[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 - Major Immersion, Minor Integration]
[125x Return - Palm of Verdant Cleansing - Major Immersion]
[125x Return - Thousand Petals Gate Transformation Technique - Major Immersion]
[125x Return - 839 Qi Strands]
''… That was just what I needed," Aisnam murmured as I rolled to the side and hugged her.
"You are even more tense today. What happened?" I asked as I caressed her messy hair gently, but didn't prompt her to answer immediately as she closed her eyes, breathing softly. Being ignored might have been annoying for someone else, but I was used to Aisnam using me to release her stress after a particularly difficult day at the royal court.
Two weeks after her ascension to the Queen Regent, it was a routine.
Not that I was complaining. Spending my nights with a beautiful Queen desperate to deal with the stress of the day was hardly a chore. It was incredibly fun…
My cultivation improved despite staying in the same stage. Thanks to my gate transformation technique finally reaching Major Immersion, I was able to reinforce my gates to an absurd degree, to the point of easily matching the pure output of a Fifth Stage cultivator while still in my Third Stage. This meant, with my other advantages, I could probably take down a Peak Qi cultivator in a direct confrontation.
And, direct confrontation was not my biggest advantage. No, it was my indirect abilities. My talismans…
More importantly, my formations. It was hard to assess without fighting, but with proper preparation, I was confident that I could deal with a weaker Foundation Establishment cultivator.
It was thanks to my ploy of remote education, working as I intended. The System continued to trigger despite the fact that I was the source of her information, which allowed me to improve more … and, in turn, I was able to compile even better lessons for her.
It was a surprising positive feedback loop that reminded me of a video game glitch, the kind that allowed people to level up far faster than the game should allow.
Once that worked, I was even more convinced of my conclusion that, the irate mysterious being responsible for my appearance didn't think to properly restrict my System … like it should have been in the first place.
I still remember her calling me a Potential, which implied that there were others with the System. This also implied that, eventually, someone might notice my exploits and close it … maybe even 'ban' me completely.
Unfortunately, even realizing that, I wouldn't stop using the System. I have no Immortal Root and no cultivation talent. I didn't have the luxury of turning my back to my only advantage. That was why I ignored those risks and focused on my skills.
Particularly, formations, which, thanks to my positive feedback loop, had not only caught up with my other skills, but actually reached to next stage.
Minor Integration.
Naturally, I didn't trigger it. I wasn't planning to trigger it until I found a nice underground cave a few countries over and covered it with formations. I had no idea what kind of effect it would create, but I wasn't stupid enough to test it in the capital, where people were already keeping an eye on it.
Speaking of the capital where everyone keeping an eye on, I stopped thinking about the passage of time, and focused on Aisnam, who seemed to be ignoring my question. It must be particularly bad.
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It was telling. Two weeks had passed since her ascension to the throne — even though, ostensibly, it was only temporary — and no day of her passed without an issue. Every day, there was news of cities rebelling, riots in the capital, and deliveries of food being delayed.
Ruling a country that was being invaded was not fun.
Of course, technically, there was no invasion. Publicly, one of the city lords, who had been also the cousin of the late king, had declared that the Queen was responsible for massacring them. He had no proof, but he had the Tiger Fist army supporting him, which was far more convincing as far as other nobles were concerned.
He was a convenient puppet.
Under his banner of rebellion, almost half of the country was taken by the Tiger Fist army already. That speed was supposed to be impossible. With the distance between the cities far wider than I was used to, the invasion of multiple cities required several months.
However, most of the cities just surrendered under the guise of joining the rebellion, even going as far as sending their own battalions to join the Tiger Fist army, thinking that they had already read the situation correctly.
They couldn't be more wrong, of course. Even alone, she was capable of decapitating the puppet rebel and the leaders of the Tiger Fist alone. Only two things kept her back. The first was the Pact, which prevented cultivators from attacking ordinary people.
Her role as the Queen Regent gave her some leeway, but only when defending the capital.
It was already a big problem, but not as big as the other one. She needed to keep her recovery a secret until she could reach the peak of the Ninth Stage to prevent her family from targeting her, which could still take months, particularly since her Immortal Root still seemed to have some problems.
The accident she had experienced before we met had a bigger impact than she had assumed.
"… Training the new guards is difficult," she finally said, which was clearly not the real reason.
"I understand. Trying to teach a hundred new martial artists at the same time is no simple challenge," I replied.
She was referring to a squad of martial artists that she was raising personally. A hundred young women, each recruited from the capital personally by Aisnam. Some of them were palace maids, and some of them were ordinary citizens from the capital.
However, the common line was that none of them had ever been trained as martial artists. Aisnam decided to use my indirect help to elevate them from nothing rather than improving the palace guard.
I had to admit, it was a good call, particularly since Tiger Fist army and the rest of the rebellion were happy to grow more and more forces rather than attacking directly. That way, not only she could ensure that the new recruits would be loyal to her and only her, but also she could hide their development.
A counter-attack from a hundred Connate Realm Martial artists would be devastating enough.
A complete ambush, on the other hand… it would be spectacular.
However, even after saying that, Aisnam looked stressed. I didn't prompt her to share it, but I rubbed her shoulders gently, slowly letting her share her burdens. Effectively, I was interrogating her, through the long-honored spy tradition of honey trap. I might have been feeling guilty about it if it wasn't for one very important detail.
I used those secrets to help her secretly. I was still unable to bring myself to kill someone, but a few of her most problematic opponents had experienced some troubles during their martial cultivation, forcing them to stay inside to recover from their injuries. Also, several times, some of her most trusted palace guards caught people smuggling all kinds of valuables including but not limited to gold, high-essence food, and low-grade apothecary pills, solving some of her biggest problems.
"… Three other cities rebelled today and joined the Tiger Fist army," Aisnam muttered after a while. "It makes fourteen cities. More than two-thirds of the country now supports the rebels. I … Her Highness is troubled that things are collapsing faster. What if they attack us before the new Shadow Guard is ready? They are still at the Entry Stage of Skin Refinement."
I sighed. "I wouldn't worry about that much. You mentioned that you deliberately asked your allies to keep their breakthrough slow to make sure their foundations are strong. If it goes badly, you can always hasten those breakthroughs and focus on their foundation later," I replied.
"Maybe —" Aisnam started, but then stopped speaking. A few seconds later, I understood what silenced her. A lone Martial Artist was running toward the Spring Palace at full speed. One at Connate Realm. "I can feel a messenger approaching. It must be important. Her Highness is in seclusion, so I must see to it," she explained even as she left.
"I understand. Being the right hand of the Queen is no easy job," I said, ignoring the temptation to give her a hard time about her double identity. It was not exactly a big problem.
Instead, I stayed in bed while Aisnam went to the door to talk with the messenger.
"Report," she ordered after she raised a thin layer of Qi to block her voice. Unfortunately for her, with the formations in place, there could be no secrets from me in the Spring Palace. I wondered if the emergency was worth ruining our fun, or if it was just another city rebelling.
"E-emergency, milady," the guard declared. "Linnass kingdom had just sent an emissary … they are saying that they have demands, and unless they are not met, they will declare war."
Well, I had to admit. A declaration of war was a good reason to ruin our fun.