Regressor Sect Master

As he predicted, the Zuja chose to lay low. There was no movement, all the way until the banquet itself.

There were tiers to all things, and that was true for banquets. A banquet hosted by Prince Gomerl would only be second to that of the Imperial Emperor himself.

"Grand Nephew, we meet again! And you too, Lord Fox." Grandduke Edrian was dressed in an incredibly flamboyant outfit and he gave his Grand-nephew Duke Hadrian a hug. "Is all well?"

"I suppose, I suppose." Duke Hadrian said, but it was around this time Tundra noticed some unusual finger movements between the two. Taps and touches on the shoulder, as if some kind of secret message.

Spiritual messages could be detected, but decrypting them is only by really, really powerful cultivators and even then it can't really be fully decrypted. So, Tundra wondered what was the purpose of such a secret message.

"We're seated on the third platform. The first platform is reserved for the Crown Prince, his closest aides, and the representatives of the Great Sects and pretenders. The 2nd to the 4th is for people like us. Extended family, less powerful allies, and that sort of stuff." Duke Hadrian explained.

Grandduke Edrian, interestingly, was seated next to him. A part of Tundra thought he would be on the first platform, given his status in the royal family.

"Why are you frowning?" Grandduke Edrian asked.

Tundra couldn't admit that he didn't detect a single Zuja agent in the entire banquet, and more importantly, his senses were locked on the inner circle. There was a beautiful, but clearly dangerous woman seated very close to the Prince.

The Chief Minister.

Tundra, honestly, didn't recall ever meeting Prince Gomerl, though drawings of his features and memory jades of his appearances were widely circulated. Still, a thousand images still did not beat the experience of having actually met the man, and felt his presence.

Prince Gomerl was a tall, well built man with a slightly rounded, prosperous face. The man tried his best to look menacing, but somehow, Tundra only felt that the man was fairly hollow, as if he was dependent on the wisdom of those around him.

No, as Tundra tried to hone in, it almost felt as if Prince Gomerl is a simpler man forced into an uncomfortable situation, and is trying to act his part. It was the way he frequently traded whispers with Chief Minister Sanesa.

It was the little looks and glances elsewhere when faced with a question, as if looking for answers from someone who wasn't present.

The man wasn't very smart politically, but he was fairly gifted in cultivation. His current strength in the first steps of the eighth realm was respectable, and gave him decent power to command even the Great Sects. Even the current Golden Emperor is only in the ninth realm, though with the Golden Dragon, no one would dare claim the Golden Emperor is weaker than any of the masters.

There was an old legend about a rebellion. A tale often repeated as a cautionary tale of a cultivator's hubris. The Hundred Heavens' Hubris.

It is a tale even shared amongst children, as to why the Golden Emperor is.

A tenth realm Sect Master of the now destroyed Hundred Heavens Sect, challenged the Golden Emperor to battle. The Golden Emperor, at that point in the empire's history, was only in the middle of the eighth realm.

There were terrible words uttered by the Sect Master in his arrogance, and so he brought that strength and attacked the Golden Emperor. But the Golden Dragon manifested above the battlefield, and in a single gulp, consumed the Sect Master.

The Hundred Heavens Sect was destroyed within a month as the rest of the Sects were eager to win the Golden Emperor's favor. Some did it as an apology, for even siding with the Hundred Heavens.

There has not been a single rebellion since.

Even the demonic cultivators do not dare to face the Golden Dragon head on. At best, they gnaw at the edges, biting scraps where they could. So strong was the Golden Dragon, that there was a belief that even if the demon's great ancestors emerged from their depths, the Golden Dragon would easily consume them.

Now, of course, Tundra knew otherwise. A divine progenitor can be matched by another of its ancient peers.

Yet, as he looked at Prince Gomerl, Tundra wondered where his heart was. Did he care for the Empire? Did it matter at all to him? What is the throne to a man like this?

Tundra pondered those questions while evaluating the company he kept. First, the Chief Minister. The woman was not a Zuja agent. Chief Minister Sanesa was well dressed, and looked regal. Already there were rumors about the woman angling to be the future Empress.

Tundra suspected they were likely already in a relationship. One where Sanesa called the shots.

"Do you want me to introduce you to them? Grandduke Edrian said, much to Tundra's surprise. Maybe he noticed that Tundra's been observing them for a while. Since an opportunity emerged, the regressor felt it was only appropriate he accepted it.

"Ah, that would be great."

The attendees to the banquet were busy mingling, and many were talking to one another. Such banquets were social events, and the networking that often happens is part of why there are so many banquets over the years.

Naturally, the crowd closest to the Prince was surrounded by the powerful, and most interestingly, it was an opportunity to meet people he met in the past. Ember Talons of the Flaming Phoenix, and Zomo Sapphens of the Slicing Heavens.

Ember Talons was there in the final moments with him, while Zomo Sapphens fell to the Zuja much earlier than the others.

"We'll have to wait." The Grandduke answered.

"It's fine." Tundra said as he watched the Prince and the Chief Minister behave around the two Sect Masters.

***

"Crown Prince Gomerl, a pleasure to meet you!" A sect master of the Sword Dancers, one of the Slicing Heaven's vassal sects said. The sect master was in the high seventh realm, and was introduced by Zomo Sapphens.

Prince Gomerl did his best imitation of a regal greeting. "Greetings, Sect Master. I hope our facilities are not too lacking."

"How could it!" That sect master did his best to flatter and butter up the Prince. From afar, Tundra and everyone else could tell it was just the usual theatrics of the imperial Court.

But more importantly, Tundra's focus was on the interactions between the Prince and the Chief Minister. Who called the shots?

His immediate suspicion was that the Chief Minister was a shrewd woman, and wisely did her best to let Prince Gomerl be the focus of the interactions.

Tundra noticed how the two glanced at each other briefly, and the looks of reassurance between the Chief Minister and the Prince, and an understanding formed in his mind.

The Chief Minister was the Prince's political crutches. The Prince is clearly competent and talented in the ways of cultivation, but his minute mannerisms with the rest of the Sect Masters suggested that he wasn't much of a social or political creature.

For that, he relied on the Chief Minister.

"Since Prince Gomerl is busy, can we speak to Chief Minister Sanesa?" Tundra asked Grandduke Edrian, and interestingly, the Sect Master thought he saw a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"Oh, sure, come, let me bring you to her. Chief Minister Sanesa." Interestingly, not many people actually were around her.

"It is usually polite to first speak to the Prince, rather than his servant administrators." The Chief Minister responded.

"That is true, normally, but you know, I'm exempt from that." Grandduke Edrian countered. "But alas the Prince will be occupied for quite a while, and so, I thought I'd introduce to you a talented young man who could be of great service to Prince Gomerl."

"Talents." The world rolled off Sanesa's tongue as if it was a disgusting medicine. "The world is filled with mountains of those. You get one question, and so, impress me."

Tundra looked at her, and back at the Prince, and then, once more at the Chief Minister of Gomerlia. This was a game, and he didn't feel like playing. "I have none, Chief Minister. I do not profess to be able to impress one who has met so many stars who surely outshine mine."

"Oh? A fake humbleness earns you no extra points." At least, the response amused the Chief Minister.

"The Prince has all the support he needs." Tundra said. "There is no use adding a small fry like me into the fray. The ocean does not need more salt, so this salt is better served elsewhere."

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"You dare to come to a banquet of Prince Gomerl to profess supporting someone else?" She revealed a brief dangerous aura, even if she said it with a practiced, measured smile.

Tundra smiled, and acted a little drunk. In banquets, being half drunk helped give a veneer of plausible deniability. Spirit wine worked all the same, just as wine on regular mortals. "What is the throne if not the prize of an imperial struggle? There are many players in the game, and not all players want to win."

"Why play if they do not want to win?"

"Perhaps some want to fish in muddied waters, or perhaps, some foxes want to borrow the dragon's might, and want to see the dragons gnaw at each other?" Tundra countered.

"They are fools if these pests think they can take advantage of the dragons' struggle."

Tundra decided to stop there. There was no use explaining it to her if she already had an idea in mind. Less is often more, because space creates room for epiphanies.

Predictably, Chief Minister Sanesa seemed to expect a clarification.

"You won't elaborate?"

"The Chief Minister is well read, with informants from far and wide. What can this lowly one give if not empty tales? In the end, it is those closest to the dragon that can cause the most harm. May the heavens bless the imperial family from these foul men, and the good intentions of well intentioned advisors." Tundra feigned a prayer.

The woman sneered in disgust. "It is not everyday someone comes to me and tells me I may hurt the Prince, at the Prince's banquet."

And yet, she did not call for reinforcements or the guards. After all, what image would that give if the Chief Minister had to call guards at the Prince's banquet?

Tundra was playing with fire, but he had to. What little he saw in the Prince and also Chief Minister Sanesa was that Chief Minister Sanesa was an older woman who likely grew up as Prince Gomerl's caretaker, and now, companion. It was a really messy scheme of arrangement, even if not unusual among imperial families. There were Empresses who served multiple Emperors in the past, especially since the Imperial Emperor's lifespans are so short thanks to their Golden Dragon's gift.

"When does a child stop being a child? When they start making decisions, and thoughts of their own. When they grow and build a path from decisions they made themselves. It is so easy to coax a child to listen to the adult's wisdom. But do they learn if they do not learn pain? Do they learn how to get up if they do not stumble? Not just that, there's always someone there to help them up when they fall. There is an old saying that many kindly parents beget wastrel descendants. I wonder if it is true for many kindly chief ministers, as well."

That last word caused Chief Minister Sanesa to pause, as she stared into Tundra's eyes. "-wait. Was that advice?"

"This one does not dare to advise the Chief Minister." Tundra then feigned ignorance and blamed it on the spirit wine. "I might have had too much to drink, and what I've said is just nonsense."

All the while, Grandduke Edrian just seemed amused. "I believe that last bottle of spirit wine I gave Sect Master Fox was a little too strong. Come, Sect Master Fox, let's get you something lighter to clear up your head."

"Not so fast." Chief Minister declared, there was a slightly murderous tint in her eyes. "Are you suggesting that I'm coddling the Prince?"

"No. It is merely a passing mention." Tundra lied, but the next part wasn't much of a lie. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Chief Minister Sanesa, it is a great relief to know that Prince Gomerl has someone worth trusting, and it seems he really does trust you."

The woman glared, the woman was someone in the 7th realm, but was likely already two to three thousand years old. "Do not leave. What's your play?"

"The Prince has many advisors. Many supporters. His cultivation talent is excellent." Tundra answered. Maybe if the Chief Minister could be convinced to be skeptical and wary, some of the Zuja's attempts to infiltrate his inner circle could be delayed. "But his supporters know who is the one that really makes the decisions in the end, even if they act otherwise. Be wary of others promising quick power and victories, Chief Minister Sanesa, what they want is conflict, not the Prince's victory."

"Well said, well said." Grandduke Edrian said, clapping his hand. "There's wisdom in your drunken ramblings, Lord Fox! Chief Minister, I believe I must take this rambling man somewhere quiet to rest."

Tundra smiled, pleased at how quickly Grandduke Edrian played along with his schemes. "That would be a good idea."

This time, Sanesa stood and played with her decorative fan. The words left a mark. He could only hope it is in the direction he desired.

***

"You're very brave to try that." Grandduke Edrian smiled as the two men headed to an inner courtyard with a garden, away from the main dining hall. "I see why I instinctively liked you already! Your assessment is spot on, and it is not the first time something like that was said to the Chief Minister."

"It is not?" Tundra frowned.

"The Emperor himself said so. But alas, the words of a dying man aren't one she is willing to listen to. He knows exactly what his son, Prince Gomerl, is like. Quiet, and lacks social and people confidence, mediocre in the ways of management, but at least he has all the necessary talents as a fighter and warrior."

"That makes him sound like a brute."

"Not far from what the Emperor thinks of his son." Grandduke Edrian grinned. "What you see today is the polished work of Chief Minister Sanesa and her closest aides. In fairness, what choice did she have? She wanted to help the Prince, and her lover, be the Emperor."

A loud explosion could be heard coming from the dining hall. Tundra and Edrian glanced at each other, and quickly ran back to the dining hall.

The explosion didn't come from the Imperial table.

Instead, it was between the two great sects.

Zomo Sapphens and Ember Talons both took a side, and in the middle was a one of the Flaming Phoenix's elder, and on the other was the Slicing Heaven's eighth realm elder.

"There is room for jokes of many forms, Elder, but insulting the Flaming Phoenix is not one of those." The female elder of the Flaming Phoenix declared.

The elder, on the other side, looked in disbelief. But more importantly, Tundra immediately felt the presence of something unusual, and his eyes darted around the dining hall.

When was such a formation even placed in the Imperial Palace of Prince Gomerl?

A mind disruption formation of the ninth realm. A [Mind Dissonance Formation]. It amplifies disagreements and creates discord. More importantly, it didn't affect anyone else but the two elders!

"There's a spiritual formation messing with the two." Tundra spoke to Grandduke Edrian through their spiritual connection. "Do you mind informing the two sect masters?"

"What?" Grandduke Edrian frowned. "How? I don't sense anything."

"Please. Quickly. Before the two start to fight." Tundra begged, a rare burst of desperation in his eyes. It would be catastrophic if the two great sects began a war over something so trivial.

But Tundra was a little too late, and the Grandduke Edrian was a little too slow. The elder of the Flaming Phoenix launched a fiery explosion, one that the Elder of the Slicing Heavens cut with a spiritual sword.

The Slicing Heaven's elder was stronger, and the blade almost reached the Flaming Phoenix's elder. But Ember Talon's glowing finger stopped the spiritual emanation of the sword, and the attack dissipated.

Zomo Sapphens then stepped forward, his spiritual aura clashed with that of Ember Talons. Both were tenth realm cultivators, and the air was overwhelmed with tension that felt like merely walking would result in cuts.

The weaker cultivators present began to vomit and faint, as the weaker ones began to run. "Is this how the Flaming Phoenix treats its peers?"

"Peers?" Ember Talons countered. "Is insulting the Flaming Phoenix what the Slicing Heavens consider to be fair treatment?"

Tundra cursed. Even if they find out the culprit, blood has already been spilled. Prince Gomerl looked frustrated, and looked at his aide. Chief Minister Sanesa immediately called on some of the Imperial Guards to clear out the room, but none dared to venture into the midst where two Tenth Realm Masters battled with their spiritual energy.

Tiles cracked, tables rattled, the plates, chopsticks and cups shook from the spar.

"I'm telling them now!" Grandduke Edrian ran into the middle and immediately shouted at the two. "Stay your hands, Sect Masters! There is another party tampering with us all. There is a spiritual formation attacking your two elders!"

Everyone turned to look at the Grandduke, amazed at his courage to step between the two Sect Master, so close to the battling of their intense spiritual aura.

"A formation?" Both Sect Masters said simultaneously, and it was then they realized it at the same time. The two masters pointed in a particular direction and an old servant of the imperial palace was pulled out of the far corner. The old servant flew through a set of decorated and painted bamboo partitions, and fell onto the floor below.

Their powers combined then immediately pressed on the old servant. "Explain yourself!"

The old servant's body then melted away to reveal a cultivator in the eighth realm, and then, beyond that. Temporarily his power surged to the tenth realm, and pushed back against the two master's power, much to everyone's surprise. "You won't get me today!"

The two Sect Masters' second move would kill the man, but the perpetrator was faster. A spatial artifact activated, a rift emerged in space and the man melted through the rift.

Unfortunately, both Duke Hadrian and Tundra Fox recognized the spatial effects and what that exact artifact was. It was the same spear that was stolen from the Scarlet Lightning City.

"Impossible!" Zomo Sapphens cursed, as he landed next to where the man once was. "That was a spatial rift of the Old Ones!"

At the same time, both of the elders of the Great Sect experienced an intense, sudden migraine, and collapsed on the ground. Ember Talons checked on her elder briefly.

Then, within moments, a series of smaller explosions occurred throughout the palace's outer compounds. These explosions destroyed the various parts of the formation, and Tundra felt the formation's effects vanish. Still, his heart pounded, as he looked around. There were hundreds of cultivators here, and the Zuja still dared to strike.

"Prince Gomerl, it seems you have quite the plot on your hands." Sect Master Ember Talons turned to look at the Prince and said. "Someone wanted both of us to fight."

Zomo Sapphens sheathed his sword. The Guardian Elder of Slicing Heavens stepped towards the Sect Master and whispered. The two talked for a bit, before the Master of the Slicing Heavens declared. "We must investigate who is behind this."

The masters all spread out, headed towards the various explosion sites. Maybe, they hoped that some remnant remained that clued them in.

But Tundra knew that it's likely they found nothing. There was no proof the Zuja did this.

It could be the other princes. It could be the demonic cultivators. No, the most likely outcome was that somehow, all of them were involved at the same time.

Prince Gomerl, naturally, summoned Grandduke Edrian and commended him there at the banquet itself. "Your contributions averted a conflict between the great Sects, Grandduke Edrian."

"It is a small thing, Prince Gomerl." Edrian played down his contribution. It was a standard conduct in the Imperial Court to display humility before the crown, and it is also standard conduct for other ministers to then stand up and sing their praises for them.

"On the contrary, Grandduke Edrian, an all out fight between two great sects would be catastrophic." Chief Minister Sanesa praised, and she was clearly relieved that the conflict's origins was made known to be a third party. It was infinitely easier to paper over the two sect's egos and manage them when none of them were at fault.

"Name your reward, Grandduke. If it is in my power, I will do so." Prince Gomerl declared.

Grandduke Edrian, smiled. "Ah, I am afraid I do not know what I want at the moment. May I discuss it and claim this favor at a later date?"

Prince Gomerl looked at the old Grandduke, and shrugged. "Very well."

***