Castle, dining room…
Aeneas looked down at the contract lying on the table then at Rex who was leisurely eating the newly made Spring and Autumn Noddles made by Lucia.
"The advantages far surpass the disadvantages for you, there aren't many restrictions as long as your actions don't harm the organization in any way, or you want to go around trying to restore your kingdom on your own?" Jiang Shuang sitting on the side also persuaded.
A while ago, Rex broke the details of his contract with Elder Dongfang and also exposing the fact of him being a crown prince, as for how he knew it? Rex had one answer for all such questions, that was… Shadow Lord.
Once the information was revealed, Aeneas was offered a contract similarly to Elder Dongfang and her Generals, he could either agree to become the future king of Black Steel Kingdom while following the conditions placed forwards to him or decline and live the way, he was living until now, free and unfettered.
A normal cultivator would love to accept it because they can get power, status, and authority in one go, they won't have to worry about resources anymore.
But Aeneas wasn't so enchanted by it, the reason was simple, his hatred towards the humans below Azure Emperor was deep. He would have directly declined the offer but he knew if he agrees then it could be a big help for him in reviving his lineage and taking revenge.
"I won't change my surname," Aeneas said after being quiet for a while.
"No one told you to, don't forget that you are a member of Shadow Clan in name, its fine to keep your surname or use your power to fulfill your wishes as long as don't destroy the current Royal Family, your next generation can also keep your name and can take over the Royal Family, but they can only complete fairly with other younger generation in the whole Royal Family that's the deal I made with her, just go and choose a willing princess to marry, if there isn't any exception, all of them would be more than happy to agree and become the future King's wife.
Even if you don't like it, marrying is a necessity, or there is a chance that the masses would lose all their trust in the kingdom, it will also help you in gaining their trust. If you hate it that much then just marry in name, no one asked to build physical relations with her," Rex said with hot smoke coming out of his mouth.
"I want beastman of my choice to go with me and support me there," Aeneas nodded and said.
"Accepted, you can choose anyone except Aiden and Fred," Rex said, his words hit on the spot, making Aeneas lightly sigh.
Similar to Rex, he to desired them, what they desired wasn't the duo's talent but their loyalty, raising principled subordinate is far better compared to immature geniuses, cultivating them would have fewer chances of betrayal than others.
Jiang Shuang briefly discussed the rules again before Aeneas signed the contract and left.
"Brother Rex, was it a good idea to make him the king? Although we made a contract because he was capable enough, I still think that making one of the clones the king was a better idea," Jiang Shuang said in a low tone when he was alone with Rex in the room.
"Hmm… My clones have more important things to do, letting them work in research and production field is way more beneficial to the organization than them learning politics," Rex said.
Although he said that on the surface, his thoughts were quite different on the inside.
'Making someone the king gives them immense benefits but it also makes them the assassination target for many forces, my clones and even me are not omnipotent, from what Zakiya told me many forces here have direct or indirect connections with Higher Realm, Ria and Mia had an Ancient Artifact in their possession while only being the cultivators of Middle Realm, this shows that someone else can also possess the equipment or techniques from Higher Realm here.
Misfortune and fortune walk hand in hand, I gave Aeneas an opportunity but I also handed him the trouble, it was why I didn't order him around and let him choose for himself, he had experienced it before that's why he understood my intentions. My clones possess an incomplete personality of me, their knowledge and talent are highly valuable to me, I can't risk their lives for an enemy kingdom,' Rex thought.
He didn't share these thoughts with Jiang Shuang because it might leave a bad image, Jiang Shuang might even think that if Rex can have such thought towards other then why not him?
"Brother Rex, one more thing, after the situation in the Black Steel Kingdom, stabilizes and the project in Lower Realm is completed, I wish to take some time as leave and head towards Peaceful Heaven Continent," Jiang Shuang said with his eyes darting towards celling, he seemed like he was recalling something.
"Oh, you want to go to Peaceful Heaven Continent, why?" Rex asked curiously.
"Not Peaceful Heaven Continent but the hidden isles that comes between Peaceful Heaven Continent and Demonic Fiend Continent, one of the islands there is the home of Formless Water Palace, it is my wife's sect. In the past years, I was quite busy and hadn't had time to go meet her… Sigh…." After saying that, Jiang Shuang hesitated, he saw the evil grin directed at him and gulped down his saliva, in the end, he still continued.
"It isn't just about time, I didn't have much of a face to go there either. In the past, when I fell in love for the first time, I had the background of the Jiang Family and only earned respect even when pursuing someone from their sect but later when I left the family, many people grasped that chance to mock and belittle me, although her sect didn't say anything her reputation was obviously hurt.
I wanted to gain fame and respect so I built Myriad Auction House, everything was going well but Azure Emperor messed up the system in the whole continent giving a severe blow to my business, I had already invested too much and didn't want to retreat, it was a fortunate encounter meeting with you that resulted in my current situation, because of this I am truly grateful," Jiang Shuang said with a sincere expression.
"No need to say more, we are brothers, you helped me quite a lot at times so it is natural that I repay the favour," Rex said in a polite tone
'My ass! The day I meet your wife would be the day my sweet revenge would be completed, it will be your judgment day Snitchy Jiang, hehehe…' Rex inwardly sneered.
"Hmm… Now that I have a firm standing here in Golden Bird Continent, I want to go and meet her, Little Qing also wanted to meet her mother so I thought about going there. Furthermore, I was wondering if Brother Rex's version of transmission array can work between Peaceful Heaven Continent and here too?" Jiang Shuang asked.
Earlier, when Rex left Myriad Beast Continent, he made some cultivators from Black Scorpion Sect buy a mansion and set up a long-distance transmission array platform in the dwarfian kingdom, according to the plan, Andusk was supposed to use it and go there to set up a branch after his present task was completed but because of the attack from Azure Empire the situation changed and he was now leading the fleet to the Black Steel Kingdom.
Jiang Shuang asked it because he was thinking of making preparation and setting up a base in Peaceful Heaven Continent in the future.
'Peaceful Heaven Continent? If I am right, the Soul Clan is also there, after absorbing the gains from Black Steel Kingdom I will pay them a friendly visit,' Rex thought.
"We need to test that out ourselves, if that doesn't work then we can just make a weaker model of Ancient Teleportation Portal, although its consumption is immense, its effects are good," Rex said.
Jiang Shuang nodded, he told Rex a few more things about the Peaceful Heaven Continent before he left.
Rex was alone in the room, he took a deep breath and leaned back on his chair.
'Now what to do, breakthrough to Sky Body Formation stage or wait and increase my law mastery of Shadow Law? All these days, I also tried to comprehend Psychic Energy in a better way, hoping to understand the rule working behind it but there were no gains,' Rex thought, he pondered over the matter for about half an hour before contacting Zakiya.
{Teacher tell me something, if I use the defense barrier of the tomb then can I escape from the thunder tribulation up ahead?} Rex asked.
His words slightly surprised Zakiya, because this question meant that he again overcame his non-existent bottleneck and was ready to break through to the Sky Body Formation stage.
{Of course, you can, but..} (Zakiya)
Rex was more than happy to hear her early words, thought the second the word 'but' appeared, the happy feeling disappeared without a trace.
{But I won't let you do it, the experience to pass a thunder tribulation is very important, not only for you but also for your body and soul, using something to lessen the power is fine but completely avoiding it is foolishness, if you do that then not only would you have a problem facing the future tribulations, the Heavenly Dao will also enhance the power of your next tribulation by several times,} Zakiya said, her tone was resolute. From the way she spoke, this matter was non-negotiable.
In Rex's ears, her words sounded like…
If you can cheat without getting caught then it's your ability but if you directly start to copy from the answer sheet in front of the examiner then you have are just courting death.
After a moment of thought, Rex agreed. He decided to prepare for the tribulation using his own abilities.
Andusk would need quite some time to reach the Black Steel Kingdom and set up the transmission array so he ignored the matter for now.
The project in Lower Realm also required a lot of time to complete, he was getting more and more problems these days, it was hard to tell what might happen next, this was why Rex decided to try and breakthrough to the Sky Body Formation stage as soon as possible.
....
After three days…
Ground Floor of Spirit Tower…
A young man with black hair was standing in the middle of the pool, his image was blurry due to the intense spirit fog present around the surface of the Millennium Spirit Pond.
The man was naked, his black hair was shiny, like a tassel, they extended to his chest, his deep black eyes were tranquil, they were calm and peaceful, his skin was somewhat tanned yet glossy, his face carried a look of curiosity, the man might not be very handsome but he carried an attractive charm to himself.
At present, he was observing the round pill in his hands. The pill had a white-black pattern that resembled the Yin-Yang symbol on it. The pill didn't have any extraordinary presence or fragrance to itself but judging it from just its appearance would be foolishness, this was none other than the 6th Star Yin-Yang Reversal Pill that can be used by anyone and to give their body peak physical form they could achieve depending on their race.
After observing the pill to his heart's content, Rex opened his mouth and gulped it down in one go.
'Here goes nothing,' Rex thought.
The pill gave off a burning sensation when it came into contact with his saliva, but when it slid down his throat, the pill left behind a cool feeling that was colder than ice, the pill melted in less than half a minute after entering his body, by the time it completed melted, it had already thrown his restful body in chaos.
Rex touched his stomach while gritting his teeth, he felt like his inner body had turned into the frozen glacier and endless raging fire was evaporating that boundless glacier directly into vapor.
The discomfort and painful sensation gave by the pill were completely different compared to the ones he had eaten before.
Several notifications regarding the start of pill analysis and activation of Reverse Engineering were appearing and disappearing were ringing in Rex's head but he completely ignored them under the influence of pills' after-effects.
He was trying to hang on, but soon, an intense feeling of tiredness assaulted his body and he fell asleep in a flash, his vision turned dark and the pain disappeared.
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Emergency Notice: I recently realized the plot of the novel going in a not-so-good direction, I am going to alter it a bit, coupled with less time issues… Yeah, you guessed it right, it will be on pause for a while now, though I will likely issue a few chapters and a random mass release in around in upcoming week of Feb but it won't be continuous daily updates like now, only random ones.
TY~