"Low Spirit Power level, clothes that do not look like much, but the Elder Token is real. Could he be some elder's servant?" The Soulcraft Shop manager quietly sized Ethan Drake up and concluded that this was a house servant sent to buy something for an elder.
Of course, this was not the first time something like this had happened. But the people before had always come to him secretly and asked him to give them a discount. This was the first servant who had come holding an Elder Token and acting so openly.
Although he did not have much goodwill toward such a servant who lacked self-awareness, he did not dare neglect the Elder Token.
"Elder, what do you need?"
It was not as if the Polaris Empire had no Spirit Emperors, but with Ethan Drake's status, meeting one was already troublesome, let alone making a Spirit Emperor treat him with such respect.
"Mm. Show me the best things you have here."
"Of course. Elder, please come inside."
After that, the manager brought Ethan Drake to the third floor and introduced him to all kinds of Titled Sage-level spirit tools, including ninth-tier Spirit Power blocks, bicycles that could withstand the physical strength of a Titled Sage, spirit-tool cars that could carry ninth-tier Spirit Power blocks, and more. Strangely, although the shop was called Soulcraft, there were no Martial Soul-type spirit tools anywhere inside.
"How much would all these things cost together?" Ethan Drake asked grandly after the tour.
"Elder, adding all these odds and ends together and rounding down for you, the total is thirty-three million gold spirit coins."
Ethan Drake was instantly frightened by that enormous number. He asked again to confirm, "How... how much?"
"Reporting to Elder, thirty-three million gold spirit coins in total. The ninth-tier Spirit Power block and spirit-tool car alone cost more than ten million. Adding the other spirit tools, the calculation is correct."
After listening to the manager explain each item one by one, Ethan Drake felt embarrassed by his earlier overreaction.
"Cough, cough. Are you certain?" As Ethan Drake said this, he subtly lifted the Elder Token again. The manager's eyelids twitched.
After his expression stiffened, the manager cursed inwardly, but his actions did not slow. He pulled Ethan Drake to the side and quietly explained.
"Oh, Elder, please do not make things difficult for me. That thirty-three million is already the discounted price. Otherwise, the original total would have been thirty-five million."
To be honest, Ethan Drake wanted everything here. But even with the elder discount, he still could not afford a single thing.
In the end, Ethan Drake came up with another excuse. "These are actually things the Pope wants. Can they not be cheaper?"
It would have been better if he had not said that. As soon as he finished, Ethan Drake realized the manager's eyes had changed.
"Wha... ah!"
Before Ethan Drake could react, the manager entered Martial Soul Possession and pinned him to the floor in an instant.
"I knew something felt wrong. When someone brings an Elder Token to buy things, the first thing they do is name their elder.
"Never mind that you only claimed this was the Pope's mission at the very end. These things were made by the Pope's own disciple. And you are telling me the Pope would lack them?
"You look like a fraud no matter how I look at you!"
Ethan Drake was still holding the Elder Token, shaking it slightly again and again. He understood that in a contest of strength, he had absolutely no chance. The only thing that could save him now was the Elder Token.
And this action did indeed save his life.
After seeing the Elder Token, the manager loosened his grip slightly. The man was probably a fraud, but the Elder Token was real. No matter how this fellow had obtained it, caution was still necessary.
"Come on. Did you not say this was the Pope's order? I will bring you to see the Pope.
"If this really is the Pope's order, I will send these things over without another word, then personally apologize to the Pope.
"But if it is not, then the consequences... hmph."
Ethan Drake wanted to say something, but in the next second, the manager sealed his Spirit Power.
Half an hour later, the Soulcraft Shop manager had already brought Ethan Drake to the Supreme Pontiff Palace, and the manager had explained the entire sequence of events to Bibi Dong.
Although Bibi Dong listened to the man's report, her gaze remained fixed on the figure below, Ethan Drake, who had been pressed to his knees and was lowering his head in embarrassment, too ashamed to look up.
"Mm. I understand. You handled this well. Leave this person to me."
"Understood, Your Holiness."
Despite his honest-looking smile, how could a man who became the manager of the Soulcraft Shop truly be simple?
In that short span of time, he had already sensed that the atmosphere was wrong. The Pope and this fraud did indeed know each other, but that mission had indeed not come from the Pope. Having keenly realized this, the manager did not think any further. He knew what should be thought about and what should not.
After the manager left, only Bibi Dong and Ethan Drake remained in the vast Supreme Pontiff Palace. One sat, one knelt. A strange atmosphere slowly brewed between them.
"I came... You... have you been well?" After his body had just been tormented and he could no longer hold out, Ethan Drake spoke first, following his planned greeting. But greeting her while kneeling like this was admittedly somewhat hard not to laugh at.
"Have I been well? Hmph. Ridiculous. I now stand above ten thousand people. How could I not be well?" Bibi Dong's clear voice rang through the entire Supreme Pontiff Palace.
"Bibi Dong..." Ethan Drake raised his head to look at the gorgeous female Pope before him, and memories of the past rose uncontrollably in his mind.
Smack!
In the next moment, Bibi Dong struck the armrest of her chair with force.
"Is Bibi Dong a name you are allowed to call?"
Following Bibi Dong's shout came the pressure of a Titled Sage. Ethan Drake was pressed down again until he could not lift his head. Only after he squeezed out the words "Yes, Your Holiness" through clenched teeth did Bibi Dong withdraw her pressure.
Afterward, Bibi Dong crooked a finger at Ethan Drake, and the Elder Token on his body flew into her hand.
"This is... a Clear Sky Sect token."
Although all Elder Tokens looked the same, the ones issued to the Upper Three Sects and Spirit Hall's own tokens naturally had differences. Those differences were reflected in the brightness of the patterns on them. With only one look, Bibi Dong knew this token belonged to the Clear Sky Sect, not the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
"Although I do not know where you obtained a Clear Sky Sect Elder Token, you did not come all this way just to buy a few things. Speak. What exactly do you want?"
Although the scene was different from what he had imagined, Ethan Drake still thickened his face and stated his goal.
"I... I hope to obtain the cultivation method for the Heaven Grade Spirit Formula."
What Ethan Drake never expected was that Bibi Dong answered without even thinking.
"I refuse."