By the end of the day, Ben felt he had done a decent job putting the nobles in their place. He politely mocked and threatened the nobles who spoke against him without it appearing he was acting overbearing. Ben had also won over a couple noble households with his generosity and politeness.
They saw Ben was different than the typical arrogant reclusive cultivator. He would speak with anyone in a friendly manner unless they were arrogant or verbally offensive. This helped them to truly learn who he was and to change the preconceived image they had of him through listening to rumors.
Ben was the type of young man that could get along with anyone no matter what their social status. If someone were to insult or attack him he would then change into another person. He would not go out of his way to interfere with others but if you crossed him he would have no problem tearing apart your life.
He had made offers to the friendly nobles to buy some of his products at bulk discounted prices. If they dealt in a business area that his products could help them, he would graciously offer to help them out with special discounted pricing. The only thing he would not discount was his spirit food. He did not want other nobles competing with him for sales on his food.
The only way they could make money off of his spirit food would be to buy it at the regular price and sell it in the other kingdoms at an inflated price. His spirit food was something that no one could ever replicate and it was his main draw at his store so he made sure to keep a tight control over it.
As the party ended and the nobles began to leave and climb aboard their carts Ben had his mounted Knights and Elven archers line up along the entire road and salute the guests as they rode back to their homes.
Ben wanted to give them all one last look at his impressive troops as to say do not mess with me in the future or else these guys just might happen to pay your estate a visit.
Once everyone was gone and his troops returned Ben asked the two generals to take them back to the camp and relax for the rest of the night. They would spend the night here on his estate and return to the fortress tomorrow after he had paid a visit to the Aregard Royal Palace.
Back inside the Small Palace, Ben told his maids and Kitchen staff to take their time cleaning everything up. There was no hurry and they could split the work up between today and tomorrow.
Baynard and his wife along with Cordelia and the sales girls were all given one of the main bedrooms for the night. Everyone was tired and just wanted to relax instead of traveling back home so Ben allowed them to enjoy the huge bedroom suites. He had bottles of wine and snacks sent up to them so they could relax in the large rooms alone or visit with one another and have a couple drinks.
He then assigned the back servants quarters to his musicians for the night and thanked them for a wonderful performance.
After a discussion with Steward Hughes about rearranging the stateroom and cleaning the kitchen and dining hall, Ben went outside and took down the large canopy tent and stored it in his inventory along with the furniture under it.
Now that everything was taken care of he could relax for a while. Ben went up to the third floor and packed away the instruments in the hallway and chose a random empty bedroom to enter.
Ben laid on the bed and actually slept for a couple hours. He woke up feeling refreshed just after midnight and cultivated until sunrise. He and his employees had a great early morning breakfast while a carriage was being readied for them out front.
One of his knights hopped up in the coachman's cab and drove his employees home and he went along for the ride to make sure everyone returned safely. When they had all made it home he told them to not worry about opening the store until noon today. It might inconvenience some of his customers but he did not want to make his employees have to hurry into their homes and get ready to head directly to the store.
Ben had the knight drive him to the royal palace and park out front and wait for him to return.
Inside the Royal Palace Ben went straight toward the throne room and entered without delay. From what he was told before the king would generally be in the throne room by this time of the morning so he went inside to meet him.
The king was talking with a couple of his assistant and noticed the throne room doors had opened. When he looked up and saw Ben he smiled and called out to him.
"Duke King! I must thank you for the incredible gift of the carriage! It is a magnificent vehicle!" The king said laughing with joy.
"Think nothing of it, your majesty. It is a new design we have just recently created and I wished to gift you the first model in appreciation for everything you have done for me."
Ben humbly replied.
The king shook his head and said. "You have earned everything I have awarded you, Duke King. We also appreciate having you as one of our loyal Aregard nobles. So, how can the royal court help you today?"
The smile on the king's face suddenly vanished after he asked his question and it was quickly replaced by a look of shock.
"Wait...no.. don't tell me you advanced to Stage six and have come to be awarded the title of Archduke?!" The king half raised off the throne while staring at Ben now realizing the only time Ben ever came to the throne room was when he advanced his cultivation.
Ben couldn't hide his proud smile on his face and responded.
"Well...I did advance to Stage Six: Level Two but this isn't why I came today. I once again came bearing gifts but they are not only for you this time. I also have a couple of small gifts for the Royal Cultivator and your daughter Princess Alessandra Sletten."
The king remained in a half standing half sitting position while tightly gripping the armrests of his throne. After hearing Ben's new cultivation stage it took him a few seconds to regain his composure before he shook his head and muttered 'monster' under his breath.
The king slumped back onto his throne and then recalled Ben mentioning he had brought gifts. He looked off to where the assistants were now standing and waved them over to him.
"I want one of you to bring my daughter Alessandra to me here and the other one of you is to bring the Royal Cultivator here as well."
When the two assistants took off Ben remembered he wanted to give the king the leather collars, bridles, harnesses, and reins needed for the new carriage.
"I almost forgot when I left the carriage I did not have the proper carriage tack needed for it." Ben explained as he brought out the leather gear and placed it on the floor next to the throne.
"I am sure the palace has leather tack to pull carts but the measurements and riggings are different between the cart and carriage so you will need these. There are enough here to hook up four creatures."
Two horses were enough to pull one carriage but Ben had no idea what type of creature the king would use to pull his carriage so he gave him four rigs.
As he showed the king how the collars and harnesses could be placed on an adjusted the princess and just after her the Royal Cultivator arrived in the throne room.
"I have come father, how can I be of service?" The princess did not notice Ben right away and greeted her father as she walked toward the throne.
The king greeted her and turned to nod toward Ben.
"Duke King came to present you and the Royal Cultivator with a gift."
"Ah, Duke King it is a pleasure to see you again. I have been enjoying your spirit foods every day and they have helped my cultivation tremendously and now you bring more gifts how will I ever thank you if this continues." The princess was shaking her head while brightly smiling at Ben.
Before Ben could respond the Royal Cultivator entered the throne room and saw Ben talking with the princess.
He stopped in his tracks and began speaking loudly across the throne room.
"NO! NO! NO! NO! If you came here to tell us you advanced again I, I…"
The Royal Cultivator became completely flustered when he saw Ben. He assumed he had been passed in cultivation by Ben and had come to claim the title of Archduke before him.
Ben couldn't help himself and burst out laughing when he heard the old guys flustered comment.
"Am I not allowed to advance to Stage Six, sir Royal Cultivator? Are you telling me after I went through all the trouble to heal you I still passed my only rival in the kingdom behind?"
The Royal Cultivator just looked so defeated standing there shaking his head with his mouth open that Ben laughed again at his expense. Even the king had to cover his mouth to avoid from laughing at the performance playing out in the throne room.
"Cheer up I will only remain ahead of you for a few minutes longer! I have a gift for you and the princess that I think you two will find helpful to your cultivation." Ben said with a huge mysterious smile.
Ben brought out two Impetus Advancement pills and held them between his index fingers and thumbs of each hand so that they could all see them.
[Impetus Advancement]: A cultivation stage advancing pill with a one-time use only. A cultivator will experience an instant breakthrough of a full stage after using this pill. This pill will lose its effect after one use and any further ingestions will be a wasted effort.
The Royal Cultivator walked over quickly to look at what Ben had.
Ben placed a pill in each of their hands and explained.
"This pill can only be used once. If you swallow more than one they wouldn't provide any further benefits. I recently came across this pill and it is the reason I am a Stage six level two cultivator now."
"WHAT!"
"WHAT!"
The princess and the Royal Cultivator couldn't believe it, Ben a 19-year-old young man was now the strongest cultivator in the kingdom and possibly the entire continent.
"Once you ingest this single pill it will raise your raise your cultivation a full stage within a few minutes!"
They both looked down with excitement and wanting at the pill in their hands hardly believing what they were told.
Ben looked from one to the next while nodding.
"Well? What are you waiting for swallow them already!" Ben said laughing.
The two unable to hold back swallowed them and sat on the throne room floor and began to cultivate as they felt the huge amount of Qi build in their dantain.
A few minutes later they both opened their eyes and looked at each other in amazement.
Ben used his Cultivation Reader technique on the two of them and found it had worked. Each of them had advanced a full stage in only a few minutes time. Normally it would take cultivator years of cultivation to jump up a stage and they did it in a matter of minutes!
The two were so overjoyed they couldn't stop thanking Ben who just laughed as he looked between them and the king who was sitting on the throne shaking his head at what he had just witnessed.
His daughter who was a beginner cultivator had apparently just leaped from Stage One, Level Seven to Stage Two Level Seven and his Royal Cultivator was now a Stage Six Level Seven!
While everyone was looking on in speechless wonderment Ben decided to pull out four more pills. He handed two pills to the princess, one to the king and one to the Royal Cultivator.
"These pills have nothing to do with cultivation but if I ever were to sell them there will be people who would give their life savings for just one of them."
Ben had handed them the Springtide Rejuvenation pills which would take years off of anyone who used it.
[Springtide Rejuvenation]: This pill reshapes and restores the entire body, revitalizing the blood and organs., It will also imbue the skin with new life. An elder with a face full of wrinkles can regain the appearance of their thirty-year-old self once again.
"Princess one of those pills are for you but you have to promise me you will not use it until you are at least in your mid-thirties. I know this is years from now but it will only be useful for you at this age."
The princess looked at Ben wondering why he was giving her a pill she couldn't use for another fifteen years but agreed as he seriously watched her reactions.
"I promise Duke King I will save the pill until I am at least thirty five years old."
Ben smiled and nodded. He then turned toward the Royal Cultivator.
"Sir Royal Cultivator I let this one be a surprise go ahead and ingest it."
The Royal Cultivator trusted Ben after he had healed him and knew Ben would have never healed him if he wanted to harm him so he ate the first pill and this one while not knowing what it would do to him.
After he swallowed the pill he had a curious look on his face as felt like something was changing in his body. The pill began to rapidly rebuild and heal the dead cells in his body and improve his circulation.
His body and organs were being restored at first and then the pill's reaction began to show changes to his skin and hair. His extremely wrinkled skin began to tighten and the white hair on his head slowly turned a deep black color.
Everyone in the room watched wide-eyed at the Royal Cultivator's transformation. The white-haired old man now looked like he was around fifty years old.
"What is it? Why are you all staring at me like that? Wait a minute, why does my voice sound different?"
Even though Ben knew what the pill would do he was as amazed as everyone else. He had not expected this pill to make Brom look so young.
He quickly purchased a small handheld mirror from the System Store and held it up in front of the Royal Cultivator.
The Royal Cultivator anxiously grabbed the mirror in shock from Ben's hand.
"This... is me? I look like a young man again! How is this possible? He ran his hand over his smooth face with a huge smile. I have to say, Duke King, you never stop amazing me. I am delighted by these two pills they have changed my life but how are we ever going to repay you this kindness. These pills must all be worth a fortune." The Royal Cultivator humbly asked.
Ben quickly waved his hands.
"I don't want anything in return. The Aregard Kingdom is now my second home and by helping you and the royal family I am making the kingdom stronger and safer for me the nobles, and the commoners. By helping one another like this we will improve the kingdom and our way of life." Ben honestly explained.
"Duke King, why have you given me two of these youth pills?" The princess asked now curious why everyone was given one pill and she had two.
"I gave one to your father and the extra one you can give to your mother. I am sure she will appreciate having one. I know every woman longs to remain beautiful forever and this pill will help her with that goal. After she ingests it you and your mother may look like sisters from now on." Ben said with a chuckle.
Ben then turned to the king and gave him a sly wink. Knowing he would appreciate having his wife look like she was twenty years old again.
The king's eyes then grew round as he realized this and a smile began to spread on his face.
Just as Ben was about to tell the king to ingest the pill he had given him a pretty woman was escorted into the throne room by one of the royal guards.
When the king looked past Ben and his daughter he saw who it was.
"Scarlett you've returned from the border?" The king asked with a hint of worry in his voice.
Scarlett approached the throne and looked around at the gathered company and gave the king a questioning look.
The king waited for his royal guard and assistants to clear the room after dismissing them and gave Scarlett permission to speak.
"You can give me your report I trust everyone here and Duke King is the main reason why I had sent you to spy on the Trareniel Kingdom."
Scarlett looked at the gather people around her and said, "The Trareniel military was surprisingly quiet about their intentions for being on the two kingdom's borders. It seems the only people who knew why they were there were a couple of higher ranked military officers. I had tried to gain information from the troops through spying and bribery. I was told the Trareniel Kingdom was paying their civilians to join a military training program. The Trareniel civilians were told the program was funded to train them on how to properly fight. The thing the civilian troops found strange was they had been forcibly kept near the border longer than the program was suppose to last and they could not return to their homes until they were properly released by the king himself."
She paused to gather her thoughts and continued, "The information I received sounded suspicious so I continued to observe the military camp. When the Trareniel king had suddenly shown up to the military camp I decided to sneak in after the sun went down. They held a late-night meeting that I got close enough to listen in on."
Scarlett frowned and said, "It seems the Trareniel Kingdom has just signed an alliance with the Brandomma Kingdom which is located directly to their south. One of the stipulations for this alliance is the Brandomma Kingdom will loan the Trareniel Kingdom their Royal Cultivator and an unspecified number of levied troops."
She knit her brows and said,"The Trareniel Kingdom plans to invade the Aregard kingdom with their and the Brandomma's Royal Cultivator. The Trareniel Kingdom has also taken in a rogue mage from one of the western kingdoms who they plan to use in the invasion."
"With these two Royal Cultivators and a mage, they feel confident that they can lead their troops into your kingdom and sack each town on the way to Goldcrest City. They were also discussing a spy's reports from inside your palace."
Scarlett took a deep breath and continued to speak with a look of disgust, "They had been informed the Aregard Royal Cultivator is injured and he can no longer fight to his full capability. So they have conceived a plan to attack our injured Royal Cultivator with the Trareniel Royal Cultivator, The Brandomma's Royal Cultivator, and the rogue mage. Once the Royal Cultivator is disposed of they can then proceed to eliminate any other Aregard cultivators that come out of closed-door cultivation to defend Goldcrest City. With the two Royal Cultivators and the mage, they are confident they will conquer the Aregard kingdom before you even have time to respond to their invasion." Scarlett finished her grim report to the stunned listeners around her.
"By the gods!" Tobias Sletten the king of the Aregard kingdom replied while looking at Scarlet in borderline terror.