Chapter 129
Chapter 129. You Must Grant Me Three Wishes
"Aeldelin, I want to make a deal with you."
"A deal?" She slowly sat up and walked over to stand close before Luo Nan. "It seems......with your current strength, you're not exactly qualified to negotiate with me, are you?"
Luo Nan glanced at the snow-white fullness and deep-shadowed valley laid bare before his eyes as she bent forward, his expression unchanged, his voice carrying steady confidence: "I possess intelligence regarding that object."
Based on his understanding of Aeldelin, this creature was extraordinarily loyal to that future Demon King, and therefore placed great importance on the search for that object.
"Although I don't know how you learned the purpose of my visit to the Material Plane this time......but as you say, I did indeed come to find the 'Undying Azure Flame.'"
The Undying Azure Flame—the symbol of the Salya Demon Kingdom. It was not forged in common iron and steel, but born in the twilight of Salya's bloodshed, its soul tempered in the abyss of its people's annihilation.
When the blade's azure flame blazes bright, ten thousand hearts converge as one, and the Demon King's throne stands firm as bedrock; when the azure flame grows dim, the throne crumbles like sand, and Salya's collapse is imminent.
Thus, where the blade's edge points, it commands not merely flesh and rivers of blood, but the very lifeblood of Salya and the legitimacy of its royal authority. The sword itself is the throne; the sword itself is the crown.
It is said that at the end of the previous era, the last Salya Demon King who wielded the sword clashed with a Holy Descent Saint in great battle. The outcome of that battle had long since been buried beneath the dust of history. What remained known was only that the Demon King and the sacred sword vanished together into the tempest of rifts between the Material Plane and the Endless Void.
From that point on, the Salya Demon Kingdom fell into a long period of internal strife and darkness without a legitimate ruler. Searching for the "Undying Azure Flame" became the most central—and most elusive—pursuit of every ambitious figure and stalwart soul who desired to unify Salya and restore the Demon Kingdom's glory.
Recalling what he knew of the original storyline, Luo Nan knew that this "Undying Azure Flame" was the core Plot Item of the Demon Race storyline.
Naturally, this magic sword was also a Radiant Shine-tier divine weapon.
Aeldelin's visit to the Material Plane this time had one purpose: to find this Undying Azure Flame and bring it back to the Demon Realm to deliver it to that future Demon King.
Luo Nan knew where to find the Undying Azure Flame.
But he would not reveal that to Aeldelin directly.
Frankly speaking, this was his single greatest leverage over this Chrono Phantom Demon.
"However," Aeldelin touched a fingertip to the corner of her lips and tilted her head slightly, "compared to you, the Undying Azure Flame......seems not quite so important anymore~"
?
What was this creature saying?
What did she mean by "I'm more important than the Undying Azure Flame"?
Aeldelin—what about your loyalty to His Highness?
"What's wrong......surprised?" Aeldelin caught the frozen expression on Luo Nan's face.
"I am naturally loyal to His Highness. However—if you could belong to me entirely......or rather, if you could belong entirely to His Highness, to Salya." A flash of feverish madness crossed Aeldelin's eyes.
"That would far surpass any 'Undying Azure Flame'!"
Luo Nan furrowed his brow.
After listening to Aeldelin's rather unhinged declaration, he finally grasped one issue.
Aeldelin had not come to the Material Plane to search for the Undying Azure Flame because she personally needed this magic sword—she came out of her loyalty to that future Demon King.
All of her actions, including the search for the sword, were done in order to "support and establish" him.
If she could achieve that goal without searching for the Undying Azure Flame, she would naturally not bother going to find that wretched magic sword.
'This is troublesome......'
Luo Nan rapidly searched through his mental inventory of intelligence, attempting to find a bargaining chip he could use to negotiate with her.
"Oh my~my little Luo Nan, you don't look so well~" Aeldelin's face was full of concern.
"In that case, I shall grudgingly acknowledge that you are qualified to negotiate with me," she reached out and pressed a hand to Luo Nan's forehead, her expression brimming with pity. "I do genuinely want to find the Undying Azure Flame, you know."
"......"
Do you think I can't tell you're using the tone of someone coaxing a small child?
Luo Nan had originally wanted to push Aeldelin's filthy hand away—but then thought that he apparently had no other intelligence that could interest a Chrono Phantom Demon who had lived for thousands of years, apart from the Undying Azure Flame information.
He had no choice but to grit his teeth and endure her touch.
"How about this~Luo Nan—don't you want to remove that Searing Mark inside your body?"
"Help me with three things. Once they're done, I'll naturally tell you the method to remove the Searing Mark from within your body~" Aeldelin stated her terms.
"But let me make something clear beforehand—do not attempt to handle the Searing Mark I've left behind on your own."
"Why?" Luo Nan instinctively asked.
Aeldelin wore an "I knew you'd think that" expression, and laughed: "Hah! If it's touched by any power that doesn't belong to me—including your Battle Aura, or even the power of that great existence—it will cause the Searing Mark to disperse."
"What do you mean?"
"Naturally, it means you will be thoroughly saturated with Demon Race aura and become what humans call a 'Human Traitor'—oh~"
Luo Nan did not respond.
He silently asked in his heart: "Cheat Device Miss, come help me verify something!"
[......]
"Is this Demon Race Searing Mark in my body the same as this woman claims—that even Mr. Tree's power cannot remove it without leaving side effects?"
[That is not so.]
"What? She's lying to me? I knew Mr. Tree......"
[Luo Nan, strictly speaking that is true......but]
"But?"
[But that requires you yourself to grow to at least Tier Five—Legend, and command His power at that tier's strength before it can be cleanly removed.]
"Alright......then apart from this method?"
Although Luo Nan was currently already at Tier One Late-Stage, his leveling speed had seemed like a rocket.
But he knew his own true level. Had it not been for the solid foundation built since childhood, the Infinite Tree's gifts, and the power absorbed from Aeldelin—
Through cultivation alone, it would have been utterly impossible to level up so rapidly.
Strictly speaking, only upon breaking through Tier One "Spirit Foundation" and reaching Tier Two "Carving" could one be called a Supernatural Practitioner in the true sense of the word.
And only upon reaching Tier Two could one achieve feats that ordinary people could not accomplish in a lifetime of striving.
Whether projecting Battle Aura outward—as Anya had done when fighting the Mirror in that earlier battle—or manifesting various substantialized spells, all required carving the "scar" that communicated with the Supernatural Essence within one's body to accomplish.
He had no confidence that he could reach Tier Five in a short time.
He did not even know if he could reach Tier Five at all.
He was not Anya Sivans—that heroine cherished by the world, for whom breaking through tiers was as easy as eating and drinking.
And so he had asked the Cheat Device Miss if there was any other method.
[Luo Nan, I am not omnipotent. I can only tell you......I don't know.]
'Haah,' Luo Nan quietly exhaled in his heart. 'Is that how it is?'
He, Luo Nan von Medillion, had schemed and planned every angle, had tied everything together like a web, had even wagered his life—and yet in the end still could not avoid the destiny of "Collusion with Demons"......
Without even thinking, he could tell that among the three things Aeldelin wanted him to handle, one was likely helping her find the "Undying Azure Flame," while the other two would certainly turn him into a "Human Traitor."
But if he refused......Aeldelin would detonate the Searing Mark inside his body, and he would immediately, instantly, without delay be branded as a "Human Traitor" who had defected to the Demon Race.
So in the end—an inability to keep it in his trousers harms others and himself alike......
No, wait!
Luo Nan suddenly recalled—wasn't he the one who had been forced into this?
What kind of "victim blaming" logic was this!
Luo Nan thought for a moment, then decided to first go along with what Aeldelin said.
He didn't for one second believe that this woman would actually remove the Searing Mark for him after he completed three tasks.
But he agreed anyway.
His aim was to stall for time—and use this window to find a solution to the "Demon Race Searing Mark" problem.
And to avoid Aeldelin flipping the table and detonating it on him right now.
If that happened, he would have no choice but to follow this woman back to the Demon Realm to serve as Star-Fury Fuel!
With that thought, he revealed a helpless smile and said quietly: "It seems I am temporarily caught in your grip, Lady Aeldelin."
Luo Nan added the honorific once more.
He not only knew Aeldelin's depths—he was also a man who could bend and extend as the situation demanded.
The crimson beauty's beautiful eyes narrowed to half-mast, as though she very much enjoyed seeing Luo Nan in this conflicted state—inwardly defiant, yet outwardly having no choice but to comply.
"Then......let me first state the first task~"
"Please go ahead."
"Do you know of the 'Sword Saint' of Opalia?"