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The old man tried to react, but his reflexes weren’t fast enough.

One strip of wood slammed into the back of his knees, and two more pressed down on his shoulders, forcing him to kneel before me. Then, I sent a few more to wrap him in place. If this were normal wood, he would have been able to break free easily, but reinforced with my qi, he wasn’t so lucky.

I smirked at him. “Much better. That is the proper way to appear before a prince.”

The elder snarled at me. “You can’t do this! How dare you attack an elder of the Su Clan?”

I sent another strip of wood to slap the man across the face.

“Do you question the might of the Rising Sun Empire? Or is it just the Proud Mountain Kingdom you look down upon? What is the Su Clan? Why should I even put it in my eye?”

“You… You…”

I dismissed the elder from my thoughts with a wave of a hand. Then, I turned to look down at the ground in the corner of the room.

“Have you seen enough?”

Another elder, a gray-haired man who looked to be in his late sixties, rose out of the floor. He was dressed far more ornately than the first and wore a mahogany brown robe with gold embroidery. His long white hair was done up in a topknot and was secured with a golden hairpin.

After fully emerging from the floor, he took a step forward and gave me a deep bow.

“Greetings, Prince Fang. I am Su TaiZu, Grand Elder of the Su Clan and the brother of its Patriarch.”

I tilted my head upward slightly in acknowledgment.

“Ah, so where is this brother of yours then?”

“He is calling for a gathering of the elders to greet you. We were not expecting your arrival, so it will take some time before everything is prepared.”

Despite my provocations, the Grand Elder showed no signs of annoyance or anger. Where the other elder had been enraged simply at the sight of me sitting on the throne, the Grand Elder didn’t seem to even care about me beating up his compatriot. This intrigued me.

After studying the old man for several long seconds, I chose to explore this potential crack in the Su Clan’s unity.

I stood from the throne and waved to the Grand Elder. “Please, follow me.”

As I walked to the front of the palace, the Grand Elder followed me without question. This made the elder who was still on his knees and being held in place by strips of wood scream in outrage.

“Grand Elder TaiZu, help me up at once! The Patriarch will hear of this!”

TaiZu didn’t even appear to hear the man. He just kept walking.

At the entrance of the palace, staying within the building’s shade while also gaining a better view of the plaza below, I took a table and two chairs out of my storage bag and placed them so as to give us the best view of our surroundings possible.

After sitting and gesturing for TaiZu to take the seat across from me, I took out a kettle and a formation plate. As I slowly made a pot of tea for us using the high-grade leaves I had recently purchased in Lushan City, TaiZu only watched with muted interest.

By offering him the seat and making him tea, I was taking on the role of host. Even though I was doing so within the Su Clan’s throne room, Su TaiZu seemed not to care about such things in the slightest.

Once the tea was ready, I poured a cup for my guest, but he waited for me to drink first, signaling that my station was above his.

With a slight nod of my head, I picked up my cup and took a sip. The tea had faint hints of a nutty aroma with fruity overtones. The qi that had been infused into the leaves as they had grown added a light sweetness to the flavor, but my lack of skill in tea preparation meant that I had allowed the leaves to steep for too long, creating a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Across from me, Su TaiZu took a sip and then swirled his cup, studying the liquid inside.

“This is good tea.” He glanced around at the table and chairs. “I must say that I am envious of your storage bag. It must make travel so much easier.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh? The Grand Elder of the Su Clan does not have one?”

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The elder’s movements hitched for a moment, but I wasn’t entirely sure why. It didn’t seem like my comment offended him. A few seconds later, after a bit of consideration, he explained.

“You are not an official envoy.”

I paused to take a sip of my tea as I thought about how direct I should be.

“No.”

TaiZu nodded. “You came unannounced, brought no guards, and do not know that we have been forbidden from owning… certain items. So, if you are not an envoy, why are you here?”

The elder didn’t seem angry or suspicious, just curious.

“Isn’t that something I should discuss with your patriarch directly?”

TaiZu nodded again. “Possibly.”

As I had taken on the role of an impetuous youth, Su TaiZu was trying to play the role of an old fox and take advantage of me. If he were the first to learn of my plans, he would be the first to profit from them.

I glanced at the elder out of the corner of my eye. How much should I lead him on?

I placed my cup down on the table and faced the elder directly.

“I plan to build a new city within the Wastes, one capable of rivaling or even surpassing Dragon Gate City. Then, when the time is right, I will take the force I build there out of the Wastes and forge a new kingdom, a new empire.”

TaiZu didn’t respond to this immediately, but I could feel his skepticism. After a moment, he responded with a simple statement.

“They will try to stop you.”

I smirked. “No one can stop me.”

At this, for the first time, I sensed a trace of true disdain from the man. However, it quickly morphed back into curiosity. This rapid change in demeanor suggested his attitude was related to his cultivation technique, but I wasn’t certain of that. As the Grand Elder, he could have found it necessary to train himself to curb such reactions. Yes, my words were pompous and conceited, but until he knew if I could back them up, he was smart to not dismiss them completely.

Whether his attitude was due to cultivation madness or not, the Grand Elder was the first person in the Su Clan to impress me.

As we talked, the situation in the plaza below was rather chaotic. At first, many of the guards and cultivators had been trying to force their way up the stairs, but once they saw Taizu sitting next to me, they stopped. However, they still didn’t return to their duels. Almost everyone was just milling about, trying to decide what they were supposed to do.

I considered ordering them to return to their sparring matches so that I could study what the Su Clan was teaching these people, but that was when a young boy dressed in a formal robe that barely fit him ran up and delivered a letter to the Grand Elder.

He only gave the letter a glance before returning his focus to me.

“The Patriarch is ready to see you now. If you will please follow me?”

I raised my head slightly, stood, and collected my belongings back into my storage bag.

We didn’t need to travel far. TaiZu took me out through the back of the throne room and to a smaller building right behind it. Upon entering, I saw that it was simply another, smaller throne room where a dozen Grandmasters were waiting for us.

An older man dressed in a regal yellow and black robe sat upon a small throne and looked down at me. It seemed the Patriarch wasn’t willing to challenge my appropriation of his throne directly, but he also wasn’t willing to greet me unless he was the one sitting on it.

Without speaking, I glanced around the room and quickly assessed everyone. The Patriarch was a Peak Grandmaster, but his cultivation base wasn’t quite as solid as the Grand Elder’s. His meridians weren’t aligned with his qi flows as well as the other man’s, and his dantian showed signs of improper construction.

The others in the room were mostly low-level Grandmasters, and the only other people of note were one Grandmaster 6 and one Grandmaster 7. While these two were weaker than the Patriarch and the Grand Elder, they were also several decades younger.

As neither the Patriarch nor I was willing to speak, the Grand Elder left my side and took up a position next to the Patriarch. Then, he announced me in a voice loud enough for everyone in the small throne room to hear clearly.

“Patriarch, please allow me to present Fang Su, Prince of the Proud Mountain Kingdom.” He turned from the Patriarch and faced me. “Prince Fang, you stand before Su TaiZong, Patriarch of the Su Clan and Undisputed Ruler of the Western Wastes.”

I looked at the Patriarch and raised an eyebrow, but I did not bow my head even slightly. This caused a fraction of annoyance in the older man, but he held himself in check and took control of the situation.

“Prince Fang, how may the Su Clan assist you?”

I had to give the Patriarch credit for bravery. As far as he should be concerned, he was in a far weaker position than me. I could potentially cause a horde of highly skilled Grandmasters to descend upon his clan and utterly destroy it, but he refused to show even a hint of subservience.

“Patriarch Su, I have come to recruit members of your clan for my new… organization. I would appreciate your assistance in this endeavor.”

He narrowed his eyes at my request, and I could feel that he wanted to reject me instinctively.

“Prince Su, as I am sure you are no doubt aware, our clan is already required to provide a large number of warriors to the imperial army. Perhaps it would be best if you took your recruiting elsewhere. I am sure there are many clans in the Wastes who would agree to send their children to fight for you.”

Looking at the surrounding Grandmasters, I saw that nearly all of them seemed to be in agreement. The notable exceptions were the Grand Elder and the Grandmaster 6 man who had looked to the Grand Elder for guidance in how to react to me. However, neither of these two spoke up in support of my proposition.

I smiled slightly at the Patriarch. “Very well, I will do as you say. It is a wise ruler who is willing to spread such rich rewards amongst those he rules. I will be sure to tell everyone that it was your beneficence that allowed them to gain such advantages over their rivals.”

Bowing my head slightly to the man, I turned and began walking out of his small throne room.

“Wait! What rewards are you talking about?”

I paused but didn’t turn back to look at him.

“I am sure they would mean nothing to one such as yourself. For any newly awakened child who wishes to follow me, I will give their clan ten Perfect Rank 1 Superior Qi Gathering Pills and one Perfect Rank 2 Meridian Builder Pill. Enough to help assist them in creating one new Martial Master for each child that enters my service.”

I heard a couple of gasps around the room at this price. While low-Rank Perfect pills were nothing special in South Gate City, and even clans in the Eight Flower Kingdom had been able to source Perfect Rank 1 pills when needed, they were not something that was easily found within the Wastes.

“I do not know how many would be willing to follow me for such a low price, but as long as the clans are willing to assist me, I will be sure to support them in return.”

I took one more step toward the exit and then turned back to the Grand Elder.

“Elder TaiZu, it was nice talking with you. I will spend the next few days in the city before journeying to see what clans in the Wastes might be interested in my meager offerings. If you have the time, I would like to talk with you further.”

Then, I left.

On my way through the large throne room, I sent a quick pulse of qi to free the elder who had been trapped in wood this entire time.