Damien's ears perked when he heard the words 'Pandemonium Needles'. But it seemed that he had to make Tristen become the crown prince to get those needles.
'Why is this getting more difficult than I thought?' Damien felt like he had jumped into a deal that seemed deeper than he initially thought.
"But is there any particular reason you chose Princess Yuria as my potential fiance?" Damien asked in a curious tone.
The Gale Emperor snorted, "Hmph, it seems like you can use your brain to think about things. Anyway, since you are my son, I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you the truth. The reason I am so concerned about the Krisen Kingdom is not that they have been becoming powerful quickly but because I heard rumors of possible rebellion or plans that threaten our empire."
Damien's brows wrinkled, and he asked, "So you are basically sending me to test out the waters?"
The Gale Emperor's expression became exasperated, "No, you idiot. I am sending you there to gain some leverage for our empire. If you manage to obtain that princess, then we would be gaining a strong ally and need not worry about them pointing spears at us in the future since her father wouldn't do anything that might sadden her."
Damien scratched his temple with a shifty smile, "Oh, I see. Royal father, your intelligence and wisdom are even more boundless than what people say. Your plan is absolutely brilliant!"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})The Gale Emperor knew Tristen was simply flattering him, but still, he couldn't help but stick out his chest like a proud ruler.
Damien continued in a sincere tone, "I also thank royal father for being so generous and looking out for me by giving me a chance to win the hand of Princess Yuria. It is surely a dream come true for me."
Seeing the foolish and happy smile on Tristen's face, the Gale Emperor inwardly scoffed and said, "Just because you slacked for a while doesn't mean that I would abandon you. But the alchemy competition only starts at least after a week, and the exact date will be informed to you by me through a messenger. Till then, you can concoct more of these blue pills, right? I will gift you a town for the first 100 blue pills you concoct."
'A whole town? Damn…' Damien was a bit surprised that the Gale Emperor was willing to give away an entire town for just 100 pills.
Even though those pills were unique, the time and costs required to concoct those pills surely didn't match the worth of an entire town. But he knew the potential behind these pills and how they could easily influence any wars or battles that might happen in the future.
A 10% temporary increase in strength without any side effects could do wonders against opponents even if they were a bit stronger. Still, the emperor's eagerness only made Damien happy, 'Heh, you have no idea what you are asking,' Damien inwardly sneered.
However, Tristen didn't even have a single town tied to his name before. This was the first time the emperor was offering him, and according to his memories, not even Kale Gale had any town under his control.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})To have an entire town to one's name meant that one could be the overlord of that town and manage the affairs of the town without worrying about anyone else interfering.
So this meant that if Damien owned a town, then his words would have the final say in everything. Usually, towns were gifted to the top officials who had done centuries of loyal service and had a good experience in management.
Damien, however, didn't feel that much elated about owning a town in the Gale Empire since it was of no use to him. After all, he was here for a specific purpose.
Still, he felt that he could use this chance to buy up a mansion in this town and let Valentina move over to that place so that she wouldn't be bored and alone like before.
With the new status he had given her, he was sure she would be able to strut around places without fearing anything, and he could also set up protective measures to keep his body safe even without Valentina's presence.
So, he agreed while putting up a joyous expression, "Of course, royal father. You really didn't have to offer such a magnanimous gift, but I wouldn't take your words lightly and finish concocting these pills within this week itself!"
The Gale Emperor raised his brows, "This week itself? It seems like it would have done more good if I had trained you in alchemy more during your younger days. Haa, anyway, what's done is done. From here on out, I am giving you the chance to redeem yourself, and this also means that you can no longer slack off on your cultivation. You may use this chamber to cultivate whenever I am not here since even those Marlowe Brothers have left you behind in cultivation."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Damien scratched his temple and said as he bowed, "Of course, royal father. I apologize for not paying attention to my cultivation. I will henceforth not disappoint you. You can take my word for it."
After spending a long time in Tristen's body, Damien had found out that he could increase Tristen's cultivation as long as his consciousness was present in Tristen's body, which meant that he had to be in Tristen's body.
When he had asked Luna the reason behind this, she told him that the ethereal cultivation needs a conscious soul to increase their understanding of the Ethereal Way.
Since undead slaves had no consciousness and were missing parts of their soul, they originally could not cultivate and comprehend the profundities of the ethereal energy, thus having their cultivation stagnated forever.
Damien felt that this was good news and bad news at the same time. The good news was that he could increase Tristen's cultivation and thus appear good in front of others, including the emperor.
But this also meant that he would have to take some time off from his own cultivation time to increase Tristen's cultivation.
However, Luna said that he need not worry too much since because of his dual cultivation art, Eternal Bond of Sacred Arts, he would be gaining cultivation without even doing anything as long as Valentina cultivates near him.
Because of this, Damien was able to feel a bit relieved since at least his cultivation wouldn't be slowing down and realized how convenient and amazing his dual cultivation art was.
Suddenly a thought appeared in his mind where he thought of having a harem of women cultivating together near him...wouldn't the increase in his cultivation be drastic then?
However, Damien quickly shook off such thoughts and wondered if he was developing a licentious nature.
"We will see about that. By the way, I heard you created quite a ruckus in some inn that also involved the Marlowe Family. Is this true? When did you get a new Will Protector? Is it some other woman you slept with?"
Hearing the emperor's question, Damien put up an awkward smile and said, "Royal father, actually some of those geniuses were trying to create trouble for my Will Protector. Actually, she was someone I came upon while traveling and found that she was quite strong for her cultivation while being intelligent as well. I thought that in the future, she could turn out to be a potential Will Protector for me and decided to bring her here. But I forgot to give her an identity token because of which all this happened. She isn't even a beauty, so I obviously wouldn't sleep with her..yuck."
"You do know that the patriarch of the Marlowe Family would find this distasteful. After all, his family owns multiple legions and territories, acting as one of the pillars of our empire. If you want to become the emperor in the future, you shouldn't unnecessarily create any reasons for enmity. Of course, I am not telling you this because you have to be afraid of them but because there is no reason to bring about an unnecessary headache."
Damien said in a reassuring tone, "Don't worry, royal father. I have made sure the Marlowe Brothers won't twist the truth so that their father wouldn't misunderstand. In fact, the patriarch would be feeling relieved that things ended with just a light punishment."
Seeing the grin on Tristen's face, the Gale Emperor felt that Tristen was more sly than he initially thought. However, he felt it was pleasing and inwardly approved it.
"Now that I have told you what there's to be told, you may leave now," The Gale Emperor gestured to Tristen and then closed his eyes.
Damien bowed and left the chamber and quickly got back to his quarters. He ordered his servants to go and buy lots of herbs and other medicinal ingredients to start concocting the hundred blue pills as fast as possible.
