Staying in Duke's Mansion

 In the end, he agreed to the Duke's invitation. Unfortunately, he couldn't bring any of his lovers to the mansion. He had implored the Duke, who refused the request.

 However, the Duke agreed to let him leave after one night of staying. The invite is a way to protect him from being robbed by anyone, from rogue cultivators to powerful families. If he says, to stay for the night and go through a secret passage that may or may not be there and go to his home while under a disguise, well, it's nobody's business.

 The Duke then leads him to the mansion, which might as well be a palace with how big it is. Apparently, Nobles of any kingdom could not stay in a palace, as such designation is used to describe the home of the royal family.

 However, the Nobles could create a building with a similar design to a palace, but they could not call it a palace despite actually being one and had to call their abode a mansion. The power play between the royals and the nobles can be confusing for someone who didn't even spend a year outside his home.

 He was given a big room, though the Duke called it a regular guest room. Which makes him wonder, how big is the Duke's room before deciding to not delve deeper into that train of thought.

 He instead focused on examining his room and finding, to his delight, the presence of an Energy Gathering Formation. He almost cultivated right there but then remembered his current condition. He didn't know whether he should laugh or cry at his current dilemma.

 'To be strong, one has to wait first,' he thought to himself, what he said perfectly describing his current status. However, he still used the formation, not wanting the Duke to feel suspicious just because he didn't use the formation at all.

-x-

 After a quick cultivation session, he had used the energy to help him comprehend the Celestial Energy Art and the Imperious Lightning Scripture, both of which would help him the most in the hidden realm, he examined the content of the storage rings given by the Duke.

 To his delight, the storage rings contain a lot of precious items. In the first one, there are a lot of Grade 6 and above pills inside. Grade 6 forms the majority of the content while there were even Grade 7 and one Grade 8 pill.

 As for the next storage ring, it was less exciting as he already had some weapons. But then again, his weapons are due to be replaced, his current strength could make use of a more powerful weapon, along with his lovers who could use brand new weapons.

 There was a plethora of weapons despite the small space, at least compared to his own storage ring, one that was present inside the Hidden Ancient Mansion and could be taken out for his use.

 He grabbed the High-Grade Genesis Weapon, a sword that seemed to emit lightning, which complemented him greatly. As for his lovers, he let them choose their weapons.

 The third one contained several rare and precious materials, all in Grade 6 and above. Similar to before, the majority of it is in Grade 6 with a few in Grade 7 and one in Grade 8. The Grade 8 material is called Lightning Eagle Feather. He wondered if the Duke already suspected he would win or if there were two sets of storage rings to be given out based on who won the final match.

 He then looked at the other two storage rings, both having a life-saving item inside them. Though one is a talisman and one is an item. He took the two things out and read the description given.

 "Energy Cloning Talisman, create a clone from your qi to act as bait. The clone in question looks the same and has the same aura as the user. The user will also teleported somewhere else during the process, allowing one to escape.

 "Wooden Puppet Substitution. A wooden puppet that will change according to the users. If the user is in a life-threatening scenario, the wooden puppet will take the user's place when the user is in grave danger. The user is teleported somewhere far away while using this item,"

 He let out a smile. With these two items, if he ever comes to a dangerous situation, he would be able to escape easily. He does wonder if he ever gets the chance to use it though. After all, his strength likely increased greatly after he formed a True Genesis Core, meaning it would likely not come to use at all.

 "Best to have this even if it's likely I will never use it," he said to himself. In the case he didn't use it, he could always give it to his lovers who take on a dangerous mission or something similar.

 His little musing was broken when someone knocked on the door. He opened it, to see the same servant who had shown him the room earlier.

 "The Duke would like to invite you for dinner," the servant told him. Ryker nodded before changing to more appropriate clothing. After all, while it was something like a dinner, he needed to be presentable to a noble who ruled this territory.

 Not to mention, the Duke also gave him a wardrobe filled with new clothes. It would be a shame if he didn't find use for them.

-x-

 He arrived at the dining room, though it was smaller than he expected. The servant seemed to read his mind before whispering, "This is the Duke's private dining area. He only used the main one when entertaining more numerous guests or some visiting nobles or delegation from the Kingdom,"

 Ryker nodded in understanding before taking the seat across from the Duke, who nodded at him, acknowledging his presence. Several servants went to the kitchen, likely grabbing the food for tonight.

 While they waited for the food, the Duke spoke, "So, you have a lot of lovers for a brat," his words, while seeming cruel, had a teasing tone in them. Ryker was not surprised the Duke knew about them, after all, he had talked about them and the Duke also offered protection to his group so it was to be expected.

 "A rather unusual way to start a conversation, my Lord," a proper way to address a noble is by calling the Lord or Lady, based on the gender. 

 "True, but I begin it this way to see your attitude while answering unexpected questions," the Duke replied smoothly.

 "Oh, and why did the mighty Duke do that for?" he asked.

 "It's because I would like to request you to do something for me,"

 "And what is the request the Duke had in mind?"

 "Show me your true strength, tomorrow preferably,"