The Treasure Was So Heavy

"Ha, it's been years. You've changed your look," Desterie said, forcing himself to stay calm.

"I worked hard on it, and all you have to say is that I changed my look?" Dalayer blinked. "I used to hesitate, never daring to go to the Heavenly Realm to find you. I never expected you'd still remember me. I'm so happy you came."

Desterie gave an awkward laugh and hurried to the point. "Dalayer, actually, I came because I need something."

Dalayer replied happily, "That's fine. I was only afraid you'd have a reason to come and still wouldn't seek me out. I was afraid you'd really forgotten me."

Desterie finally couldn't hold back. He took a deep breath, then raised his voice. "Dalayer, what are you doing? You weren't like this before!"

Dalayer dropped her meek expression and glared at him. "And what was I like before? You still avoided me!"

Hearing her return to her usual tone, Desterie let out a long breath of relief and got straight to the point. "Don't put on this affected act again. It makes me uncomfortable. Dalayer, I want your Soul Defense Sovereign Artifact. I can trade you a Material Attack Sovereign Artifact for it!"

Dalayer fell silent, gazing steadily at Desterie.

Seeing her reaction, Desterie thought she felt he was asking too much. After all, for an Asura of the Earth Laws who wasn't skilled at soul defense, a Soul Defense Sovereign Artifact was far more valuable than a Material Attack Sovereign Artifact. So he added, "If you think the deal's unfair, I can throw in ten drops of Sovereign's Might. Or I can give you ten drops of Sovereign's Might to borrow the artifact for ten thousand years."

Only then did Dalayer smile knowingly. "If you want it, I'll give it to you. You don't have to trade me anything."

As she spoke, she removed the pendant from her neck, withdrew her soul imprint, and held it out to Desterie.

The Sovereign Artifact had come so easily that Desterie was caught off guard. Seeing his reaction, Dalayer simply took his hand and pressed the pendant into his palm.

"You're just giving me your Sovereign Artifact? You've lived since the Divine Planes were born. You're an ancient being. Why do you care so little about your own strength and life?" It was only a pendant, yet it felt heavy in Desterie's hand.

Dalayer smiled brightly. "Living too long makes even a long life a kind of torment. I spent countless years in loneliness and solitude. After meeting you, I realized that as long as I could give you what you wanted, anything would be fine."

As she spoke, she looked at the Soul Defense Sovereign Artifact pendant. "I was born not long after the Divine Planes were created. After cultivating for several million years, I became a powerhouse in the Earth Laws. Later, the Sovereign Komodo took a liking to me, and I became his Sovereign's Emissary.

"Sadly, that Sovereign, whose personality was quite pleasant, died in a struggle between Sovereigns. Fortunately, I was strong in both soul and material defense, so nobody dared covet this pendant—except you!"

Desterie suddenly felt moved. "That Sovereign Komodo died countless years ago, and you still remember him."

"I do!" Dalayer stared at Desterie and answered without hesitation. "I think of him often. I just haven't reminisced as much in recent years."

Desterie looked at Dalayer and fell silent for a moment. "You know I'm the Prefect of Jinyang Prefecture in the Heavenly Realm. I'm sorry I never invited you to visit, even though we've been old friends. Now, I sincerely invite you to come with me."

Dalayer turned away, trying to hide the smile she couldn't suppress.

Not long afterward, Earth Laws powerhouses flocked to Xuanjin Mountain, hoping to cultivate the "Gravitational" profundity. To their surprise, the place where gravity had been amplified for countless years had lost its special properties. Many left disappointed, though a few stayed behind, waiting for the gravity to return.

They had learned that Xuanjin Mountain's gravity had once returned to normal several tens of millions of years earlier, only to recover later. That had happened during the period when Dalayer and Desterie traveled and adventured together.

Clearly, the gravity would not return this time.

On the way back to the Heavenly Realm in a Metal Lifeform, Desterie bound the Soul Defense Sovereign Artifact to himself with a drop of blood. In an instant, a transparent film rose around his Soul Space, softer yet more resilient than the barrier that had protected it before. From then on, unless a Sovereign intervened, Desterie's life would no longer be in danger.

In return, Desterie took out a Soul Defense Divine Artifact he had forged long ago and helped Dalayer refine it successfully.

In the Coiling Dragon World, where basic items like Divine Artifacts, Sovereign Artifacts, Supreme Artifacts, Godheads, Sovereign Sparks, and Spatial Rings could generally be bound with a drop of blood, Soul Defense Divine Artifacts were an exception. They could only be refined and used with the help of their creator.

And so, a century passed in the course of their journey.

After returning to the Heavenly Realm, Desterie didn't immediately head back to Jinyang Prefecture on Kalin Continent. Instead, he went to Angnak Continent to look for Croken, the Prefect of Tianluo Prefecture, whom he had seen in a scene of Foresight.

He had met this Prefect before, but they weren't close. He planned to get acquainted before the Plane War began, hoping to gain as much of an advantage as possible when the critical moment came.

As for Dalayer, she didn't care where they went, as long as she could travel with Desterie.

Unfortunately, not everyone would spend tens of millions of years in Gold Mountain waiting for him. By the time Desterie had crossed the continent and traveled to Tianluo Prefecture, the Prefect had already left to explore the world.

But that was fine. In the Coiling Dragon World, immortality came easily, and the one thing the gods had in abundance was time.

The Heavenly Realm had only three Teleportation Arrays: one on Kalin Continent, one on Angnak Continent, and the last on Gufu Continent. Powerhouses on other continents or in the seas had to cross the ocean to reach one of these three continents before they could leave the Heavenly Realm.

Although Tianluo Prefecture was on Angnak Continent, it lay north of the Teleportation Array, and traveling between them still took quite a while.

It wasn't until ten thousand years later that the Prefect returned from his travels and warmly received Desterie and Dalayer.

"I've been terribly discourteous, Prefect Desterie. I didn't know honored guests had come, and I've kept you waiting. But may I ask what brought you both to stay here for so long?" Croken, the Prefect of Tianluo Prefecture, was warm and curious.

Though they were both Prefects and Sovereigns' Emissaries, Croken knew he was no match for Desterie. If they fought, he could easily be defeated or even killed, so he was very polite.

What's more, although he had never heard the name of the woman beside Desterie, she didn't seem like an ordinary person either.

Desterie had naturally prepared what to say. Smiling, he replied, "I came to find out how much you know about the Plane War, Prefect Croken."