Chapter 414: I’m Hurry

Priam appeared in a specific region within the area reserved for the inner sect disciples. The teleportation array stood in the center of the plaza, surrounded in every direction by twelve colossal palaces.

Nine of these palaces housed the sect’s greatest treasures—the training and study grounds left behind by the Sovereign Goddess herself. The other three were the Alchemy Palace, the Equipment Palace, and the Mission Palace.

Priam took a few steps away from the teleportation inscription. Mere seconds later, the floor lit up brightly, and two figures emerged from the radiance: Dandara and Nise.

Priam had summoned them there. He had learned from Dandara that she had assigned Nise a crucial task: evaluating all the newly arrived ordinary soldiers to identify their shortcomings and precisely determine what they needed to improve—whether material resources or techniques.

Nise had probably spent the entire night dedicated to this task. And since she had been born and raised in the inner sect, she knew better than anyone all the resources available for purchase. Not even Dandara had any idea of all the possibilities.

As soon as they approached, the two stopped in front of Priam.

Nise bowed respectfully. "Boss, I’ve done a preliminary evaluation of everyone. However, the central disciples aren’t authorized to consume too many resources before taking the inner sect’s official test. So they’ve only been consuming the basics and training in the things they were already good at..."

Priam nodded when he noticed the complicated expression on the young woman’s face. "Do you have a good idea of what everyone actually needs?"

"Yes, but... every single one of those items is absurdly expensive. Since our faction was just founded, we won’t even receive an initial resource allowance. We’ll have to work hard to earn everything little by little. I know Boss was a wealthy man in the outer branches and probably converted his funds to use here... but things in the inner sect cost a fortune. If I may offer my opinion, we should choose a battlefield and start accumulating points as soon as possible."

Priam listened to the advice in silence and simply nodded.

"Wasting time on small jobs and minor missions will only delay everyone’s progress. That’s not in my plans for now. As for the resources... don’t worry about that. Let’s go."

Nise raised her gaze, surprised and confused. ’What does he mean, don’t worry about resources?’

Without time to question him, she hurried after the couple as they entered the Alchemy Palace.

Inside, the space seemed to expand into a colossal dimension. Directly ahead of the entrance stood a large counter, where an alchemist disciple would normally be stationed to assist customers, but the post was temporarily empty.

However, standing in front of the counter were five figures.

One of them turned around and looked at the three newcomers with a provocative smile. It was Neel, the leader of the Seiche Alliance—the Sage from the same bloodline as Safira.

"Haha... came to buy some pills?" Neel sneered, fixing his gaze on Priam. "Oh, that’s right! You’re considered the greatest talent from the outer branches, so you must have brought some spare change in your pocket."

Nise lightly clenched her fists, while Dandara narrowed her eyes and stared at him coldly.

"Unfortunately for you, I just bought out the entire stock of Blood Pills. It’ll take a few months for them to restock."

Nise took a deep breath and moved closer to Priam, whispering quietly:

"Boss, Blood Pills are the generic nutritional pills for all classes, and they’re also the cheapest and most accessible. However, since the refining process takes a long time, restocking them takes a while. Besides those... all the others cost at least five times more. I think we should come back another time."

Despite whispering as quietly as she could, everyone in the place heard her.

Neel made no effort whatsoever to be discreet and burst into loud, mocking laughter.

"Exactly!" Neel exclaimed arrogantly. "In the inner sect, the poor don’t stand a chance. If you had joined an established faction, you’d receive a fat allowance, enough to make explosive progress. Why do you think new factions almost never appear? Nobody is stupid enough to ruin their own future by settling for scraps in a new faction."

Priam simply ignored the idiot and turned to Nise.

"Do our soldiers really need those Blood Pills?"

She took a deep breath before answering. "Not necessarily. This pill would only be useful during the initial stage, but there are infinitely better alternatives."

"Great. Then we don’t need to come back another time," Priam said with complete indifference.

At that exact moment, a young alchemist emerged from the back and approached the counter.

Neel and his followers turned toward him expectantly, but the attendant’s expression was awkward.

"I’m sorry. The common Chaos Sea Pills you requested are sold out. The only ones currently available are the Medium- and High-level ones. A single Medium-level pill costs 5 million points."

"WHAT?! 5 million for a single pill?" Neel exclaimed, his eyes widening in shock.

The alchemist sighed and nodded in confirmation.

At that moment, Priam calmly turned to Nise. "Do any of our soldiers need this?"

Nise nodded, a little timidly, and whispered, "That’s the best nutritional pill available for specialists of the water element."

Neel snorted, frustrated and helpless. "Damn... I needed at least 5 common pills. When are you going to restock them?"

"The Alchemy Master specializing in this element is currently focused on refining other types. Since we have very few high-level specialists, he won’t produce the common pills again for another three to ten years. I recommend saving up your points and purchasing the Medium-level ones; their energy purity is equivalent to more than 10 common pills," the alchemist explained politely and helpfully.

"I see..." Neel muttered through gritted teeth.

At that moment, a calm voice echoed from behind them.

"I guess you’ll have to wait the full ten years."

Neel spun around and found Priam calmly approaching the counter.

Dandara and Nise followed right behind him. Nise’s face was pale and stiff with pure tension.

"Are you done here? Can I place my order?" Priam asked in a tone that made it seem like he barely even noticed Neel’s presence.

Neel let out a mocking chuckle and extended his hands toward the attendant, as if saying: Go ahead, embarrass yourself all you want.

Priam simply nodded and turned to Nise. "How many pills do you estimate would be necessary to meet the needs of all our soldiers of the water element?"

Nise trembled slightly, but took a breath and answered in a low voice. "If they were the common ones, around 120 would comfortably cover our 40 soldiers, giving three to each of them. Since only the Medium-level ones are available..."

Priam turned his gaze toward the young alchemist behind the counter. "Do you have 40 Medium-level Chaos Sea Pills in stock?"

"No, sir. We only have 10 Medium-level ones."

Priam continued. "And the High-level ones?"

"Since the Elders constantly demand the High-level ones, those are actually our largest stock—we have more than 50 available."

Priam didn’t even blink. "Perfect. I want 40 High-level ones."

"AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Neel burst into hysterical laughter beside them, nearly choking on his own saliva.

"Brat, don’t come here and make a fool of yourself! Do you have any idea how much a single High-level pill costs? Even if I saved my entire faction’s allowance for a year, I still wouldn’t be able to afford one of these!"

Priam treated Neel’s theatrics like the buzzing of an annoying fly. He turned back to Nise.

"Speak. Tell me exactly which pills you identified in your evaluation, and the exact quantities needed for each group of soldiers."

Nise’s eyes widened in astonishment. But when she met his firm, unwavering gaze, she didn’t hesitate. She began listing them, mentioning more than 14 different types of high-grade pills, requiring dozens or hundreds of units of each.

For every item she mentioned, Priam casually asked the attendant about its availability and, without exception, bought out the entire batch, requesting the High-level version.

"Great. Bring all of those in the quantities I just listed," Priam concluded, as calmly as if he were asking for a glass of water.

"HAHAHAHA! BRAT, STOP PRETENDING! THIS IS PATHETIC!" Neel shouted, while the members of the Seiche Alliance burst into laughter in the background.

Priam continued ignoring the farce. In front of him, the young alchemist maintained a completely neutral, stiff expression. The attendant was using every ounce of his professional self-control not to laugh in the newcomer’s face and throw him out of there.

"Sir..." the alchemist began, stammering as he mentally tried to add up a sum so astronomical that it bordered on absurdity.

Before the young man could state the total, Priam interrupted him. Losing patience, he pulled out his emblem and placed it on the counter.

"Just deduct the full amount directly. Bring everything as quickly as possible, because I’m in a hurry."

A disciple’s emblem was his official identification and bank account. All accumulated points were linked to it.

The alchemist let out a heavy sigh of disdain and picked up the emblem. To him, this was the most ridiculous scene he’d ever witnessed in his entire life. It was obvious that this kid from the outer branches didn’t even have 0.001% of the amount required to pay for a single High-level pill, let alone an entire military shipment.

He wasn’t completely wrong. Priam had exactly 300,000 points, converted from his outer sect points. He also had a great deal of raw money that could be used to purchase these things. But... that emblem also contained his identity, and that alone was enough.

Just to follow protocol and put an end to this bad joke, the attendant slid Priam’s emblem toward the validation crystal in the center of the counter.

But the millisecond the metal touched the crystal...

*BZRRRTTT!*

Anomalous golden runes erupted from the panel.

The young alchemist’s expression immediately froze. He looked at the crystal, then at Priam’s expressionless face, trembling from head to toe.

"I... W-what...?"

Before he could even process what was happening, hurried, heavy footsteps echoed from deeper inside the palace. The curtains opened, and two Alchemy Elders in purple robes came rushing out, panting.

"What is going on here?!" one of the Elders bellowed. But the moment his eyes landed on the glowing runes on the crystal... he froze.

When he turned his head and recognized Priam, the Elder immediately held his breath.

The two Elders exchanged a look of pure panic, swallowed hard, and, without saying a single word, grabbed the young attendant by the sleeves of his uniform and violently dragged him toward the back of the palace.

The scene left the entire place in deathly silence.

Both Nise and Neel, along with the members of the Seiche Alliance, were completely dumbfounded, jaws hanging open as they understood absolutely nothing.

Moments later, a third Elder—wearing even more imposing golden robes—emerged with firm steps and took the position behind the counter. He picked up Priam’s emblem with both hands.

"I’ll return in less than a minute with all the supplies you requested."

Priam let out a slight snort and replied coldly, "Good. I’m really in a hurry."

Nise and the disciples in the background looked as if they had been struck by lightning. ’What the hell was going on here?!’

Before they could process it, even 50 seconds hadn’t passed. The Golden Elder reappeared, holding a spatial ring and handing it to Priam along with his emblem.

"Here is everything you requested. And please... next time you visit any of the Palaces, don’t hand your emblem to ordinary attendants. Immediately request the presence of an Elder, or we’ll have serious protocol issues."

"No problem," Priam replied. He turned to Nise and placed the spatial ring into the young woman’s trembling hands. "If you need more supplies in the future, look for this Elder and place the request directly with him. Understood?"

Nise froze with the ring in her hand, completely paralyzed and unable to utter a single syllable.

The Golden Elder nodded. "You may summon me at any time. Just say my name: Elder Guzens."

"WHAT THE HELL?! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" Neel roared, completely losing his mind, the veins in his neck bulging.

Elder Guzens immediately turned his head toward him. His cordial smile disappeared, replaced by a terrifyingly cold gaze.

"If you dare raise your voice again inside my Palace, I will personally throw you out and ban the Seiche Alliance from setting foot here for the next five years."

Neel swallowed hard, forcibly choking down his pride. His face alternated between red and purple, feeling as though he’d just been slapped across the face. Yet he couldn’t even understand how this had happened.

Priam didn’t even bother looking back. He simply turned around and walked toward the palace exit.

Nise remained frozen in the same spot, still in deep shock, until Dandara let out a little giggle, grabbed her hand, and dragged her outside, leaving Neel and his followers reduced to a monumental joke in the middle of the hall.