, the two still refused to enter. What they didn't know was that Riveting Night was currently being suppressed and could not come out. It was Evaterasu who took charge, and she was mostly neutral and mature about most things.
Eventually, the duo mustered up the courage to enter and walk through the Heavenly Palace slowly, not daring to release their senses outwards. However, they still knew where to locate Draco at all times due to their connection with him.
When they came upon the central throne room, they saw the White-Haired Duo seated across each other both focused on their own things. Qiong Qi and Clarent gazed at the focused and concentrated Draco, and their whole bodies itched to interrupt him and cause trouble.
However, seeing Eva right there across from him was as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water above their heads. Draco himself, who was so fully focused on his work, didn't even know that he escaped a calamity thanks to Eva's presence.
This job he was doing required 100% of his concentration and focus, so he could not pay attention to the world around him. That was exactly why he only ever did this sort of thing in the presence of his wives and not when he was alone.
Otherwise, with him being so vulnerable, who knew what evils Clarent and Qiong Qi could perform on the innocent him?
Eva was less focused than Draco, so she opened her eyes and gazed at the duo of cat and lizard with a neutral gaze. "You can leave the items with me and I'll give them to him."
The non-human Shameless Duo got spooked when they heard Eva talk to them, as they were salivating at the prospect of bullying Draco while he was so weak. They immediately shook their heads and sobered up, then placed the resources that Draco gave them down on the floor.
"Hahaha, the Empress is truly wise and beautiful. This Lion King will now humbly take my leave." Qiong Qi greeted as he clasped his fists and backed away quickly.
"Lady Boss, your aura is filled with magnanimity and supremacy. This Divine Dragon has finished my task and will now return home, thanks." Clarent also greeted while backing away quickly.
Before Eva could even reply, the two fellows scrammed away as fast as they could, as if spending one more second there would see them devoured to the bone.
Eva was left speechless, having to gaze into a mirror to wonder if there was something on her face.
Soon enough, Draco was done with her set of resources, then sighed with a hint of tiredness. After all, these were all high-grade resources at the Epic and above grade, which was enough to even tire him out, despite all the passives in his favor.
Eva received the original set from the tower while the secondary set Draco had made from testing was stored away, to be brought out when he was done with the tower.
Finally, Eva began by selecting to upgrade her Inner Sun, and the resources broke down and started to be consumed rapidly.
-----------------------------------------------------
Author's Note: I have a lot to say, but adding too much would be a problem, so I'll try to summarize and be concise.
Recently, there has been a lack of chapters from Guild Wars and Darius Supreme. This isn't because of writer's block or any real crisis, but something more banal.
Basically, as I said in chapter 61 (the one where I explained why I was going premium), writing/authorship is the equivalent of being unemployed where I come from. You tell anyone you're an author and they look at you with hidden disdain and pity.
So I set a goal for myself to reach 100,000 Ghs and invest it in a Treasury Bill (for those who don't know what that is, it's a government bond) which is probably the equivalent of - what was at the time of me setting the goal - $20,000.
This can be seen as the bare minimum to start my life and lay a financial foundation. I recently reached that goal thanks to the popularity of Guild Wars especially. You guys have never given up on this novel, which puts me to shame tbh.
So I bought the bond and set it to renew the principal every term, which means I have a perpetual investment, as government bonds are about the safest you can get (literally unless your government collapses).
Now, how is this a problem? Well, you see I was able to persist precisely because I had that amount set as a goal. I was able to manage writing GW and DS at the same time because I knew what I wanted and I was working toward it.
So the problem is, now that I've reached the goal, I'm in a bit of a slump.
To make it more concise, I am in a situation that is equivalent to an applicant who had spent a year studying for a university entrance exam, and had just written the exam.
I was tense and focused on studying and succeeding and now that the big day is over, I am unwinding and finding it a bit hard to study again.
Why am I saying this? I don't plan to put anything on hiatus really, or pause any of my novels. I did that once and did not enjoy it.
I just want to bring you up to speed on my current status.
To answer the question of: When will things get back to normal?
Think of it like this. Using the above example, I have completed the exam and am awaiting enrollment. So once the school year begins, I will re-adjust and acquire a new goal.
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