City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

Profits

Having been told it was special, Richard accepted the golden dagger and activated Insight to see through its structure. Outside of affirming that the material was basically 99% pure gold, he didn’t find anything special about it, especially no suggestion that it could cut through space. However, the very fact that it didn’t melt under his breath showed it was unique. He turned to Nasia, “What’s so special about it?”

Nasia sighed as though she was looking at a moron, “This dagger is made of auvitrum, or golden glass. Known as the Light of the Vortex, it’s a rare material that can withstand enormous temperatures of up to a hundred thousand degrees. This dagger only has a tiny amount, but it can still hold up against ten thousand itself; your impurity-riddled flames can’t reach such temperatures.”

“But it still looks like a standard divine weapon…” he muttered as he focused on the 1% of difference, trying to figure out the secrets of the dagger. When Nasia didn’t answer for a while, he looked up to find her staring at his eyes. A little confused, he couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…” Nasia suddenly sighed, showing a look of helplessness for the first time since he had summoned her. Her eyes filled with nostalgia, she stared into the distance for a while before training her gaze on him once more. However, he could still sense the weight of her emotions even if they were hidden behind the mask. She pointed at his eyes and tried to smile, “That’s an interesting ability you’ve got there; it’d look cool when you’re trying to impress girls.”

“And?” Richard asked without a change in expression, ignoring her flirtatious tone. He knew that there had to be a reason for her to bring up Insight all of a sudden. This woman who had lived an untold number of aeons wouldn’t just make such a tasteless joke.

She eventually snorted, “This ability of yours seems to encompass some special laws or some such thing… They might be the key to avoiding the situation I find myself in. Make sure to invest in it in the future, if only I had something similar back then…”

Her interest quickly withered away as she took the dagger and broke it in two without a second thought, “Here, you’ll only be able to see through its secrets from the break. It can help you touch upon the laws of metal, maybe even that of the auvitrum itself. That Son of Gold guy improved his path using this, but he didn’t have the guts to destroy the weapon. Even if he didn’t die now, he wouldn’t have progressed much further.”

“This auvitrum has a law?” Richard was surprised.

“Mm. Every material and type of energy in this world has a reason for its existence, even a grain of sand is a manifestation of the world’s laws. The more special a material is, the more unique the law it represents. Auvitrum is a rare metal across the myriad planes, and the law it represents is powerful. You’ll need to grasp the laws of metal and advance for three levels before you can begin attempting to control it, needing a combination of heat, solids, metals, and other high-level laws. Godfrey wanted to work on this, but he overestimated himself; he was lucky enough just to get any laws at all.”

Richard chuckled, “So you think I’m definitely capable of analysing and unearthing this law of auvitrum?”

“That term… analysing… it makes you different from the trash who worm themselves into the legendary realm. Of course, this law is also quite potent; if you focus solely on it, then with your current standard…” Nasia suddenly looked him in the eye, sending a chill down his spine as he realised all of his existence was laid bare to her. It left him extremely uncomfortable, to the point that he had to hold himself back from doing something stupid like forming a barrier, but she eventually finished her answer, “200 years, give or take.”

Richard was astonished. Staring at the broken edge and making an attempt himself, he had come to the conclusion that it would take 60,000 days. This wasn’t much different from Nasia’s conclusion. While the Godnest’s laws would take 500,000 and the Doomsday Imprint a tad lower, this auvitrum was actually above the laws of life from the Forest Plane. However, what surprised him wasn’t the difficulty but Nasia’s understanding of him.

“You know me well,” he smiled.

“You’ll get a similar ability in the future,” she said calmly before pointing at the dagger in his hands, “Outside of analysing its laws, this thing has other uses. The auvitrum within it can be exchanged for a top-tier offering on any plane, or you can trace your way back to Godfrey’s nest within the void and take anything valuable there. Of course, you’ll need to find your way there.

Weighing the golden ball and broken dagger, Richard sighed. He could still sense Godfrey’s aura within the essence, making the orb priceless. It could form the basis of two pieces of legendary equipment or even a divine weapon; it alone was worth a top-tier offering or greater. In the meanwhile, the dagger was even more useful; two of Nasia’s suggestions would earn him immediate benefits.

While he was struggling to make a decision, he suddenly remembered that the broodmother had grown the ability to analyse laws after hitting level 10. He immediately pulled on the relevant information in his mind and started going through it carefully.

Right now, the broodmother was comparable to a basic human legend. However, her speed at analysing laws was much faster than his own, roughly one upgrade of wisdom apart. However, she would likely advance herself by the time he got there, and her enormous brain would only grow further. While he had multiple minds within, there were hundreds of thinking units that contributed to her every decision; he couldn’t match up to it at all.

He immediately contacted her and sent some information about the golden ball and dagger, receiving a prompt response, “Master, these things will be very useful! That golden glass in particular, it’ll be key in my evolution!”

Even before she was done speaking, she sent a flood of information about how she would use the auvitrum. Although there were only trace amounts, she could scatter it to the most important sections of her shell and thus keep her core well-defended. She would even grow immune to most Faelorian flames, able to walk on lava at will. So long as she didn’t jump into a volcano, she wouldn’t be easily injured. At the same time, even legendary equipment wouldn’t be able to damage her hearts with ease.

The broodmother also mentioned that she could reach Godfrey’s standard in the laws of metal within two years, then able to take apart the orb’s materials and use it to create one or more special units.

“Okay, they’re yours,” he quickly made his choice. One of the cloned brains promptly flew over, taking the orb and the dagger before speeding towards the Land of Turmoil.

Richard gave out silent orders, immediately reorganising his soldiers and having them clean up behind the dead and wounded. Dozens of warhorns resounded through the sky, their desolate tones echoing in the hearts of the imperial soldiers as a line of knights marched on the Frozen Throne. In only minutes, the army was closing in on the enormous city in the distance.

Richard jumped on a cloned brain and slowly rose into the skies, staring down at the imperial capital that was covered in cold mist. The Frozen Throne had towered over these lands for thousands of years, standing strong like cold iron, but today it trembled in fear with the earth. His voice rang in the ears of everyone present, “With Godfrey dead, we have no need to wait any longer. Let’s take down the Frozen Throne!”