Badge in Azure

Grand Duke Platinum immediately said to Saleen very respectfully, “I know what to do, Master Saleen.”

He would address Saleen as ‘master’ from then on out, knowing full well that Saleen had renounced his status as a king, carrying himself only as a powerful mage.

“Good. I have quite an amicable relationship with Grand Duke Iron Blood. You best not get on his bad side. I’ll be informing him later.” What Saleen just said made Grand Duke Platinum very happy. He was most afraid that Grand Duke Iron Blood would go around bullying people like him.

Saleen put the Grand Duke, who had quite a background, at ease, before telling the Grand Duke of his plans. Saleen was about to send an army huge enough to plug the gate of the divine kingdom off for the time being.

He would announce the establishment of the Fifth Dynasty within a month, gathering soldiers from all places to participate in the crowning battle.

Of course, the Nature Faith would participate in the event as well. All who perished in the war would be blessed by the Goddess of Nature, which meant that those who perished had a chance of keeping their souls intact, and even being reincarnated. That was a teaching by the Goddess of Nature that everyone knew well.

Saleen laid that down and had no fear that the goddess would refuse the proposal, for that would be one of the ways to enhance the powers of the goddess.

Saleen easily let the Grand Duke contact the other clans and began to amass the true power Cloudflow was able to bring forth. If Saleen had gone easy on those huge clans, they would not have moved. They had to see something that they could gain. Any forces who refused to aid in the assault of the divine kingdom, he would have memorized using magic, making sure that those clans would have had no place in the Fifth Dynasty.

What Saleen needed to do from then on out would be very simple. He returned to Holy Rock City, bringing a team of his most powerful mages and discussing with Lex right away, before calling the Qin nobles to gather and throw a grand feast in the royal palace.

Emissaries sent by Saleen extended invitations to every single noble. It was a feast that they were not allowed to refuse.

Noble clans who were absent from the feast would be kicked out of the circle of nobles for good.

Saleen had no intentions of keeping the circle of nobles around. In his plan, the Fifth Dynasty was to become a dynasty of mages. Any clan without mages in their midst would eventually be taken out of the picture by the course of history itself.

Even Saleen was excited. What he had planned was the process of creating history. He had never thought that he would be the one to shape the history of a plane.

Saleen never calculated just how many nobles there were in Holy Rock City, assuming that there would be thousands of them. Of course, there were few more than 100 capable of assuming noble titles. All the others were simply honorary nobles.

Regardless of how tightly the Qin Empire controlled the nobles, the empire still would not be able to solve some problems. There were simply too many titles a dynasty had to hand out as time went on. The honorary nobles were still nobles, and Saleen had no intention of giving them up. They were still influential people with a commanding presence and deep pockets, after all.

Anyone capable of reaching such statuses would have at least some abilities. In order to establish a dynasty, there would definitely be a need for powerful professionals, but it was also imperative to have people in lower social statuses with organizational skills. Saleen saw fit to give those nobles a chance.

The feast was held at a garden in the royal palace, but not in the garden itself. It was held on a hovering huge platform right above the garden. Saleen was able to craft many hovering materials from the experience of working on the Floating City. The materials were useful for making flying machines, but Saleen kept the materials around instead of doing so. The hovering platform only required a single magic furnace to take flight and hover several hundred meters above ground.

Saleen did not let the platform take such a high altitude. He simply left it hanging 30 meters off the ground, before setting up 12 ladders, which were all wide enough for the nobles to get up without their shoulders rubbing against each other.

Lex and Saleen sat side by side, and there was a tall golden seat below Lex. The seat that Saleen sat on was a mage’s chair.

Saleen arrived half an hour before everyone else, and he found that only half of the reserved seats were taken. The other half had yet to show. He deemed that those cunning fools were still on the fence at the moment. He had thrown the feast to make a very important announcement. Many nobles had the feeling that something significant would be at play, and they all headed to the House of Lords or House of Commons.

Of all the members of both houses, only one-fourth expressed their intentions of backing Lex. It was totally different from when Lex ascended the throne the first time. She had the entire House of Lords in her grasp then.

But Saleen was not angry. At the very least, Prince Safilos had showed up.

That prince had advanced to level 12, making him qualified to be a powerful professional. He no longer resented Safilos like he once did, taking the other man to just be one of Lex’s uncles.

Safilos was arranged to be seated at Lex’ left, in the first seat.

He turned around to look at Saleen, very puzzled. Saleen gathered the nobles very solemnly, but he did not make his reasons for doing so clear.

Safilos being a prince was of little importance. The nobles in the Qin Empire had their own powers, which were not something he could have robbed them off.

“Time’s up. Let’s begin,” Saleen said. He waved, and the mages of Metatrin City went to activate the magic power furnace. There were magic power furnaces on standby on the hovering platform. Having all five activated would allow the platform to fly at great speeds.

Shouts and shrieks were heard all over the platform as it rose to a height of over 1,000 meters. Anyone who was incapable of flight was so frightened that their legs would have given out if they looked down over the edge.

“Alright, let the feast begin.” Saleen paid no heed to the nobles’ reactions. A portal at his side opened. It led to the 12 Notes of First Purgatory. Demon waiters emerged from within and began putting down food and drinks on the tables.

The nobles found that the hovering platform was sealed off by a formless energy barrier. There was no gale or mist to be seen. Everything looked crystal clear. If they had looked down, they would have seen a shrunken Holy Rock City right below them.

There were many transparent places beneath their feet, allowing those present to enjoy the view below them.

Saleen had even had good wine prepared, all of which had a low alcohol content, which fit the taste of Qin people, so much so that the thickness was just right. There was little to be complained about the food. Demons were a bloodthirsty race, but they were gourmet chefs. If the demons were to be forced to eat humans and had plenty of time to do so, they would add a lot of spices and condiments to their ‘dish’ before eating them.

Many of the demons by Saleen’s side were chefs. Mages had little need for good food, but that was not to say that soldiers could eat crappy food all the time. One of the most economical ways of maintaining morale within an army was to have chefs among them. There were many instances that good soups on cold nights worked better than giving them gold.

The nobles were exasperated, for it was no longer possible for them to leave. No one would have been willing to leap from a height of 1000 meters, after all.

Saleen’s attitude was very clear by then. Those who were there had given him a positive impression. Those who did not show up or planned to come late would no longer have the chance to get onto the platform.

The layout on the platform was not very different from feasts usually held in the palaces. The only difference was that there were more tables. Those who sat at Saleen’s table were all old, hereditary nobles. Saleen raised his glass first, toasting Safilos together with Lex.

Saleen and Safilos made small talk. What he said might have only been small talk to the ones attending the feast, but to him, those were matters of utmost importance.

Saleen was discussing how to best keep the Nature Faith in control with Safilos, who no longer had the power he once had in the empire. That, coincidentally, made him the best man to manage affairs with the faith.

Saleen did so on purpose. Safilos’ territory had already been turned into a harbor. Two fleets were already stationed there, placing a complete lockdown on nearby sea routes. If the Cloudflow people wanted to get to the eastern shores of Qin, they would have to take detours that were thousands of kilometers long.

Safilos had long been irked by the Nature Faith. However, he had had to make compromises with Saleen due to making huge changes to Golden Plains and keeping things at Holy Rock City under control. He thought Saleen would have wanted to continue to expand the faith, which had actually shaken the foundations of the empire.

At present, however, Saleen took the initiative to talk about keeping the faith in control, which made Safilos feel rather excited.

However, what Saleen said had pissed Safilos off considerably.

“Ladies and gentlemen. I’ve gathered everyone at this feast to make a very important announcement. The Qin Empire shall be no more in a month.”

Countless mages cast Silence at the nobles, keeping the place from turning chaotic. Saleen looked at Safilos with a beaming smile and said, “of course, among the four empires, Qin will be the last to go.”

“Saleen!” Safilos did not get hit by Silence. However, all that he said was Saleen’s name, gnashing his teeth while he did so. He did not say anything else and instead glared at Saleen. If Saleen were to have any intentions of annexing the empire, he would be willing to even die in front of Lex, just to show her how devious her husband had been.

“Relax, uncle.” Lex was hardly fettered. Saleen had not elaborated what would happen after, but he did tell her that he no longer had any intentions for her to keep living her days of being a lonely empress.

“Lex, shall be the establishing emperor of the Fifth Dynasty. There shall be massive changes to the structure of the dynasty, and those changes shall last for 100 years. Any clans without mages in their midst after 100 years shall no longer be considered noble clans.”

Saleen’s words were cold, but the nobles’ hearts were even colder. They were fortunate to even have low level mages in their clans. Despite Qin being made into an empire of mages, many wondered how many lords among their clans would be willing to pick up something as boring as magic.

It was fortunate that what Saleen followed up with did not let them down.

“Holy Rock City shall be the capital of the Fifth Dynasty, and I shall set up a magic academy there, teaching magic to all. Those of you who came today, I shall send mages to your clans to pick children suitable for learning magic. Of course, it will be your duty to pay for the cost of building this magic academy. Now, you all can take your turn at speed in accordance to your ranks.”

Everyone was still silent, as they were still digesting what Saleen had just said.

Holy Rock City would still be the capital, and the ones present had the opportunity to send children in their clans to learn magic, which would enable them to maintain their statuses as nobles. That also meant that Saleen still valued them after all.

“I disagree.” An elder of the House of Commons stood right before Saleen.

“State your reasons.”

“I am a noble of the Qin Empire. I will absolutely never accept the rule of this Fifth Dynasty or whatever it is.” That elder of the Fifth Dynasty looked at Saleen arrogantly.

“Throw him off.” Saleen did not even get to finish the three words before two demons walked up to the elder and hoisted the elder of the House of Commons off, dropping him through an opening beneath them from the height of 1000 meters.