Chapter 257: The Dragon’s Blessing

Soren Hartwell forced a smile.

[I’m sure you aren’t joking, Lord Cassian. Could you tell us what the Aether is for? I need to explain it to my people.]

Before Cassian could answer, the Governor abruptly changed his tone.

[Wait a moment. I’ll gather the money now.]

Cassian was baffled. That was quite a change.

Then a possibility occurred to him. He sent Orion a private message.

[Cassian Vale: Thank you for your support, Orion.]

Orion did not deny it.

[Orion Valcrest: You’ve sacrificed so much for the Crown. The least I can do is contribute what strength and money I have.]

So Orion was the one directing Harrowmere from behind the scenes. If Cassian’s suspicion was right and he really was an old power reborn, why keep hiding his identity?

And what did he mean by sacrificing so much?

With Harrowmere taking the lead, the other Provinces found it harder to object, though their doubts remained.

"They say you’ve made your Eclipse Legionnaires so strong by pouring Aether into them," Lana said. "Can you take them even further?"

She transferred a billion Aether as she spoke. For the eldest daughter of the Hidden Dragon Consortium, that was hardly a great sum.

The other Provinces’ transfers followed, ranging from a few hundred million to more than a billion.

[Nessa Fenwick has sent you 5,000,000,000 Aether through the Exchange.]

[Nessa Fenwick: You told us yesterday to bring more Aether into the battlefield. Our family head raised this five billion overnight.]

[Cassian Vale: That’s enough.]

The Fenwicks were descended from refugees. Their people in the Crown numbered fewer than ten million. Raising five billion in a single night was no small achievement.

[Darian Frost has sent you 10,000,000,000 Aether through the Exchange.]

[Darian Frost: There’s more if you need it.]

Cassian shook his head.

[Cassian Vale: I know you’re rich, but this is everyone’s contest. You don’t have to carry so much of it yourself.]

[Darian Frost: Whose fault is it that you have so many good things? I’ve noticed something. Whenever I contribute a large amount of Aether, you find something to give me in return. Like that Golden Behemoth Sigil.]

Cassian laughed. Darian might seem careless, but he had worked out exactly how his friend did things.

In less than a minute, the contributions had arrived.

Cassian held the Divine Dragon Amber and spoke softly.

"Dragon’s Blessing. Spend one billion Aether to increase the drop rate and Quality of Elemental Pearls for all Homeworld Champions from Hidden Dragon Province. Duration: three days."

"Dragon’s Blessing. Three billion Aether. All Homeworld Champions from Harrowmere. Increase the drop rate and Quality of Elemental Pearls for three days."

"Dragon’s Blessing. Five billion Aether. Southreach..."

He had no intention of pocketing his allies’ money. Whatever each had contributed went into their blessing.

Nearly twenty billion Aether vanished in moments.

Golden light spread from Cassian, scattering across tens of kilometers.

——

The eight Governors were still talking in their private Channel.

[What do you think Cassian wants the money for?]

[Perhaps Lady Whitmere is right. He intends to strengthen his Eclipse Legionnaires again.]

[My guess is a temporary boost.]

[Getting stronger just by spending money. What a useful ability.]

[Is it a skill? A bloodline talent? Or an offering to a goddess of wealth?]

[A divine offering. That would make sense.]

[But that won’t make us stronger. Why ask us to pay?]

[Forget it. Even setting aside what he’s done for the Crown, our superiors value him. Being on good terms with him can’t hurt.]

As they speculated, a thousand rays of golden light suddenly fell from the sky.

[What is that?]

Notices sounded for all of them.

[You have received Dragon’s Blessing. Your drop rate and Quality of Elemental Pearls have increased greatly.]

For a moment, the Governors were silent. Then their Channel exploded.

[A drop-rate boost!]

[Gathering Elemental Pearls is the whole point of building the Wonder. We really might reach the top ten thousand!]

[Equipment that increases drop rates is rare enough. I’ve never heard of one that can do it for other Lords!]

[Incredible. Absolutely incredible!]

The First Legion’s Channel filled with cheers too.

[So Lord Cassian can spend Aether to increase our Elemental Pearl drops!]

[Wait. Why can it improve Elemental Pearls specifically?]

That caught everyone’s attention.

Someone soon proposed the most likely explanation.

[A wish-granting item. Or a Building, like a Wishing Pool or a Sunbough Tree.]

[Could this be his Mythic prize from the Individual Contest?]

[It could!]

[So this is what Mythic equipment can do.]

For once, they had guessed one of Cassian’s hidden cards correctly.

[I’ve heard the ranking rewards are adjusted slightly according to each Province’s contribution. Let’s all work hard.]

[Thirteen Provinces, including Divine Province. There’s still room for some friendly competition!]

Darian immediately spoke in the Banner Alliance Channel.

[Darian Frost: Cassian! You didn’t spend my money on them, did you?]

[Cassian Vale: Of course not. You get what you pay for. I can’t give you an exact number for the effect, but your boost is certainly the highest.]

[Darian Frost: Good. Give our friends in Riftward the same boost. I’ll pay.]

[Cassian Vale: No hurry. Let’s see how well it works first.]

He did not yet know how much each level of spending improved the blessing. He wanted to compare the results before deciding what gave the best value.

For that reason, he had not even used the Domain Aether Vein’s Shared Blessing.

The Crown Champions soon settled down, their doubts replaced by eagerness.

[Soren Hartwell: Lord Cassian, we have barely a thousand Domains, and the Temple is tens of kilometers across. How should we arrange its defenses?]

The Governor was ready to follow his lead without hesitation.

[Cassian Vale: Follow Lord Darian’s instructions for defending the Five Elements Temple.]

In practice, that meant leaving the task to Maren and Bren, with their long experience as Lords.

[Cassian Vale: Keep the forces we need for defense. The rest of your Heroes and troops may hunt freely—]

A scouting report from Seven interrupted him.

"Lord. We’ve found five Spatial Vortices within a thousand kilometers. Here are their coordinates."

Cassian nodded and added the locations to his message.

[Cassian Vale: Stay clear of these five Spatial Vortices as far as possible. If you see signs of another race, report them at once.]

[Lana Whitmere: You’ve already located the vortices? You really do have remarkable people under your command.]

[Seraphine Valcrest: There are so few of us. If a powerful race finds us, they’ll see an easy target.]

[Darian Frost: Let them try. They want to rob us? I’d like to rob them.]

Ever since receiving the Golden Behemoth Sigil, Darian’s confidence had grown considerably.

The Spatial Vortices in Fivefold Heaven changed every hour. So did the races on the other side. Destroying another Legion’s Five Elements Temple could yield a vast number of Elemental Pearls.

Their greatest danger would come from other Legions, not the monsters attacking their defenses.

The ten minutes ended. The Realm lifted its restrictions.

Eclipse Legionnaires, Griffins, Crownward Knights, Sword Dancers—the waiting Crown armies surged out toward the distant Elemental Beasts.