"Xia Fei, do you wish to blitz past the threshold in the fastest way possible and become a Law Emperor?"

Xia Fei was startled. Few could resist the temptation of ascending to become a Law Emperor, as it was an important step to becoming stronger. Just looking at how the entire Yu family of over a million only had two or three members with the Law Emperor cultivation was enough proof of how rare Law Emperors were in the Law Realm.

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If the Law Sovereign tier was considered the mainstay in the circle, then the Law Emperor would definitely be considered the standard of masters!

"Becoming a Law Emperor has been my dream, so of course I will do all I can to get promoted, but I wonder just what price I have to pay for this method you're speaking of?" Xia Fei very calmly asked, not overly excited after hearing what the old demon lord had said.

"Price? Why do you put it like that?"

Xia Fei smiled. "Everything has a price. I spent a whole day's time attempting to get past the Law Emperor threshold, yet I haven't even gotten the slightest clue on how to go about it. That's proof of just how difficult this step is, and if you're talking about the fastest way to succeed in making this breakthrough, it'll be too unrealistic to expect there's no price attached."

Lionheart Emperor Oro nodded his head in satisfaction. Xia Fei was a believer of the theory of price, and Oro knew this very well.

Xia Fei had already come to the conclusion that bearing the greatest risk was necessary to gain the greatest reward. This was the logic behind taking risks to seek wealth; behind all his madness, Xia Fei had always considered the cost-to-benefit ratio behind his every action, never one to rush headlong recklessly.

"The fastest method to promote I am about to mention won't really require you to pay too heavy a price." Oro chuckled. "Quinn, my accursed disciple, absconded with a Bloodswallow Gem when he fled the Lionhearts. He's already lost the ability to continue in his cultivation and promotion, so I believe that this precious Bloodswallow Gem ought to still be in his hands. As long as you find him and, as previously planned, kill him, I'll happily grant this precious gem, which can help with your promotion, to you."

Xia Fei was at first surprised, but his eyebrows soon relaxed as he let out a hearty laugh.

"Elder Oro, we warriors have a rule, where if I help slay that traitor of your clan, everything he has on him will belong to me, so you verbally granting me that gem isn't exactly proper."

Ever since they learned of news regarding Quinn, the old demon lord had been urging Xia Fei to eliminate him on his behalf, almost as if he harbored a deep grudge toward this traitor.

However, the clever Xia Fei could still infer from Oro's words and actions that this Quinn might not be anyone simple. Aside from the fact that he was the owner of an immemorial mystical armament, the Phoenix Tail Stone, and the best law in the Demon Race, the Law of Life, that individual surely had other secrets in him—secrets that worried Oro greatly.

It must be why Oro had repeatedly urged Xia Fei to get on the case.

The old demon lord's expression was grim. "Quinn is a traitor of the Lionheart Royalty, and everything he has on him is stolen from us. How could you consider them to be spoils of war for the taking?"

Xia Fei shrugged as he casually offered, "If it's not me who ends up killing Quinn, will they even think of returning those items to you, Lionhearts?"

Oro froze, feeling extremely unhappy but also unable to refute his logic.

"Why don't you go and inform my great grandson, Heathfield, about this? Let him send his royal guards to apprehend and kill Quinn, then you can take the Bloodswallow Gem as your reward. This way, you won't have to bear any risk, and you can just sit at home and wait to collect your reward," Oro thought about this for a few minutes before making a suggestion.

Xia Fei shook his head. "You're a warrior, too, so you should know this more than I do. Which warrior out there would ever let their prey be taken away by others?"

"Prey? Quinn is someone I personally instructed and is a level 7 Law Emperor!"

"Didn't I kill Shepherdian Chieftain Colin three days ago? He's also a level 7 Law Emperor," Xia Fei answered with a laugh.

"Quinn has the Immemorial Mystical Armament Phoenix Tail Stone, too!"

Xia Fei lifted his right hand. "My Peacock Blue is an immemorial mystical armament, too, and it has even absorbed another immemorial mystical armament, the Nine Night Plum."

"His war armor is the Enigmatic Autumn Sun, the work of the famed artificer of the Demon Race, Campos!"

"My Law-Emperor-grade Edgeless made by the Fig Corporation shouldn't be too bad, either."

Oro was speechless. Xia Fei had indeed accumulated plenty of quality products during his time in the Law Realm, and each and every treasure he had in possession was of such amazing prowess and quality!

Honestly, these weapons Xia Fei owned were comparable to what any Law Emperor or even Great Law Emperor had. the mutated Peacock Blue, the devouring Blood Crystal… Each was an unparalleled existence that could be considered the cream of the crop!

One should not forget that he also wielded the Law of Primal Chaos, subverter of all things, and the one and only Holy Beast, Shatterstar!

A worker must first sharpen their tools to do well, and a powerful warrior also needed a set of weapons to assist them. Xia Fei had already surpassed warriors who were in the same tier as him; his great resilience and decent foundation in cultivation, adding all these factors, contributed to his ability to challenge opponents who were levels above him.

"So what you're saying is that you'll definitely kill Quinn with your own hands and you'll seize the things that belong to the Lionheart Royalty?" The Lionheart Emperor Oro asked solemnly.

Xia Fei simply replied, "The spoils of war go to the victors."

"Hmph!" Lionheart Emperor Oro harrumphed. "Greedy man, we can talk after you kill Quinn. I'm afraid that, when that time comes, you might realize you've bitten off more than you can chew."

"It's fine. I've always got a good appetite," Xia Fei said with a raised eyebrow.

Oro no longer nagged on the issue of the allocation of the spoils, and Xia Fei of course felt very happy about it. Furthermore, he was even somewhat looking forward to it. These things that even that Lionheart Emperor remembered and wanted to send back to his clan must surely be decent!

Oro tossed and turned in his coffin, hiding a light smile on his face, seemingly deep in his ploy to play.

"You have yet to tell me just how this Natal Crystal came to be; how is it able to contain so much energy?" Xia Fei changed the subject and asked.

Xia Fei was of course now behaving himself after having benefited from it, acting humble as he sought advice from the old demon lord.

This was a tried and tested method, as there was no person who held a high authority that would not enjoy others beseeching them for advice. This was a way for them to demonstrate the wealth of experience and wisdom they had, after all.

Sure enough, Oro was rather pleased after seeing Xia Fei's humble attitude.

Most geniuses were aloof, and the old demon lord really was fond of having around talented individuals who remained humble despite their brilliance like Xia Fei.

"That's a good question. Most people may be unable to give you the answer to that." Oro first bragged about himself a little before going straight to the point. "I only inadvertently stumbled upon this secret of the Shepherdians a long time ago. They have the bad habit of eating other sapient lifeforms, and there's actually quite some skill to it.

"Your average Shepherdian will eat sapient lifeforms just to satisfy their hunger, and there are few mutants among them who can acquire the ability or even their hereditary genes during consumption. You know as well as I do that there are plenty of martial clans in the circle that have their gene inheritance. That's how we of the Lionhearts are very talented when cultivating the Law of Darkness. There's just no way of explaining it. Practitioners of the Law of Darkness will undergo the same instruction and training, yet our warriors are able to advance faster than any other species. We have a more profound understanding of the law, too, but if it's the Law of Light, Lionhearts will instead be worse off than others.

"The reason for this is the hereditary trait. Taking the Lionhearts' physical composition into consideration, we are truly suited to practicing the Law of Darkness than any other species. If a mutated Shepherdian consumes a Lionheart warrior, then they'll gain a measure of this genetic heredity, changing their own being so that they can be even more suited toward the Law of Darkness."

Xia Fei was mildly surprised as he learned this from the old demon lord, asking gravely, "So what you're saying is that, if the mutant Shepherdians keep eating warriors of other species, there's no telling whether or not they'll one day become suitable for practicing law, making it that much easier for them to cultivate. Isn't this ability of the Shepherdians a bit too overpowered?!

A sinister smile arched across Oro's face. "How can it be that simple? It's as you said: Everything has a price. First, it isn't every single thing they eat that can change their physical composition. They'll hardly have any use for those weak warriors even if they eat tens of thousands of them, so what they need are the high-level ones; there's also an issue of probability. Some can change just after eating a single individual, while some will never see a change in their physical composition even after a lifetime of eating.

"As for the rotting physique that Colin had; that's the result of eating too many sapient lifeforms. After all, the genetic sequence of all the sapient lifeforms differs, so it's very easy for backlashes to result. Those who get off easy will find themselves heavily injured, while the more severe cases may just die outright."

Oro's words allowed Xia Fei to have a new understanding of the Shepherdians. Nodding, he asked, "So what about the Natal Crystal? Could that be related to Shepherdians eating sapient lifeforms, too?"

"Precisely," Oro said. "A warrior has plenty of Origin Energy inside them, and not all of that can be fully absorbed. Over time, Shepherdians will condense this crystalline body of theirs, and when it reaches a certain level of critical mass, it can then replace a Shepherdian's rotting form, becoming a whole new life in itself.

"You saw Colin's Natal Crystal form being like that of a baby, and that's only because he had yet to consume enough lifeforce, only barely able to consolidate a humanoid form and his brain. The brain is the only organ that's irreplaceable, which is why you saw that beating brain inside the Natal Crystal form."

The universe was filled with wonders and mystery; Xia Fei was deeply stirred by Oro's words.

"You're really fortunate this time. A Natal Crystal is formed from the accumulated energy of countless warriors. That's also why it's so tough and impervious. Your absorption of Colin is akin to draining the essence of all the warriors the Shepherdian chieftain consumed, and everything went into your seventh brain region!

"Such an opportunity comes once in a blue moon, so if I'm not mistaken, you should have enough energy stored in your brain right now for you to advance to a Law Emperor! All you need now is the Bloodswallow Gem's assistance and you'll most likely succeed!"

Beyond the two levels he had already prompted, Xia Fei even had enough energy stored to get past the threshold separating him from the Law Emperor tier. The harvest Xia Fei got this time around was unprecedented. Origin Energy was the foundation of the Law Realm, and having more energy meant more wealth and power, naturally!

Xia Fei blinked and proceeded to ask, "You mentioned 'hereditary characteristics' just then, so I wonder what law my genes are suited to cultivate…"

Oro frowned. "This isn't a question I can easily answer. I'll need to do very complex genetic calculations and evaluate you in accordance with the three main requirements."

Xia Fei suddenly recalled his visit to the Heritage Planet several years ago, and what the master control computer had once said.

"I seem to have done the three main requirements test before," Xia Fei recollected his memory as he said. "The system stated my blood test came out as a four-star lineage."

Xia Fei suddenly found the old demon lord looking at him with a very peculiar gaze after he said that. It was as if the Lionheart Emperor was looking at a monster...