Alexandros' speech and his journey to his palace, saw him facing showers of flowers and praises. His words, which were somehow magically heard –all thanks to Wuzhi— by every citizen of the capital, saw him becoming the ruler of the people in both name and spirit.
Alexandros' popularity was at an all-time high. And for as long as he performed above decently in his duty as the emperor, it would only see growth.
After an oddly long and strangely taxing journey, Alexandros returned to his palace; his birth home.
Seeing those ornately carved white marble steps, the boy emperor almost broke down from the emotions hammering at his chest. Before today, he had always climbed these familiar steps hand-in-hand with his father.
And now, those very same steps reminded the boy of their eternal parting.
Alexandros could not cry. Not yet. Not as long as those traitors, who stabbed his father through his heart, roamed this mortal world.
Only on the day when his father's spirit was sated and allowed to return to the afterlife, would Alexandros allow himself the leisure to shed tears. Until then, he would not cry.
As the young emperor ascended the steps and entered the ostentatious palace built entirely out of white marble, accented with blue jadeite, and decorated with gold and other precious gems, in an architectural style reminiscent of a certain *Mediterranean country, Wuzhi calmly watched and followed everything and everyone.
[AN: *That's Ancient Greece if it wasn't clear enough. The culture of native South Aislans, including its architecture, clothing, food, etc, are all modelled after Ancient Greece. Look it up, if you aren't familiar with that style. The ancient Greeks had a wild time living life.]
Honestly speaking, most people had sort of forgotten about Wuzhi's existence. The young scholar's presence was completely overshadowed by the light of the young emperor, resigning him to the sidelines and the shadows.
Such a result had occurred partly due to the emperor's overwhelming halo, borne out of his declaration, and partly due to Wuzhi's own efforts. There was a saying that said, 'People in the dark often see better than the people in the light; for they do not have the light of attention blinding them.'
Wuzhi, having learnt of this saying, agreed unanimously with its author. It was better to be forgotten than to be saddled with attention. This was the reason why he always cloaked himself from the eyes of this world, and the underlying foundation of his [Information Path Technique].
Wuzhi's concealment technique was strange. It obscured his face and other features from the eyes of the world, and protected him from the masters of the [Scrying Path]. For as long as the technique was activated –which it always was— Wuzhi would be in a state of nonexistence; that is, he would remain but not be seen.
Of course, the strangeness of this technique did not stem from its ability to conceal its user from the eyes of the world. There were other, notably better techniques that could do the same task. What was so strange about Wuzhi's concealment was the fact that his concealment went unnoticed!
Other people could talk, interact, and even laugh normally with Wuzhi as if there was nothing strange about him; while he was under concealment. The strange thing was, say, after they part from him and were to be asked to describe what he looked like, they would answer… with nothing.
They would strangely find themselves unable to remember details about Wuzhi. Of course, it wasn't like they forgot that he existed or the topics that they talked about… they would simply forget how he looked and sounded.
And the lower ranked a person was, the more pronounced this effect! Should Wuzhi operate his technique at full force, even those at a higher rank would not be able to spot anything, provided that Wuzhi used other methods to distract them and keep them from digging too deep.
His experience at the Mu Household highlighted this fact clearly.
Had it not been for Patriarch Mu, a Rank 9 Sovereign, pointing out Wuzhi's concealment, the other Rank 8, Rank 7, and Rank 6 fairies and others, would have noticed nothing strange and went about interacting with Wuzhi like normal!
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
It was only after Patriarch Mu's reveal, did they all realise that Wuzhi had been concealing himself. It was only after his concealment was brought forth to the light, did they all notice the concealment.
Even now, as he walked through the grand, carpeted corridors of the emperor's palace, following the emperor and his retinue of noblemen, nobody seemed to be paying any attention to the young scholar.
Even the boy emperor, who otherwise stuck closely to his teacher, seemed to be subconsciously neglecting Wuzhi's presence amidst the crowd. All of this was due to Wuzhi's active concealment technique!
And even if Wuzhi were to suddenly speak up right now, the others would hear and acknowledge his words, not wondering in the slightest where this youth had come from and why they hadn't noticed him for so long! They would then return to whatever it was that they were doing, once again subconsciously neglecting the young scholar.
That being said, this technique was not without drawbacks. For example, while it caused the young scholar to be neglected in the eyes of others, it did not make him invisible or nonexistent. Their minds clearly remembered the fact that Wuzhi, a young scholar, did indeed exist. And once this thought floated up to their conscious mind, they would immediately be able to spot Wuzhi.
The technique also did not erase any information about Wuzhi from the minds of the others. They will continue to remember his name, where he hailed from, where he was born, and all other such information which he had previously shared. The only thing that they would NOT remember would be his appearance.
And it was in such a peculiar state of existence, that Wuzhi arrived at the Throne Room of the palace.
Regent Rodriguez, worriedly looked at his young nephew, and advised, "Alexandros. Why don't you head to your bedchambers and rest for a bit? I am certain that the long, frightful journey must have tired you."
The young emperor shook his head and replied, "Not at all, Uncle Rodriguez. While the journey was indeed long, it wasn't to such an extent that it tired Us out. We are feeling fine, We assure you."
"We are quite interested in this 'merchant' that you are meeting." Alexandros continued. "We would like to attend this meeting and watch the proceedings."
The middle-aged Regent sighed. He then shook his head and agreed. "Alright, fine. I do not know when that adorable youth of yore has turned into the stubborn rock of today."
"We would like to remind Uncle that We are now the Emperor," Alexandros gently reminded.
"I know. I know," the middle-aged Regent simply waved and laughed it off. It seemed that in his eyes, the boy emperor was still the adorable, innocent brat of yesterday.
The group soon arrived before a pair of tall, bronze doors that opened as soon as they arrived near.
"Entering, Lord Regent of the South Aislan Empire, the Emperor, and others," the announcer promptly announced their arrival, prompting the residents of the room to stand and offer a bow in greeting.
After returning the greeting, the various ministers took to their seats while Alexandros and his uncle headed to the tallest platform within the room, upon which rested the throne.
The throne, a seat constructed out of black-coloured stone, was rumoured to have been built out of a meteor. It was said that during the founding of the South Aislan Empire, the Heavens blessed the infant empire with a gift; which came in the form of a meteor.
Emperor Alexandros Centinni the First, then had the meteorite carved into a throne which continued to serve as the seat of power within the empire.
Walking up to the top, the uncle-nephew pair neared the throne. And then, without any hesitation, the uncle sat on the throne while Alexandros dazedly sat in the seat nearest to it.
According to etiquette, there was nothing wrong with the uncle's actions. As Lord Regent of the State, it was indeed his right and authority to sit on the throne, signifying his status as the figure with the highest authority in the empire.
That being said, Alexandros still felt a little confused. A bitter feeling emerged within his heart as he watched his beloved uncle occupy the seat of power.
Still, not wanting to cause a scene, he remained quiet and watched the meeting from the sidelines. Wuzhi, who had also followed the group into the throne room, retreated to the shadows behind the emperor. His argent eyes unflinchingly observed everything.
After resting his arms on the throne's armrests, Lord Regent Rodriguez crossed his legs and looked down at the cabal of merchants kneeling underneath him. With an indifferent expression and voice, he spoke.
"Tell me, merchant who hails from the East, what is this, 'revolutionary weapon of war,' that you claim will reverse our Empire's fortune and allow us to claim the upper hand in the war, do you seek to sell to me?"
"And remember this. If I find your words to be nothing but empty boasts, I will have your heads roll."
At his question, the cabal of merchants bowing to the emperor raised their heads. More specifically, their leader, a young woman with raven hair and exquisite beauty, did.
With a voice that was as sonorous and soothing as the songs of the skylark and a smile that put all the world's greatest pictures and paintings to shame, she spoke. "Replying to Lord Regent. This lowly merchant promises that her words are not simply empty boasts. They are, in fact, an understatement of the boundless promise held by these weapons."
She then snapped her fingers, following which a servant subordinate of hers came forward with a clothes tray. Placing her hand on the edge of the cloth, the lips of the female merchant rose by another degree as she grandiosely announced.
"Introducing to Lord Regent, and all the other members of the court, a revolutionary invention that will allow a child to kill a Rank 3 cultivator, and for entire armies to be trained in mere months…"
She pulled on the cloth, revealing the contents of the tray to the eyes of the court.
"…the single-shot rifle!"