According to Yvonne, the inheritances within the Tower of Rebirth were all protected by encoding. The inheritances weren't mere resources, they also contained the memories and experiences of the experts.
Some basic things such as herbs and elixirs were available for the tower climbers to pluck. However, without decrypting the fallen expert's message, obtaining their inheritance was a pipe dream.
The first two floors possessed inheritances of the Star Taming Stage. Therefore, while they were far from being Konrad's aim, he also didn't take them lightly. They'd greatly facilitate his faction and army building.
"We split into three groups. Faidra, Iliana, Freya, Lena in one. Jasmine, Zamira, Aliki, Astarte in another. Daphne and Diyana with me. If you complete your plundering before the others, assist the other group. Plundering all inheritances is a must."
With his Origin Sight, Konrad could see that no team lied in the treasure rooms.
Since there no longer was any danger to face, splitting brought no harm. As for why Konrad kept Diyana with him, that was naturally to not let her out of his sight.
The groups stepped in their respective treasure rooms. With Diyana and Daphne on his heels, Konrad walked into the primary treasure room where the first floor's core inheritance lied.
From the dark underground, the trio landed in a lush green prairie where exotic flowers and herbs bloomed. Even without the system, guided by his Origin Sight, Konrad could identify those plants.
"A one-thousand-years old crimson flame flower.
A one-thousand-years old ginseng.
A one-thousand-years old holy grass."
Those and many more lied in the thousands within the prairie. All were rare ingredients helpful in the concoction of Holy Rank pills and medicines. Their individual prices in the hundreds of millions of purple crystals, for the cheapest.
Daphne's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
Even Diyana was impressed. While such herbal gardens couldn't startle a Serkar, the sheer quantity of herbs was astonishing. Better than anyone, she knew the difficulty of maintaining such a garden. If this was only the first floor, one could only wonder what lied ahead.
In the distance, eleven towering trees stood on one perfect line. With a wave of his hand, Konrad plucked the herbs and flowers, using his vast telekinetic powers to bring them all into his space bracelet.
Then, alongside the two, Konrad vanished, to reappear before the trees. Each possessed ancient writings carved on their trunks, cryptic texts containing the essence of the deceased's will.
"Daphne, it's time to work."
Konrad declared, then sat cross-legged to await Daphne's triumphant return.
Startled, she made a one-hundred-eighty degree turn toward him.
"Me?! How could it be? I can barely count my fingers. How could I possibly decrypt all these?"
Daphne objected while waving her hands in disagreement, causing Diyana's lips to curl into a smile.
"I can do it if you want."
But seeing the newcomer about to rob an opportunity for merit, a new wave of resolve filled her heart.
"The nerves! When father and daughter are discussing important matters, who gives you the right to butt in.
We have a clear, established hierarchy. Even if you're surnamed Rakres, you can't break the rules, and rob your seniors' merits."
Daphne snapped, then turned toward the first tree to analyze the writing.
Struck speechless, Diyana blinked in disbelief while black lines formed on Konrad's forehead.
"Did she call me…Rakres? Rakres? Serkar in rev…"
Enlightenment brightened Diyana's mind, and her eyes shone with fury!
The gals!
Now she really wished to dig out that insolent woman's tongue. But with Konrad sitting on the side, she didn't dare make a rash move. Disgruntled, she turned heels and sat beside him.
"The celestial and infernal disciples should be crossing the third floor as we speak. Usually, without great chances or preparation, most can never go beyond the third floor. Although the leaders even came with Fate Destroying Saint war puppets, it should still take a substantial amount of time. I believe we will find them there."
Diyana explained while observing Konrad's reaction. Alas, his face showed no concern.
Initially, she also wanted to say that some of them would break through the Holy Rank inside the tower. But realizing such strength couldn't deter Konrad, she refrained.
Instead, she tried to find a worthy topic to grab his attention.
At that time, dazzling light erupted from the first tree, and the writing vanished to reveal the insides of the trunks where cultivation methods, artifacts, holy crystals, and pills lied in abundance.
"Succeeded! I succeeded!"
Daphne screamed in delight with her arms raised in gleeful victory.
"So fast?"
Instantly, Diyana's eyes shifted back on her. Why was that air-headed girl able to decipher a Star Taming Stage expert's will in such records' time?
What sorcery was this?!
Instead, Konrad was undisturbed. Although Daphne was unreliable and often spouted nonsense, her cultivation talent and comprehension abilities were high, to begin with. Back in house Kracht, unlike Iliana who diligently cultivated, Daphne only did it under Wolfgang's constraints.
Spending most of her time finding new ways to abuse and emasculate the males. Still, her cultivation didn't fall behind, remaining only a few steps away from Iliana's.
Now with Konrad's demonic gifts and the system's upgrades, her talent and comprehension abilities had skyrocketed.
Konrad didn't doubt she would effortlessly decrypt all the wills and obtain the inheritances.
Light rays flew from the tree trunks to dive into Daphne's forehead, engraving the expert's memories and experiences within her mind.
Without delay, she cracked the wills, one after another and harvested all the inheritances. Using a space bracelet gifted by Konrad, Daphne pocketed the pills, cultivation methods, and artifacts, then brought her loot back to Konrad.
"Mission accomplished.
Beloved daddy, I exhausted myself days and nights to fulfill the tasks you entrusted to me. Don't you think I deserve a reward?"
Daphne pouted, causing Diyana to rise in outrage.
"Horseshit! We've been here for less than fifteen minutes! Where do the days and nights come from?!
You can't be so shame-"
*BAM*
"Aaargh!"
Before she could react, Diyana was sent flying backward by Daphne's impromptu palm strike. She then took her spot by Konrad's side and tugged on his sleeve while still pouting for attention.
"What am I ever gonna do with you?"
Konrad sighed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to pull her against his chest.
"I have just obtained the complete inheritance of several Profound Alchemist and Refining Masters. In the future, you can leave pill and artifact refining to me!"
She confidently declared while rubbing her head against Konrad's chest.
"First get one of the Sublime Rank, and then we can talk."
Gently, he planted a soft kiss on her temple.
Meanwhile, Diyana struggled to return on her feet.
The shock of that palm strike too hard to bear. In one move, she realized that despite her cultivation being an entire rank above, if they truly had to come to blows, Daphne's victory was almost guaranteed!
But how could it be? She had a supreme foundation, golden bloodline, and mighty physique. How many Supreme Meridians did she condense?
What bloodline and physique could a secular world girl possibly possess to make up for the cultivation gap?
But as she struggled to rise from the ground, the illusory form of a gargantuan emerald serpent with two pairs of scaled wings appeared in the air, its demonic pressure nailing her on the ground.
Dread welled up within her chest!
But in the blink of an eye, the illusory figure vanished, as if it was never there, to begin with.
"Was that an…echidna?"
The now trembling Diyana wondered, but before she could find the answer, the other girls arrived with the acquired loot which they presented to Konrad.
"Well-done. Now, to the next floor."
The team located the exit circle and vanished in a light festival to reappear on the second floor.
Now, a seemingly endless desert awaited, bringing alongside it dry air and suffocating heat waves.
