The Imperial Palace was grand and majestic, and very heavily guarded. It was not rare to see Revolving Qi Realm practitioners as Imperial Guards here, and occasionally a Foundation Building Realm expert could be seen in the hallways that they passed.

The people around looked at the imperial prince in the hands of Butler Bang with meaningful gazes, and at Wu Long with eyes full of contempt.

‘Heh, useless display’

Wu Long chuckled as he knew that there was no way that he just happened to see so many Foundation Building experts on the way since such people were relatively rare even here, and usually held important posts so randomly seeing them on the way to having an audience with the empress was unlikely.

“Mister Wu, Minister Du is waiting for you”

One of the attendants who led them stopped at a door and politely pointed his open palm at the door.

“Minister?”

Old Yen furrowed his eyebrows as he seemed to understand what was happening.

“No need to worry, it seems that the Empress’s meeting time is originally later, and the one to send the envoy was this? fellow”

Wu Long smiled as he expected something along the lines.

“You two can-…”

“They will follow me”

Wu Long cut in when the attendant looked in the direction of Old Yen and Butler Bang.

“…um-…”

The attendant wanted to say something else but as he opened his mouth Butler Bang’s gaze told him that if he did say it he might not be able to speak ever again.

“Young Master already gave you his answer”

Butler Bang said with a polite tone of a butler, but there was a slight coldness to his voice.

The attendant gulped and reluctantly nodded as he opened up the door.

On the other side was a spacious roofed balcony overseeing a vast garden, with a table and two chairs. There were guards in the corners of the balcony, and there were gardeners tending to the beautiful plants down below. The summer sun brightly illuminated the garden from right above so the balcony shielded by the roof seemed a little dim in contrast.

In one of the chairs sat a middle-aged man with some gray hair mixed into the black. He wore luxurious robes, and there was an air of a scholar about him. Any person familiar with the martial way would be able to instantly tell that this man had absolutely no fighting skills despite being in the Core Formation Realm.

Behind him stood a man in Core Reformation Realm who, unlike the seated man, gave off a dangerous feeling to both Old Yen and Butler Bang by just standing there.

“Ah, Mister Wu. Shall I still call you that?”

The man rose from his seat with a polite smile and tone of speaking.

“I go by the same name”

“I see, well, please excuse my manners in somewhat tricking you into having this meeting, but do not be alarmed, your audience with the Empress will happen later without changes. Please have a si-…haha, I see you are a busy man”

While the man spoke Wu Long came to the chair opposite to the one the man sat in earlier and sat down not waiting for the man to finish the invitation for him to sit down. The guards in the room looked at Wu Long with menacing gazes but he payed them no heed and simply looked at the man. The middle-aged man smiled, waving his sleeve to stop the guards from moving and sat back down as Old Yen and Butler Bang stood behind Wu Long on his sides.

“Let me introduce myself, I am Du Xia. One of the three Ministers of the Wood Spirit Empire”

“To what do I owe the displeasure?”

“… haha, you have a unique sense of humor”

The man who identified himself as Du Xia looked at Wu Long with attention, and yet his gaze and overall manners remained polite. The man behind him, was clearly displeased with Wu Long’s behavior and looked at him with a cold light in his sharp eyes. .

“Silver Fang, don’t stare at my guest so much, it is not polite”

Du Xia lightly said and the sharp-eyed man behind him who he called Silver Fang straightened up his gaze, now looking at the two behind Wu Long who looked back with serious expressions.

“You are a man of great power, Mister Wu, something that is of great value wherever one goes”

Du Xia smiled while a servant brought wine and poured it into their wine cups.

“Do you like wine, Mister Wu? This is an exquisite wine that is made with the best medicinal flowers from the garden you see below…”

When Wu Long did not answer to his previous statement Du Xia decided to continue speaking.

“…You see, we collect the flowers very carefully and discard any that have imperfections. There are occasional pests that manage to enter the garden as you can imagine”

Du Xia paused slightly, looking at Wu Long with a smile.

“But there is a catch, those pests are quite useful as their secretions after they consume medicinal plants can be used in manufacturing a precious medicine. Yes, those pests are of ‘great value’ to us you see”

When the Minister accentuated the words “great value”, Butler Bang’s hand holding one of his ‘luggages’ slightly tightened and the man called Silver Fang standing opposite also tightened the fist behind his back.

“The garden is vast as you can see, and apart from the flowers that the wine is made of there are many spiritual plants that are of little value to us other than a seasonal view. Thus we allow the pests to have their fill of them. It only concerns us if they touch the flowers that the wine is made of, in which case we have to crush the perpetrators in front of others.

After repeatedly doing so the other pests avoid the area with the wine flowers by instinct. But occasionally… there are new pests that enter the garden who do not have that experience and thus instinct, in which case we have to go through the procedure again”

Du Xia looked at Wu Long with the same polite smile and twirled the wine cup as the liquid inside swirled, sparkling beautifully with the reflections of the bright light that came from the side of the garden.

“What if the new pest is of a different kind than the previous ones?”

Wu Long smiled and finally talked as he felt amused by this man.

“Pests are pests, Mister Wu. Even if it is a different kind, it will not make any difference. The question is not if the pest is different, but whether it is of value to us, like the ones that secrete medicine by eating medicinal plants, and if it is there is no problem in letting it propagate in the area not used for the wine”

Du Xia chuckled while taking a sip of the wine, closing his eyes to enjoy the taste.

“Zhenxiang flowers, the flowers you are speaking of, indeed give quite a good taste to the wine but they require a precise environment to grow. And while pests can influence the quality, the most important is the caregiver’s attitude and skills. The way I see it, the soil under your flowers is gradually becoming stale, and your precious garden will soon start to rot. It is not the pests that are at fault, but the hands tending to the flowers.

The flowers would actually be saved if a pest dangerous enough for the caregivers showed up and rid them of the incompetent tenders”

Wu Long chuckled as he looked at the garden below. Du Xia’s smile slightly froze but then returned to being natural.

“But would they not eventually die without a caregiver to tend to them?”

“You see, if they could not survive without human hands, then how would they naturally be found in the wild? These ‘pests’ you are speaking of are actually nature’s caregivers of these flowers, and as they travel through the soil they make way for Spiritual Qi to travel through it, invigorating the flowers. So, from the perspective of the flowers it is those gardeners that are the ‘pests’ here”

As Wu Long spoke the Silver Fang’s gaze turned more and more sharp. As if a sword ready to spring into action. Butler Bang and Old Yen both sensed the tension rising and their postures almost imperceptibly changed. The guards standing by the doors and at the corners of the balcony were less discreet as they tightened the grips on the spears they held.

Du Xia looked at Wu Long for some time in silence with the same polite smile.

“And how would you say a new species of a pest that can endanger the human caregiver will view the caregivers?”

“Hmm, it depends on the situation and on the species, but the one I thought of when I posed you that question will probably ignore the human caregivers as long as its way through the garden is not impeded and leave when it has its fill”

Wu Long replied with a smile to the question the Minister asked after a long pause.

“After all it is not like it is the flower or its guardian”

He then added with a very light tone and a friendly expression.

“Hahaha, you are indeed a special man with vast knowledge”

Du Xia then laughed and the man behind him as well as the guards relaxed their postures, and the two behind Wu Long did the same in response.

“Minister Du, the audience…”

A servant came and whispered to Du Xia’s ear.

“Oh, my, it seems your audience with the Empress will be coming up soon. Pardon for taking up your time, and thank you for the advice”

Du Xia smiled and Wu Long nodded with a smile in return as he stood up and left the balcony, accompanied by the two who came with him.

When the door closed behind Wu Long, the polite smile on Minister Du’s face disappeared as he looked at the door.

“Minister… what do you think?”

“Hmph, he is being troublesome. I thought that we could come to an understanding but it seems that he has quite the confidence… what do you think?”

“Hmm, I cannot be sure, but there was no opening to take advantage of, and I felt a mortal danger coming from him. There is no way for me to assess his actual combat prowess, but he is indeed a very troublesome opponent”

“Tch, where did this dark star come from? Hmm, coupled with the fact that even the three Wu Family ancestors could not stop him, you are probably right…”

“Minister… was it wise to approach him first?”

“Heh, if you see a tiger in the wild it has probably already seen you. That man is not someone we could avoid by not touching”

Du Xia shook his head at Silver Fang and they both looked at the door with complicated expressions.