Stephen Griffith is the 37th emperor of the Orion Empire. It's been ten thousand years since it was established but there have only been 37 emperors so far. Some died early, some ruled for almost 500 years as emperors and some ruled for little time before choosing their heir.
Stephen has been in power for almost two hundred years now and is nearing his natural life span. At the core and soul Fusion realm one could live for seven hundred years. Stephen is reaching that number so the fight for the position of the throne is currently going on in the Orion empire. Still, most believe that the second prince is going to be the emperor as he has Stephen's support as well as the support of most nobles so other princes are trying hard to sway Stephen's opinion and one of them is the fifth prince Hendrick.
Hendrick is also the son of the current queen like the second prince so some nobles support him but his abilities as a cultivator and as a ruler are nowhere near his big brother. As he wanted to get the support of his father he insisted on coming along with the emperor to the Qilin auction.
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"Vans, The lord of Griffith house, the emperor of Orion Empire asked you a question and yet you dare to refuse!" Hendrick had only one goal, that is to get the support of Stephen but what he didn't realize is that there are people whom even Hendrick couldn't touch easily. The Qilin Auction house isn't the biggest on the continent in name only but has the power to back it up.
Even though they can't fight the Empire head-on they could create a situation where the economy in the empire would collapse and if that happened then it won't take long for the empire to collapse on itself if not handled the situation properly.
Vans looked at Hendrick with dead eyes. His eyes didn't contain any sort of emotion. He looked at this six feet pig like he isn't even a human. Even though Vans liked to joke around but if someone got on his nerves then he wouldn't hesitate to sever the head of that person but he couldn't quite do that in front of the Emperor himself to his own son.
There are a total of six people inside the chamber. If Vishnu was here he would instantly recognize three of them. The group he saw at the restaurant, three of them are here. Roland whose aura he couldn't feel is standing behind the Emperor now.
Jasmine looked at his brother Hendrick as if she is looking at an idiot. She couldn't understand how could he even survive in the capital till now. She is the youngest daughter of Stephen, born from a concubine but Stephen cared for her deeply. He also brought her here and has already bought some things she liked.
The other guy who was with them in the restaurant is Aaron Wayde, the son of a count who supports Hendrick. The three of them along with Ronald as bodyguard were in the restaurant where Vishnu saw them.
The Wayde father and son duo are also here in the auction house but inside a different chamber. Count Karl Wayde was also here to talk to the emperor and say some nice things about Hendrick.
Stephen is already aware of all their plans but he didn't interfere as he had also stepped on his brothers and sisters to reach his position so as much as he loves his children he won't even blink if they all ended up killing each other. That is the tradition of their family and he was taught like that since he was a child.
Stephen looked at Vans to see his reaction to his son's words. Even though he doesn't want to escalate the matter but he is curious about the person in chamber 3.
Vans took a moment to calm down and his eyes returned to normal. He gave his business-like smile to Hendrick "My apologies prince Hendrick but I really can't reveal the information regarding V.I.P guests here otherwise I might lose my job if head hears of this."
The moment the word 'head' was mentioned the room became silent. 'The head of Qilin Auction house' as this thought appeared an image also appeared in people's minds. A Red-haired demon covered in blood.
"There is no need for that manager Vans, My son just became too emotional. Don't mind him too much. Look the half-time break is almost over, the Auction is starting soon." Stephen said as some sweats could be seen on his forehead. When one mentions the one with the most authority on the continent many would refer to him and other emperors but when one mentions the strongest being on the continent only three beings come to the people's mind and one of them is the head of the Qilin Association. His nickname is Red-haired demon and there is a good reason for that as well.
"Haha, right? With head's temper, he might kill me if I did something wrong." Vans said as he looked towards Ronald and the other knight of the Emperor. Even though the two of them are at the peak of Core & Soul Fusion Realm they're no match for the Red-haired demon.
Stephen looked at Hendrick which contained a slight annoyance. Hendrick finally realized what he had done wrong. He has been so focused on getting on the positive side of his father that he forgot where he currently is.
"My Apologies manager Vans, I was out of line just now." Hendrick didn't hesitate to apologize for his mistake. Even though he is a royal, a prince but that didn't matter. Unless you become the Emperor of the empire you can't just do as you please as the cultivation society favors the strong. If you're not strong enough to defend yourself then you'll be dead on the side of some road.
"Welcome ladies and gentlemen. Now let's start the last half of the auction. I'm sure some of you are looking forward to some product so I won't waste any more time let's get started." Thames announced as the auction commenced once again.