Several days had passed since Brummer was granted his title.
"My lord." The guards at the baron's estate entrance bowed respectfully.
Wotton walked straight past them as though they didn't even exist, not sparing them a single glance. The two guards exchanged looks.
"The Baron's been in terrible shape these past few days. He looked completely out of it again just now."
"Yeah. He used to smile at us every time, even say hello. Looks like, looks like Brummer's proposal in the Martial Hall really hit him hard."
Brummer's proposal in the Martial Hall had already spread throughout the entire imperial capital.
Most people in the capital knew about the situation between Wotton, the Seventh Princess Nina, and Brummer. You could hear people discussing it everywhere — on the streets, in taverns, in restaurants.
"Wotton, what's wrong?" A voice rang out.
Wotton looked up. It was Hillman's son, Nade. Wotton shook his head and let out a sigh. Nade vaguely understood: "Did the Seventh Princess not show up?"
"Yeah." Wotton nodded.
Wotton and the Seventh Princess had been meeting regularly — their dates had a pretty consistent time and place. But since that incident in the Martial Hall, apart from the day after Brummer's proposal when Nina had met him once, the other three days he hadn't run into her at all.
Not being able to even see her — Wotton was naturally miserable.
Nade also felt indignant on Wotton's behalf, snorting: "What the hell is wrong with that Brummer, proposing right then and there for the Seventh Princess to marry him? What a lunatic."
"There's no use talking about it now." Wotton shook his head.
And just then —
"Baron! Baron!" A clear voice called from outside the gate. Wotton turned to look. It was Rose, the personal maid of the imperial Seventh Princess.
"Let her in," Wotton said immediately.
The guard let Rose rush inside. She ran up to Wotton, out of breath, and said: "Wotton, Her Highness the Princess has been strictly ordered by His Majesty to remain inside the palace and not leave. Even I had to pull every string I could to get out. This is the letter Her Highness asked me to deliver to you. Here. I can't stay — if I go back too late, it'll be bad."
Rose thrust the letter into Wotton's hands. He took it in a daze, but before he could say anything, Rose had already turned and run off.
"What does His Majesty mean by this?" Nade's brow furrowed, his voice tinged with indignation.
Wotton, meanwhile, immediately opened the envelope and pulled out the letter, starting to read. As he took in the contents, a warm current seemed to flow through his heart, filling him with warmth.
Green Battle Qi erupted from Wotton's palm, and the letter was reduced to shreds.
"The identity of the Martial God's final disciple, and the existence of Olivia — it seems His Majesty has been leaning toward Brummer," Wotton realized clearly.
If His Majesty hadn't forbidden Nina from coming out, Nina would have been spending time with Wotton regularly. Not with Brummer.
This ban was clearly favoring Nina.
Wotton let out an angry grunt, but there was nothing he could do. Even in his transformed state, he was only at the peak of the ninth level. What kind of waves could that level of strength possibly stir up in the capital?
Several days later, outside the imperial capital.
A horse carriage, several fine steeds, and a jet-black leopard without a single speck of wrong-colored fur. Sitting atop the leopard was a young man dressed in nothing more than a simple robe.
"Lin Lei, look." Cesler, riding one of the steeds, pointed toward a tall mountain in the distance. Several peaks rose from its mass. "That's the world-famous Martial God Mountain. The Martial Gate of the God is located on that mountain."
"The Martial Gate of the God?" Lin Lei's eyes lit up.
The legendary, absolute number-one force within the empire — the sect founded by the 'Martial God' who stood at the pinnacle of the continent. Lin Lei gazed at Martial God Mountain from afar, filled with admiration.
"The Martial God…"
The Martial God 'O'Brien' had lived too辉煌 a life. He had built the vast O'Brien Empire, and then fought the High Priest on the Yulan River. That single battle made his name, establishing him alongside the High Priest at the absolute summit of power.
More than five thousand years had passed, and no one knew what realm the Martial God — who had once stood shoulder to shoulder with the High Priest — had now reached. But in the O'Brien Empire, the deity people worshipped was the 'Martial God.' That alone spoke volumes about his status.
A surge of bold ambition rose in Lin Lei's heart: "One day, I too will stand at the pinnacle of this continent!"
Lin Lei turned his gaze away from Martial God Mountain. No matter how magnificent it was, it belonged to the Martial God.
"The Imperial Capital, Red Flame City." Looking eastward, he could already see the colossal city that was considered the largest on the continent. Red Flame City was so vast that only the capital of the Yulan Empire could rival it.
Red Flame City was solemn, simple, and unadorned.
"The capital of the continent's greatest empire, the gathering place of experts — Red Flame City," Lin Lei said with a faint smile on his lips. Under the sunlight, Lin Lei and his companions entered Red Flame City.
That day, no notable figures paid attention to this group.
None of them could have known just what kind of earth-shaking waves this group would send crashing through the entire O'Brien Empire.
"Haha, as expected of the O'Brien Empire's capital — even the streets are this wide!" Bark laughed heartily, and Lin Lei broke into a smile too.
Lin Lei's group walked right down the center of the capital's main boulevard.
Bark and the others had dismounted and slung their weapons onto their backs — those terrifying long-hafted great axes. During the journey, the axes had been stored in Lin Lei's spatial ring. After all, the things were far too heavy; those horses simply couldn't bear the weight.
"What incredibly built men."
Many people in the capital stepped aside to give them room. The five Bark brothers standing together were a terrifying sight. All of them stood around two meters twenty, broad-shouldered and thick-limbed — built like something out of a nightmare. And each of them carried a long-hafted great axe that gleamed with a cold metallic sheen.
These great axes, even if forged from ordinary steel, would weigh several hundred to nearly a thousand jin. And judging by the color and luster of these axes, they were clearly no ordinary weapons. Who would dare wield such heavy weapons without sufficient strength?
And then there was that jet-black leopard, without a single wrong-colored hair on its body.
No one in the capital had ever seen a leopard like this. It was an ability the Black-Rimmed Cloud Leopard had gained upon reaching the Saint Realm — the power to effortlessly alter the color of its fur.
"Fushi Road." Lin Lei knew Wotton's address. The group headed directly east toward Fushi Road.
"I'll bet that in the end, Lord Brummer will definitely marry Princess Nina."
Lin Lei abruptly stopped and turned toward a tavern at the side of the street. His brow furrowed: "Nina? The Nina that Wotton likes? Wasn't it someone called Kalan who was competing with Wotton for her? Why are they talking about Brummer?"
Brummer — Lin Lei knew of him too.