Mixed Blessing System



Moments later, Lothur arrived at the capital of the Petha Empire, a large city that was located in the central area of this state.

Arriving at one of the entrances to the city, Lothur did not hide his aura as he made his way to the central area of this place.

As a level 21 expert, he found no difficulty entering the empire's capital and soon got a guide to take him to the imperial palace.

Lothur's goal was to find out what the imperial family of this state did with Mathias' children and relatives, as only people from that place could answer his questions.

Arriving in front of a grand palace in the middle of the city, a beautiful building on top of a hill, Lothur dismissed his guide and went to one of the official entrances of this place.

'Several Saints... I can feel more Saints in this city than anywhere else I've been.' He considered as he walked towards his target, where imperial guards were already staring at him. 'The local imperial family must be mighty. But I can certainly do business here!'

Lothur had yet to sense Sages in any of the places he had passed through on this continent. This had been making him think that these cultivators were probably hiding or even living in the shadows of the world.

With as many Saints around the continent, as he had seen recently, there would undoubtedly be a few Sages here and there.

The 5th stage was practically legendary, but it was still known and even had a ranking. So, wasn't it reasonable that the people at the top of cultivation were in seclusion, trying to get stronger?

For Lothur, that was the case!

Perhaps there were Sages all over the states he passed through, but he was almost sure these experts did not casually move about in the daylight. In that case, he had a chance to bargain with the local imperial family, which should be run by people of his cultivation stage.

Confident of this, he stopped before the entrance, where several level 19 and 20 guards were looking at him, and introduced himself. "Friends of Petha Empire, my name is Evan, and I come from the south. I would like to meet with Her Majesty to attend to a matter."

Lothur had used pretty much the same introduction when arriving at the last hybrid village. However, having his Supreme Saint aura on his side from the start made a big difference!

As much as he was a stranger and this family had no obligation to welcome him, there was no way to casually ignore experts.

One of the guards there then said, "Senior Evan, wait here. We'll see what we can do for you."

This state was powerful, but still, less than 10 Supreme Saints of this state had their names known to experts of the imperial family.

Of those names, 4 were from this family, so Lothur appearing there seeking talks with the empress would not make these men reject him.

As strange as it was for the state leader to welcome a stranger into their home, it wasn't strange when that person was an expert at the same level as this leader!

Someone at level 21 could bring great business or disaster to countless lives in the empire.

Hearing that answer, Lothur smiled and waited outside that palace while one of the men there moved in a hurry.

...

Inside the Imperial Palace, the empress was in the middle of a meeting with some of her vassals to discuss the administration of the state.

Whoever was sitting in the emperor's chair had to constantly meet with local leaders, the powerful and wealthy cultivators, to discuss the state's future.

The situation of the cities, the results of agriculture, mining, and taxes, all this and more were relevant to the ruling family, and they naturally had to steer their vassals in the direction that would best benefit them.

To do this, events like this afternoon's were necessary, even if an emperor or empress did not like it.

However, amid a debate, an imperial guard suddenly rushed into the area, not disturbing the person expressing his opinion but attracting several glances.

"Your Majesty, there is a Supreme Saint at the palace entrance who wants to see you. What should we do? Ah, the chief asked me to say that this person is young, very young." The guard said close to one of the empress' ears.

When the empress heard it, her eyes widened with interest.

Supreme Saints were very important to her, and she would certainly welcome this visitor if she had some free time and one of her men to talk to this person first.

But the fact that Lothur was young gave a conversation with him much more importance and urgency!

Saints were compelling people on the continent who actually ruled and fought for these lands.

Sages were definitely the ones who chose the most important customs and laws of their territories, but they would never deal with the little things like running an empire or anything like that.

The small day-to-day responsibilities that kept a ruler or patriarch busy for most of the year were not relevant things to distract a Sage. Therefore, the Saints were the ones who were actually seen in power throughout the continent.

Thus, anyone at the end of this stage was quite old and experienced.

A young Supreme Saint was a rarity, someone who would be nice to have on one's side, whether powerful or not.

'A young Supreme Saint... That's a rarity! One in a billion!' The empress stopped listening to the people in her imperial hall and thought about this visitor. 'If that's the case, he'll probably become a Sage in the future.

Receiving him might allow me to increase my influence in the Council of Elders.'

"Very well, my subjects, let's take a break. I have just received an important message and must take leave for a moment." She said loudly, smiling warmly at the people there. "Please take your time to have a drink and something to eat. We will talk again later."

With those words, the beautiful empress, a mature-looking woman with a shapely body and 'ample' measurements, black hair, and a height of 1.7 meters, left this place next to the previous guard.

"You, go back to your post and ask someone to escort this man to my office. I will wait for him there."

"OK, Your Majesty!"

In the blink of an eye, the guard disappeared, and the local leader quickly went to where she was about to receive Lothur!