Dressed as an important prince of a powerful nation, I strode confidently through the streets of Lushan City, capital of the Proud Mountain Kingdom, vassal to the Rising Sun Empire. Whenever anyone looked in my direction, they quickly averted their eyes and hurried away, not wanting to offend someone too far above their station.


    The attention this drew was a bit of a problem. A proud prince such as I should not be seen walking around like a mere commoner, but there was nothing to be done about it. I just needed to reach my destination before my continued presence became an issue.


    I was putting on this display because I didn’t want to walk into the Su Clan as Su Fang, a disgraced and escaped former disciple. I wanted to enter as someone they would take seriously from the start, someone who all the elders would have to kowtow before. By presenting myself as the descendant of a powerful clan, I would be able to apply pressure from not only myself but also from an influential unknown entity far beyond their reach.


    However, I couldn’t just fabricate a brand-new identity out of whole cloth. They had truth stones, so if I walked in and said that I was the son of Sovereign Ning ZeKun, they would instantly know that it was a lie. I needed to give them a ‘truth’ that hid the truth.


    To prepare for this deception, I read through dozens of books on the political landscape of the areas surrounding the Wastes that I had stashed away in my mental library at one point or another. In one of these books, I found detailed information about the Rising Sun Empire. This empire was one of the major powers that bordered the Wastes, and from past experiences, I had good reason to suspect that it was the Su Clan’s primary backer.


    Importantly, this book didn’t just list the empire’s various kingdoms and cities. It also provided the names of the clans that ruled each of these places, and one of these names had caught my eye: The Fang Clan, Rulers of Proud Mountain Kingdom.


    As I walked through the streets of Lushan City, I referenced a map in my mental library and was able to quickly make my way to my destination. Upon stepping inside, an older man rushed forward to greet me. He was meticulously dressed in an expertly tailored light blue hanfu with silver and gold embroidery.


    “Prince Fang, welcome to the Blue Wind Pavilion. We are honored by your presence. How may I assist you today?”


    I did my best to hide my shock, but I couldn’t stop myself from taking in a single sharp breath.


    Based on the way he was dressed and the fact that he was a Peak Lord on the verge of ascending to Martial King, the man who greeted me had to be a high-level manager. Why was he here waiting for me? Why had he addressed me as Prince Fang? I hadn’t told anyone I was coming here, and I certainly hadn’t told anyone of my plans. It might not be a good idea to ask too many questions, but I had to know what was going on.


    “You know me?”


    The manager bowed his head. “Yes, Prince Fang. I received a missive regarding your arrival yesterday. I am ready to assist you in any way necessary.”


    He reached into his robes, pulled out this ‘missive,’ and handed it to me.


    After carefully looking at the manager, I turned my attention to the letter.


    ————


    Manager Pang,


    Tomorrow, a young man wearing a red robe with gold embroidery will enter the Pavilion shortly before noon. You are to treat him as a hidden prince of the Proud Mountain Kingdom and comply with any of his requests. Allow no one to question this identity.


    If he seems suspicious of you, present him with this letter.


    ————


    There was no signature. Instead, it was simply stamped with a red wax seal bearing the image of a stylized plum blossom. This seal radiated energy reminiscent of a high-Rank refined item.


    I carefully examined the seal and then looked into my storage space where Emperor Li’s coin was resting inside of a small jade box. Comparing the two, I found that the image on the coin matched the seal perfectly.


    Why was Emperor Li interfering in my dealing with the Su Clan? Or to be more precise, why was his blessing guiding him to interfere? Was it just trying to ensure that I remembered him? Was it trying to show off its power?


    One possibility I had to consider was that it was trying to make me think that it was more powerful than it really was by randomly assisting me with a small task while I was still a Grandmaster to imply it could do something similar when I was an Emperor.


    All I had needed to do was purchase a carriage ride to Dragon Gate City. The benefit of having Li’s assistance here was negligible. This setup might make my plans slightly easier once I arrived back in the Wastes, but there was no reason for a Sovereign-level figure to involve himself in such mundane affairs.


    In any case, figuring out the psychological games that were being played here was beyond me. I might not like it, but as long as it didn’t interfere with what I needed to do, I would simply accept the help.


    I returned my focus to the manager.


    “I need to charter your finest carriage to take me to the Su Clan’s compound in Dragon Gate City within the Western Wastes.”


    The man gave a slight bow. “Of course, Prince Fang. Please, follow me.”


    <hr>


    While I waited for my ride to be prepared, I wanted to do a bit of shopping.


    However, before doing so, I first had to take out a Rank 5 pill and sell it for a bit of cash that I could actually spend. While I had plenty of gold and spirit stones tucked away within my storage space, there was no plausible explanation for where that wealth had come from. A pill could have easily been hidden away on my person. A crate of gold? That would have been far less believable.


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    Waving around a Perfect Rank 5 pill might have been a bit much, but my plan was to masquerade as the prince of a powerful kingdom. Such items should be expected from one such as myself.


    Using these funds, I purchased a high-quality storage bag, an assortment of high-quality furniture, and an expansive wardrobe. When Manager Pang saw what I was doing, he cleared his throat to get my attention.


    “Prince Fang…”


    I nodded slightly.


    “Prince Fang, if I may make a few suggestions?”


    I waved a hand graciously, signaling for him to continue.


    With this, this manager proceeded to guide me through various areas of the store that I had never even glanced at before and introduced me to the world of luxury goods. Wine brewed from qi-infused rice, herbalist-grown tea leaves, and tea sets carved from exotic high-Rank stones. All of it was completely unnecessary, but it was all something that a powerful prince would likely carry around with him.


    After over an hour of shopping, the manager led me outside to where a team of Rank 5 wind horses had been hitched to a magnificent carriage coated in a dark blue layer of enamel with golden pagodas embossed onto each door.


    “Manager Pang, thank you for your assistance.”


    The manager was a Peak Lord who would soon advance to Martial King, so I reached into my robe and pulled out several bottles of Rank 5 pills that he should find useful in the near future.


    Upon seeing this, he attempted to frantically wave them away.


    “Prince Fang, I cannot accept. I have only done what I should do.”


    I reached out, grabbed his hands, and forced the bottles into them.


    “And I am only doing what I should do. Your assistance has been most appreciated.”


    Manager Pang quickly bowed, turned to the carriage driver, and spoke in a harsh tone.


    “Ensure Prince Fang has a safe trip. Allow nothing to go wrong.”


    <hr>


    If not for the carriage’s windows, I wouldn’t have even known that it was moving.


    We quickly covered ground, and in only a couple of days, we reached the edge of the Wastes. Unfortunately, the Rank 5 beasts couldn’t take us any farther, so the driver had to change them out for a team of Rank 3 horses. After that, the speed of our travel slowed dramatically, but we still made decent time.


    During this trip, I considered whether I needed to try and make my pretense of being a prince from a faraway kingdom more convincing. As far as I was concerned, arriving at the Su Clan as an unstoppable monster was more than good enough, but Emperor Li’s involvement suggested I needed to be a bit more active with my deception.


    “System, how much for an item that would identify me as the crown prince of Proud Mountain Kingdom? A well-known signet ring, a crown, a jade seal… just, whatever the crown prince would normally carry around with him to prove his identity.”


    Cost 2.5 billion credits.


    “King-level credits? Isn’t that a bit much? Is the prince waving around a Rank 5 item like a madman?”


    I could afford it, but I didn’t want to. Spending a few thousand credits here or there was meaningless, but I wasn’t going to waste several billion on a simple ruse.


    “System, how much for something that a normal prince would carry to identify himself?”


    Cost 2.5 million credits.


    “That’s a bit better… Purchase.”


    Purchase confirmed. 743,950,801,897 credits remaining.


    A small signet ring appeared in the System’s storage space, and I pulled it out. Instead of being the refined item I had expected, it was a rather normal-looking jade ring engraved with the complex inscriptions of a formation key.


    This made me wonder if there was any mischief I could get up to with the formation key of the crown prince, but I desisted. That wasn’t my mission, and I wasn’t willing to pillage a random Kingdom’s treasury for no better reason than just because I could.


    <hr>


    I arrived in Dragon Gate City not long after the start of the new year. The Su Clan’s next blessing ceremony would be held in two weeks, and I wanted to be embedded within the clan before that happened.


    Near the end of my trip, I changed out of the fancy robes of a prince and donned something far more impressive, a metallic dark blue robe made from a chromium-steel alloy. This was a Rank 3 refined robe that LiTing had made for me, and I had spent a bit of time over the last few years embroidering it with several formations made from threads of a silvery cupronickel alloy.


    To the untrained eye, it would appear as if my robe was simply decorated with an elegant cloud and dragon motif. However, the lines that formed these images were twisted forms of various powerful Rank 3 formations, both offensive and defensive.


    Wearing such an item would almost certainly get me marked for death anywhere in the world. Few Kings or Emperors would allow a person who could make such an item to live for fear of what they might create in the future, but as long as I remained within the Wastes, no one would be able to raise a hand against me.


    When I stepped out of the carriage in front of the Su Clan’s main compound, I turned and passed the driver several bottles of Rank 3 pills to thank him for his service. If anyone questioned him, I wanted it to be clear that I was both wealthy and generous. The Su Clan needed to see me as someone who couldn’t be touched, but they also needed to see me as someone willing to spread my ample wealth around.


    After sending the driver away, I turned and strode toward the gates of the Su Clan’s compound.


    I had only been to the main compound once, and that was when I was executed as a traitor who had poisoned the clan’s disciples.


    The compound was surrounded by tall red walls and a wide moat. A broad marble bridge allowed for easy entry into the compound, but several guards were stationed both at the gates and high atop the walls to screen anyone who tried entering without permission. While these guards were only high-level Martial Disciples and were thus unable to protect the place from any real attacks, they were more than powerful enough to keep out the riffraff.


    As I walked toward the gates, the guards moved to intercept me.


    I just waved a hand and pressed them to the ground with a small exertion of qi.


    After that, I ignored them and continued making my way forward.


    There were three gates into the compound. They all looked to lead to the same place, so without a second thought, I walked through the middle one.


    On the other side, I was greeted by a rather impressive sight.


    Before me was an expansive plaza tiled in dull blue bricks. Several meters in front of me, a meandering river cut through the plaza, and three bridges led across to a large area where dozens of Masters were displaying their martial prowess in duels atop small arena platforms.


    Behind these combatants, looming above them, was a massive, red-painted wooden palace. It was set upon a thick, 12-meter-tall marble foundation, and its peaked roof rose another 30 meters into the sky.


    I glanced around this plaza to get my bearings, but I didn’t dawdle or gawk at the sight.


    After using the central bridge to cross the small river, I ignored the dueling combatants as well as the small cohort of guards that had started chasing after me.


    I steadily climbed the steps of the marble base, neither rushing nor delaying my ascent, and walked inside the large open doors of the palace as if I belonged there.


    The palace’s audience hall was almost entirely empty. The only item of note was the massive golden throne where one could sit and view the ongoing events in the plaza below.


    Since no one was around, I stepped forward, sat down on the throne, and made myself at home.


    When guards, both Disciples and Masters, charged toward the palace to evict me, I sent out a wave of qi and pressed them to the ground.


    Even as a Peak Grandmaster, this shouldn’t have been so easy to do against so many opponents from so far away. The foundation of these guards was just so worthless that they couldn’t withstand even the slight amount of pressure I was able to apply.


    Finally, after a full five minutes, I received a guest who was worth talking to.


    A gray-haired old man charged into the throne room with a face filled with righteous fury.


    “You dare!?”


    I held up a finger to show off the signet ring of a prince of the Proud Mountain Kingdom.


    “I am Fang Su. You may call me Prince Fang Su. Tell your patriarch that I wish to speak with him.”