Spirit Cultivation

At the same time inside the Royal Palace, an uninvited visitor arrived at the Ruler's Office. At normal times the ruler would be pleased to see the man in front of him but the current him was too stressed to even bother. 

"Why is it you? I asked to meet with Milady," Ruler called out with a frown. "Let me guess, she won't be coming to meet me tomorrow." 

A part of him already predicted it.

The golden-robed youth in front of him shook his head and explained in an official tone, "I'm sorry but Milady suddenly got busy and can't meet with Sir tomorrow. She can come the day after tomorrow after all her meetings are done. I came today to pass the message." 

"Bullshit. Milady is the one in charge. She can do what she wants so she just doesn't want to meet with me," Ruler argued, already annoyed by the whole situation. 

"I can't control Milady's time. I'm just a messenger," the youth replied with a shrug. "Instead, I���m here to resolve whatever troubles you might have. Feel free to tell me." 

"Ha ha ha, you really think you can help me?" Ruler laughed maniacally and ordered, "Go and destroy Liu Clan then because by tomorrow there will be no Royal Family."

To his surprise, the youth wasn't even a bit surprised, staring at him in silence. 

"So you know…" Ruler muttered, rubbing his eyes. "You both know yet you won't do anything. I guess you already chose sides in this matter. You are supporting that little bastard?" 

"The one you call little bastard can face whole Royal Family forces by himself. I think the choice to support him rather than you is obvious," the golden-robed youth admitted, putting his hands into his robe pockets. "I suggest you follow your plan, pass the crown to your son, and then leave this Realm. There is nothing else you can achieve here. It's over." 

"Fuck!" The ruler finally cursed, throwing the desk at the youth but he disappeared and appeared as if nothing happened, dodging the desk. 

"Releasing your anger on me won't resolve anything. Xuefeng is just more valuable to Milady than you so you should just give up. Go to the Heaven Realm and make a name for yourself once again. It is over for you here," the youth advised calmly but that only made the ruler angrier, this time causing him to punch a hole in a wall. 

"Get out," Ruler snapped, at last, no longer having the use of him. 

The golden-robed youth gave him one last look and smiled, leaving as fast as he came. 

The Ruler kicked the chair away in anger and rubbed his temples, wondering what he should do. A part of him wanted to fight to the death but he knew it was a suicide. 

He pulled out a red pill from his ring and stared at it. The Ascension pill guaranteed him a breakthrough with his current cultivation. Even without it he could do it if he tried hard enough. 

"Ruler!" 

Just as he considered taking the pill right there to finally end all the problems he had, someone shouted from the entrance, barging inside the room. 

It was one of his elders who reported most of the news from the capital. Just his appearance gave him a headache, knowing the elder had nothing but bad news to share. 

"Ruler, all four Long-distance Teleportation Stations were taken over by the Liu Clan! All four are now either destroyed or turned off which makes it impossible to bring reinforcements into the Capital. Not only that, but we also noticed all of the Xiao Family and Liu Clan Forces are in the move, gathering around our properties! They must be planning an attack on us!" 

The elder quickly reported but the Ruler acted like he didn't hear anything. He just threw the news to the pile of bad news that was gathering for a while. 

"It's over," Ruler finally replied, his resolve to leave stronger than ever. 

"Ruler….?" the elder asked anxiously, looking at the pill in the Ruler's hand. "Is the Ruler planning to abandon us?" 

"Yes. There is nothing I can do to help the Royal Family survive. I will give you one last order before I leave though," the Ruler replied as he took off one of his rings, passing it to the elder. "I already cleared the treasury. There is nothing left inside. Inside this ring there is one hundred million Spirit Stones and many Artefacts that you can sell for even more money." 

"Ruler…" the elder muttered, looking completely speechless after scanning the ring but the Ruler didn't stop. 

"You will order our guards to spread the rumor that the Ruler of the Realm is dead and killed by Liu Clan. Tell them it's the order from me. I want you to create the biggest chaos in the history of the Capital. After you do that, I want you to take my son away from the Capital and support him until he reaches the point of Ascending."

"…" The elder was silent for a moment, looking like he slowly understood the plan and asked, "What about the Queen? Is she also Ascending with Ruler?" 

"My wife? Nope, she will only slow me down. Even though she has Monarch Stage, she never fought so she is weak. There are many beautiful women like her in the Heaven Realm," the Ruler answered in all seriousness. "If you want, you can take her for yourself. Aren't you still single? She is pretty and young so she can give you a few children. Having no one to support her she will grab the only chance to survive which is you. What do you think? Deal?" 

Just as he finished, he swallowed an Ascension Pill without hesitation and started cultivating, no longer paying the elder attention. Just as he thought, him taking the pill convinced the elder he wasn't lying.

"Thank you for your trust, Ruler. I won't disappoint you," the elder called out and swiftly left the room. 

———

"Sigh, my barrier was too weak…" Tianshi muttered as they flew back towards the Palace, still down after her barrier was crushed so easily by Xuefeng. "I will try to improve my cultivation so that it is much more powerful."

Although she was happy for Xuefeng, she also had the ambition to be strong like him and support him. If she can't defend against his attack, how would she save him if some stronger opponent appeared once they reach the Heaven Realm? 

"Don't worry, it's already pretty strong. It was my most powerful attack so it's not a surprise it broke," Xuefeng cheered her up, giving her a consolation prize in the form of a kiss. "I'm sure you will quickly improve." 

Tianshi found that an accurate reward for her efforts and wrapped her arms around his head, taking him shamelessly for herself while leaving only his chest for Lisa. 

'Tianshi! Not good!'

Unfortunately, just as their lips touched, her spirit called out in alarm and sent a vision into her mind. Out of nowhere, she found herself flying above the Capital and the sight below her blew her away. 

Fire everyone, multiple buildings in ruin, and thousands of cultivators battling in the skies and the streets, not caring about the destruction of the Capital. Mothers with children running away only to get crushed by the falling building or a random fireball. 

Chaos, pure chaos. No matter where she looked, she saw death. 

A moment later, her mind returned back to the present. She was still in his arms, looking at the confused Xuefeng who wiped her tears away while calling out to her worriedly. 

"Tianshi, are you okay? What happened?"