Chapter 42: Arrival of the Embassy

Our Zeenard probably felt quite disdainful towards our Meow Meow's petite body, so a drinking duel began.

The rules of the duel were simple.

Whoever fell asleep first, vomited, or couldn't hold their bladder would lose! During the drinking duel, no magic or combat aura fluctuations were allowed; otherwise, it would be considered cheating and result in disqualification!

The alcohol used in the duel was the "Blazing Inferno" from the Tudor Dynasty, a 75-degree liquor, with Li Xie as the certified supplier, promising an unlimited supply!

The audience consisted of all the guards and servants of the Xie Duke's mansion.

Then, the duel between the dragon and the cat officially began!

Cheers and exclamations echoed throughout the day, as the duel continued!

In the end, our Zeenard, after drinking ten tons of Blazing Inferno, was 70% drunk, vomited, and suffered from urinary incontinence, admitting defeat.

Our victorious Meow Meow, also after drinking ten tons of Blazing Inferno, was only slightly tipsy!

Poor Zeenard, on his first day at the Xie Earl's mansion, became a lackey of a certain cat in the Xie Earl's mansion, a noble ninth-tier dragon whose status plummeted straight down. Of course, only in front of Meow Meow!

Because Kano and the guards were military men, they admired those who could hold their liquor. With a capacity to drink ten tons of Blazing Inferno, Meow Meow won the respect of Kano and the guards!

So, our Kano addressed Zeenard as "Brother Vice Commander," while the guards called Zeenard "Big Brother Zeen." Our Zeenard, the pitiful dragon, had to bow and call the tiny Meow Meow "Sister Meow Meow." Oh, the cat that made the dragon miserable was a little female cat.

The happiest person in this incident was Li Xie. He finally officially brought Zeenard under his wing and was no longer worried that he wouldn't be obedient. If he didn't listen, he could just let Meow Meow give orders!

Zeenard made a bet in the name of his beloved mother, and he would never break it.

However, despite Zeenard's formidable strength, he was always a ticking time bomb! Carrying him around was like carrying a bomb that could explode immediately if encountered by a dragon! Not so safe!

And after being abducted by Zeenard once, Li Xie began to worry about some potential threats. Today, he could be abducted by a dragon, and tomorrow, he might be assassinated by some tenth-tier expert!

Although it was only a possibility, the richer one becomes and the better life one lives, the more they fear death. After all, who isn't afraid of death?

So, Li Xie began to focus on strengthening his power!

This can be divided into two aspects. One is the improvement of his own strength! Li Xie is now an Orange-Eyed Vampire, but only the third tier of vampires, simply put, the toddler stage, which is weak. Although his physical strength is comparable to a fifth-tier Sword Saint, his strength, speed, reflexes, and so on, can be said to reach the level of a fourth-tier Sword Saint, but even against someone like Kano, who is only tall, Li Xie can't even take a punch!

Moreover, after advancing two levels, the skills he obtained had only vague concepts in his mind. After comparing them with the records in the "Vampire Manual," he only understood the skills he gained from advancing two levels!

For each level a vampire advances, they can gain one or more special skills. Unfortunately, Li Xie, advancing two levels, only gained one skill per level.

In the Yellow-Eyed Vampire stage, he gained a skill called "Nightmare Magic Eye," which sounded very impressive, but it was actually quite mediocre. The manual stated that this skill allowed Li Xie to see in the dark. As long as there was a glimmer of light, Li Xie could see as clearly as in broad daylight! Li Xie directly regarded it as a junk skill!

Upon advancing to the Orange-Eyed Vampire stage, Li Xie obtained another skill called "Fang Blade," which seemed very fierce, but it was indeed quite fierce. It allowed his fingernails to extend and retract between one inch and one foot, turning them into extremely hard and sharp substances, capable of cutting through gold and jade effortlessly, as sharp as any divine weapon! However, with Li Xie's current strength, even with divine weapons in hand, he could only admire them. This made Li Xie so angry that he directly classified the "Fang Blade" skill as the most useless of all the junk!

Anyway, Li Xie was quite annoyed!

But fortunately, although he still didn't understand why he couldn't absorb the energy of human blood, at least he knew that by drinking the blood of magical beasts, he might be able to advance!

So he set his sights on the blood of the Minister of Magical Beasts, Skamod? Osley!

Originally, he could have asked for the blood of his guards' magical beasts, but these were his own people. Why use the blood of one's own people when there were outsiders? Moreover, the Minister of Magical Beasts had the most quantity!

In addition to preparing for the improvement of internal strength, external strength was also essential!

Li Xie's current financial resources could easily support several super masters. Zeenard was considered a super master, but he wasn't obedient enough! As for Kano, in front of super masters, the only thing he could use was his height. So, Li Xie set his sights on Fan Di? Seir!

This tenth-tier Sword Saint!

"Kano, tell me about that tenth-tier Sword Saint, Fan Di? Seir."

一 carriage slowly made its way towards the center of the Imperial Capital, with Li Xie sitting in the carriage, while Zeenard and Kano sat in the positions usually reserved for the coachman. They weren't going to find the tenth-tier Sword Saint or the Minister of Magical Beasts this time; instead, they were headed to the Imperial Dynasty Hotel—where the delegations from the five countries were currently accommodated.

"Sir, Count Serl is the Dean of the Sword Saint Institute of the Imperial Academy, the highest-ranked Sword Saint in the Imperial Dynasty, and the son-in-law of the Left Prime Minister."

"Oh? He has a connection with the Left Prime Minister!" Li Xie chuckled. "By the way, why isn't he a Summoner?"

"Sir, being a Summoner is actually a dual cultivation profession. Not only do they have to cultivate themselves, but they also have to help their magical beasts cultivate, which takes more time to improve their strength. On the other hand, Sword Saints or Magicians specialize in one discipline, which accelerates their cultivation speed. Moreover, high-tier magical beasts are rare and difficult to capture. Instead of obtaining a low-tier magical beast, Count Serl chose to focus on breaking through. Once he becomes a Sword Saint, even ordinary tenth-tier Summoners may not be his match. Therefore, Kano speculates that this is the reason why Count Serl remains a Sword Saint."

In fact, this is also the reason why there are still Sword Saints and Magicians in the continent of the Gods! Summoners are undoubtedly the strongest; in battles of the same level, Summoners consistently come out on top! However, high-tier magical beasts are extremely rare. As seen with Zeenard, even a tenth-tier Sword Saint is not his match. Therefore, capturing a high-tier magical beast in the wild is almost impossible. They can only capture a relatively low-tier one or obtain a personal beast and then slowly upgrade it.

This is a long process! For a magical beast, each upgrade takes at least three to five years before they can advance again, and the higher the tier, the longer it takes. Moreover, there are not many high-tier sacrificers either. Similarly, when a sacrificer helps with an upgrade, they also need to cultivate themselves for several months!

This leads to the scarcity of high-tier magical beasts, and having a high-tier magical beast makes high-tier Summoners even rarer!

Therefore, some people focus on cultivating their combat aura or researching magic in order to break through to the eleventh tier, achieving a qualitative leap and becoming one of the top powerhouses on the continent of the Gods!

As for the twelfth tier, the God tier, any profession can reach it, whether it's Summoners, Sword Saints, Magicians, or even sacrificers. They are all beings beyond ordinary humans and are called Demi-Gods! A Demi-God is not something an ordinary person can resist! However, achieving this level that any profession dreams of is not something that can be achieved through diligent cultivation alone; it involves many secrets.

"Hmm..." Li Xie nodded, adjusted the black magic hat on his head, feeling somewhat uncomfortable wearing this style of hat. "What are the preferences of this tenth-tier Sword Saint, Fan Di? Serl? Do you know? Also, is there any possibility of him becoming a guard in our Duke's mansion?"

"Well..." Kano scratched his head. "Sir, Kano is not sure about this. If Sir wants him to become a guard, you should discuss it with His Majesty or the Left Prime Minister. Maybe it's possible."

"Hmm, makes sense! Are we almost at the Imperial Dynasty Hotel?"

"Almost there, sir!"

"Good, slow down a bit, don't rush."

The Imperial Dynasty Hotel is the most luxurious hotel in the Tudor Dynasty. It usually only accommodates nobles, but its real purpose is to host foreign delegations.

Only individuals of some status among foreign guests are eligible to meet the Emperor in the palace. Ordinary attendants cannot enter the palace, so the Imperial Dynasty Hotel is where they stay.

Before individuals of importance in the delegations enter the palace, they are all accommodated in the Imperial Dynasty Hotel. During this period, the diplomatic reception officer appointed by the Imperial Dynasty is responsible for reception matters and other decisions between the two parties until the Emperor summons them into the palace.

On the third floor of the Imperial Dynasty Hotel, there is a meeting room specially used for meetings. Among them is a room with an area of ​​more than one hundred square meters, with simple furnishings and calligraphy and paintings on the walls. The surroundings are mostly antique screens and other items, while in the middle of the room are ten seats arranged in a rhombus shape made of black rattan wood.

In the Tudor Dynasty, the innermost position in the room is the main seat, followed by positions in order towards the door, with the position closest to the door indicating the lowest status.

At this moment, there is a person sitting in the main seat of the room. This person has black hair and black eyes, fair skin, and is handsome, but he looks a bit effeminate. He is Prince Gili Radis, the third prince of the Anjou Empire.

Sitting on his left and right lower seats are two individuals. The person on the left is Duke York Texas, the seventh prince of the Brovar Empire, and the person on the right is Prince Miller Hudson, the fifth prince of the Lancaster Empire.

Below the two princes, sitting on the left, is Prince Mok Morak of the Golden Sparrow Flower Empire.

Prince Morak is further down, and another person sits next to him. This person is also dressed in luxurious clothes, with black hair and black eyes, and a small beard trimmed into an eight-character shape. Unlike Prince Radis, he doesn't look like a pseudo-girl but has a sinister aura. He is Prince Rufan Ge Riade of the Great Day Dynasty.

These five individuals are representatives of the five-country delegation. It seems that the five countries have coincidentally dispatched prince-level figures as representatives of the delegation. From their seating positions, the Anjou Empire is currently the strongest, with the Brovar Empire and the Lancaster Empire tied for second place, followed by the Golden Sparrow Flower Empire.

As for the Great Day Dynasty, it's just a dynasty; it cannot compete with empires and naturally sits below the four major empires.

In addition to the five seated individuals, there are one or two attendants standing beside each of them, and the internal affairs officer, the current diplomatic reception officer——Lord El, is also standing.

"Lord El..." Prince Radis asked in a condescending tone, "When this prince entered the Imperial Capital of Tudor, I heard that you encountered the Beast of Misfortune. Is this true or false?"