The Empress of the Wood Spirit Empire looked at Wu Long with more and more interest, but gradually shock appeared in her eyes. Even while she stood in the air above and looked down at him, she had a weird illusion of looking up, as if a celestial being was before her and she was a tiny little human. She has only ever experienced such a profound feeling once not long after her ascension to the throne.

Wu Long looked at her with some interest as well, but there was a calmness that she lacked in his gaze, as he was more amused than astonished by what he saw.

“What business do you have with…”

The Empress finally opened her mouth, her tone a little cautious but paused a little into her speech.

“Kh-ephew-khm”

The Guard Captain cleared his throat in a low volume, though anyone with a little attention could hear a vague “nephew” in his cough.

“What business do you have with my nephew?”

The Empress restarted her question as a light smile appeared on Wu Long’s face at how little interest this Empress seemed to have in her own family.

“I think it is better if we discussed that in private, Your Majesty. It is not a flattering conversation for the Imperial Family”

Wu Long said with a chuckle and a murmur went through the crowd as she looked at him with hesitation. On the one hand, she had to reinstate the Imperial Authority, and on the other, it was not wise to antagonize someone who gave her such a profound dread.

Wu Long was a little surprised at the lack of indignation in her reaction and then his eyes flashed with profound patterns. His pupils slightly contracted in the next moment.

‘Truth Seeking Eyes…’

Wu Long’s eyebrows slightly rose as he now understood the reason for her rapid ascension in realms despite the conditions this world had for cultivation.

While the Extreme Yin and Extreme Yang Physiques were indeed incredibly rare to occur naturally in people, it was also rare due to the fact that most possessors of such physiques lost their lives in the early years. The powers granted by them were very potent and given time to grow such people could threaten the balance of power within the environment they grew up in, however, they were relatively easy to identify early on in places not as isolated as this fractured world, and as such they went through their most vulnerable period when their powers had not yet manifested in extremely precarious conditions.

However, there were other types of rare conditions besides the two mentioned that someone could be born with, occasionally their powers were more focused on one aspect and the early indications were sometimes not as clear as for the Extreme Yin and Yang Physiques. There were also other rare physiques but the Truth Seeking Eyes Wu Long saw now were not considered a physique but more of a special condition often called Deviation.

Due to how hard it was normally to tell if it was a Deviation, and the lack of knowledge about them in the general population the bearers of this condition tended to have a higher chance to survive through the earlier years of their lives, but were still considered a rarety nonetheless. Much rarer than the Variation physiques that Hua Ziyan and Sui Luxaio had.

Truth Seeking Eyes that the Empress had allowed her to view the world in a completely different way than normal people as she could perceive the “true essence” of things rather than shape. It was no wonder she was so cautious with Wu Long, as she did not see a young man in the Qi Manifestation Realm, but the vague concept that embodied the God of Slaughter, since he just finished with the Wu Family and had yet to shift his mood completely, knowing that the aftermath was waiting for him.

“Can I take that as you willing to talk before killing him?”

“Hmm, sure, why not? But it is already late today, why don’t we have our discussion the next day?”

Wu Long pondered and chuckled as he did not mind letting Nie Changsheng be in the state of agony he put him into for some more time before dealing with him.

There was horror in the eyes of the prince who was held by the sash on his waist by Butler Bang, but his face was down and he was still contorting in agony so he could not speak up or show other signs of his horror outward.

The Empress looked at Wu Long for some time, but after not seeing any signs of deception, as well as not seeing any particular reason to reject slowly nodded her head. Her main reasoning was that the negotiations may go much smoother if she were to give in to this small request that did not inconvenience her.

“Then I will send someone to pick you up tomorrow, how should I address you?”

“Wu Long”

“…Wu?”

The Empress raised her eyebrow but then shook her head with a sigh as the whole situation was already bizarre enough so that such details did not faze her.

“It does not matter, we will discuss everything tomorrow anyway. I am the ruling Empress of this country, Nie Xiwang”

The Empress, who introduced herself as Nie Xiwang, then nodded to the Guard Captain below and disappeared into the distance in the direction of the Imperial Palace. .

‘Xiwang, huh… I sure hope* to get along’

Wu Long smiled as he looked in the direction she disappeared into.

Murmurs went through the crowd again as it seemed that Wu Long was let go too easily for the severity of the situation. But the people who voiced those concerns were quickly reminded by other onlookers that he was not let go but would be summoned to the palace tomorrow.

Wu Long did not mind the crowd and as the soldiers and Imperial Guards parted led his group to the night streets of the Imperial Capital, illuminated by lanterns and moonlight.

———————

*Xiwang could be translated as hope from Chinese XD