Cale was still stunned from Asteria's sudden shout and he could help but study the body of the dying emperor.
The former dashing middle-aged man was now very thin and look like a decaying corpse. No hint of blood can be seen on his body.
"Asteria, what is this Soul Devouring Demonic Poison that you mentioned?" Cale could no longer hide his curiosity, so he asked Asteria with an inquiring look.
"Soul Devouring Demonic Poison is self-explanatory. From the two words 'soul devouring', it means that someone who was inflicted with this type of poison will have his soul slowly devoured until he dies.
The pain of having your soul slowly being eaten by this poison is unimaginable. And for the emperor to hold on for his life up until now represents his unparalleled strength and willpower.
Luckily, the Heavenly Restoration Wine is enough to heal him. But for this type of strong poison, you have to let him consume the wine once every day for one week before he recovers his lost soul strength." Asteria patiently explained to Cale inside his head.
"What a scary poison." Cale unconsciously muttered to himself after hearing the horror of the Soul Devouring Demonic Poison.
Due to the room being very silent, the two people, Seira, and the crown prince heard his voice which made them frown. Because according to their knowledge, the emperor was struck by a malignant illness and not poisoned.
He was even personally checked by the best physician of the empire, the head physician, Elder Sun.
And the result of his checkup... The emperor was infected by a very rare and baleful illness that is capable of slowly eating a person's strength.
They did not know that the emperor was actually poisoned by someone! And a very terrifying poison at that which attacks a person's soul!
A human's soul is very intricate and many top experts even said that the soul is closely connected towards the realm after the Immortal-Class level! So a person with an injured soul had lesser hopes of breaking through towards this realm no matter how heaven-defying his/her talents are.
"This brother, what did you say?" The crown prince asked with a frown. Elder Sun and the other physicians told them that the emperor was ill and not poisoned. So how could he not be surprised?
Seira similarly glanced at Cale while furrowing her delicate eyebrows. Curiosity clouded her peerless face.
Cale glanced at the crown prince with a calm expression that was devoid of any ripple. He then slowly said.
"The emperor was poisoned. And this poison is the most terrifying poison that I have ever encountered so far."
Seira and the crown prince were stunned after hearing Cale's words. If what he said was right, then all of their physicians were wrong! And the gravity on Cale's voice hinted the extraordinariness of the poison.
"Are you sure, brother Wolf King?" The crown prince asked worriedly. If his father was really poisoned, then the matters were not as simple as it seemed to be.
First was his second brother's betrayal, second were the actions of the nobles, and now his father being poisoned. Connecting the dots, the first person that came inside his head was still the second prince.
Thinking up to this, the crown prince's killing intent soared. His deep blue eyes gleamed sharply, but he forcefully held himself back. He then glanced at the masked Cale who was now looking at him, waiting for his answer.
Cale saw the anger of the crown prince, so he did not delay anymore and said.
"I am one hundred percent sure that his majesty was indeed inflicted by a poison. A poison that slowly devours the soul, until the person who was inflicted slowly dies. This poison is called the Soul Devouring Demonic Poison..." Cale spoke the poison's name word by word to emphasize it.
Seira and the crown felt a chill down their spines after hearing the poison's dreadful name.
The crown prince then walked towards Cale and held his shoulders in agitation. His face was full of all sorts of emotions, and Cale could not blame him, so he sensibly waited for him to talk.
"Wolf King... The emperor is very much needed during this tumultuous time. I hope that you can help us detoxify him using the antidote. And wouldn't the Holy Nourishing Crystal be enough to heal father?" The crown prince held back his tears, but globs of liquid still slowly took form in his eyes.
Cale's expression did not change one bit. He then said.
"Your highness, I indeed know the antidote of this poison. And the main ingredient is the Holy Nourishing Crystal. So if you trust me, can you please leave the room with young miss Seira? I don't want anyone to disturb me during the creation process of the antidote. One wrong move and the ingredients will be destroyed. I hope you understand."
The antidote that Cale was speaking about was naturally the Heavenly Restoration Wine. As for the Holy Nourishing Crystal being the main ingredient of the antidote, it was him bullshitting. But still, this little bit of compensation was only normal for saving the empire's emperor, right?
Seira and the crown prince glanced at each other. The latter hesitated for a brief moment before he sighed. What can he do aside from trusting Cale? And besides, it's General Lexus who brought him here, so he should be trustworthy.
"Wolf King, I hope you can save father. And if you do, the Doomblade Imperial Family and the Celestial Sword Empire will remember this favor." The crown prince bowed his head solemnly.
Cale was surprised at the crown prince's solemn respect. And he inwardly admired him for knowing when to be overbearing and when to yield.
"Your highness, please lift your head up. This one does not deserve your bow. Don't worry, I will make sure that I will successfully concoct this antidote." Cale hurriedly supported the crown prince.
The latter forced a smile before he gestured Seira to leave the room with him. Seira glanced at Cale's side profile before she went out of the room with the crown prince.
After seeing that both of them were already outside, Cale excitedly took out the Holy Nourishing Crystal from his storage space.
- Ding!
- Do you want to exchange this Holy Nourishing Crystal?
Asteria's cold and emotionless voice resounded inside his head while a prompt similarly appeared in front of him.
The moment Cale clicked the word 'yes', the Holy Nourishing Crystal in his hand vanished magically.
- Ding!
Cale smiled from ear to ear after hearing the familiar prompt. It was very long ago since he had last heard the familiar 'cha-ching' sound when he exchanges for Black Coins.
He then went to the Store tab and clicked on the Slaves category first.
Rows of cards appeared in front of him, depicting the pictures and profile of several humans and non-humans.
Cale squinted his eyes after seeing a familiar slave that he had seen before, but he was unable to buy.
* Aurora (Human)
- 35 000 000 000 Black Coins
- A human empress who transcended humanity and achieved immortality. She broke the shackles of mortality and fought with the Demon Immortal Azazel for one week. She injured Azazel severely and made him go sleep for countless millennia, but this came with a heavy price. She lost her immortal body and injured her nascent immortal soul. And in order to preserve her life, she used her remaining powers to seal her body in a block of freezingly cold ice made from her immortal blood in hopes that she will gain back her immortality.
Cale thought for a moment before discarding the thoughts of buying her. He was in need of strong helpers that could help him against the demons who were eyeing their world with malicious eyes, but it was not the right place to buy something from 'The Black Market'. It would be very hard to explain to both Seira and the crown prince about the sudden appearance of someone inside the emperor's chamber. So he held himself back and closed the Store tab decisively.
"Asteria, give me one Heavenly Restoration Wine."
* Heavenly Restoration Wine
- 1 000 000 000 Black coins
- Do you wish to continue your purchase?
Cale unhurriedly clicked the word 'yes'.
After a blink of an eye, a wine gourd made from beast skin and other types of materials hovered in midair. It then slowly landed on Cale's hands.
"Asteria, will this really work?" Cale could not help but ask, but he did not hear any answers from Asteria. He only heard her coldly harrumphed.
Cale produced a wry smile and slowly opened the wine gourd.
A refreshing aroma assaulted his nostrils, making him feel invigorated. Even just the smell already had the effects of calming one's mind and invigorating the soul, how much more if someone drinks it?
Now he understood Asteria's disdain. Such a wine was indeed a heavenly treasure!
The closed eyes of the emperor suddenly sprung open, producing a bone-chilling aura that covered the entire room.