Wei Chen’s answer left the official stunned for a moment, while Ma Zhong clearly showed signs of relief. For Ma Zhong, he did not want Wei Chen to have any connection or interaction with Ximen Ren at all.

Quickly regaining his composure, the official cupped his fists and bowed apologetically.

"Then this official must apologize for inconveniencing you, Young Master Wei. In the future, if you ever need anything from us, even if you ask this official to climb a mountain of blades or cross a sea of fire, this official will not even blink," the official declared righteously.

As for Wei Chen, he merely smiled, but it was the smile of someone who knew the other party was spouting complete BS and chose to listen to it anyway.

Seeing Wei Chen smile, the official thought he had finally left the impression of a righteous official on Young Master Wei. The official became even more excited. He needed to report this to Young Master Ximen Ren!

"Then this official shall take his leave first," the official said before leading his group back to the convoy.

However, he could not help glancing at Ma Zhong as if to say that he had won this round of the game.

Seeing that smile, Ma Zhong nearly failed to stop himself from rushing forward and slapping this bastard to death in a single strike.

"Ah~ Take care of yourself." Wei Chen waved goodbye to the official, causing the man to become even more giddy. He quickly cupped his fists and bowed toward Wei Chen once again.

After the official entered the freighter flying ark like a victorious man and the engines began running in preparation to enter the Void Lane, Wei Chen’s smile vanished. Replacing it was a mocking grin.

"What utter BS, I’d say. That guy seemed more eager to invite us into his merry little band than to hurry up and deliver food to help the ’people’," Wei Chen said, emphasizing the word "people" in an obvious mocking tone.

Even though he was not a politician, he had seen enough political BS in his previous life to recognize it whenever he saw it.

"Yeah, maybe it’s just me, but I think people like that are everywhere," Bob agreed while munching on popcorn.

"Wait... Lord Wei... you didn’t believe him?" Ma Zhong asked.

Wei Chen scoffed. "Heh... c’mon, I know I may not look like it, but I do have a brain, you know?"

"Then why did Lord Wei allow them to..." Ma Zhong wanted to continue and ask why he had allowed them to go before him. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

But he could not finish the sentence.

At this point, it was all politics.

If Wei Chen had not allowed them to pass first, then the issue of the western district granary being burned down would have become even bigger. Ximen Ren would not have been able to avoid responsibility and would have had no choice but to take the blame.

Then his young master, Ximen Hao, could have used this chance to crush whatever ambitions Ximen Ren still held in his heart. Of course, the instability caused by people not receiving food would still remain, but still...

Wei Chen looked deeply into Ma Zhong’s eyes. He knew exactly what this man was thinking.

"Even though that official guy might be full of crap, the people will still face a real problem. A lot of people could die because of this, and that’s a big no for me," said Wei Chen.

Of course, as the Underworld’s most valuable employee, if he could prevent people from dying, he would do so. After all, it was related to his probation.

Hearing Wei Chen’s words, Ma Zhong could not help but praise him in his heart. This young master was truly benevolent. No wonder his own young master, Ximen Hao, had been improving and becoming more and more competent lately. It was clearly because Young Master Wei’s benevolence and mercy had rubbed off on him!

"Anyhow..." Wei Chen changed the subject before turning toward Bob. "Bobby, is your master’s place far from the border?"

"No, it’s pretty close. You want to go there now?" Bob asked.

"Yes." Wei Chen nodded. "Rather than wasting time here, I’d rather go there and check it out first. That’s the most important thing right now," said Wei Chen.

After that, Wei Chen returned to his flying ark together with Bob and Ma Zhong. At the moment, Ma Zhong and the people on the small flying ark were serving as Ximen Hao’s representatives, so they could not just leave their honored guest alone.

Because of that, they decided to head to Bob’s master’s place together.

— Meanwhile - Immortal Realm —

Upon a cliff above the sea of clouds stood a vast and magnificent palace gleaming with gold and pure white spirit jade. People moved back and forth throughout the palace, busy with their daily duties. Even the weakest servants were at the Great Ascension Realm, while the strongest guard captains had reached the True Immortal Realm.

In this place, where the spiritual qi was denser and the laws of space far stronger, only those at the True Immortal Realm or above could truly fly. As for those at the Pseudo Immortal Realm, they could only remain airborne for a short time before needing to descend and rest.

Here, the Great Ascension Realm was not much different from mortals in the lower realms. They were the lowest rung, the very foundation of the Immortal Realm’s hierarchy.

That was because every infant born here, every native of the Immortal Realm, was born directly into the Great Ascension Realm.

Inside this palace, the man who ruled over this vast territory and dictated the lives and deaths of countless people sat upon the throne within the audience hall.

He was a middle-aged man with long black hair. His beard and mustache gave him the appearance of an honorable and righteous ruler. His eagle-like eyes radiated determination, sharp and straight like a drawn sword.

At that moment, one of the officials in the audience hall stepped forward.

"Your Highness, Long Yuan, the situation at the border is starting to deteriorate. We should reinforce our borders and make the contenders think twice before using our territory as a staging ground for their campaign!" the official declared firmly.

Long Yuan shook his head.

"There is no need. The border situation is very delicate. We can reinforce it, but we should not reveal too much of our hand. Spread word that a dangerous thief escaped from the capital and subtly increase the number of soldiers stationed at the border."

"This way, the contenders will not think we reinforced the borders because of them. They will lower their guard, while we will still have enough forces to respond in case of an emergency," Long Yuan said with his usual stern expression.

"Your Highness is wise!" the official praised before stepping back into position.

But before the next official could step forward, the space within the court cracked apart, and powerful underworld qi leaked from the fractured void.

"Protect His Highness!" someone shouted.

Immediately, all the hidden experts revealed themselves and rushed to guard the throne, surrounding Long Yuan protectively.

As for Long Yuan, his eyes narrowed and his face paled the moment he sensed the powerful underworld qi leaking from the crack in space. However, he quickly concealed it, and his stern, stoic demeanor returned.

Crash!

The sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the hall.

A bony hand reached out from the crack in space, gripping the fractured edge before pulling itself free from the void.

The figure that emerged had a skull for a face, with undying green underworld flames burning brightly within its eye sockets. Its features were sharp and terrifying. The underworld qi surrounding it was so dense that merely looking at the creature caused the experts present to feel their chests tighten, making it difficult to breathe calmly.

"Who are you!? State your name and purpose!" one of the experts shouted bravely despite every instinct screaming that the being before him was strong... hundreds of times, no, thousands of times stronger than him. Compared to it, he was no more than an ant.

The skull-faced figure said nothing. It merely turned its gaze toward Long Yuan.

Long Yuan maintained his stoic composure before calmly speaking.

"Everyone leave. He is a guest who came at my invitation. I need to have a private discussion with him," Long Yuan said firmly.

The experts and officials all stared at their sovereign as if he had gone mad. They could all sense how terrifyingly powerful this skull monster was. Why was their lord not trying to escape!?

"But... Your Highness..." the leader of the experts hesitated while glancing between the skull-faced being and his king.

"Did you not hear my order? Leave," Long Yuan repeated calmly. He did not raise his voice. He simply stated his command once more.

"Yes, Your Highness!" the expert leader replied before bowing and leading the others out of the audience hall.

After everyone had left, Long Yuan nodded toward the skull-faced figure before leading him toward his private study.

Inside the study, Long Yuan stopped in front of the desk while the skull-faced figure walked past him and casually sat down in the chair behind it.

At that moment, Long Yuan’s stoic expression changed completely. A fawning smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Oh! Your Excellency, why did you personally come here? If you required anything, a single decree would have been enough for this humble one to handle it for you," Long Yuan said. There was no trace left of the stern and righteous king from before.