Chapter 2528: I’ll take it from here

The path to the Dao Lord realm was long and arduous, and for most people, a dead end. No, that wasn’t accurate because most people couldn’t even view that path, let alone step on it. Reaching the peak of the Celestial realm was merely the most basic requirement to even begin learning of the ways in which to traverse the path of Daos, and most living beings in the universe would never reach such a level.

Of those that did, another majority were only eligible to view the road, and were entirely unqualified to step on, let alone die trying to reach its end. The very first, absolute prerequisite to reaching the Dao Lord realm was to develop a Dao Heart.

While a Dao Heart did not necessarily have to transform into the Dao which a Dao Lord was dedicated to, it certainly played a significant role in trying to reach that realm in the first place.

Oaka was somewhat indecisive. There were days where he wanted to risk it all and attempt the tribulation, and days where he considered the risk not to be worth it because there was a lot of life he wanted to live before risking it all.

Of course, as a merchant, he was also obsessed with the concept of something bigger, better and more expensive, so every time he developed a Dao Heart, he would ultimately end up destroying it. For most beings, losing such an opportunity once meant that it could never be attempted. Oaka was not like most beings.

He was older than quite a few of the Dao Lords in the Dao Congress, and though he had never dealt or traded with them even before they reached that station, he was a prominent member of the Primordial Garden, with immense experience and a solid foundation. In fact, destroying his Dao Hearts then forming another one some time later was a point of pride for him.

Internally, he had decided long ago that he would only ever stick to a Dao Heart if it was ever supremely supreme, the best of the best, a je ne sais quoi that would make it better than any other Dao Heart out there. Unfortunately, as a lifelong merchant and trader, all the Dao Hearts he developed had something to do with retail.

As a noble and proud snake, how could he accept that? He needed at least a Dao Heart of the best merchant at the very least.

Today, however, he had inadvertently affirmed his Dao Heart in the most indisputable ways possible. He had upsold some items at above a trillion times their worth. Or, to be specific, he had bartered them over that much, because the Dao Heart he had affirmed had to do with bartering.

Snakes, biologically speaking, could not shed tears, yet Oaka did so anyway as he looked at the place where Lex had been sitting. A few moments later, a few words appeared on the table.

"I hope you like my gift. In the future, don’t try to take advantage of my family, and I won’t give you more gifts like these."

Dammit, how had Lex known that he was trying to lure Liz into his Sovereign Dream Team for the upcoming Sovereign games? That hadn’t even been publicly announced yet.

In truth, Lex did not know the details of what the snake had been trying to do – he merely felt that Liz appearing right in front of Oaka the way she did was too coincidental. It would make sense if Nemo was the one responsible for it, but the fish hadn’t known anything about it either, so he was merely acting cautiously.

Oaka was filled with immense reluctance and regret, but now was not the time to dwell on that. He retreated into the depths of his shop before quickly returning in an extremely formal attire, as well as a tray made of Dragonscale Platinum – a type of rare metal that mimics the appearance and texture of platinum.

It was exceptionally valuable, to the point where even though it was not a Dao material, it was often priced like one.

He carefully slid the letter onto the tray, careful to minimise his contact with the letter, before promptly disappearing to the inner levels of the Dream realm.

He appeared in a chamber filled with countless Demi-Dao Lords, and made his way to one that he knew personally. At first, his arrival did not attract much attention. But a few seconds later, many of them noticed the letter, and their eyes narrowed. The name was open and visible for all to see.

"Oaka, what is this?" asked the Demi-Dao Lord the snake approached, looking down at the letter warily, as if it was a lethal weapon.

"A representative of the Midnight Inn whom I am… on close terms with dropped this off at my place," Oaka said, framing the situation in a different light. "I did not know what to do, so I thought I’d approach you so you can inform Lord Harriot."

The Demi-Dao Lord nodded – he was the poodle’s assistant, and immediately sent an urgent message to him. A moment later, Harriot appeared in person.

"Well, well, well, looks like Lex got you good," Harriot remarked as he looked at Oaka with amusement, before taking the tray and disappearing.

The poodle did not show it in front of anyone, but he was actually quite concerned about receiving the letter. All eyes in the universe were on the Queen these days, so such an unexpected method of delivering the letter was truly ingenious. However, the whereabouts of the Queen and her actions could not be known by anyone – even her allies – so he was now faced with a conundrum.

Just as he was wondering what to do, he heard an unexpected voice.

"I knew I smelled something familiar," said Nulli as she appeared right behind Harriot and picked up the letter. A sly and satisfied smile appeared on her face as she smelled the letter, various ideas appearing in her mind.

"Don’t worry about this anymore – I’ll handle it," she said to Harriot, and then disappeared.