City Lord's Seal?
Chen Yu, raising an eyebrow slightly, took it out from his prayer beads.
Ilya's prayer beads had actually become Chen Yu's tool for storing relatively important resources; they stored more than just food.
He had possessed the imperial seal for some time.
He hadn't paid it much mind.
When the necromancer had given him the City Lord's Seal, he had purely regarded it as a symbol of identity. Perhaps some people would pursue such things.
Just like how Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao, along with various other warlords, had a strong passion for the imperial jade seal.
Chen Yu, however, leaned more towards Chancellor Cao.
The imperial jade seal?
What use was it?
The City Lord's Seal before him was similar. To Chen Yu, its significance wasn't that great. When he had first obtained it, he had thought the seal was less practical than receiving thirty thousand gold coins.
But—
Listening to Sona, it seemed the City Lord's Seal harbored a hidden secret.
He lightly raised his wrist to check the details.
[City Lord's Seal: A symbol of identity. Upon activation, you will possess the authority to view city details. The seal is currently ownerless.]
"Hiss!"
Instantly, Chen Yu couldn't help but gasp.
It could be activated and grant authority.
Huo.
It seemed the world of swords and magic was indeed vastly different from the outside of the cave. This small seal was actually the backend interface for controlling a city-state.
Fortunately, he hadn't pawned it.
Not lying at all.
Chen Yu had actually considered pawning it at the time. If it couldn't be pawned, he would have kept it as a collector's item.
It seemed one couldn't view the underground world entirely through the lens of the outside world.
The City Lord's Seal was ownerless.
This meant the necromancer had been honest. After handing over the seal, he hadn't played any dirty tricks or intentionally caused trouble for Chen Yu.
He had severed the connection between Chen Yu and the City Lord's Seal.
It could be considered his good sense.
If he dared to play any tricks, even if he had escaped now, once Chen Yu's city-state grew larger, he would issue a bounty for him in the underground.
And put Liao Dao on the bounty list as well.
Don't ask why. Just know that he hoped Liao Dao would have a home and didn't want him to be wandering aimlessly. They were all fellow humans, after all; they had to help each other.
"Sona, how do I activate it?"
Chen Yu, holding the imperial seal, had confusion lingering in his eyes.
"Try dripping blood to establish ownership?"
Sona whispered. Chen Yu was dumbfounded upon hearing this.
Hey!
This underground world was one of swords and magic. Couldn't they come up with something fresh? For instance, setting up an altar to perform a ritual, or reciting a magic incantation.
Drip blood to establish ownership?
Isn't that a fantasy trope?
Despite his inner grumbling, Chen Yu lightly touched the tip of his five-colored sword with his finger, causing a small nick, and then stopped.
Biting his finger?
Chen Yu would absolutely not do that.
It was too painful.
He wasn't as tough as those martial arts heroes in the novels. Even with a small cut from the sword, he was already praying in his heart not to get tetanus.
It wasn't because he was pampered.
His sword wasn't sterilized at high temperatures; it cut through everything. Who knew what kind of bacteria were on it? If he were to get sick, he wouldn't even know where to go for treatment.
His blood flowed onto the imperial seal.
Chen Yu silently waited for the seal to recognize him as its owner.
But—
"There's no reaction here either?" After waiting for a while without seeing any recognition, Chen Yu frowned. Sona couldn't help but chuckle, "Well, it seems this seal isn't activated by dripping blood."
Wang De Fa?
Alright, so Sona's suggestion to "try" was really just to try?
Hadn't his hand been pricked for nothing?
And he had endured the risk of tetanus.
A huge loss!
"Then what do I do now?"
Chen Yu, unable to recognize the city, spread his hands. Sona heard this and raised her eyebrows again.
"Try to see if there's a binding option below?"
"Huh?!"
"Bind it," Sona said with a hint of helplessness. "There's a binding option below the seal's page. You bind it to yourself to activate it. Chen Yu, you're truly quite dense. You actually dripped blood when I told you to. Among the people I know, you're the second one to do that."
Ah, this?!
He had been tricked.
Chen Yu now completely understood that Sona had deliberately teased him earlier.
"Sister, please maintain your character. You aren't this type of character. If you keep acting like this, the little demon will have a difficult time," Chen Yu said with a frown. "If you steal her character, what will she do in the future? Will she just stare blankly at the sky? Given her personality, she probably won't just stare blankly. She'll likely argue with you, and then I'll be in trouble."
Chen Yu looked dejected.
He could already imagine the little demon's annoyance after her character was stolen, constantly clamoring day in and day out. The one truly suffering would be Chen Yu.
Sighing deeply, Chen Yu's face filled with curiosity again.
"Who was the first one?"
"Well, it was the one you maintain your character for," Sona shrugged and said. "When she obtained the Demon King's Castle, she also had a seal. I told her to drip blood to establish ownership, and she actually did it. You're relatively more rational. She almost chopped off her own hand at that time, wishing she could have soaked that seal in a pool of blood."
"Ah, this..."
For some reason, Chen Yu didn't doubt it at all.
He felt that Barbara was truly capable of doing that.
Moreover, not only did he not doubt it, but an image also appeared in his mind. Sona was telling Barbara the activation method, and the gullible Barbara took a large saber and slashed her hand.
Blood flowed profusely.
Even after dyeing the entire seal red, there was still no effect. She wouldn't ask why it wasn't activated, and would instead think that perhaps there wasn't enough blood.
Gradually, whether or not blood was used for activation no longer mattered.
She lost her temper.
She was determined to activate the seal, regardless of how much blood it cost.
Don't disbelieve it!
Given Barbara's personality, doing something like this was entirely normal.
In the end, if it wasn't activated, she might even fight with the seal.
"I'm telling you, at that time, she really..." Sona began to describe to Chen Yu, but Chen Yu raised his hand slightly with a wry smile, "No need, I can already imagine the scene."
"Oh, is that so."
Sona, unable to share, blinked her eyes and then pursed her lips and smiled.
"Indeed, Barbara, her personality is very prominent."
Chen Yu didn't continue the conversation, casting his gaze back to the seal in his hand. He checked the details with his wristband, which provided a very simple description.
As his gaze fell upon the seal, he saw that a page had actually appeared on the seal.
It was like a 3D two-dimensional projection.
The seal circled incessantly within the image, with a simple description of the seal also present. At the bottom of the page, there was clearly a binding option.
He lightly tapped with his finger.
The page then popped up an additional option.
[Bind the seal? Upon binding, you will possess ownership of the city-state, have the authority to upgrade special buildings within the city-state, and the authority to view city details.]
"Yes."
In an instant, the seal in Chen Yu's hand emitted a faint glow. These faint lights wrapped around his arm like threads, and he felt as if he had a blood connection with the seal.
He could feel the presence of the seal.
[Binding successful]
With a flicker of his will, a screen immediately appeared before Chen Yu.
"Wow, cool!"