Lord of Rot

Leech couldn’t think of anyone besides Prince Hoffman who possessed the ability to control lightning.

Furthermore, only someone with the power to casually annihilate a monster of the Beyond Transcendent level could single-handedly pacify a chaotic era and force the unruly nobles and tribes of Giant’s Foot to submit to one rule.

He also understood why the Prince had insisted on bringing him here to witness this battle firsthand.

It was a clear message: he couldn’t afford the consequences of welshing on his deal. He’d taken the benefits, so now he had to focus on delivering the grain.

And Leech truly couldn’t afford it. He had won a few battles, that was true, but he wasn’t arrogant enough to compare himself to the whole of Giant’s Foot. In fact, Leech strongly suspected that even the Water Nymph would have been blown to bits by that spear.

’So there are huge gaps in power, even among those Beyond Transcendent.’

It was just like how Leech himself could wield the Dragon-Slaying Sword and casually slay a few Transcendents. It was just that the higher the Life Level, the greater the disparity.

Then, Leech was struck by a feeling of deep regret.

’This was a four-headed magical beast, a Beyond Transcendent one at that! If its corpse had been left intact, I might have been able to create a second Beyond Transcendent subordinate. And unlike the Water Nymph, who loves to sing, this four-headed snake was a combat type!’

Could a Beyond Transcendent magical beast be worth 70,000 Jinri?

By Leech’s internal calculations, a regular Soldier’s monthly wage was between five and ten Silver Moons. The pay naturally increased during wartime; in times of peace, it was barely enough to cover food and drink. It wasn’t that wages were docked, but they were certainly reduced.

The rate Leech offered a Transcendent was, at most, one Jinri per month. Twelve Jinri a year was already more than the annual income of many minor lords.

However, the only ones Leech really needed to pay were three Mercenaries. And besides the four-armed Mercenary Trevor, the other two were captives, so he simply provided them with meals and a little pocket money.

Take Lacy, for example. He was now the second-in-command of Porcupine Territory. Not only did he work alongside Quick-Blade in the army, but he could also debate with the grand steward Gelan on other matters. Forget about not getting paid; Lacy Sith would probably even pay out of his own pocket to keep his position.

Anyone with eyes could see that Porcupine Territory was growing stronger and stronger. Becoming a Knight or even gaining his own small fief in the future was well within reach.

Chuina was a blacksmith, and she was paid by the piece.

Arkke and Pitz were castle maids, and Leech had indeed given them a small raise. No one would turn down money, but he certainly wouldn’t give them too much.

Generally speaking, a Beyond Transcendent being fighting against Transcendents should have no problem taking on fifty of them at once.

This referred to a direct confrontation, just as an ordinary Transcendent could fight against fifty heavy-armored infantry. However, if it were fifty heavy Cavalry, the outcome might be uncertain.

By the simplest conversion, one Beyond Transcendent was comparable to 2,500 heavy Cavalry. That was roughly equivalent to... having enough power to sweep across the entire Lu Leiyi Continent during a period of low Magic Tide.

The market price for one elite heavy cavalryman was around 8 Jinri, so it was a simple math problem.

20,000 Jinri!

So, Leech mentally set his price. The most he was willing to pay for a Beyond Transcendent was 20,000 Jinri.

Of course, power couldn’t truly be measured in money. He was just making a simple calculation that best served his own interests.

Take the Water Nymph, for example. Anyone who trespassed into her domain, heard her song, and saw her dance would be driven to a frenzied death.

Forget 2,500 men; even an army of 25,000 would be completely annihilated.

Their Life Levels were different. A Beyond Transcendent being no longer tired from killing people the way an ordinary Transcendent would. To them, there was little difference between humans and ants.

Once one reached the Legendary level, they were basically a walking nuclear bomb, making all mortals equal in death.

But back to the original question: was the four-headed snake worth 70,000 Jinri?

Of course not!

Twenty thousand, and that would be for a complete corpse. Now, its heads were gone. If Leech wanted to resurrect this snake using gold, he’d probably have to sink tens of thousands of Jinri just to re-forge the four heads.

The cost was too high. It wasn’t worth it.

”Prince, are you planning to use this to settle the debt?” Leech walked over and kicked the charred snake corpse where the heads had been severed.

Unexpectedly, the snake’s corpse still twitched, even lurching toward Leech.

’It’s still alive! No, wait, it has to be dead!’

Beings that were Beyond Transcendent had a different Life Level. It was like the Water Nymph—Leech found it hard to say whether she was truly dead or alive. She didn’t need preservatives and would never rot.

He had to admit, the meat smelled quite fragrant.

Considering this creature had probably snacked on quite a few human Soldiers, Leech dismissed the idea. Eating it would feel unsettling.

However, he could use it to feed Rocket. This snake was most likely on the same level as a Griffin. If Rocket ate its meat, it might even evolve into a Horse-headed Eagle, the creature most closely related to a Griffin.

It was a classic case of surpassing one’s origins. Nothing wrong with that.

But Leech couldn’t quite understand Prince Hoffman’s next move. The Prince produced an Alchemy Creation from beneath his black robes; it looked a lot like a Rhino Horn.

Influenced by the Rhino Horn, four-colored fluorescent light flowed out of the snake’s corpse and formed four glowing orbs on the ground.

One was fiery red, like a piece of red-hot charcoal.

One was earth-yellow, like a piece of faintly glowing jade.

Another was also red, but it looked like blood, and Leech could already smell a pungent, foul stench coming from it.

The last one was unremarkable, emitting only a white glow.

The four items seemed tangible, but were actually illusory, like four clusters of light just sitting there.

”What are these?”

”Extraordinary Precipitates,” the muscular fatty said as he walked over, explaining without being asked. ”The Prince possesses a Wondrous Item that can accelerate the precipitation of the Extraordinary power within a Transcendent’s corpse after death.”

Leech was confused. ”What’s an Extraordinary Precipitate?”

The muscular fatty explained, ”The Wondrous Items you seek are condensed from the world itself.”

”I know that part,” Leech nodded.

”But why do Wondrous Items have such strange and varied abilities?” the muscular fatty asked in turn.

”Aren’t you supposed to be explaining this to me?” Leech retorted.

”...”

The muscular fatty, who was clearly terrible at conversation, abandoned his teacher-like Socratic method. ”It’s because Wondrous Items are formed from the source of Extraordinary power that precipitates and gathers from a Transcendent’s body long after their death. The myriad shapes they take are the result of these Extraordinary Precipitates combining by chance.”

’So that’s where they come from.’ Thinking it over, it did seem to make a certain kind of sense.

Leech pointed to the four items on the ground and asked, ”So, you’re saying these things are Wondrous Items?”

”These are Extraordinary Precipitates, which are different from Wondrous Items. If you have a way to forge them, you can create Wondrous Items.”

’They have Extraordinary properties, so they should be usable for creating Corpse Ghosts.’

Leech was quite satisfied, but on the surface, he had to act displeased. This was a negotiation, after all.

”I don’t know anything about forging, and you only have four Extraordinary Precipitates. That’s not enough to cover 70,000 Jinri, is it?”

”Three of this snake’s four heads belonged to peak-level Transcendents. Valuing each of those heads at 100 Jinri is reasonable, isn’t it? The last head was Beyond Transcendent, so valuing it at 10,000 Jinri shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

’No problem? Of course there’s a problem!’

”You’re only talking about their potential value,” Leech said. ”I can’t use these things as they are. You don’t expect me to find someone to eat them, do you?”

”What do you want, then?”

”At least tell me the method to fuse them into a Wondrous Item,” Leech said. ”Precipitates aren’t Wondrous Items. I can look at them, but I can’t use them. They might even disappear over time.”

”We don’t have it,” the muscular fatty said, shaking his head.

”Then let’s trade for something else,” Leech said, pointing to the Rhino Horn in Prince Hoffman’s hand. ”Do you have any more of those? Give me one.”

’No Wondrous Item could compare to the Rhino Horn in Prince Hoffman’s hand! In the future, when I kill Transcendents, I can extract something useful to recycle, even if I accidentally destroy the corpse.’

’I could even ”disassemble” discarded Corpse Ghosts that don’t meet my standards.’

”There’s only one!” the muscular fatty exclaimed, shaking his head frantically. ”Impossible.”

But Prince Hoffman suddenly asked, ”How much are you willing to pay?”

’A wo... a woman?’

’And her voice is quite pleasant.’

’Man or woman, who cares.’

Leech raised his left hand, holding up five fingers. ”500 Jinri!”

He gritted his teeth and threw out a lowball offer.

”Deal!”

The Rhino Horn was tossed over to him.

Leech caught the Rhino Horn and glanced at the silent muscular fatty, then back at Prince Hoffman. He felt like he’d just walked into a trap.

’Don’t tell me this thing can be mass-produced?’ he thought.

’I’ve lost big time! I should have just offered five Jinri!’

’Then again, I was afraid of offering a price that was too low and getting zapped by a lightning spear for my trouble.’

The muscular fatty, as if guessing Leech’s thoughts, spoke up. ”The Prince only has this one. It has been passed down through generations of Princes, but it can only precipitate the Extraordinary substance.”

Leech thought about it for a moment and understood.

’If you don’t know how to forge it, what’s the use of precipitating the Extraordinary substance? Over time, it would just be reabsorbed by nature anyway.’

’I’m probably the only one who can use it to create Extraordinary Corpse Ghosts.’

He gleefully put the Rhino Horn away. ”Prince, where are we off to next?”

’Five hundred Jinri is 500 Jinri. As long as I can make a few more Extraordinary Corpse Ghosts with it, it won’t be a loss.’

’In the future, I might really be able to build an entire army of Extraordinary Corpse Ghosts.’

’If Prince Hoffman takes me to clear out a few more lairs and kill another six Beyond Transcendent beings, letting me get my hands on six Beyond Transcendent precipitates... I’ll absolutely, wholeheartedly help them get that grain!’