Zhen Shi made a mental note to give a certain grand mage a piece of his mind, but for the moment muttered through grit teeth, "Yes."

Ding!

Mortal Tier Quest: -Artifice 10 Different Equipment

                              -Discover a better way to control the furnace spirits.

Reward: -Random Blacksmithing Material.

              -Gift of Experience.

Zhen Shi gawked as he read the second expected objective... control the Furnace Spirits?

'System, as much as I'd love to teach those Imps a wonderful lesson, that is too difficult! Even Myne can't control them properly... With his 'aerodynamic throwing knife' who does he think he is fooling?'

Nevertheless, Zhen Shi heaved a powerless sigh, finally deciding to go back to training.

He decided to start with the Alchemy quest since it was much easier to complete. And so, in the darkness of the night, with the refreshing sound of oriental music providing a much-needed soundtrack, he began to refine pills; with the crimson undying flame in his left hand, and the green cauldron of life on his right.

At the same moment, rather surprisingly, it began to rain.

There had been no signs of rain clouds and even Zhen Shi was surprised, momentarily halting his actions.

It was a light rain; no thunder, and no lightning.

The water dropped down lightly from the skies onto the pavilion roof, giving off a melodic sound almost in tune with the boombox music. The central garden seemed to gain a new life as it was baptized by the rain, and the flowing stream widened with the addition of the rain.

The raindrops that fell on to the plant leaves were unusually sprinkled back and then blown by the wind towards the interior of the pavilion.

A few drops even fell onto Zhen Shi's face but he didn't notice.

The divine music, the rhythmic rainwater, and the sprinkling raindrops rendered a mystical sight that had mesmerized him. 

Despite the fact that he had continued to read skill books, train in Alchemy and Blacksmithing, and was even hoodwinked by the System, ever since he had woken after the 'rune fiasco' Zhen Shi had felt strangely worried; it had been an almost unscratchable itch.

But with the arrival of this rain, he felt better... but also worse, at the same time.

He could feel that something was wrong, but he had no idea what it was and how to fix it.

Even so, the sight of the mesmerizing rain with the mystical music had helped him remain calm. And so, with a light but heavy sigh, he continued to refine the pills with his eyes on the central garden.

After all, he couldn't help what he didn't know...

???

At the very center of Lyon City, lay the majestic and towering abode of the Sovereign King and the royal family, Tintagel Castle!

Inside the castle, within the main hall leading towards the throne room, there was a procession of servants and soldiers on the two sides. They were either standing or bowing in respect to a rather familiar duo walking through.

Count Anguish Brishman scratched his neck, and asked nervously, "Isabella are you sure that Isolde will be fine with the Prince? I've heard many tales about his character, and none of them were particularly good."

Isabella muttered through knit lips, "Tales are just that. Tales! I'm sure dear Isolde will be fine. Prince Tristram might have some problems, but his actions are still quite normal for a person of his stature. Besides, didn't we leave your precious Butler to protect her?"

Count Anguish shook his head, "But--"

However, Isabella interrupted him, "Now, hush. We're about to meet the king after all," without betraying the smile plastered on her face.

Count Anguish nodded but proceeded to scratch his neck once more as they finally reached the end of the main hall. There were two guards adorned in sleek silver armor and wielding golden spears, standing regally on each side of the door to the throne room.

Jiya!

They too bowed slightly in respect, as they pushed open the majestic door leading to the throne room.

Count Anguish momentarily put aside his worries and promptly walked into the throne room, in step with Isabella.

While the throne room was majestic and truly fit for a king, there were no soldiers or guards inside. Instead, there was an extremely short man, not more than a few feet tall, with a scruffy beard leading down to his feet and a steel collar around his neck.

The short man proceeded to shout out, "Count Anguish Brishman and Lady Isabella have arrived to pay their respects to his royal highness, King Mark of Lyonesse, the Butcher of Cornwall!"

Both Count Brishman and Isabella proceeded to bow in respect, and stood up only when a wizened regal voice rang out through the throne room, "Rise!"

King Mark was a raven-haired middle-aged man who radiated power and authority from every inch of his body. He was seated on an enthralling throne of Mythril and Gold, engraved with strangely beautiful carvings of war and terror and was holding on to a mysterious golden harp.

He smiled with a welcoming spread of his hands, "Count Anguish! You know there is no need for the pleasantries of the court when we are within the privacy of our walls! After all, if all goes well we will soon be family!"

At the same time, the door to the throne room closed with a resounding thud.

Count Anguish spoke out with a smile, "Forgive me, your majesty. But old habits do die hard."

The King nodded in acceptance but proceeded to speak in a grim tone, "I wish to speak about the Zhen Clan boy that trespassed into our kingdom."

Count Brishman grimaced as he spoke hurriedly to defend himself, "Your majesty, at the time I was truly not aware that he was a member of the Zhen Clan. I truly believed, and still do, that he was only a fortunate survivor of a demonic beast attack!"

"Enough!" a powerful shout reverberated throughout the throne room.

The pressure from this simple shout caused everyone, including the Count, Isabella, and the short bearded man who had been standing silent in a corner, to collapse onto their knees with painful thuds.

While Isabella remained strangely impassive, the Count and the short bearded man began to struggle in fear and terror, but fortunately, the pressure dissipated very soon.

As everyone heaved sighs of relief and slowly stood back up, the King stood up in worry and spoke, "My apologies Count Anguish. I'm genuinely not sure what came over me." However, despite his words, his worried gaze was fixed on Isabella...

Count Anguish smiled politely, brushing off a trickle of sweat from his forehead, and replied, "It's only a simple matter, your majesty. In fact, I should be thankful for the opportunity to witness the power of his majesty's Edicts!"

King Mark nodded in acceptance and sat down once more. Even so, he continued in a serious tone, "Either way, I must admit, there was no need to repeat your claims for the Zhen Clan boy's innocence. I've heard them many times in court..."

Count Anguish opened his mouth as if to speak out, but thinking better of it, remained silent.

King Mark turned his gaze towards the golden harp in his hand. His eyes glowed with a faint mysterious light as he began to examine the harp with great care, almost as if he was searching for something...

Isabella frowned at this but remained silent.

King Mark continued, "Honestly, the problem isn't the fact that he is from the Zhen Clan. In fact, recently I met the Patriarch of the Zhen Clan." He chuckled lightly, "And under some special circumstances, we were able to make great strides for peace."

Count Anguish was surprised, but as an experienced noble he pounced at this chance and spoke a few words of flattery, "Congratulations on your success, your majesty! Our kingdom can do nothing but improve with you at the helm!"

The King barely registered these words as his eyes were still furiously searching the golden harp.

After a while, the King continued ignoring the Count's words, "As I was saying, the Zhen clan will be an ally in the future. Even the Divine Church has expressed its support for this matter. So the threat of potential invasions by spatial form displacement can be ignored. But the problem is that you kept this matter hidden!" his words ending with a hint of malice.

Count Brishman spoke out hurriedly, but as respectfully as possible, the previous result still fresh on his mind, "Your majesty I was not aware of the importance of such a small matter! Besides, my full attention was on running the secret operation for the treasure creating girl of the Zhen Clan, as ordered by your majesty himself!"

King Mark raised his head slowly, almost like a disturbed serpent. With a raging aura around him and his eyes focused entirely on Count Brishman, he growled, "Count Anguish, do you mean to tell me that this matter was my fault?"

Count Brishman shivered as he stared into the King's raging eyes. He felt like a speck of sand trying to take on the vast ocean. His spirit destruction cultivation was thrown asunder as he lost complete control of his own qi.

Helpless, he could only bow and mutter, "N-No. O-Of course not, your majesty. I-It was my mistake. I see that now."

King Mark suddenly smiled. As the raging aura calmed down, he spoke happily, "Ah! As long as you realize your mistake, everything will be fine. With the marriage arrangements, forgiving this simple matter is very possible. That was the reason I summoned you. To make sure you know the importance of this marriage. And now that you do, you may leave now," waving his hand in dismissal.

Count Anguish hurriedly bowed and grabbed onto Isabella's hand as he moved to leave as quickly as possible. His only intention right now was to go back home, forget about this matter, and make sure that his daughter was fine as he had continued to tell himself this entire time.

But to his dismay, the King spoke out, "Where are you going, Count Anguish? I wish for you to spend the night at Tintagel Castle. You won't reject my hospitality now would you?"

Count Brishman's face hardened but he could only bow once more as the King's words held no room for discussion.

King Mark nodded in satisfaction and spoke turning to the dwarf-like man, "Midge, lead the Count to the guest room"

This Midge bowed respectfully, walked towards Count Brishman, and spoke out, "Lord Count if you would follow me, please?"

"I thank your majesty for his hospitality. Then I will be taking my leave," said Count Brishman as he bowed one last time and walked away with Isabella's hand gripped tightly in his.

But surprisingly, the king frowned and spoke out, "Count Brishmanm please let Lady Isabella be. She and I-- have some matters to discuss."

Count Brishman was speechless. But he gathered some courage and spoke out rather sternly this time, "Your majesty, with all due respect, she is my wife! I know she is distantly related to the royal family, but this is downright improper!"

The King frowned, a sudden heavy aura manifesting around him and causing Count to flinch. With the heavy aura intensifying even further, the King lightly flicked his finger on a string of the harp causing a melodious tone to waft out.

Isabella surprisingly smiled. And the King began to speak, his voice almost hypnotic, "Count Anguish, I hope you have a pleasant night along with your wife," and grinned while eyeing Isabella, "who most certainly left with you to your chambers."

Count Brishman's eyes glossed over and became vacant, almost empty.

The King waved a hand at Midge who proceeded to lead Count Brishman to the guest chambers, without blinking an eye at the situation.

As the duo left and the door closed behind them, the King smiled at Isabella and spoke while gesturing to her to come forward, "Dear Isabella, it is good to see you in the flesh. Scrying every day grows tedious does it not?"

Isabella smiled and slowly walked forward with coquettish prance and spoke, "Indeed it does, my liege."

Glancing at the golden harp, she continued with a smile, "Even if it is a Legendary Treasure, there is only so much you can see in its metallic luster."

King Mark simply smiled in response as he patted his lap gesturing at her. As she obediently sat down on his lap, she asked with a smile, "So why have I not heard of your dealings with the Zhen Clan?"

King Mark grinned and replied, "It only happened just a few days ago. Some influential nobles that had been missing for countless millennia suddenly popped up. They spoke far-fetched tales of a mystical valley that had trapped them, and how a 'powerful god', with an utterly ridiculous name, had arrived in the guise of a mortal to set them free!"

He laughed out loud, "A God? Just to save those idiots? Ridiculous!"

But his laughter turned to a strange, confused frown as he spoke, "While it may not have been a god... those people were wholeheartedly in owe of their savior. Strangely enough, I almost found myself believing them," with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

Isabella frowned and spoke out with a sigh, "Forget that crazy nonsense. When will you tell me about the Zhen Clan?"

King Mark grimaced in displeasure but he still spoke out, "Some of those survivors happened to be of the Zhen Clan. And you know that despite our long-standing enmity, as fellow members of the divine church, the Zhen Clan and the Lyonesse kingdom are still allies. So I kindly returned their fellow clans-men and surprisingly Zhen Ji and I had an amicable conversation!

This conflict had lasted for millennia amongst our ancestors. But with the support of the Divine Church, Ji and I plan to bring peace, leading all of us into a new prosperous era!"

Isabella grimaced and stared at him in disbelief, "Will you tell me the real reason, or will you keep saying your impossible lies of self-righteousness?"

King Mark laughed once more, as he spoke out, "Isabella you truly understand me. Honestly, we arrived upon an amicable agreement, strictly business, of course. Wudi promised me a share of the Zhen Clan's treasure creating girl, as long as I used 'junior cultivators' to get it.

All the local powers have always been interested in her strange divine blessing and, honestly, this was the only way to truly make use of her for ourselves. Especially with the Divine Church breathing down our back.

All Wudi wanted in return was one year with all the survivors of that valley. Apparently, he believes in some old legend regarding the Bertheline forest. Either way his terms were simply irresistible!

Basically, he promised us a share of those mysterious celestial stones, as long as I used 'junior cultivators'. He even promised that there would be no obstruction from anyone of the Zhen Clan!"

Isabella smiled and snuggled into his chest as she spoke, "It seems like a done deal then. After all, who'd dare to bar the Lyonesse kingdom? Congratulations, my liege. Everything is going perfectly."

King Mark continued to grin in satisfaction, but Isabella frowned suddenly as she asked, "Wait, if there was no problem on that end, then why did you lose control and use an Edict back then? I understand growing annoyed with that buffoon Brishman but why use it on me as well? And then you even used the Harp of Orpheus to search for something, right?"

Strangely, it had begun to rain outside.

King Mark's grin disappeared as he answered with a hint of confusion, "It was a problem with Tristram..."

Isabella immediately got off his lap and shouted out in worry, "What? Why didn't you tell me sooner? Is he fine? What happened? Was that old man too strong?"

King Mark shook his head and explained hurriedly, "Oh, no, no. Nothing like that. That old man WAS rather strange, killing two soul destruction soldiers and almost launching a Sovereign level attack. Fortunately, he was unable to handle the stress of fighting continuously and collapsed. So Tristram naturally won, of course."

Isabella heaved a sigh of relief, and spoke, "So that old man wasn't as weak as he made himself out to be. Even so, I'm glad that Tristram is fine, but, if everything is okay, what is the problem?"

King Mark frowned, "Since a few minutes ago, I have been unable to scry into the Brishman Mansion. Even the Harp of Orpheus can't see through. If it wasn't for O'Reilly allowing me to sense that Tristram is fine, I'd be truly worried..."

Isabella frowned and shouted in rage, "What? You're seriously depending on your puppet to decide his safety? Hell No! Go make sure that he's fine!"

King Mark grimaced and shouted back, "Are you crazy? This is the best I can do! Do you want to jeopardize everything--"

But suddenly his eyes widened in surprise, and fear. King Mark muttered through grit teeth, "It was an utter failure."

Isabella was frantic. Her face contorted into a scowl as she raged, "What happened? We needed this to work! Those corpses in my room are only treatment to the symptoms! Every day I keep yearning for more death and more blood, do you know how much I have to suffer? Do you know how much Tristram is suffering? We don't have much longer and you're screwing up!"

King Mark scowled as he shouted back, "Do you think I wanted to mess up? I want this to work just as much as you do. But you know that we have to be careful around the Divine Blessed!"

Suddenly his eyes widened in surprise, terror, fear, and... confusion. King Mark collapsed down onto the throne in disbelief, "It was him."

Isabella was confused, both by his statement and his fear. As such, she asked, "It was who?"

King Mark raised his head, his face as pale as a sheet, "I only realized when Tristram and O'Reilly made it far enough away from the Brishman mansion.

Whoever it was, they were powerful enough to block and trick even my spiritual sense. It came out of a mysterious treasure in Isolde's possession. The treasure wasn't particularly powerful, barely in the Law tier. But I could sense it, the spirit of one who had transcended mortality.

That spirit called 'him' a fellow Daoist... He is the so-called 'god' of the Berthelien forest, the 'god' who saved the missing nobles, 'This handsome and scholarly self'. He is real."

The sound of the rain intensified, almost in response to his words.