Chapter 827 The Machine Race’s Conspiracy
Kael stared at him in silence.
“Kaelen, have you lost your senses?” Lunara was the first to speak, astonishingly taking Kael’s side against her fellow Palace Masters.
“Lord Lin already explained that even a million sets of ingredients might produce only a single drop of Lesser Immortal Spirit Liquid. You’re offering a mere twenty thousand sets, yet you expect ten drops in return? ”
In the past, Lunara’s intervention would have immediately earned Kael’s goodwill.
But Kael was no longer the man he had once been.
Lunara’s eagerness to secure his support proved that she was at a severe disadvantage within the Celestial Maiden Palace. There was no reason for Kael to place too much hope in her.
Sure enough, Voren laughed scornfully.
“The Ben family has managed the spirit herb gardens for generations. You’re certainly generous with property that doesn’t belong to you, Lunara.”
“Your family was assigned to the gardens as servants,” Lunara snapped.
“The former Palace Master took pity on you and allowed the Ben family into the palace. Instead of showing gratitude, you helped yourselves to every valuable spirit herb you could find. That is the only reason a lowly race like yours managed to produce two Eternal Realm cultivators.”
“Please, there’s no need to argue,” Kael interrupted. “I only want the ingredients. If twenty thousand sets are all you can provide, I can offer three drops of Lesser Immortal Spirit Liquid—one for each of you.”
He took out a jade bottle.
All three Vice Palace Masters went still.
Even through the bottle, they could sense the aura of Ascendant Realm spirit liquid.
“Deal. Hand me the bottle.”
Voren reached for it, but this time Lunara refused to yield. She knocked his hand aside before he could take it.
Kael promptly pulled the bottle back.
“I will wait here. Whoever brings me the ingredients will receive the Immortal Spirit Liquid directly from me. That should be acceptable to everyone.”
He had no desire to offend any of them.
“Let’s go.”
Voren and Kaelen left the council hall first.
After a moment’s hesitation, Lunara vanished as well.
Kael remained seated in the hall and waited in silence.
About fifteen minutes later, a Celestial Maiden Palace cultivator entered with a man concealed beneath a black cloak.
“Lord Lin? Where are the three Vice Palace Masters?”
“They...”
Kael was about to answer when his attention shifted to the black-robed man.
A cloak might conceal him from ordinary cultivators, but it could never block Kael’s Spiritual Sense.
Kael flicked a finger.
Flames swept across the black cloak and burned it away, revealing a body that was half flesh and half machine.
“A member of the Machine Race? What are you doing in the Celestial Maiden Palace?”
“So it really is you.”
The Machine cultivator appeared to be in the Planetary Realm. The moment he recognized Kael, he pulled out a sealed letter.
The letter immediately burst into flames and crumbled to ash.
“That letter was sent by the Machine Race to the Celestial Maiden Palace, wasn’t it?” Kael asked, paying no attention to the ashes. “What did it say?”
“I have nothing to tell you.”
The Machine cultivator’s answer was openly defiant.
“I had no intention of using force on the grounds of the Celestial Maiden Palace,” Kael said as he slowly rose. “But if the Machine Race sent someone here, your purpose must involve a plot against humanity. I’m afraid I’ll have to overstep my authority this once.”
He advanced one measured step at a time.
“What are you doing?”
The Machine cultivator kept backing away. Just as he prepared to launch himself into the air and escape, Kael’s right hand closed around his head.
Kael drove his Spiritual Sense into the Machine cultivator’s sea of consciousness.
Roughly half an hour later, Kael released his grip.
The Machine cultivator toppled stiffly to the floor, his soul completely destroyed.
“L-Lord Lin, the three Vice Palace Masters haven’t returned yet,” the Celestial Maiden Palace cultivator stammered. “Killing him without their permission may put us in a difficult position.”
A Planetary Realm member of the Machine Race could ordinarily contend with an average Stellar Realm opponent.
Yet before Kael, the Machine cultivator had not even found an opportunity to flee before his soul was destroyed.
Three figures appeared in the council hall at the same time.
“Lord Lin, I have—”
Voren stopped short when he noticed the Machine Race corpse on the floor. He turned sharply toward Kael.
“Lord Lin, what is the meaning of this?”
“This Machine cultivator was clearly sent here because of me, so I killed him without waiting for your permission.”
Kael’s voice remained calm.
All three Vice Palace Masters fell silent.
A member of the Machine Race had been killed on the grounds of the Celestial Maiden Palace. The incident alone was humiliating enough, but their wounded pride was hardly their greatest concern.
If the Machine Race later demanded an explanation, how could the Celestial Maiden Palace hope to withstand the consequences?
The Machine Race’s divine abilities far surpassed those of most other races. More importantly, it possessed nearly twenty Eternal Realm cultivators—far more than the Celestial Maiden Palace.
“If the Machine Race demands compensation, you may place all responsibility on me,” Kael continued.
The three exchanged glances.
In the end, Voren took out a spatial ring and handed it to Kael.
“There are twenty-three thousand sets of ingredients inside. Inspect them yourself and make certain everything is genuine.”
His tone was subdued.
“Very well.”
Kael opened the spatial ring and examined every set of ingredients with his Spiritual Sense.
“Well?” Voren asked. “Everything should be in order.”
“Some of the ingredients are slightly inferior, but after accounting for their quality, they still amount to twenty thousand complete sets.”
Kael closed the spatial ring.
“Since Voren personally delivered the ingredients into my hands, it is only right that I give the Immortal Spirit Liquid to him. This is a straightforward transaction—he provided the goods, and I will provide the payment. You have no objection, do you, Lady Liu?”
Lunara turned her head away, tacitly accepting the result.
Kael drew a deep breath and handed the jade bottle to Voren.
“One more thing. The Machine Race sent this cultivator here because they intend to unite the myriad races against humanity. I trust that the Celestial Maiden Palace will make a wise decision.”
With that, Kael left the Celestial Maiden Palace and returned to the central stellar teleportation array.
Twenty thousand sets of ingredients would allow him to refine another ten thousand drops of Immortal Spirit Liquid.
White light flooded the teleportation array.
Kael vanished from the Celestial Maiden Palace and reappeared at the edge of the Celestial Maiden Galaxy.
He released his Machine Race vessel and set a course for the next galaxy.
Time passed.
Two years went by in the blink of an eye.
Kael materialized within the central teleportation array of the Starhound Galaxy.
“What are you?”
“Wait. You’re human?”
“Weren’t the humans already...”
The Starhound cultivators guarding the array exchanged uneasy looks.
Kael showed no emotion. He opened his Inner Cosmos and released the three Planetary Realm human cultivators.
“Josiah Yu? So you were the one who escaped to find reinforcements,” one of the guards said. “Unless you somehow brought Kael himself back with you, none of you will leave the Starhound Galaxy alive this time.”
The guard immediately sealed the entire central teleportation array.
“Lord Lin, we truly came too late,” Josiah said, his features contorted with grief. “Those accursed Starhounds have already slaughtered nearly every human in the galaxy.
“I can’t sense a single human aura anywhere near this teleportation world.”
“L-Lord Lin?” The guard stiffened as he stared at Kael. “Then he must be...”
“Very well.”
Kael crossed the distance in several flashes and appeared within Starhound Valley.
It was an immense canyon filled with densely packed buildings that towered into the clouds.