Without a legitimate title, it would be difficult for Tianming to get good resources. While the sovereign had some of the more common resources available, allowing Tianming to access those of the Pentarchy was also a good option.
As Tianming waited, Yin Chen crawled out and covered his body, turning him into a metal humanoid. “What’re you in such a rush about?” Tianming said.
“Eat food! Eat food!” Yin Chen said. Seeing divine ores on the horizon, Yin Chen couldn’t suppress its instinct to multiply after such a long time of holding itself back. It was part of its nature, as was apparent from how it had ravenously eaten everything in its path in that dream.
After an hour, Gong Xiong returned with a look of frustration. “That darned Astralking Xuanluan was playing the fool. He knew I was making the request for ore veins on your behalf, but he insisted that you go there with the Violetcloud Decree yourself.”
“No problem. Since he wants to go by protocol, we’ll do just that,” Tianming said.
Astralking Xuanluan was one of the five astralkings of the Goldseal Archclan. Xuanluan Hall was his abode, and he was in charge of mining operations within the imperium. It should have been a simple matter that Gong Xiong could take care of by himself, yet the astralking had insisted that Tianming go there himself, so he probably wanted to express his discontent with the way things are. Perhaps he felt bad about giving five ore veins to someone he hadn’t even seen in person once.
Such protocols were inevitable, at the end of the day. Tianming went to the hall with Gong Xiong. Soon, they arrived at a great hall made of pitch black metal that stood tall and grand. It was shaped like a hammer, an aggressive design indeed.
The two of them landed on the metal plaza ahead of the hall. Ahead of them were two neat rows of people standing in diverging lines. All of them were of the Goldseal Archclan and had a similar status to Gong Xiong. One notable characteristic of the people of their clan was that they each had huge metal arms that could reach as low as their knees. The arms were much larger than normal, and even their pinky fingers were longer than fifteen centimeters. The arms weren’t made entirely out of metal; instead, they were similar to Tianming’s black arm. As they cultivated, they would absorb metal elemental essence to strengthen their arms, and at the very peak of that process, they would become as tough as divine artifacts. According to Yin Chen, the Goldseal Archclan even boasted that their arms were as hard as grade-eight divine artifacts.
Tianming sensed the power commanded by the archclan simply by looking at the people ahead of him. They boasted a legacy that had been passed down for millions of years. Their fists, when balled up, looked even larger than his head. This was all done as a display to awe Tianming, so they didn’t hold back when it came to the suppressive aura and gazes they shot at him. They crossed their arms, displaying huge fists in front of their chests that looked like two metal hammers as they stared at him without uttering a single word.
In the middle of the two rows of people was a man who was bald like Gong Xiong. He bared his upper body, revealing terrifying musculature. It was as if he was entirely forged out of metal, and his gigantic hands were no less impressive. He stood up high and looked down at Tianming with a gaze that could startle any youth… but not Tianming.
When Tianming landed, he looked straight at the Astralking Xuanluan. Their statuses were the same, so neither of them was anything to scoff at. It was clear that this was a warning to Tianming to not come to claim any resources, but Tianming wasn’t a pushover.
I have the sovereign himself backing me, so you don’t scare me. Tianming smirked, then stepped onto the tall platform and walked toward Astralking Xuanluan, almost instantly walking past the two rows of people until he was less than half a meter away from him. He looked at the bestial man, seemingly posturing to match him.
“Hahaha!” Astralking Xuanluan laughed so loudly that Tianming felt like his eardrums were about to burst. Thankfully, he had the Greenspark Tower, so the noise wouldn’t be an issue apart from the slight pain.
Tianming also laughed as he brought out the Violetcloud Decree and stuffed it in the face of the astralking before he even had a chance to speak. “The sovereign granted me this decree and declared that I’m to be given access to all cultivation resources. Astralking Xuanluan, do you intend to go against the sovereign’s decree?”
Tianming hadn’t come alone; there were more than seventy Starchasers shadowing him, worried that the Astralking Xuanluan would mess around. They stood out behind Tianming, with a few of them surrounding Astralking Xuanluan, ready to dispatch him the moment he made an aggressive move.
“Hey, hey, Astralking Tianming, don’t pin that accusation on me. I would never dare go against the sovereign. However, I do have one question. Since when are divine ore veins considered cultivation resources?” he asked with a nonchalant shrug.
Tianming knew that the entirety of the divine ore veins were in the control of the Goldseal Archclan, so he had to face this person before him sooner or later. If he managed to get five veins now, it would be much easier for him when he wanted to take every ore vein in the imperium in the future. “Who said they aren’t? Anything that makes me stronger counts.” The astralking brushed Tianming’s hand away, but Tianming stuffed the decree in his face again. “I need five divine ore veins, so please get them in order, Astralking Xuanluan. You don’t even have to do much, just transfer the rights to me and have your guards leave.”
Astralking Xuanluan was taken aback by such a direct provocation from a junior. He didn’t know that Tianming had decided on a headstrong policy since coming to the imperium. He would force his way through regardless of who he was dealing with.
“Astralking Xuanluan, if you have any issue with this, I can go see the sovereign about it right now. I didn’t want to bother His Majesty over something as trivial as this, but now it seems I have no choice,” he said as he waved the decree around.
Astralking Xuanluan had wanted to use the aura of all the elites to awe Tianming and warn him to hold back, but every single word coming out of Tianming’s mouth gave him a headache. It was nothing but the sovereign! He kept bringing up the sovereign’s authority to push him down, a sign of his wit. After all, Sovereign Starfeather had publicly made him an astralking and granted him the Violetcloud Decree, which represented the sovereign’s authority. Anyone who wasn’t an astralking had to kneel before the emblem, so the other members of the Goldseal Archclan were already going against that convention by refusing to kneel. If Tianming really went by the book, everyone there aside from Astralking Xuanluan would have to be punished.
