Wang Wei sat on the throne-looking chair and waited for the envoy of these nobles to see what deal they wanted to make with him.
A few minutes later, a middle-aged man walked in the room with Advisor Zhao Feng.
After close inspection, Wang Wei noticed how this man was walking with a straight posture with his head held high. His robe looked luxurious and showy and he had a cultivation level in the peak of the Divine Sea Realm.
The envoy looked at Wang Wei, slightly bowed and said, "Are you Wang Wei?"
After hearing this person's words, the room instantly became quiet. Advisor glanced at the envoy and secretly shook his head.
Wang Wei did not answer this guy's question. Instead, he released a powerful aura from his body and forced the envoy on his knees and asked: "Who are you? Who sent you and for what purpose? I do not have time to waste with you idiots."
The envoy felt a hugged pressure holding in the ground and preventing him from getting up. The pressure was so heavy that he heard some of his bones cracking.
He tried to mobilize his origin qi to resist, but it was to avail. It was then he remembered the elders' warning that he was going to meet a powerful cultivator and should be respectful.
With sweat dripping down his face, the envoy said, "Your Excellency Wise Sage, my name is Zheng Yi from the Duke Zheng family. I have come as a representative of the Noble Alliance to come help you."
"Oh, what can you do to help me?" asked Wang Wei with a nonchalant look on his face.
Seeing how calm the Wise Sage was, Zheng Yi's mind moved fast and realized that negotiation might not be as easy as the Noble Alliance thought it would be. However, he still continued his words:
"The Noble Alliance can help your excellency to open the formation that surrounds the capital from the inside."
Wang Wei was not surprised by this offer as he had already guessed that it was the case. However, he did not immediately respond, but pondered for a while while tapping his finger on his chair.
The room then became quiet with only a constant sound of clicking echoing throughout the room. As time passed by, the envoy became more anxious and started to sweat profusely. This was remarkable given the fact that he is a powerful cultivator.
After a few minutes, Wang Wei then asked, "What do you people want in return? Be direct and straightforward with your demands."
Zheng Yi secretly left out the breath he was holding. As long as the Wise Sage asked for their demands, it means that there are rooms for negotiations. What he feared most was that he was completely rejected, or even worse, killed directly.
After all, it is common knowledge that this Wise Sage did not like the nobility of this kingdom. Wherever his army conquered, the fate of most of the nobility was quite cruel and unjust.
"The Noble Alliance asked that the Wise Sage signed a Soul Contract which states that after entering the capital, you or your subordinates will not kill any of the noble families, you will not seize their properties, and you will provide them with the same Nobility Title they currently have in the new kingdom you will establish."
Wang Wei looked at this envoy as if he had heard the funniest thing in his life.
"You people thought too much of your worth. All of you should be happy that I did not kill every single one of you, but now, you want to retain the wealth that you sucked dry from the people for countless generations? On top of that, you want the same privileges that you had from the previous decay kingdom and bring it out to my dynasty?"
Zheng Yi's heart skipped a beat after hearing about this, but he gritted his teeth and said, "Your Excellency, you should be aware that without our help, it will be impossible for you to open that array."
"Distorting the truth will have no benefits for your so-called Noble Alliance. We all know that it is only a matter of time before we manage to break through the array by ourselves."
"That may be true," retorted Zheng Yi. "But the Alliance is also aware that your Excellency is competing with countless other people from your own world. The more time you spend wasting here, the less advantage you will have in future confrontations with your peers."
"Time Huh? The same idea can apply to you people. I am fully aware of the fact that the remaining luck of this kingdom will not last long. This formation will destroy itself in 1 to 2 years. I can still wait for such a time."
After hearing this, Zheng Yi's heart became anxious. This was actually one of the main worries of the nobles.
In fact many of the truly powerful nobles still have hidden cards that they have not used. However, one thing that they know for a fact is that no matter the final outcome of this war, the Eastern Rain Kingdom was finished for good.
So, they wanted an exit strategy or route after everything was over. As for betraying the royal family, the nobles who placed the well-being of their families above everything else couldn't care less about their fates.
After pondering for a while, Zheng Yi asked, "Your excellency, then, what do you propose?"
"Simple, you guys opened the array for me and in return, I will not kill all of you, however, you yourself need to choose a few noteworthy families as scapegoats to be publicly executed to soothe the anger of the common people. Remember, do not just choose some random weak family."
"Secondly, all the noble families have to hand over at least 80% of their family wealth. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Lastly, if you people want to stay in my new dynasty, then you need to follow the law. And I mean every single one of them. If I ever catch even a single one of you breaking the rules, then you will be judged by the severity of your mistakes. Under my rule, the law will be absolute."
After hearing these terms, Zheng Yi's face became ugly. When has their noble alliance been treated like this? However, he did not burst out in anger as he knew that they were in the lower position during the negotiation.
After taking a deep breath to calm down, he said, "I will tell all your terms to the Noble Alliance and let them decide what to do next."
Wang Wei nodded and removed the aura pressing Zheng Yi in the ground. Suddenly feeling a weight lifted off his shoulders, Zheng Yi slowly got up, did an almost 90 degree bow and left the hall.
Wang Wei waved his head and someone also secretly left the wall to follow the envoy. However, less than half an hour later, the person came back and told him how Zheng Yi only traveled a few hundred meters from the barrack and was communicating to someone through unknown means.
Wang Wei nodded and realized how cautious the nobles were. And they seemed to have a way to communicate across the formation.
After another half hour, Zheng Yi came back into the hall and said, "Your Excellency, the Noble Alliance has accepted your terms."
"Oh, so fast?" answered Wang Wei. "Do you need to sign the Soul Contract now?"
"There is no need for that, The Alliance believes that the Wise Sage is a person who keeps his words."
Wang Wei smiled and nodded. However, he did not believe a word of this. In such a situation, the Noble Alliance should be anxious to have written proof of their agreements.
You should know that the Soul Contract is a powerful contract that has magical binding abilities. If anyone were to break the agreements signed on it, their souls would receive backlash that could lead to severe injury and even death.
However, based on Zheng Yi's words and actions, Wang Wei could feel that the nobles were not in a hurry to sign the contract. That can only mean one thing, there is some secret plan or scheme behind all of this.
However, he did not really care and just took note of the current situation and remained vigilant to be able to respond to any kind of situation.
Three days later, Wang Wei and his army stood not far from the gate of the capital. The wall surrounding this city was at least 1000 meters.
On top of the city, countless runes formed an array that covered the entire city like a protecting dome. Under Wang Wei's True Vision, he could see a flood dragon coiling its body around the city.
However, the dragon was quite weak and appeared to be slowly fading.
After a few minutes, the array surrounding the city flickered on and on for a while before disappearing. Then, the city gate was opened.
Wang Wei took all of his men and marched straight towards the Royal Palace.
Meanwhile, in an inn, a few people were looking at the marching army while talking. All of them dressed elegantly while drinking wine or tea.
One person said, "Do you think that the Wise Sage will survive?"
"I don't think so," responded another voice.
"I disagree with you. Who knows what weird methods these Extraterrestrial Demons have hidden in their sleeves."
"Well, it does not matter to us anyway. Whether he survives or not, we have already made plans for both outcomes. In the end, we will still be the last winners."
"That's true. Our noble families will always continue to exist."
