Chapter 663: Tribulation (1/2)

“I can’t believe that guy is this greedy,” Zac sighed. “Your purchases would have bankrupted a normal D-Grade force.”

“There is an endless number of Daos. It’s pretty good that Jeeves only wanted the taste of three hundred,” Kenzie laughed as she stood up. “Let’s go. I’ve been waiting for this for so long now.”

“If you say so,” Zac shrugged as he followed her toward the teleportation array.

It felt like too big a risk to evolve Jeeves right in Port Atwood, so they had instead prepared a special island over the past months. It had a Nexus Node of its own, along with a series of machines that would help with the evolution.

“I still don’t get why it wants that many different attunements,” Zac muttered as they teleported away. ”Why not focus on the four elements like you do?”

It was true, most of the requirements for Jeeves’ evolution hadn’t been machines or technology. It was rather raw materials of different attunements. It was essentially gaining insight into hundreds of Daos by absorbing treasures that held a hint of the Dao itself. It was no doubt modeled after the methods used in the Research Base, where thousands of Daos fused into a supreme containment sphere.

It had been pretty easy to satisfy that demand in the beginning with the help of Zac’s huge stockpile of Attuned Crystals, but it started to get increasingly difficult over time.

First of all, it wasn’t enough to feed the greedy AI with crystals alone. It required various sources of every Dao to gain a deep enough understanding. The amount of attunement hidden in an Attuned Crystal was ultimately pretty weak and shallow compared to natural treasures. Even then, some attunements were pretty popular and easy to gain, but others were a lot more difficult.

For example, it took almost no effort to collect a few sets of treasures for nature-aspected Daos. These were actively grown since they were a major component in healing pills.

The same went for fire-attuned materials. They could easily be collected around volcanoes. But after they had collected some cheaper materials for the basic elemental Daos things got more difficult. For example, where could you find raw materials containing weapon-based Daos? The same went for Daos based on concepts, such as Ilvere’s Dao of Momentum or Alyn’s Dao of Dissemination.

These kinds of weird Natural Treasures actually did exist, but they were unsurprisingly pretty rare. They were still useful in crafting equipment of specific attunements though, and with their scarcity, it did drive up the price. That was one of the reasons why the upgrade costs had ballooned to this degree over the past three years.

Zac shuddered at the costs that would go into evolving the AI in the future. If it required materials for a full three hundred Daos now, what would it demand the next time? And would the materials all have to be D-Grade? Earth and Port Atwood couldn’t even support this initial evolution, let alone future ones.

All that was thankfully a problem for a distant issue. Zac would hopefully have gotten his hands on enough riches over the next century, and Kenzie’s money-making capabilities would only improve as her cultivation increased.

“I told you. Jeeves needs the different Daos to gain a true understanding of cultivation. The more Daos he collects, the better he can assist me. Everything is connected,” Kenzie explained. “That’s why I spent so much time looking for these final items.”

“Alright. Did the guy also happen to know what will happen when he evolves? I mean this seems like something that will attract Tribulation Lighting even if he supposedly can hide from the System,” Zac said.

“It should be fine. Besides, we won't harm anyone this far away from civilization even if something happens,” Kenzie said as she looked around. “Besides, Jeeves is extremely strong for his grade. He could even knock out the Administrator, breaking through will be a breeze.”

“It’s you I’m worried about,” Zac sighed. “If the Heavens zap your AI, it’s not like you’ll walk away unscathed.”

“It shouldn’t be,” Kenzie said. “Jeeves hasn’t elicited any ire from the System”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Zac muttered, remembering the quest back then.

“You can’t get too paranoid,” Kenzie shrugged with a long-suffering look, which wasn’t surprising considering the two already had this argument many times before. “Taking the Dimensional Seed would probably have been a great boon for you. It would definitely be a worthwhile trade in the eyes of the System. Trading the life of one person who focuses on the Dao of Technology for a power-up of a million-year-talent? Easy trade. It doesn't mean it has targeted Jeeves.”

“Alright, alright. You’re sure there’s nothing I can do?” Zac asked.

“Nope,” Kenzie said. “I’ll feed Jeeves the last materials and evolve as he does.”

Zac could only look on with worry as she walked over to the middle of the rotunda where the Nexus Node hovered in the air. Nine intricately inscribed boxes appeared around her, and Zac’s body immediately started to scream with greed the moment she opened them.

He didn’t know what all the items Kenzie collected were, but he knew about two of them. One was called a [Lavoar Wavespirit], and it looked like a crystallized drop of deep-blue water. It was an amazing water-attuned treasure that could actually increase one’s affinity with the various Daos of Water.

It wasn't as magical as a treasure that could turn a mortal into a cultivator, but what cultivator didn't dream of increasing their affinities to their Daos?

It was a peak treasure for the lower grades in the Zecia sector, far surpassing things like the Fruit of Ascension or his Amanita Mushroom. Its price reflected that fact as well, and he knew that Kenzie had an off-world agent pay over 200 Billion Nexus Coins for this item alone. It was way beyond even the [Pathfinder Oracle Eye]. Of course, the price of that kind of treasure could probably reach 200 Billion as well outside the Base Town, provided there were a few interested parties.