The Burning Fiend

They moved towards the adjacent hall finding many stands with different items for sale, there were weapons, armors, medicines, poisons, and many things they didn't understand what they were used for. They walked slowly looking at the different items but not planning to buy anything for now as they would not leave the city for a while and Reynolds already had the artifacts he might need, they were provided by Lord Beirut and Lord Leylin before leaving the Yulan Continent.

Reynolds noticed that Demigod artifacts were priced at 10 inkstones, Demigod sparks were sold for 100 inkstones, God sparks and God artifacts could be acquired with 1,000 inkstones while Highgod sparks and Highgod artifacts were valued at 1,000,000 inkstones.

Poisons and medicines could also be valued at different levels regarding their efficiency and target, if the poison was needed to kill a Highgod then the price would be around a million inkstones. Reynolds stopped in his tracks as he found a stand that showed gems and pearls to fortify souls, he had not seen a golden pearl before, but he knew that after refining souls into golden soul essence, one could condense the soul essence into a golden pearl like the one showed on the stand. The price was 100,000 inkstones while the gem next to it was valued at 10,000 inkstones and smiled at the young man who approached with intentions of facilitate a transaction.

"The golden pearl and the amethyst have roughly the same level of efficiency, but it is more difficult to refine them and use the soul essence to nurture your own". The young man was trying to show the benefits of the golden pearl over the amethyst but Reynolds smirked and said. "Give a hundred amethysts". The young man smiled as if it was the best thing that had happened to him in a long time, a single sale of a million inkstones. They soon completed the transaction and left the Jadefloat Palace while Talia was confused about why her father had bought so many amethysts.

Her mother voice sounded in her mind as she explained to her. "Your father has a special constitution and most likely would be able to transform the amethyst into golden pearls without much loss of soul essence. I guess he would prepare a few for us, sell about half of the new golden pearls and use the rest for himself". Koral transmitted pride along with her voice making Talia's eyes to shine as she looked at her father with worship.

Reynolds noticed this and smiled but a moment later he frowned slightly as he realized that this was something that they should not let other people know and warned his wives and daughters about it, Catherine was left out as she did not know about his secret, and he intended to keep it like that.

The Silver Grass City was divided in areas according to different purposes, there was the commercial area, the residential area, the hotel area and several others that they have not managed to identify yet. They arrived at the hotel area and starting looking for a place to live, some places charged a thousand inkstones for a single room every year while others were less elegant but more spacious for a cheaper price. At the end Reynolds found a place where they could get a small courtyard with a main room, a smaller guest type room, a small training room, a spacious bathroom, a small garden and a living room where 10 people could easily sit, the cost was 400 inkstones a year and Reynolds paid for a 100 years deciding that this would be their home for a while.

Catherine and Talia shared the smaller room while Reynolds and his four wives lived on the main room. The girls started inspecting the small villa and adapting things to their taste, while Reynolds started inspecting the amethysts he had just bought. He held one on his hand and willed his purple fire to consume it, his fire managed to gather all the soul essence without wasting anything, and he smiled at his success. He repeated the process with 3 other amethyst and then started working on condensing the golden soul essence into golden pearls.

This process was slightly more difficult, and he could create 3 golden pearls out of 4 amethyst as he found a small waste while condensing the golden soul essence, still it was a fantastic profit with almost no effort. He decided to made 30 golden pears to sell to the Jadefloat Palace and then filled 6 crystal orbs with golden soul essence prepared for the women, hesitating a moment if he should include Catherine and decided to give her a choice. The remaining soul essence that was equivalent to 54 golden pearls was used to start nurturing his God avatar as his saint body and his Demigod avatars had already reached the limit of soul realm for their rank.

He then sighed satisfied with the results and smiled as he felt the soul of his God avatar growing at a slow constant pace, he went to the living room and took a seat before summoning the 6 women. His four wives and Talia were smiling with expectations which made Catherine confused and felt left out of something important, but soon she shook her head as she reminded herself that she was not part of the family.

"Catherine, Talia I have to give you a choice. You might remember that I told you about how my brother Yale went through much suffering when a Demigod who practiced the Edict of Death took control of his soul and forced him to kill his family". Reynolds's voice was unusually serious making Catherine and Talia confused as they were used to his mischievous personality, and he seemed a completely different person.

"I also practice the Edict of Death, and even if my ability in the 'soul control' technique is still lacking, I can place a soul slaving seed and take control of someone as long as my soul is stronger than my target. Windsor, Jenne, Rosarie and Koral have soul slave seeds on them that would allow me to command them and made them do whatever I want making them lose their free will". He could see the look of horror in both women while the other four blinked with a slight smile and looks of complaint making him chuckle.

"That is precisely the choice that I'm giving you, the soul slave seed is dormant, and they have their free will untouched but if another deity tried to take control of their souls, my soul slave seed would work as a defense and block the intrusion. I guess that even a Highgod who trained the Edicts of Death would have to work hard to take control of them, however he could take control of you both with a single glance and turn you into puppets. Do you want to receive a soul slaving seed'?" Reynolds waited calmly as Talia walked to her mother and exchanged confused whispers only to nod resolutely and sit next to Reynolds showing her trust for him as he implanted the 'soul slave seed' on her.

Catherine was hesitant and unwilling, and she took nearly 10 minutes before she sighed resigned. Realizing that she was already at his mercy and depended completely on his protection, she trembled as she bowed to him and waited for the 'soul slaving seed' to be implanted. A moment later her eyes turned moist in relief as she could feel that her free will was untouched.

After the main issue was solved, Reynolds took six crystal spheres containing golden soul essence, each of them was roughly equivalent to a golden pearl and gave instructions to Talia and Catherine on how to use it to nurture their souls. Catherine was surprised and hesitant, she understood that if she had not accepted the soul slaving seed she would not have received the crystal orb. She sighed and thanked him before going back to her room to start using the soul essence.

The next morning Reynolds took Rosarie with him for a trip to the Jadefloat Palace, as he had told them before they would have to remain in the small courtyard until they become stronger, but from time to time he would take one of them with him to explore the city. Rosarie was in a good mood as she hugged his arm and pressed her abundant b.r.e.a.s.ts against him making him smile as he kissed her forehead.

They soon arrived to the Jadefloat Palace and went directly to the third floor to sell the golden pearls, soon they have another 2.1 million inkstones, and they walked towards the adjacent hall. Reynolds decided to look for books that described the Infernal Realm, the Jadefloat Continent, the prefecture they were currently at, and he also wanted to look for books describing the Elemental Laws and the Edicts.

They were approached by a beautiful elf woman with long green hair and bright silver eyes, but her most striking feature was however the collar around her neck making it clear that she was a slave. She bowed deeply showing her alluring cleavage and smiled brightly with eyes half closed as she greeted them.

"Dear guests, how can this slave help you?" Her voice was melodious and inviting making Reynolds chuckled while Rosarie trembled in fear as if wondering how a God could be turn into an obedient toy. Reynolds lifted her chin with his finger to admire her beautiful face for a moment before answering.

"Pretty thing I want books describing the Infernal Realm in general, another describing the Continent, another one describing this prefecture and I would like to see what books do you have that describe the Elemental Laws and the Edicts". His voice was kind but playful and even if the girl was trained she could not help but blush slightly as she bowed again before going to gather the requested books.

He petted Rosarie gently as he said. "Don't be sad, everyone has their own luck and circ.u.mstances and nothing is eternal. If she is lucky and train with conviction, she might regain her freedom one day and even take revenge". He then kissed her forehead and waited for the girl to return.

It only took a few minutes for the girl to come back carrying several books and started introducing them. The books introducing the Infernal Realm, the Jadefloat Continent and the Silver Prefecture were five centimeters thick each and costed a hundred inkstones each. Reynolds paid for them and waited for her to introduce the rest of the books.

"Dear guests, this books all mention the different Elemental Laws and Edicts. The cheaper one cost 300 inkstones and only describe the laws and edicts in general, this one cost 1,000 inkstones and provide examples of how to use the laws and edicts while the rest of the books have examples of 6 and 7 star Fiends using the different laws and edicts". Her melodious voice was really a feast for the ears making Reynolds smile as he enjoyed the view of her beautiful body while thinking in what he wanted.

"I guess that the descriptions of the Elemental Laws and the Edicts is what we need right now. Reading about examples of how to use them might indeed be helpful to comprehension but it could also limit us and block our progress". He muttered to himself while the green haired beauty blushed at being so blatantly ogled.

Reynolds chuckled at her distress and paid for the book. "Pretty thing I will take this one". The girl bowed deeply again and said. "Thank you dear guests and if you come back again this slave will be happy to serve you". Her melodious voice had gratitude as she had heard what he said to Rosarie while she was looking for the books.

They made their way back to their courtyard walking leisurely, and he stopped a few time along the way to play with Rosarie who seemed in a better mood now. Reynolds decided that it was not time yet to look for battle recordings of powerful deities using the Elemental Laws or the Edicts... perusing the books would be a better way to start for them.

He put the books on the living room for the girls to read if they want to do so, and he started skimming through them, from the Infernal Realm to the Silver Prefecture to have a better understanding on the place they were and make plans for the future. 'Tomorrow I will read the book regarding the Elemental Laws and Edicts... and I guess I will wait until I complete all the two-way fusions before applying for the Fiend Examinations'. Reynolds thought smiling as he enjoyed the fragrance of his wine, he had brought several interspatial rings worth of wine from the Yulan Continent as Lord Beirut had explained how expensive and different wine could be on the higher realms.