Chapter 516: Invitation
Soul King noticed the change in Apollo’s expression and smiled, "Don’t worry, I didn’t invite you with the intention of any harm, not to mention that in the current Rion there aren’t many things that can hurt you anyway."
Apollo didn’t say anything, but he didn’t let his guard down, as who knows what this old monster wants with him. Not to mention his title is soul king, meaning he was an expert in souls, and usually soul-related beings are the most trickiest ones or even sinister ones.
He needed to be extra careful for that.
I don’t know why the senior called me here?" He then calmly asked.
"Hm, you should know that the current balance of Rion exists only because the ancient clans cannot bring out their ancestors above supremes and because of this, Rion can maintain this delicate balance. But that balance will not last."
"When that day comes..."
He looked directly into Apollo’s eyes.
"Do you think the various races will simply allow a human genius like you to continue growing?"
"The human race has countless enemies. They would rather kill a future genius than watch another human Sovereign rise."
"That is why I wanted to meet you and see whether you possess the qualifications...to join the Human Temple."
Apollo felt surprised, as he didn’t expect the reason Soul King wanted to meet him was to see his qualifications. He became silent for a moment and then asked, " So what do you think, senior? Do I possess the qualification?"
Soul King looked at Apollo and smiled, "You were better than I thought; even I am fully able to see through you. If a genius like you isn’t qualified, then nobody would."
He set down his wine cup.
"In truth, before meeting you, I only intended to invite you into the Human Temple."
"I planned to observe your future performance before making any further decisions."
"But now... I’ve changed my mind."
"I hereby invite you to the position of Quasi-King of the Human Temple."
Apollo’s eyes shone fiercely as Soul King’s words shocked him; he didn’t expect him to give a Quasi-King position directly. That was a position just below the seven kings.
Before becoming a quasi-king, every candidate had to prove themselves to show they possess the quality of a king.
Although there can be hundreds of quasi-kings, those hundreds represent the best of the best of their era. They all have very high standing in the Human Temple, even authority surpassing the supreme realm elders of the Human Temple and are backed by terrifying clans or the power of the human race.
And now, suddenly, Soul King was giving him a chance to become a quasi-king of the Human Temple. It felt unbelievable, but he quickly suppressed his emotions.
This thought was an opportunity that all human geniuses dream of, but it is not without dangers; first was naturally the different enemy races that would do anything to kill quasi-king geniuses from the Human Temple.
But the second one is the most troublesome, which is the internal conflicts within the Human Temple. Humans have the most complicated relations with each other, and after countless years, the Human Temple is frankly a mess.
A quasi-king is frankly a representative for powerful ancient human forces where different factions fight each other without caring about anything else but power and resources.
If he gets swept up in it, who knows whom he had to face. Then he didn’t just have to worry about enemy races but those ancient terrifying clans of the human race who might be present since the beginning of humanity.
But it also has advantages, like almost extinct resources outside, like the Chaotic crystal he found. If he had such resources in sufficient quantity, he could improve quickly, so he was in a bit of trouble about what to do.
He also didn’t know much about this Soul King, or whether he had other intentions.
After thinking for a long time, Apollo finally reached a decision.
He would not join the Human Temple—not yet.
Only after reaching the Supreme Realm would he truly possess the confidence to face both the external enemies and the internal struggles of the Human Temple.
By then, unless he encountered a Sovereign personally, he would have enough strength to protect himself.
With his mind made up, Apollo slowly looked toward the Soul King.
"Senior, I am honoured you think highly of me, but my strength is still weak, so I won’t join the Human Temple, at least not for now."
"So, Senior Soul King, please forgive me." He said respectfully, declined the invitation and looked at the old man’s reaction.
Soul King didn’t show any expression; he was still calm, like he had expected this. "Okay, you are quite steady, not like those idiots from the Human Temple."
He then took out a token with the words ’King ’ in ancient language, which seemed to emit a mysterious aura, making Apollo’s soul tremble. "Then take this. Even though you didn’t join the Human Temple, with this token you can receive help from the Human Temple and can contact me if you decide to join."
Apollo looked at the floating token with a mysterious aura, with deep eyes and then carefully put it away.
"Then I will leave now." He then bowed and left the place.
Soul King didn’t say anything as he watched Apollo leave, and only after he left did a smile appear on his face.
"Interesting."
Apollo left without looking back. The moment he came out of the inn, he tore a void and disappeared from the border city.
***
After some time, tens of thousands of miles away from the border city, a tear appeared in the sky, and Apollo came out from it.
His expression was strange as he looked towards the direction of the border City. He felt a bit weird about his meeting and then took out the token given by the Soul King.
He carefully looked at the token and didn’t know what to do with it. It gave him a weird feeling as he tried to scan it through his spiritual sense.