Three days.

It took a week after I had helped Pearyin move to Markas before things at the capital had come ahead. A week that I had mostly spent in Capital, only occasionally leaving to check with Pearyin and develop the formation further whenever I went out to 'facilitate the trade'.

It all came ahead in the middle of the night. We were … studying when the interruption arrived in the form of four Connate Realm artists approaching the Spring Palace. I noticed them the moment they had tripped the formation I had set at the perimeter.

Merely equivalent to a trip wire, alerting me of unexpected arrivals. It was a beautiful formation, as while simple, it was also nearly invisible. I was confident that it wouldn't be noticed even by a peak Qi Gathering cultivator.

At this point, my Nabata-style formation skill had already reached Perfection, which increased the flexibility of my formations significantly. A mere trip-wire had turned into a work of art. Moreover, it was not the only change I had made. I had updated the formation around the house significantly, turning it into a nasty trap against anyone except Aisnam.

It was also the reason I didn't react to the approach of the Connate realm artists, not even wondering whether they were Tiger Fists, or they were palace guards. Either way, even assuming Aisnam didn't notice their approach — unlikely with her cultivation, even with my skillful … studying — there was nothing they could do.

That turned out to be unnecessary. Aisnam stopped a few seconds later. "We have intruders," she said.

As she stopped, the System finally triggered the rewards I had been collecting all day.

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

[125x Return - Calligraphy Lesson- Major Immersion]

[125x Return - Verdant Brush Talisman Technique Lesson - Major Immersion]

[125x Return - Nataba Formation Technique Lesson - Perfection]

[125x Return - Palm of Verdant Cleansing - Perfection, Minor Immersion]

Not a bad haul. I finally received a chance to improve my Verdant Cleansing even further. Pity I couldn't spar to test its benefits. Aisnam was out, for obvious reasons, but even Pearyin was not a good candidate. She had already reached Major Immersion after a day's practice, and I was afraid of the effects of the next skill improvement.

The last thing I needed was my efforts to keep the formation hidden and wasted.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked.

"Stay here and guard the Spring Palace. I will go out with the Queen and see the reason for the Tiger Fist to actually dare to invade the palace. Don't forget what we agreed," she said as she dressed.

Interesting. After a week of siege, I gave the Royal Family a higher likelihood.

"I'll stay inside. I won't try to conserve spirit stones and use the Verdant Sword against the enemies if they attack, and the moment a cultivator appears, I will trigger the fireworks and go into the tunnel," I said, summarizing our plans, which was skewed toward protecting me rather than the Spring Palace.

Aisnam was growing very protective of her boy toy, which I appreciated.

"Also, stay out of the windows. We don't know who's watching," she warned. She didn't say anything else as she went upstairs. Naturally, I ignored her last comment I went toward the window, but activated a little concealment feature that I added to the Spring Palace.

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One of many convenient features I had installed to formation that could only activated by me. At this point, I could confidently work on my skills in a room while Aisnam cultivated upstairs, confident that it would stay a secret.

Spring Palace was my domain now.

Including the escape tunnel.

Aisnam jumped out of the window a moment later, once again in her Queen identity, but this time, not the dark-colored one she wore when she sneaked out. It was a green dress with leaves, one that gave a domineering feeling, complete with some kind of stylized mask.

This time, assuming that I would follow her request, she didn't even bother with the puppet she dragged around to maintain her double identity.

She appeared in front of the Tiger Fist martial artists, a hundred feet away. "Explain yourself. How dare you enter the domain of this Queen uninvited," she asked in a formal tone.

Interestingly, none of the Connate realm martial artists stopped, but they slowed down. "We are sorry, exalted cultivator, but from now on, there's no Zaim Royal family," their leader said. His words were formal,, but his tone was smug and domineering. "You're the last one to be removed."

"You dare to attack a cultivator?" she asked, her tone scandalized. She was having trouble comprehending a martial artist daring to fight against a cultivator. I chuckled. Apparently, in her fury, she had forgotten that she was supposed to be injured.

Her opponent was kind enough to remind her. "Your injury is not a big secret, exalted cultivator," he said.

I noticed Aisnam's posture shuffle as she suppressed her momentary flare. She might have been caught flat-footed by the sudden intrusion, but that didn't change the fact that she was a cultivator who worked for decades to improve, and tempered by her family's betrayal.

"And, you are ready to face the anger of the Verdant family? Do you think they will accept one of them being killed by a mere martial artist," she declared, but I was too familiar with her not to notice her outrage was fake.

She was baiting them to reveal more information. A smart strategy, but I didn't miss the other implication. She wasn't in a particular hurry to go and check the status of the other members of the Royal Family, even after Tiger Fist had declared that they had all been killed.

I didn't blame her. Even back in my world, royal families were hardly the cuddliest entities. Moreover, there was hardly any love lost between her and their husband who abandoned her to wither and die in the Spring Palace, even going as far as sending experts to hasten her demise.

"There's nothing to be worried about, exalted cultivator. We have merely learned that the Zaim family had been about to kill an exalted cultivator such as yourself, and decided to invade the palace to a great risk to ourselves. Unfortunately, we were too late, so we killed the Zaim family to the last member. We might even be rewarded by the Verdant family," he said.

I had to admit, it was not a bad plan. If I hadn't gone all the way to the cultivator market to pick the medicine to repair her gates, which reversed her declining cultivation back to the Eight Stage, she would have lost against four Connate Realm martial artists.

Especially since, their confidence implied that they had some tricks of their own. Maybe they had a weapon similar to the Verdant Sword that could be used by the martial artists, or maybe they had some one-time treasures that could counter any trick she might bear.

Or maybe, they had discovered that all of Aisnam's trump cards had been taken by her family after her injury, and they were confident that they could take her down easily.

In the end, it didn't matter. The gap between an injured Second Stage and an Eight Stage with perfect condition was bigger than an ordinary civilian and a Connate Martial artist. No matter their preparations, it didn't matter.

It was an excellent opportunity to spread some misinformation.

I wished that I could go and explain to Aisnam to keep her abilities hidden, but that was not a luxury I had. For once, I wasn't supposed to be watching her.

More importantly, I had already been skirting dangerous waters by helping her trade with a third party, and I didn't want to get involved more. I still didn't fully know the limits of the System, but it would be very inconvenient if Aisnam stopped triggering rewards as well.

Then, the fight started.

"Good girl," I muttered as I watched Aisnam fight against the four Connate martial artists at the same time, only to be pushed back, like she was facing against stronger enemies.

She used the Palm of Verdant Cleansing style against the attackers, easily dancing between their attempts, but not 'strong' enough to counterattack, only hanging due to the profound nature of her technique.

Technically, if she was actually still in the Second Stage, she couldn't have fought that smoothly, and would have been defeated as soon as her Qi was depleted. While cultivators had many advantages against the martial artists, their weakest aspect was endurance.

A cultivator of Second Stage would have been drained easily even by a simple technique like the Palm of the Verdant Cleansing.

But, only a cultivator could make that assessment, and they needed to be familiar with the technique. And, since her performance was solidly in Minor Accomplishment, that was only possible if the Verdant family had sent an observer that had been stronger than the disposable disciples that chased me at the cultivator market.

Not very likely.