Chapter 235: Section 23: This time, we won the bet
Soul Crystals were not ordinary crystals but the essence of a soul.
They emerged alongside the creation of Undead Magic.
Undead Mages utilized Undead Magic, slaughtering lives of various races, extracting their souls, crushing, pressing, purifying them until they obtained Soul Crystals of varying sizes and qualities.
The greatest use of a Soul Crystal was to enhance the user’s spiritual power.
Spiritual power was an extremely important attribute.
Whether it was a Mage, a fighter, or a Divine Officer, the stronger the spiritual power, the better.
With strong spiritual power, a Mage could swiftly mobilize Magic Power when using spells, construct Magic Models faster, and employ more complex spells.
Fighters and Divine Officers enjoyed the same benefits.
Therefore, when Soul Crystals hit the market, they were widely acclaimed. Even though everyone knew they originated from Undead Mages and were produced through inhumane methods.
The effect of Soul Crystals was just too powerful.
The market price of Soul Crystals had also been climbing, and even now, it was still on an upward trend.
Now, the knight youth and his party had not only obtained a large amount of Soul Crystals, but more importantly, they had gained the method to produce them.
For most people, this production method was actually useless.
Because it involved the use of Undead Magic.
But among the youth’s group was an Undead Mage named Cang Xu!
With these things, they could continue to produce Soul Crystals without end. It was a gold mine, an almost inexhaustible gold mine!
No wonder the usually calm Cang Xu was so excited about this.
This also explained why the owner of this place, that cultist, was so astoundingly rich. Because this was his Soul Crystal manufacturing site, and the sale of Soul Crystals gave him a steady income.
The knight youth continued his investigation.
There were also several cases of apple wine in the toad safe.
All of them were bronze apple wines. They were considered a specialty of the Elf Clan from Honeymoon Forest.
Lastly, there was a metal badge.
The badge was the size of a pin, radiating a dim silver-white luster. It was shaped like the letter U with an added vertical line in the middle, resembling a simplified fork.
The knight youth took out the badge, “Is this the symbol of that mysterious organization of the Desecration Priest you mentioned?”
“Yes,” Cang Xu nodded.
Last night, when he saw this symbol under the floorboards, he immediately realized the true identity of the cultist.
From the Mage’s equipment and various spellcasting materials found in the toad safe, it was inferred that this cultist was a Silver Level Undead Mage.
Moreover, he was also a Desecration Priest.
The two were not in conflict; in fact, they were closely linked.
You Can, the creator of Undead Magic, was a Desecration Priest. By stealing Divine Power and spying on the secrets of a deity, he garnered the mysteries between life and death and ultimately created Undead Magic.
Undead studied the secrets of the soul, playing with life and death. But in truth, the gods had long been engaging in such acts.
The souls of devout Believers were taken by the gods into the Divine Country after death. Some Believer’s souls were even turned into Heroic Spirits, while others became Angels, Devils, Demons, and so on.
After interrogating the Thieves’ souls, Cang Xu immediately realized: the capture of the cultist was intentional.
Why did he allow himself to be caught and face death willingly?
Cang Xu then guessed: It wasn’t that he was seeking death but rather to attract other cultists!
Sure enough, the corpses found in the Burial Mound confirmed he was not the cultist himself. Moreover, the bodies bore many traces of Divine Arts.
Thus, the truth began to emerge in Cang Xu’s mind—
This Undead Mage discovered that followers of the deity Mei Lan were hiding near New Moon Town. So he staged a play, disguised himself as a believer of Mei Lan. He deliberately exposed himself and got caught, earning the help of other Believers to escape.
These cultists used Divine Arts to give the Undead Mage a scapegoat, allowing him to escape undetected.
Most of the townsfolk believed the Undead Mage was already dead.
But in reality, the Undead Mage was still alive and had achieved his conspiracy. He successfully dispelled the doubts of the other cultists and infiltrated their ranks.
As for why he infiltrated them?
Clearly, this Undead Mage, emulating You Can, sought to steal Divine Power or peek at the secrets of Mei Lan.
The state of the deity Mei Lan was dire, though not fallen, but perpetually asleep.
Since the Undead Mage went to great lengths to infiltrate among the followers of Mei Lan, he must have been somewhat confident in his actions.
As for where this Silver Level Mage was now?
The scapegoat’s body had hinted he was not on the island, and the Sea Charts seen on the previous floor suggested he had left with those cultists.
His likely destination was the Main Temple of Mei Lan!
Indeed, in subsequent diary entries, the Undead Mage vaguely recorded parts of his sacrilegious plan.
It was also for this reason that the Undead Mage stored his equipment and treasures in this underwater secret chamber.
Perhaps, the Eastern phrase “from adversity comes prosperity” does exist.
After the disaster on Mysterious Monster Island, the knight youth and his group began to experience a stroke of good luck.
“Alright, let’s start moving. We need to be as discreet as possible. Don’t land, go directly from underwater and transport everything into the Deep Sea Monster Fish,” the knight youth commanded.
The Deep Sea Monster Fish could definitely not approach the small boat dock, it was easy to run aground.
Using magic among other methods, the group took several trips to finally empty the underground chamber.
Looking back at the chamber, it resembled a bronze-supported wine bottle. The bottle had two levels, the lower level primarily served as a storage room, and the upper level as a workshop, with a passage on top, like the slender neck of a wine bottle.
The chamber had three layers of defensive measures in total.
The first layer could self-repair, the second layer was mingled with the power of the Undead and could not be restrained even by Unsealing Scrolls. The third layer was the bottleneck’s magic rays that could wipe out the enemies that forcefully entered. Unfortunately, it had been sabotaged from the inside by ghosts.
In most cases, these defenses were already very tight.
But the knight youth was willing to invest, spending all his family’s provisions in exchange for Unsealing Scrolls. With the powerful aid of Cang Xu, these defensive measures were resolved in just the right way.
The youth’s investment was not small, yet his gains were immense.
After taking inventory aboard the Monster Fish, the immediate cashable assets from this haul were more than forty times the initial investment. In the case of Soul Crystals, it was impossible to give an accurate value because they were a continuous goldmine!
The knight youth and his group had won their gamble!
After completing the inventory, the crew discussed their next steps aboard the Deep Sea Monster Fish.
Most of the treasures could be sold to the Empire, then used to purchase supplies.
The books should first be copied before deciding whether to sell them. The Empire probably wouldn’t offer high prices for these books unless some were particularly special.
No matter, if they couldn’t be sold here, there would be a market in other ports or markets.
Soul Crystals absolutely could not be sold.
More precisely, they should not be sold to the Empire.
Because anything related to the Undead might attract the Empire’s investigation. Soul Crystals were even more likely to do so.
To sell these Soul Crystals, the knight youth and his people could completely turn to the Black Market. In fact, these Soul Crystals could also be metabolized internally.
As for the Silver Level equipment of the Undead Mage, it would be best not to handle such transactions at New Moon Port. There was no need to take that risk.
“I strongly suggest that Captain purchase a Peace Angel figurehead,” Lan Zao said after seeing the list, immediately offering his suggestion.
“A Peace Angel figurehead can effectively weaken storms, even tsunamis. It’s very practical! The Captain of the Pig Kiss had always wanted such a figurehead, but it was too expensive,” Lan Zao added.
Indeed it was expensive, but worth the price.
Then buy it!
“We need a lot of Magic Beast meat. It’s been a long time, we’ve had no such replenishments since Mysterious Monster Island,” Zong Ge said.
This suggestion was very pertinent, and the knight youth adopted it immediately.
He had also planned this.
The better the quality of the Magic Beast meat, the more it would help fighters maintain their strength, nourish their bodies, and improve their training efficiency.
Mu Ban said, “I need a complete set of ship repair tools and some books on shipbuilding.”
The shipwright had died on Mysterious Monster Island. As one of their own, Mu Ban had to take on more responsibility.
Without hesitation, the knight youth agreed to his request.
Fat Tongue stuttered, “What about, about our Chairman? Isn’t, isn’t there anything to wake her up?”
Unfortunately, there was nothing.
The knight youth’s authority was still too low; a treasure like Resurrection Scroll would likely require Golden Level permission to access.
In fact, Zi Di’s condition was very special, and no one knew what could actually cure her illness.
Lan Zao wanted a scimitar. The Big Guy let the knight youth decide for him, choosing a set of Fighting Energy manuals and leather armor. Sanda chose Magic Boots that allowed Swift Movement for a period of time. Bai Ya, Queshan, and others all made their own choices.
Lastly, Fat Tongue suggested, “We also, also need a type of Contract Scroll. It, it can keep the matters of Mysterious Monster Island confidential. If anyone, anyone divulges secrets, they will be severely punished, even with death.”
Everyone’s expressions changed.
Zong Ge frowned; obviously, Fat Tongue did not trust others.
Cang Xu praised, “Indeed we need this. Things are different now compared to when we were on Mysterious Monster Island. Can we ensure that others can resist temptation and not betray us?”
“Think about it,” Cang Xu pointed to the Empire’s list, “The Empire is offering all of this to lure pirates from all over the seas. Would they skimp on some wealth to tempt our people?”
The rest fell silent, casting their eyes towards the knight youth.
The knight youth fell into deep thought, “I’ll consider it.”
The topic was temporarily put aside as they continued discussing the procurement of supplies.
The largest expenditure in the end was on alchemy tools.
Cang Xu suggested purchasing a batch of alchemy tools to increase the production of Soul Crystals.
Together with the various fundamental equipment needed for the new ship, such as cannons and sails, this meant that the newly acquired wealth would be mostly spent in no time.
The knight youth did not mind at all, because this spending was exchanged for a surge in his crew’s strength.
Moreover, there would be a continuous output of Soul Crystals in the future. As long as there were no accidents, the cash flow would not break.