You Know Everything

A man’s back always gives one a sense of mountain-like awe.

One could feel the terrifying pressure that seemed to emanate through the skin. Aurelia was behind the Dragon King.

The treasury was not far from the study. With the Dragon King personally leading the way, the maidservants and guards on patrol smoothly let them pass, until a bronze door, fifteen meters high, appeared before them.

The bronze door was inscribed with various dragon script symbols and patterns. The Dragon King stepped forward, extended his hand, and merely pressed it against the bronze door’s surface.

The colossal bronze door, weighing tens of thousands of catties, thus opened.

The moment the door opened, dazzling pearls and treasures greeted her eyes. Piles upon piles of various treasures and magic items, like small hills, were simply stacked haphazardly, as if being sold wholesale.

Aurelia suppressed the shock in her heart. She was just about to follow the Dragon King’s footsteps into the treasury when she saw the man simply wave a hand towards the towering piles of treasures.

In an instant, a crimson streaking light flew out from the mountain of treasures, suspended above his palm.

Looking closely, the true form of that streaking light was a crimson crystal, like a dripping stalactite.

The interior of the crystal appeared as congealed blood, while the exterior was encased in a layer of pale yellow, transparent solid substance.

Even from some distance from the Dragon King, Aurelia could still clearly feel the immense energy radiating from within that item.

With just this glance, though she had never seen it before, Aurelia could now confirm that what was in the Dragon King’s hand was the Dragon Marrow Saint Crystal she needed.

The Dragon King turned, his expression unchanged. He calmly tossed the Dragon Marrow Saint Crystal over. Aurelia quickly caught it, and the moment it entered her hand, she could feel its scorching heat.

Through the pale golden crystal exterior, one could see the active Forbidden Curse Dragon Blood inside the Saint Crystal.

This was a holy relic, condensed from the essence blood of successive Forbidden Curse Dragons before their death.

‘So he just gave it to her so easily?’

“You’ve got the item. Go. I won’t keep you, since you’re not accustomed to the Imperial Palace.”

The Dragon King waved his hand towards the bronze door, and the massive, thousand-jin heavy bronze door automatically closed, emitting a deafening sound.

Aurelia looked at the Dragon Marrow Saint Crystal she had so easily obtained, stunned for a moment. Then, a faint curve appeared on her normally placid lips.

“I’ve got the item. You don’t have to feign ignorance anymore, do you? So, shall we talk properly?”

The Dragon Marrow Saint Crystal in her hand, accompanied by a white light, was immediately put into her space ring.

Aurelia smiled at the serious Dragon King before her, a subtle cunning glinting in her pale golden eyes.

‘The item was obtained smoothly. The Dragon King himself urged her to leave, even giving her reasons to hurry. An ordinary thief would certainly be carried away by the success of the mission, then follow the Dragon King’s lead and quickly leave the place.’

‘But she wasn’t an ordinary thief, nor was she a legendary thief with only 25 years of work experience. Things going too smoothly was not always a good thing, because while a mouse was smoothly eating cheese, there might also be a mousetrap lying in wait beneath its feet.’

The emotions in the Dragon King’s pupils shifted slightly. He looked at the girl before him, who looked exactly like his niece, and after a moment of silence, spoke.

“Your Excellency is a smart person.”

“I wouldn’t dare claim to be smart, it’s merely professional instinct. Besides, both of us are setting traps for each other. Isn’t it all for this very moment?”

Aurelia spread her hands, smiling brilliantly. In fact, their game of wits had begun the moment she first met the Dragon King.

From the moment she formulated the plan to infiltrate the Imperial Palace with the Dragon Saintess’s identity and appearance, she had already prepared for her identity to be exposed. One must have self-awareness.

Selina, while having absolute confidence in her professional skills, also didn’t believe her disguise could fool everyone. Since it was a disguise, there were definitely flaws, and no Dragon King, ruling over this realm of dragons, was a fool.

Selina had long anticipated that the Dragon King would see through her disguise. Perhaps this was even part of her plan. In her plan, successfully obtaining the Dragon Marrow Saint Crystal was only the initial completion of the mission. But if she could establish a connection with the Dragon King as an outsider, that would be the most crucial part of the mission. After all, the Great Dragon Divine Dynasty was unfamiliar territory.

Information was the most important thing.

“You dare to so boldly and directly reveal that you are not the Saintess? Do you have enough confidence to defeat me?”

Though the Dragon King gazed at the girl before him with interest, his tone subtly gained an oppressive air.

“To be honest, thinking I can defeat the Dragon King would be a pipe dream. But I do have some confidence in my professional abilities. Defeating you is one thing, successfully escaping is another. Since the item is already in my hands, the worst outcome now is merely a breakdown in negotiations, and then I run away with the item…”

“Appropriate gambits and thorough planning are essential qualities for an excellent thief. As the saying goes, ‘take a gamble, and a bicycle turns into a motorcycle.’ Appropriate gambits define the upper limit of a mission, while thorough planning defines the lower limit.”

In this plan, Selina had already achieved the lower limit of her mission. Now, all she had to do was to engage in psychological warfare with the Dragon King as much as possible, to reach that perfect upper limit.

“You’re welcome to try!”

The middle-aged man’s face showed an expression of majesty. His left foot stamped the ground, and in an instant, the entire treasury area trembled with a terrifying rumble. But clearly, these intimidating theatrics were of little use to a cunning thief.

“Alright, Your Majesty the Dragon King, since we are both intelligent individuals, there’s no need for these pretentious displays. Since I dared to come, I won’t be easily frightened. And since you were willing to give me the Dragon Marrow Saint Crystal, you won’t let me leave cheaply.”

“Let’s have a proper talk, about matters concerning our common interests.”

Selina issued the invitation again.

“You don’t even dare to reveal your true form, what makes you think you and I have equal qualifications to negotiate?”

The Dragon King truly lived up to his title; even his words were so domineering.

The girl sighed, running a hand through her hair.

“Alright, alright, you’re right. If I don’t reveal my true form, it indeed shows a lack of sincerity…”

As she spoke, the disguised parts of the girl’s body began to peel away. Her golden pupils and jade-like dragon horns all disappeared, until what stood before the Dragon King was a silver-haired, purple-eyed Moon Elf.

“I am Renata Cennard, as you can see, a Moon Elf.”

The girl naturally gave a slight curtsy, her posture elegant. That innate, unadorned grace was that of a born Elf noble; it couldn’t be faked.

“Why did you disguise yourself as the Saintess? To demand the Dragon Marrow Saint Crystal from me, what exactly is your purpose?”

Dragon King Haxus suddenly stepped forward, his aura surging like a flood.

This was true pressure, applied after seeing her true form.

But Selina, seemingly unaffected by the pressure, smiled nonchalantly.

“Simply put, I am a Moon Elf traveler. On my way to the Great Dragon Divine Dynasty, I happened to meet Her Highness the Saintess of your esteemed nation and thus had some interactions. And I, for a promise, decided to help her, considering us allies for now…”

“As for the Dragon Marrow Saint Crystal, it is certainly what your niece needs. She is currently in a critical state of advancing to Transcendent-tier, and she needs this to complete it. However, something seems to have gone wrong with her, and she needs it even more urgently.”