Aksai felt a faint unease rise inside him.

Something about this did not feel right. But he kept his face calm. Prince Arven suddenly chuckled.

"Hehehe. There was no way the youngest Lord of our era would not become a problem for us," he said.

His eyes gleamed slightly.

"That is why we sent the Rokur Kingdom's delegation to his Dao Name ceremony."

Aksai's gaze did not change, but his mind sharpened.

"At that ceremony," Prince Arven continued, "we offered him the ownership of Wuyum County as a gesture of goodwill."

He smiled.

"Since he was born there, he could not refuse. It held too much of an emotional value to him. Especially so because of his poor background."

Aksai felt a faint chill. Prince Arven went on without pause.

"After that, we used the opportunity to place our people," he said. "Small gaps in the guild's structure. Minor flaws in its security. We slowly inserted our spies."

Raaden's eyes widened slightly.

"Almost ten years later," Prince Arven said, "when he finally came out of seclusion… we acted. We launched the assassination using those very spies."

Aksai's fingers tightened slightly, but he did not show it.

"And he reacted exactly the way we expected," Prince Arven added. He leaned forward a little before speaking further.

"He started doubting the island's security," he said. "He realized that another attack could happen at any time."

Aksai stayed silent.

"And like any Lord who values his safety," Prince Arven continued, "he chose to relocate his troubles away from him."

"To the mainland. To the very county we had given him."

Raaden slowly exhaled.

"Yes, his island became safer as a result of his guild's base being on the mainland," Prince Arven said. "But we got what we wanted."

Aksai's thoughts grew colder.

"His guild attracts wandering cultivators from all over the subcontinent," Prince Arven added.

He spread his hands slightly.

"Now that the guild's base is on the mainland… it has become much easier for us to approach them."

His eyes moved between Aksai and Raaden.

"Take both of you as examples," he said with a faint smile. "You joined the Emerald Cove Guild as wandering cultivators."

He leaned back.

"And now… you are here. Isn't this outcome far more useful to us than simply killing that Lord?"

Aksai did not speak for a while. He sat still, his posture relaxed and his face calm, as if he was simply thinking over Prince Arven's words. But beneath that calm surface, his thoughts were moving quickly, connecting one detail after another.

At first, what he felt was shock. It was not loud or overwhelming, but it settled in quietly as he went over everything he had just heard—the Dao Name ceremony, the gift of Wuyum County, the slow placement of spies, and the carefully timed assassination attempt.

Each step had seemed harmless on its own, even reasonable. But when placed together, they formed a clear path. A path that he himself had followed without realizing it.

For a brief moment, a trace of anger surfaced within him. Aksai had always considered himself cautious, someone who planned ahead and controlled the flow of events around him.

Yet now, it felt as if someone had studied that very nature of his and used it against him. They had not forced him or cornered him. Instead, they had nudged him, step by step, in a direction they had already chosen for him. It felt like being swindled by clever men who knew exactly how to deal with someone who valued caution above all else.

But the anger did not last long. It faded as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by something else—understanding, and a faint sense of admiration. Aksai could not deny it. The royal faction had played this well. Very well.

He had believed that relocating the guild's base to the mainland was a smart and necessary decision. It had solved the immediate security issues of the island and reduced the risk of hidden threats.

From his perspective at the time, it had been the logical move. But now, looking at it from a different angle, he could see the cost that had come with that decision.

By bringing the guild to the mainland, he had not only expanded its reach but also turned it into a gathering point.

Wandering cultivators from across the subcontinent could now access it more easily, and while that had strengthened the guild's influence, it had also made those same people easier to approach. The guild had unknowingly become a beacon, drawing in exactly the kind of individuals the royal faction wanted.

And the royal faction had simply waited.

They had not rushed. They had not interfered directly. They had allowed the guild to grow, allowed the people to gather, and then quietly stepped in to recruit from the shadows. It was clean, efficient, and required very little force.

Aksai almost felt like laughing, though no sound came out. The move was simple when seen clearly, yet it had been hidden well enough that even he had not noticed it at the time.

Was he really that smart with Neural Link Fabric implanted in his soul? He felt like he had been humbled by someone he couldn't even see.

'So this is how it is. These royal faction bastards… They managed to trick me into helping them. What kind of brilliant chess move is that,' he thought.

In trying to secure his foundation, he had unknowingly created an opportunity for someone else. The realization did not unsettle him as much as it might have before. Instead, it sharpened his understanding of the situation he was in. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

After a moment, Aksai lifted his gaze and looked at Prince Arven again.

The game in front of him had become clearer. And he understood one thing without doubt—the royal faction was not just ambitious. They were patient, careful, and far more calculating than they appeared on the surface.

'Well… what's done is done,' he finally thought to himself.

'I can't move my guild's base back to the island now. If I do that, it might alert the royal faction. They will start paying more attention to me, and that is the last thing I want right now.

'The best thing I can do is use this information in my own way. If I play this right, I can use it to build a stronger alliance with the Purple River Sect. That will give me more stability on the mainland in the chaos that is about to unfold in the future.'

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AN: Aksai relocates his guild base on the mainland in chapter 724.