chapter 749: chapter 450: refining a myriad of spirits_1
the demon king waved his hand grandly, and more than thirty storage bags opened, spilling out a vast amount of spirit stones and heavenly treasures, forming a veritable mountain of spirit stones.
this scene naturally shocked everyone presentâisnât the grand elder too wealthy? even the entire monster beast clanâs foundations couldnât match this.
top-grade spirit stones were exceedingly rareâin the demon beast secret realm, only quasi-saints and stronger beings received a single top-grade spirit stone per year.
and the grand elderâhe must have at least tens of thousands of spirit stones, right? the grand elder himself gets only three spirit stones a year, and even saving up for a thousand years wouldnât amass this amount.
clearly, this was the grand elder monopolizing the monster beast clanâs spirit stones for himself, the very idea was infuriatingâthese should belong to everyone.
even the demon king, despite the groundwork laid by the demon race general, was still stunned. a spiritual stone vein, as a demon king, would yield only a thousand spirit stones a yearâa considerable sum, yet still meant to support the entire demon raceâs expenses, and he might only keep one or two hundred for himself.
but whatâs crucial here is not just the top-grade spirit stones, but also the various scarce heavenly treasures. if we were to estimate their value in ordinary terms, they might probably surpass the top-grade spirit stones present here.
the demon king snorted coldly, accusing, âgrand elder, what have you to say for yourself now? how did you come by so many spirit stones?â
logan stood there, stunned, casually holding tens of thousands of top-grade spirit stones? it was indeed beyond belief. he had needed ten thousand spirit stones to set up the spirit gathering array, which the demon king had to gather from the entire monster beast clan, using up much of their reserves; yet, the grand elder alone had enough.
if none of this had been discovered and he had taken the grand elder by surprise, wouldnât he have become rich instantly? mind you, these were top-grade spirit stonesâwith a worth a million times that of common spirit stonesâand often, you couldnât buy a single top-grade with twenty million regular ones.
âdemon king, i have spent my life diligently serving the monster beast clanâhow does taking a bit of spirit stone matter? i earned them, i believe i have done nothing wrong,â retorted the grand elder, pale-faced but not yet ready to bow his head. âmoreover, i wasnât planning to use them for myself. the reason i collected them was to wait for a day when the monster beast clan faced calamity and then bring them out. you must understand that the spirit stones were just temporarily in my possession.â
âwho would believe that?â the demon king had not even refuted when the onlookers became enraged: âgrand elder, we revered you, yet in the dark, you have done such a thing. what talk of serving the monster beast clan? because you took so many spirit stones, others had no spirit stones for cultivation.â
âthere are three spiritual stone veins in the secret land, always under the grand elderâs charge. one is provided to the demon king and the other two are distributed by the grand elder to everyone. a vein produces about a thousand spirit stones a yearâclearly, the grand elder has skimmed at least seventy percent.â
âi even have reason to suspect, why has the spiritual energy in the secret land recently grown thin, as if on the verge of exhaustion? could it be because the grand elder, in pursuit of more top-grade spirit stones, overmined the vein, leading to a deficit, which affected the entire secret land?â the demon race general said righteously, analyzing for the crowd. âalso, apart from the spirit stones, with so many heavenly treasures, certainly purchased with spirit stones, how many top-grade ones must have been spent? not even as a demon king do i have a tenth of what the grand elder hasâwhat do you take the monster beast clan for?â
âslander, i admit taking so many spirit stones, but i truly havenât used them, only saved them up, prepared for the monster beast clanâs unforeseen needs,â insisted the grand elder, who upon being exposed, began to shout louder as though it would bolster his presence and diminish the gravity of his mistake.
âlord demon king, we cannot let the grand elder go unpunished. our collective suggestion is to execute the grand elder; only then can we offset the grievances weâve suffered over so many years!â
âthere should not be any leniency on account of the grand elderâs status. if the demon king does not severely punish the grand elder, it will only chill the hearts of the monster beast clan.â
âorder it, lord demon king. we have all been deceived for so many years. the grand elder is too despicable, and even those of the grand elderâs lineage should be eradicated, for they must have reaped immense benefits over the years.â
the outrage of tens of thousands was uncontainableâthe facts laid bare, and yet the grand elder still attempted to argue, treating everyone as fools?
as for the more than a thousand individuals of the grand elderâs lineage, upon seeing that the grand elder had so many top-grade spirit stones, each was dumbfounded. what exactly was going on? they knew nothing, and the grand elder had not spent a single stone on them.
hearing the onlookers demanding they share the responsibility only added to their irritation. what was this about? why should they bear the grand elderâs faults? they were accused of using the spirit stones, yet they were clueless about everything.
the grand elder was petrified, knowing he was in a hopeless situation. on one hand, the demon king sought to take action against him, and on the other, he had lost the peopleâs trust regardless of the demon kingâs decision; there would be no sympathy for him, only satisfaction from the others.
as for the only way out, with the closing of the teleportation array, even if he wanted to flee the demon beast secret realm, it was no longer possible.
âdemon king, i was wrong. for the sake of serving through three generations of demon kings, could you let me off this once? i swear i will never dare to do it again,â the grand elder begged, bowing to the demon king. he had contended with the demon king for so many years, and this act signified his submission, acknowledging himself as the demon kingâs vassal.
this took the demon king by surprise. under normal circumstances, he would not want to push the grand elder to the brink, but considering how things had escalated, could it all just be overlooked?