I wasn’t sure what my trip to the Brilliant Sun Empire would entail, so I made thorough preparations beforehand. I needed to stock my storage space well, just in case the journey proved to be fatal.

Pill Emperor Li had left me with three items. A book, a box, and a coin. The first two were too large to keep, but the coin was by far the most important to me anyway. I didn’t know what its significance was, but it was the first thing I stored away to take with me.

Another important treasure I needed to keep was the small pouch of seeds given to me by SuYin. I didn’t know what they were, but if Mei wanted me to have them, then they had to be important.

Next were pills. In the past, I had always taken cultivation resources back with me, but I had never needed them. Getting basic herbs for low-level cultivation pills was easy, so they had just taken up space. Instead, the most important pill to take with me was the Nutrition Pill. The original Su Fang’s body had been a mess, and while a System-purchased Healing Pill had done a lot to fix these problems, a Nutrition Pill could further heal and strengthen me.

The only other pills I took with me were poison pills. I needed to be able to die as quickly as possible, no matter the situation. I couldn’t be sure how much of an effect a Rank 3 poison would have on me as a Lord or a King, so I reformulated it with the most powerful Rank 4 herbs that I could purchase. When I was done, while I didn’t have a Lord to test this new pill on, I was confident that it would do the job.

I then went through everything else I had or could get, but there was nothing else that I needed. Spirit stones would be nice, but with access to the right herbs, I could earn them easily enough. I pocketed a little loose change, just to be safe, but that was all.

This left most of my storage space empty. So, it was time to start on Emperor Li’s book.

In an effort to take the whole thing back with me, I tried copying down its information onto small, thin pieces of paper that would fit in my storage space. However, when I tried this, my writing became smudged and illegible. No matter how careful I was, everything I wrote turned into an unreadable mess.

This strange effect didn’t just apply to the parts of the book that I couldn’t understand. Everything from the simplest lists to the most difficult passages would twist and turn as I tried to write them.

This being the case, I did something that I considered nearly sacrilegious. I couldn’t take the entirety of Emperor Li’s book back with me. It was simply too large. However, it was made of paper.

I ripped out every page that covered topics that were too advanced for me to understand. This hurt their value, since they no longer retained the context of the entire book, but I had to accept this loss. I folded the papers and crammed as many of them as I could into my storage space, saving as much of the book as possible.

Then, I looked at the jade box that contained the Earth-Rank spirit fire. I never got to use it. Maybe in a future life, I would have another opportunity to try it out.

With the storage in my soul filled with everything I wanted to keep, I then packed a storage bag with all the sundry goods that might prove useful on a trip to Brilliant Sun. Then, I left to arrange transport.

My first thought was to use a coach from the Pavilion because it would be safe, and it would let me enter the empire in style. Delivered to the Blue Wind Pavilion, I would announce myself as a Pill Lord, apply to upgrade my red-gold badge to two stars, take the test, and grab the Royal Family’s attention with the same method that had made me stand out when I first entered Eight Flower.

The more my thoughts traveled down that direction, however, the more uneasy I felt.

My soul used all of its remaining strength to force my mind to accept a different plan. I needed to travel in a more low-key manner. I needed to understand the local terrain before making a show of myself.

With these thoughts firmly planted in my head, I went to the Light District and boarded a worn-out carriage that was headed to the Brilliant Sun Empire.

Not long after the carriage crossed the border, its rocking, bumpy movement came to an abrupt halt. Wondering what the problem was, I looked out the window and saw that we were surrounded by uniformed men on horses.

“Alchemist Su, please step out of the carriage!”

With an impassive face, I opened the door and stepped outside.

A group of three people approached me. At their head was a middle-aged man in a bright red uniform. He had a military bearing about him and stood in a stiff, straight posture. On the left was an elderly man in black robes who seemed to have his head perpetually bowed. I assumed that he was a servant or personal guard. On the right was the former queen of the Eight Flower Kingdom.

I nodded to her in acknowledgement. “Queen Duge.”

She grinned victoriously. “My term as queen has come to an end. You may refer to me by my martial title. King Duge.”

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“King Duge, then. How may I help you on this fine day?”

“Alchemist Su, our kingdom is in dire need of your services, so I must regretfully conscript you. Please follow us to your posting.”

I wanted to laugh, but I held it in. “I assume that I don’t have a choice in this matter?”

Her eyes narrowed. “No, you don’t.”

“Very well, lead the way.”

The man at the front gestured to a nearby soldier, who approached me. “Alchemist Su, please hand over any storage bags in your possession.”

I smiled and handed it over without comment. After I did, the soldier looked at his leader, who nodded. This made me think that the leader had some way of checking for hidden storage items.

The soldier coughed to get my attention and gestured for me to follow him. “This way, sir.”

The carriage he took me to was much nicer than the one that I had been riding in. The seats were well upholstered and had thick cushions. Its suspension was good enough that I barely noticed any movement as we traveled down a rocky road.

I was brought out of the carriage by a team of guards who watched my every movement and was ushered into an opulent courtyard mansion.

When I entered, Queen Duge was already there to greet me. “Alchemist Su, what do you think of your new home? We have provided you with every luxury available.”

I looked at the solid wood furniture, the delicate porcelains, and the gilded decorations. “What do you want?”

The queen let out a light chuckle. “Direct as ever. As we discussed previously, I want information on the formations you used to create pills. Once I have it, this lovely manor is yours.”

I shook my head. “I told you. I’m bound by Oaths. I cannot disclose any information regarding formations.”

“Of course, but I am no stranger to those pesky Oaths. They only matter in Eight Flower. Here, even if you break them, nothing will happen.”

This was true. As long as I never returned to Eight Flower, it wouldn’t matter if I broke an Oath because the only enforcement mechanism was the kingdom’s formation. However, I still wasn’t willing to break any Oaths sworn to the Heavenly Dao. “Sorry, Qu— King Duge. I will not break my Oath.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “Excellent, that’s what I was hoping for. I love a man with conviction.”

She clapped her hands twice, a servant entered, and the queen nodded at him.

“This way, sir,” the servant said in a dry voice.

I didn’t fight him. It wouldn’t have done any good, and besides, I wanted to see what they had planned for me.

The servant led me down a flight of stairs into a stark stone basement that smelled of mildew.

This basement was a large, open space with little light that contained nothing but an alchemy workbench and a bed. A line of rusty iron bars crossed the length of the room, separating this closed-off living space from the exit. The servant opened the door and gestured for me to enter.

I did so, and he closed the door behind me.

I looked back at him. “You do realize that I’m a Martial Lord, right? I’m fairly sure that I can easily bend simple rusted iron by hand. I also have access to fire qi that can easily melt through high-quality steel.”

The servant looked at me impassively. “Sir, these bars are here for your protection. If you try to force your way out, a formation will activate, and you will be seriously injured. None of us would like that to happen.”

“I see. Thank you for the consideration, then.”

“Of course, sir. The lady has asked me to inform you of her orders. You are to begin explaining your formation designs within the week. If you do not, then we will begin to take more forceful measures that you will not enjoy. I will give you time to get settled and come back to check on your decision tomorrow. I apologize for any inconveniences that you may have suffered.”

“Thank you for the hospitality,” I said in as polite a manner as I could. “See you tomorrow.”

The servant left me alone in the damp, dark cell to ponder my future.

I forced a deep sense of hopelessness to well up within me. It was a feeling that nothing would matter at this point. There was no way to escape. My captors would never let me leave. They might make my accommodations better, they might treat me like royalty, but they will never give me my freedom.

My entire soul burned with the knowledge that there was no way of achieving my goals in this life.

I felt a subtle shift in my thoughts. I began to think more clearly about how to proceed. I couldn’t escape, but that didn’t mean my life was over.

I sat down in the middle of the cell and started cultivating.

I was a Peak Lord, and I couldn’t break through to Martial King without King-level karma, which I didn’t have. However, I did still have a significant reserve of Lord-level karma.

I had long ago cultivated to the limit of the Lord realm. I began to push further.

As I pushed more qi into my core, the density increased further than ever before, but breaking through the wall of true advancement was impossible.

I kept pushing. Cracks appeared on my core, but the wall blocking me from advancement was as solid as ever.

My core could no longer withstand the pressure, but I kept pushing.

When my core neared its breaking point, I braided all my reserves of karmic energy into my qi and shoved it into my core.

My core imploded.

Instead of bursting outward, the shards of my broken core rushed to the center of the concentrated qi that it had once contained.

The world shattered, and I felt an opening to one of the chains binding me to this world at the center of that maelstrom of qi and karmic energy. I took every remaining bit of energy in my body and threw it at that chain.

This chain was far thicker and more durable than the ones that I had broken in the past. And this time, even with everything I threw at it, it didn’t break. But it did crack just the slightest bit. That was enough. The laws of this world loosened their restrictions on me–if only slightly.

I had advanced to False King.

I collapsed to the floor. My body was exhausted, and my qi was completely depleted. I wanted to lie there for the rest of my life.

The sound of clapping echoed through my cell. I turned my head to see Queen Duge on the other side of the bars.

“I was wondering what was causing such a ruckus down here. You certainly do put on an excellent show. Congratulations on your advancement, but I will warn you, a False King has no better chance of escaping from here than a Lord does.”

Lying sprawled on the floor, I still found the energy to smile at her. “That… that is something we can agree on.”

I mentally opened my storage space and sent a poison pill directly into my mouth. Before the queen understood what was happening, the pill dissolved in my mouth, and poison entered my body.

You have died. Calculating…

You died as a False Martial King – 200,000,000 credits awarded.

Total Credits: 200,000,000