‘This could be a problem.’

‘You think? Of course, it’s a problem. Gaining the attention of the Royal Family, especially the lunatics of the Yin Long Empire, is never a good thing for anyone. Those people are unstable at best and completely insane at worst.’

‘They may be unhinged, but they are also scarily competent at their job. Isn’t that the very reason why the Empire stands to this day even after the various calamities that befell it in the past thousand years since its founding?’

‘True. Even then, I still think that you should have declined this invitation. Who knows which one of those lunatics turned their eyes on us? If it is the Emperor, the biggest but dumbest lunatic, we still have a chance of conning him for something valuable in exchange for something mediocre and getting the hell away from this city for life. If it is that little demoness Yin Lingxi, we are doomed.’

‘Relax. Don’t forget our way of doing things. Even if it is the Yin Lingxi, if she can convince us of a good deal, I will give her what she wants. If the deal is one-sided in her favor and she tries to use her family name to try and intimidate us, we will just use our usual strategy of disappearing off the face of this planet indefinitely.’

‘Yeah. I hope it won’t come to that. Getting away from her Divine Light Arts was a nightmare when I was still in the Nascent Soul realm. Thankfully, you don’t cultivate any demonic techniques, and your unique understanding of light on a fundamental level is completely alien to that little demoness. This should allow you to overcome the natural charisma and charm she gains from her technique rather easily.’

I felt like chuckling at his words as I leaned back into my seat in the room where the meeting was supposed to take place while Yan Ling sat right beside me nervously. And yet, there was no sign of the person from the Royal Family who asked for this meeting in the first place.

A power move that was so blatant that even a mortal would recognize. But I am not really concerned about such things. They might think that they are showing their superiority by doing this but all they are doing is bringing down their value as a potential business partner by doing this with me.

Besides, I don’t really care about such political stuff since I am just a country bumkin who happens to be very good at inscriptions. If they want to play games, let them play games, it has nothing to do with me since once our business is concluded I won’t be seeing them again without a proper cause.

Soon, the door opened and two people walked in. Their bright silver hair that seemed to glow clearly indicated them as people from the direct lineage of the Royal Family.

However, given the lack of golden eyes of the older woman, it is clear that she is from a branch family. Given the unique silver Jian sword on her hip, my guess is the Yao clan.

The girl, on the other hand, is clearly the person that the old demon was worried about. The only princess of the royal family and a genius tactician who was one of the few people who put up a good fight against the old demon in his timeline before perishing under his superior cultivation.

Yin Lingxi.

Honestly, I felt impressed at the feat that she was capable of achieving in the original timeline. A girl who was the same age as me, yet managed to do things in such a clever and ruthless way that everyone in the royal family was deathly afraid of crossing her.

However, I think her tendency to fall back on her ruthlessness so frequently is not a good thing for her mental health.

It's not like I will tell her that though. Especially since it has nothing to do with me.

“Sorry about the wait, Master Enigma. I had some urgent work to take care of. I’m sure you understand.”

“Of course, Princess. However, I am a straightforward man so I would like to get down to business.”

I felt the Yao woman’s Qi fill the room at my words as she glared coldly at me.

Offended just because I avoided pleasantries with your precious princess? How petty.

“….Princess Yin. I would appreciate it if you could control your bodyguard better. While I don’t care about your show of power by making me wait and suddenly unleashing your Qi like that, my disciple does not have a high cultivation realm and this could affect her mental health. In such a case, I will be forced to take action, and trust me, you will not like it when I take things seriously.”

“Are you threatening the princess? Boy. While I may not be able to tell your cultivation since I can't detect it, it is not hard to imagine that you would be somewhere in the Foundation Establish realm given your age. A realm that means nothing to me. What gives you the guts to challenge us?”

I didn’t say anything and just continued staring at the Yao woman while subtly using my Qi to shield Yan Ling from the effects of the woman’s Qi.

If I didn’t know the way that this little demoness of a princess operates, I might have truly been angered by this little ‘test’ of hers. Of course, I wouldn’t have acted on that momentary anger since I don’t like succumbing to my emotions most of the time but it would still have meant that I would have rejected any deals with the Royal Family on principle for this act.

Still, Even with the knowledge that this is a test, I can’t help but feel angry right now. Just for this alone, I will make it so that the number of artifacts I sell in this city is much lower and of only mortal grade from now on.

“Aunt Xingchen, that’s enough. We are the ones in the wrong for making Master Enigma wait for so long. So we should be the ones apologizing for it.”

“But princess-“

“Aunt Xingchen. Enough.”

‘How cute. I haven’t seen such bad acting since those old shows back home.’

‘What shows? Are talking about that mysterious artifact called 'Television' from your past life?’

‘Yeah. I’ll tell you about it later.’

I said nothing and waited for the Princess to continue speaking, indicating that I had caught onto her bad acting. This forced the girl’s eyebrows to twitch in irritation before she spoke again.

For a cultivator in the Core Formation realm, her self-control is much worse than expected.

“Since Master Enigma wants to get down to business, I will oblige and be straightforward. I want you to work for me from now on and join my faction.”

“And what will the princess give me in return?”

The girl raised her eyebrow in response.

“Isn’t the reputation of working for the only princess of the empire not enough compensation?”

“No. It is not. It seems the princess has failed to realize the basic principles upon which a deal is conducted.”

“How dare you-“

“Miss Yao. This is the second time you are interrupting me and looking down on me. I am not someone that is quick to anger but I must admit that you are starting to annoy me. If there is a third time, I will leave this place and will not come back, ever. Think carefully about what you say next.”

That seems to have woken up her sleeping brain as the woman finally shuts her trap. The Princess’s playful attitude finally faded away and revealed her true personality.

The charm and presence of a future empress.

“In that case, what would Master Enigma want in return for pledging yourself to us? Spirit Stones? Resources? A noble title? Qi rich land? Name your price and this princess will fulfill those conditions.”

A blank check? Really? I could use this to my advantage.

“I am afraid that no amount of money or power can buy my loyalty, princess. What we can do, however, is reach a mutually beneficial deal.”

“I am listening.”

“I am willing to make a contract with you. I will provide twelve Earth-grade artifacts to the Princess with unique properties that will not be used for any other artifact I make to be sold in the future. In return, I want sixty-eight thousand Jin of Spiritual Marble blocks, a thousand Jin of Qingluo Steel, Yanhong Ore, Muyu Jade, Dihuang Gold, and Lingqing Silver each, and twenty Jin of Xuying Metal.”

“Such Absurd demands-“

“Done. However, the resources you ask for are much more costly than what you propose. I want those twelve Earth-grade artifacts and two Heaven-grade artifacts in exchange.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Thirteen Earth-grade artifacts and one Heaven-grade artifact.”

“Fourteen Earth-Grade and one Heaven-Grade.”

“Deal.”

At my words, the princess gave a beautiful smile that would have captured the heart of any man. Unfortunately for her, I am way too wary of her charm to fall for something like that.

Besides, given my disastrous luck with women in both lives, I am very unwilling to get involved with anyone at this moment.

“But, I must say, I am very curious as to what Master Enigma intends to do with this material. Spiritual Marble blocks are a resource controlled by the Royal family due to their high conductivity of Qi. Qingluo steel for its Metal elemental affinity, Yanhong Ore for its Fire element, Muyu Jade for its Wood element, Dihuang Gold for its Earth element, and Lingqing silver for its Water element affinity. A complete Wuxing cycle. The Spiritual Marble, on the other hand, is the most Qi-conductive material ever found. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that you are preparing for some kind of a large-scale Feng Shui Formation ritual.”

“…It would seem the princess is well versed in formations. However, I must keep this information secret since it is a personal matter that you need not concern yourself with.”

While her thoughts were close, they were in a different direction compared to what I wanted to do with those materials.

If I had my way, I would not make any kind of a deal with the royal family, especially this scary smart girl who was able to think five steps ahead of the old demon and his plans in his timeline.

However, the materials I wanted for my project were all strictly controlled by the Royal family and the Five noble families of this empire. When I received the request from the auction house about a meeting with a member of the Royal family, I saw it as an opportunity for me to gain access to these materials.

The princess nodded at my words with a smile.

“It will take time for the contract to be properly drafted into the governing office, probably around two days. I would like to invite Master Enigma to the royal palace to stay for that duration since we have established a business relationship with each other.”

“I must decline, Princess. I promised my disciple that I would show her around the city and it would be inconvenient to do that if we were in the palace.”

“I must insist. I would like to know the person I am doing business with better.”

‘Just accept it. We can take advantage of this opportunity to get rid of that thing and reduce any future troubles headed our way.’

‘I am not going to destroy an imperial treasure just on the off chance that they might become my enemy in the future. It is one of the few safeguards against external threats towards the mortals of the capital. Without it, who knows how many lives will be lost if the war really does take place in the near future?’

‘Why are you putting the lives of people that you don’t know above your own well-being?’

‘Because I am very confident about escaping from danger should push come to shove. The mortals on the other hand? They can only be like leaves in a storm, completely helpless without that artifact.’

‘Fine. Even then, you should accept the offer since she is not going to let it go until you do.’

‘No. I’ve got plans that I need to implement and I will not waste my time politicking with the royal family.’

‘Your funeral. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’

“Like I said, I have plans, Princess. And I cannot postpone them.”

“You are quite the rude and ungrateful brat, aren’t you? Wang Xiang.”

“…Is your knowledge of that name supposed to scare me?”

This time, I saw a slight glare directed towards the Yao woman by the princess.

Oh? That was not part of the plan then? I guess you did not want to reveal the knowledge that you knew my true identity but your subordinate blurted it out since she was frustrated with my attitude.

Or, this could also be a ruse to try and win my favor. It could go wither ways given what I know about this little demoness.

“Apologies, Master Enigma. It seems my subordinate is not feeling really well these days and tends to blurt out rude things.”

“I can see that. Besides, even if she blurted it out on accident, I would like to clarify something for you as well, princess. Wang Xiang is dead. That name has no meaning to me anymore and neither does the Wang family hold any significance to me. As far as I am concerned, I only have one family member in this world and she is sitting right beside me. And trust me, should something ever happen to her because of your subordinate or anyone else, that will be the day this empire ceases to exist.”

This time, I removed my mask, clearly revealing my features, and glared at the Yao woman while fully unleashing my Qi.

Instantly, the room’s Spiritual stone-based walls started to crack under the pressure as the Yao woman hunched over, using all her might to try and resist my power.

I am not one to use intimidation to get my way with others. However, in this case, I must assert my superiority in front of this brazen woman lest she start having ideas of messing with Yan Ling to try and get to me.

Because I truly meant what I said. Should something happen to Yan Ling, this empire will cease to exist.

As a person from Earth, my brand of insanity is something that these people cannot hope to imagine. These people grew up with the cheat code known as Qi surrounding them on a daily basis with a clear distinction in their social structure and a clearly present god in the form of the Heavens keeping them in check all the time.

On the other hand, the people of my world never had such clear distinction and access to such power, leading the worst darkness within humanity to win out in the name of survival and give rise to the cruel, apathetic, and unstable modern world I was familiar with.

There is a reason that the term ‘Mutually assured destruction’ does not exist in this world.

Sure, kingdoms and civilizations rise and fall all the time in this world since a cultivator in the Nascent Soul realm has enough power to flatten an entire city should he or she choose to while a Soul Transformation realm cultivator has even more exaggerated power. However, they refrain from doing something like that most of the time since the Heavens do not tolerate wanton slaughter unless the cultivator in question is on the demonic path.

On the other hand, I do not have to worry about something like that since the heavens would not consider me responsible for the death of everyone in the kingdom should I create an artifact mimicking the nuclear fission process of an Atom Bomb, only magnitudes higher, and have it detonate at the capital.

Of course, I would never do something like that since I don’t need to use violent methods to make the empire collapse. All I would have to do would be to oversaturate the market with mortal and earth-grade artifacts until they become so common that even a mortal would be able to get them relatively easily along with making the knowledge of inscription and Qi cultivation common knowledge. This would lead to a cultural revolution like what happened in my world with the invention of the Printing press.

In a world where everyone is special, no one is special anymore.

This would inevitably lead to the mortals rising against their oppressors and leading to revolts and other such incidents across the empire.

Such a plan would take time, decades, or even centuries. But, it is still a viable plan for a cultivator like me who can count his lifespan in the centuries at the core formation and would have thousands of years once I reach the Nascent Soul realm.

All of this is Hypothetical since I would rather die than let anything happen to Yan Ling but it still shows just how insane I am to come up with two plans of mass destruction on the spot at the mere mention of a threat to those I care about.

Guess I am really not that different from the old demon. Perhaps, I am even worse than him in some aspects.

Hindsight is 20/20 as they say.

Seeing that the Yao woman was on the verge of collapsing from the strain, I retracted my Qi and stood up.

“I will meet with the princess in two days at this auction hall. Oh! Before I forget, Miss Yao. For your comment and implied threats directed towards me throughout this meeting. I will no longer be selling my artifacts in the capital. I hope your momentary sense of satisfaction gained by trying to suppress me with your status was worth it.”

With that, I left the room with Yan Ling walking right behind me.

‘….David. Calm down.’

‘I am calm.’

‘No, you are not. We are connected through our souls, remember? I can feel everything you can just like you are feeling my emotions right now. Yan Ling is safe. Nothing has happened to her. This is not my life and you are not as helpless as I was. Calm down.’

‘….I cannot lose her like you lost-‘

‘You will not. We will make sure of it. Haven’t you already asserted your power and made backup plans for such a situation? Trust yourself and your plans. You are not thinking straight right now. You are letting my emotions influence you. You need to meditate and clearly distinguish your emotions from my own.’

‘….Do you feel like this often?’

‘….Always.’

‘How do you cope with it?’

‘By talking to you and looking at those incidents from your perspective, trying to find what I could have done better and where you should do better.’

‘….Thank you.’

‘You and I are one and the same. There is no need to thank me.’

I said nothing and headed straight back towards our room in the inn. He is right in that I need to meditate and separate his emotions that bled out from the bead from my own.

----------------------------------------

Princess Yin Lingxi glared at her aunt who looked ashamed at that look.

“Do you know your mistakes?”

“I was just trying to-“

“Yao Xingchen. Do you realize the damage you have caused with your actions today?”

Yao Xingchen, the Radiant Sword, a renowned initial stage Nascent Soul realm cultivator, behaved like a misbehaving child being chastised by their parent and drooped her shoulders.

When the princess called her with her full name, she realized that Yin Lingxi was not speaking to her as her niece anymore but as the princess of the Yin Long Empire.

“Yes, Princess.”

“Do you really? Explain to me then, what exactly you did wrong.”

“I went beyond what the princess instructed me to do and exposed the fact that we knew his true identity in a moment of rashness.”

“And?”

“And I offended him by subtly threatening him with his real name, causing Wang Xiang to say that he would not sell his artifacts in this city anymore as retaliation.”

“Is that all?”

This time, Yao Xingchen looked up in confusion since she did not understand.

The Princess sighed at that clueless look and leaned back before explaining.

“What you have done has not just cost us a valuable Formation Master but might have given our enemies a potential avenue to exploit this bad relationship to their advantage.”

“What??”

“It is not hard to imagine that with the stunt you pulled, Wang Xing might be inclined to start selling his artifacts to our enemies or the Baihu Empire to spite us. Given his startlingly high cultivation, he might even be inclined to join them directly should he choose to, becoming a dangerous adversary for us. There is also the fact that he is related to Her, which makes things even more dangerous for us.”

At these words, Yao Xingchen slowly turned pale as she properly started considering the consequences of her actions. Finally realizing that her reckless actions have placed her princess in a really bad spot on all sides.

“….What do we do now?”

“Now, I’ll have to find a way to make amends for your mistakes.”

The princess leaned back in her seat and thought back to the conversation she had with the man.

She was right, he is really an interesting person. However, he needs to get a hold of that temper of his if he wants to achieve anything in the future.

“…For starters, we will double the amount of all the resources he asked for in the deal without raising the price from his end. I’ll also discuss with my father about granting him a title and land in a Qi-rich environment. We will start from there and discuss about what else he wants as compensation in the next meeting. Needless to say, if you open your mouth again without my say-so in the next meeting, I will punish you. Even if you are my aunt and I love you dearly, I cannot afford you screwing up this badly again.”

“Yes, Princess.”

“…Also, find out where Wang Xing is living. If push comes to shove, I might have to personally visit him and try to make amends to keep him from joining forces with our enemies.”

“….Yes, Princess.”