Of all the things Ryu had said until this point, this probably disgusted him the most. This wasn’t because he thought it was degrading to Elena, but rather because the idea of asking what to do to take back his own wife disgusted him. As far as he was concerned, she was already his. There was no denying it.

Even if Elena herself tried to deny it, as he had said before, he had a few spanks lying in wait for her. As for whether he could spank a World Sea Realm expert right now… The answer was no. But, a man had to dream big. And Ryu wouldn’t allow any man to out dream himself.

Zenavey, though, was stunned into complete silence when she heard this. Her mouth hung open, unable to form words.

It wasn’t just her, either. Even though Isemeine knew that Ryu was actually Elena’s husband, she still thought he was clinically insane. He hadn’t even stepped foot into the Martial God Clan yet and he was already trying to make an enemy out of all of them?

How many men were chasing after her in the Clan? Scratch that… How many men in the whole of the martial world were chasing after her?

This wasn’t just about juniors and their scuffles anymore. There were tried and true experts at the Half-Step Sky God Realm and even some true Sky Gods chasing after her at this point. This wasn’t a funny joke, not in the slightest.

Those kind of experts didn’t play games with their face. It was fine if those they deemed to be on their levels sought after Elena. When it came to them, they were fine with an above board competition. But, if it was an ant they all saw as being beneath them, the reaction would be far different.

To make matters worse, those experts were well aware that Elena was no longer a virgin. And yet, they were still willing to do this which meant that their determination was rooted in something even deeper than mere infatuation. Instead of making things easier, this only made things far more complicated because this meant Ryu was entangling himself within a complex web of politics at the same time.

Somewhere deep inside, Isemeine knew that Ryu was taking such a risk because he wanted to see Elena, but didn’t he understand propriety? At least wait another several million years. It would at least look better if a Dao Pedestal Realm expert was chasing her as opposed to an Immortal Ring pup.

‘He’s lost his mind…’

“You… You’re crazy…” Zenavey finally sputtered this out. She couldn’t even find it within herself to laugh any longer.

The geniuses who were still struggling up the stairs had too much blood rushing to their ears to even pay attention to what was happening. But, those that could were too ignorant to the circumstances to truly understand what it was that Ryu was saying.

Ryu, however, didn’t seem to care. The fact he was willing to pretend like he was only chasing his wife was giving enough face to these so-called experts. As far as he was concerned, this small bit of face from him was worth the weight of worlds.

“You still haven’t answered my question.” Ryu pressed.

“This… I… I don’t know… I have no idea…”

These words seemed to take up all of Zenavey’s strength. How was she supposed to know what it took to become Elena’s man? Why was this man pretending like she had girl talks with someone on the level of a Princess? It was asinine.

“Are you invited to the banquet?”

“… Yes. I am.”

“Good enough.” Ryu replied succinctly.

His meaning was clear. If she could be invited, then he most definitely could be as well.

“But…”

Zenavey was speechless. She was a genius who also had a King and Queen for a father and mother. In fact, this was the reason her and Isemeine always butted heads.

The Silver Touch Branch had six Kings and Queens, and two of them were also Isemeine’s parents. Between the two of them, one would think that there were four King and Queen parents among them, but the truth was that there were only three.

Both Isemeine and Zenavey shared the same mother but had different fathers. This led to a rivalry between the two Kings who often ended up butting heads with one another. That rivalry was thus passed down to their daughters.

This was all to say that as one of the most likely candidates to become the next Princess, and taking into account her family background, it made sense that Zenavey would attend such an event. But… Who was Ryu?

He hadn’t even joined them yet, but all he had done until this point was brag.

Then again…

Zenavey looked from Ryu back to the geniuses who were still struggling to climb up the stairs. Maybe… He just might have the right to act like this?

Ryu sent a glance back. “Is there really a need to continue with the other events?”

“I… Don’t have a choice…” Zenavey said bitterly.

“Then let’s do this as quickly as possible. I don’t like wasting time.”

Zenavey was once again speechless, but she found it difficult to say no to Ryu. There was something compelling about his presence that made the world revolve around him. For a moment, she almost felt that she was standing before her father rather than a youth even younger than herself.

With some hesitation, Zenavey stepped out of the way.

“… This Palace is already designed to be completed without a monitor. You can continue forward as you please. This first round was only a test designed by myself, the rest is the real test.”

Ryu nodded. He was aware of this already. The Tri Palace he knew had been running on its own for millennia, it didn’t need the input of others.

“I assume I get to keep the rewards to myself?”

“Yes…” Zenavey said lightly.

Without another word, Ryu took a step forward, vanishing before Zenavey’s eyes.

As the silver haired girl watched on in speechlessness, her hair whipping about beneath the pressure of Ryu’s stride, she couldn’t help but feel that the Martial God Clan would be stirred up very soon. And, she wasn’t quite sure how she felt about it.