I wanted to visit Markas, but not immediately. First, I needed to find an opportunity … well, create one.

Luckily, Aisnam left the Spring Palace the next night, after another day filled with training and 'training' — more later than former now that she adapted to her breakthrough, and focused on enjoying the pleasures she had been deprived during her strict life — giving me the opportunity offer the help from the apothecary.

"Now, the letter," I muttered as pulled a piece of paper from my inventory. I tightened my hold on the brush, and once again used my minor immersion calligraphy skill to write a letter forged to perfection.

'Dear Queen Aisnam,

Congratulations on your swift and effective recovery. We are happy to see that our efforts to interfere with the secret assassins that followed your courier had borne fruit, and you improved far above our expectations.

Therefore, it's a pity that we don't dare to approach to have a talk with you. As much as we respect you, we're not daring enough to directly face a cultivator near the peak of her realm as mere martial artists. However, we hope that you will take out contributions in the goodwill they have been delivered.

Still, our reticence toward a direct meeting doesn't represent any reluctance toward further cooperation from our side. At a minimum, we're willing to provide you with a significant amount of pills for martial artists that could be used to raise enough force to confront several Connate Realm martial artists rapidly.

Additionally, if it's to your preference, we are willing to send an acupuncture expert to further assist in the breakthrough of your selected candidates in Markas, or any other location, as long as it doesn't bring us to any direct confrontation with other esteemed cultivators.

We are willing to provide all those services for a minor favor that we could request in the future. Additionally, if you find that favor unfavorable to your future goals, we are willing to accept an appropriate material payment, as long as it's made by using spirit stones.

If you're willing to make the deal, send your messenger to the capital, and we will contact him after making sure he wasn't followed.

Sincerely,

A concerned citizen

"Not bad," I said as I folded the letter. It was more direct than the usual tone, but I hoped it would work better. The general idea was still solid. I extended an offer of assistance to her in a way that would solve a lot of her concerns about Markas if she was inclined to take it.

I didn't know what was restricting Entsa Pavilion from supporting Markas, but solving the issue should grant Aisnam a better footing in the sect.

And, the more rewards she received, the better returns I would receive … assuming I could maintain contact with her once she went to the sect.

Still, even without contact, it would still help me help Markas without putting myself at risk at any point. Since there was a clear reluctance to involve cultivators directly, I was not at any risk as long as I maintained my cover.

I folded the letter and placed it on top of the kitchen table, to the exact spot where I had left essence pills in the past.

Once it was prepared, I lingered at the entrance of the secret tunnel while I waited for her to return. She once again climbed down the stairs after putting her dummy in place. "There's a letter in the kitchen," I said to her the moment she climbed down.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"How?" she asked.

"I don't know. Whoever visited was good. Really good," I said, faking frustration. "I only noticed when they were already leaving, and even then, I suspect they only did to alert me to their presence. Considering the spot where they left the letter, I decided that chasing them was not the right choice."

"Good call," she said as she went to take the letter, though, rather than opening it directly, she went back upstairs first, acting as she delivered it to the Queen. She returned five minutes later. "Any guesses about the content."

"Either a threat or an offer of cooperation," I guessed, which was an obvious guess.

"That's an astute guess. There's a mysterious party that wants to support the war through the Queen," she explained. "What do you think?"

I shrugged. "Not exactly the kind of problem I understand," I answered, not just to maintain my innocence, but also to avoid getting entangled in her political decisions. The last thing I needed was to be treated as a political advisor. "The sects, the cultivation families, royal orders, archaic laws… Not my cup of tea."

Aisnam chuckled. "I wish I had that luxury," she said softly.

"I'm guessing you need my help," I said. She said nothing, just passed the letter to me. I read. "Sure, it's just walking around the capital for a few hours before they contact me. Nothing difficult."

"About the risk —" she started, but I waved my hand to cut her off.

"There's clearly not enough risk. Their words make it clear that they were aware of me bringing pills. They would have hit me then if they had any issues with me, and I have no value as a hostage," I said.

That last part made her gaze tighten slightly, as it was not correct. As the lover of the Queen, I was indeed a good hostage, either for ransom, or to eventually discredit her. "You're right," she admitted reluctantly, unhappy about her hidden identity for the first time.

"Am I to leave in the morning?" I asked. She nodded. "Excellent," I said.

"Why?"

I chuckled. "It means we still have the night." With that, I wrapped my arm around her waist, and dragged her toward the bedroom.

It was a gentlemanly act to give her a chance to assuage her guilt, right?

[Cultivation Difference Bonus - 50; Pampering Bonus - 75 (Capped)]

[125x Return - 415 Qi Strands]

As I walked into the hidden tunnel, there was a letter in my pocket, and a smile was on my face.

The smile was more interesting. A part of it was about the fun we had been having just moments ago, but no matter how enthusiastic my dear Queen had been, I would be lying if I claimed that the payback from the System didn't play a great role in my smile.

With that, I had over seventeen hundred Qi strands in my Inventory, which should be enough to not only bring me to the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm, and still leave a nice amount on the storage to allow me to fight some more.

And, my incredible expertise in gate transformation technique meant that I would need merely a couple minutes to break through each minor realm, which was supposed to be impossible.

Cheating was fun.

Naturally, I wouldn't have used that unless I was facing an emergency. I didn't want to sacrifice my return rate unless it was incredibly critical.

The moment I stepped into the tunnel, the whispers came once more, promising me power, victory, and endless rivers of blood. I sighed. I didn't know exactly who was trapped there, but their pitch needed serious rework.

With a sigh, I continued traversing the tunnel, ignoring the disgusting sensation of cursed Qi. The protection talisman prevented it from touching me, but my enhanced perception still allowed me to feel it. It felt like walking through a thick swamp. I might be wearing excellent boots, but they didn't block the smell.

"Now, what to do," I muttered as I finally stepped out of the tunnel and picked up my supplies from the spot where I had buried them. I wanted to keep the talismans with me just in case.

After thinking for a while, I decided to visit Pearyin first. She was doing alright a couple days ago, which meant she should be alright, but that was before the sudden arrival of a small army of foreign martial artists.

Her identity as a Connate martial artist should protect her, but I still decided to pay her a visit.

It turned out, that it was a good choice. As I approached the place, a great commotion reached my ears, and it intensified as I got nearer to my destination.

I arrived at the apothecary, just to find it surrounded by disciples of Tiger Fist. Almost fifty of them. Most of them were Muscle Reinforcement, but there were six Skin Refinement ones a part of the crowd as well.

However, the real show was Pearyin, doing her best to fight against Bone Forging experts, and despite being Connate Realm, losing steadily. Though, to be fair, she had an excuse. Every single Skin Refinement martial artist, along with several of the Muscle Reinforcement ones were showing signs of damage.

Still, I was less concerned about her plight — which wasn't as dire now that I arrived to save her — and more concerned about the timing of it.

How the hell did I manage to arrive right at what she was about to lose!