ATG 10

Carl stood stiffly outside the main doors of Duke Huai's manor estates in the capital. He watched as the soldiers under his command rounded up the family members of the Duke's Palace. He did his best to ignore the wailing of the women and children as they were dragged out and placed in chains.

In such a cultivation world, even children as young as 8 could have the strength needed to lift a car or more, depending on their cultivation. So they couldn't be treated completely as non combatants. The cultivator in the empire with the highest cultivation was Caiyi, so it was obvious that even "weak" women could be incredibly dangerous in this world and must be treated as such.

It still went against Carl's instincts to be so strict with civilians who weren't an immediate threat, but in a dynastic Empire, they had to root out all the traitor's families to ensure they didn't have a platform and resources to grow up and rebel again.

From what Carl could figure, they were already being merciful by not putting them to the sword. At least in the future their children or children's children would have a chance to work themselves out of slavery. Maybe.

And that was a concept so very against Carl's moral upbringing. Slavery. Such an ugly concept for one raised with the belief that all men are created equal. That all men had a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Faced with such a grey topic of morality, Carl wasn't sure what his answer would ultimately be. When the only choices were between slavery and death, what was the right answer?

But here and now, Carl had already made his choice. He would stand with his lover, Caiyi. He would not abandon or condemn her because she was forced to make tough decisions to maintain her family's legacy. Eventually Carl realized that he was even forced to contemplate such grey questions because of the actions of traitors.

That was the main thing to keep in mind, Carl decided. Everything that was happening now was because a family of traitors desired power above all else. Their ancestors had made oaths and promises to uphold the Empire. They had made the same oaths while growing up. They chose to betray everything their family stood for, betray their allies, and betray their leader, and betray the empire.

If they had not turned traitor, Carl would not have been put in this position. He would not have to contemplate bloody no win scenarios. It wouldn't do to take his anger at the circumstances out on his allies when it was the traitors that pissed him off and put him in such a morally grey position. So Carl put the blame where it was warranted.

When the last of the prisoners was carted off, Carl led the efforts to tear apart the manor and strip it of anything valuable. Every piece of information that could give them a clue about how the traitors had operated.

Who they employed, who they blackmailed, who they undercut, betrayed, and killed. All the information they could glean would help them put the Empire back together again, and place safeguards to protect against such a thing from happening again.

Several hours later Carl returned to the palace and reported everything he'd found, passing over a number of spatial rings to Caiyi.

"Thank you, Carl. I'm glad you're here to help me with this mess." Caiyi said with a weary smile as she tucked herself under his arm as they sat together on a couch.

"It's a right mess, that's for sure. Just let me know what you need me to do to make things easier for you." Carl replied in a comforting manner as he rubbed her back.

With the day over, and marching orders assigned to their subordinates, Carl and Caiyi retired for the evening to their chambers. The servants were well trained to ignore certain sounds that came from out of their master's chambers in such times.

XX

Over the next few weeks as Carl worked hard to help reorganize the empire, he came to a realization. In the cultivation world, the strong demanded obedience from the less strong because then they could just order their subordinates to do the nitty gritty work, thus leaving them more time to cultivate and continue to stay strong.

After the first week where Carl was seeing to everything himself, he realized that he couldn't keep up the effort. Not if he wanted to spend any amount of time on pursuits that would be more profitable in the end. His own cultivation, refining medicines and pills, and crafting tools. All those were things only he could do, or only he could do to such a high standard.

So he realized that he was wasting his needed talents in administration work. Once he realized that, he started looking for talents among Caiyi's people that he could assign work to and trust that they would get it done.

He soon found a number of people that were good at administration, negotiations, and other such jobs and started handing out assignments to them. As they accomplished the feats, he rewarded them for a job well done, or scolded them for failing to accomplish their tasks and sent them out to try, try again.

With a large part of the workload he picked up to help Caiyi organize being handled by his new subordinates, Carl turned to gathering samples of resources so he could start producing them in his farms.

The first thing he looked into was producing an Overlord pill. It would help cultivators overcome the bottleneck to breaking into the Tyrant Profound Realm. If he could produce a large number of the pills, then they could start filling up their ranks with Overlords to replace all the ones they lost due to the actions of the traitors. Getting their overall strength back up to par was a high priority.

Even though the Empire had placed arrays that blocked the Sacred Grounds from teleporting to the Illusory Demon Realm, obviously it didn't completely seal off the continent, since Duke Ming had been able to remain in contact with them. And so they were still a threat.

The Empire desperately needed to quickly regain their strength before the Sacred Grounds realized how weak they currently were.

He had several recipes for the Overlord pills in his mind from the medical knowledge his perk granted him. The quality and effectiveness of the pill varied depending on the ingredients and the methods of preparations. Carl sent out lists of herb ingredients, and after a month received at least one of each, that he introduced to his Farm.

He then had the VIs that managed his inns and properties start purchasing local foods to stock their kitchens. It lessened the amount of money he made, but at this point, being the Consort of the Empress, he didn't have to worry about money, really.

He was then able to repurpose most of his farm space to producing the ingredient for making pills and medicine.

While the Overlord pills were important, Carl also realized he needed to make pills and medicines to help cultivators get to the Emperor stage in the first place. If there were no candidates to take the Overlord pills, then they would just sit there, a wasted resource.

So after gathering all the herbs needed, Carl planned to spend time in his Heavenly Time Pearl, which was finally charged up, and refine all the pills needed to help Caiyi get her forces back up to where they should be and more.

There was one key aspect of the Heavenly Time Pearl that raised it above all the other time manipulation devices that were out there. With most devices, the elapsed time inside would be counted against a cultivator's lifespan. But the Heavenly Time Pearl defied the ordinary rules. Any time spent inside wouldn't detract from their lifespan.

It would be a poor Heaven defying treasure that caused a cultivator to use up his entire lifespan in one night if he couldn't break through and increase his cultivation realm to have a longer life span. There was a reason that the entire Cultivation world would hunt after an individual who had a Heavenly Treasure. Only those who hid the news or had a large enough organization to protect them could hold on to their Heavenly Treasures.

So Carl and Caiyi spent a couple centuries in the Heavenly Time Pearl over the next two days. It had been a long time since Caiyi had been able to just relax and let down the burden and stress of ruling. Nearly 100 years, in fact, ever since she was made the ruler after her brother was killed.

So being able to spend time simply relaxing and watching a movie without worries, or training without her bloodline's fire burning her, or simply reading a book for enjoyment, was almost a novel experience for her.

Carl's Farms were in full production for pill ingredients. He had enough food stored to last the two of them for many years, even though they didn't really need to eat all that often at their level of cultivation. And he could always have some small parts of the Farms repurposed to provide them food.

While a large majority of Carl's time was spent refining pills or crafting arrays and magical items, he still kept up a small daily routine of cultivation and martial practice. It wouldn't do to spend so much time in time compression and not come out even stronger.

The refining process for the Overlord pills was a long and exacting one. Each batch would take 30 years to finish, while producing dozens of pills. Carl was determined to build up their forces, so he made several batches of all the pills needed before being satisfied and exiting the Heavenly Time Pearl.

Carl made a lot of progress in his cultivation level. Both he and Caiyi entered the Divine Origin Realm around the same time. Their cultivation speed slowed down greatly after that. Apparently in the lower worlds, the profound energy wasn't thick enough to continue to support their speedy cultivation speed.

Despite Carl's fear of breaking through into the seventh level of the Great Way of the Buddha causing him to explode, he couldn't stop himself from breaking through. Due to the incredible comprehension abilities from the Heart of Snow Glazed Glass and the constant powering up of the Dragon God's Bloodline, he accidentally broke through after a few decades in the Time Pearl.

Either it was an effect of the Nine Profound Exquisite Body that was able to handle the huge amounts of energy, or an effect of the Heavenly Time Pearl, Carl was just fine when he broke through. The pagoda that was a manifestation of his skill with the technique turned into a mix of deep gold and light jade.

The regeneration and strength his body had when he broke through had a huge jump. He practically never got tired anymore.

Carl had long since mastered the seventh stage of the Golden Crow's Record of the Burning world. While Caiyi continued practicing the lower levels of the Golden Crow's Record, Carl started experimenting with his shadow, wind, water, and lightning affinities. His comprehension was so absurd that he was able to jump far ahead of Caiyi in the fire skills, so he wanted to work on his other elements while Caiyi caught up to his skill level.

It took Carl a long time to figure out the best training methods for the other elements, since he didn't have a guide and cheat like the Golden Crow's Record for those elements. Even though he had many cultivation records from the Royal Library, he needed to figure out which ones were correct in their training methods.

But while it took him a long time to figure out, as he communed with the elements he slowly puzzled out many secrets of how to use the elements.

In some of her spare time, Caiyi took to perusing his library. The movies that he had shown her had opened her eyes to different cultures than the one she was born with. It was fascinating to her. She was especially interested in the magic texts, seeing what was possible with magic that the cultivators of profound energy never tried to do before. It somewhat made him sad that he didn't have a way to induce magical ability in others like he did with profound cultivation.

Now that Carl had extra time available, and with Caiyi's interest, he finally got around to building his own Room of Requirement. The room that could become anything allowed Carl and Caiyi to spend time in recreations of any place they could think of. It added more to the feel that they were on vacation at times.

Carl was also able to delve into many of the magics and sciences that he hadn't had time to study before. He would have to thank Hermione for insisting he stock up his library with everything the HP world could provide, science wise, the next time he saw her. Even though he thought he wouldn't have enough time to study all the science knowledge, it turned out that she was right and he was glad to have those books.

By the time Carl and Caiyi exited the Heavenly Time Pearl, they were both in the third stage of the Divine Origin Realm. Caiyi especially was rejuvenated from her long training and vacation time. She had been able to consider for a long time just what to do with her Empire when they exited time dilation.

With new plans, and all the pills that Carl refined to use as bribes and rewards for her people, Caiyi began working on making her Empire run the way she wanted it to. Carl would occasionally help out, but it was mostly her show as she trained her people to work the way she wanted them to.

She knew she couldn't make huge changes all at once, or she would get too much blowback, and people would stop working wholeheartedly. But little changes here and there were implemented.

One of the things that continued to keep Caiyi centered, was that Carl had Yun Xiao and Seventh Sister continue coming around for twice a week for training or simply to hang out. In private Seventh Sister continued to treat Sister Caiyi exactly like she had before she knew Caiyi was the Demon Empress. Having that kind of intimate friendship was helpful for keeping Caiyi feeling refreshed and balanced amidst all the stress of ruling an Empire.

Several months after they swept away all the traitors, the Empire had stabilized and Carl and Caiyi were wed in a grand ceremony.

Carl was quite glad that he had gotten the Heavenly Time Pearl. It had been a while since he felt so settled down. With the knowledge always in the back of his mind that he would leave a world behind after 10 years, he never really bothered making long term plans. He had begun feeling like a transient.

But with all the domestic time he spent with Caiyi, he was feeling…good. He sometimes spent a bit of time imagining just how great it would feel when he had this kind of life with everyone that he'd grown to love over the years in the Jumpchain.

Two months before the Hundred Year Celebration of Caiyi's rule, which meant that Carl had been in the world for five years and ten months, Yun Xiao showed up with a long face, obviously feeling down.

It took Carl sitting him down and pouring a couple cups of wine in him before he finally told Carl what was bothering him.

"I just found out that I'm adopted. Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou aren't my real parents." Yun Xiao muttered.

"Yeah, I know." Carl responded before slapping him on the back of his head.

"What was that for!?" Yun Xiao aggrievedly exclaimed. "And what do you mean, you know?"

"That was for being an idiot and saying they weren't your real parents." Carl responded. "I've known ever since I healed your parents that you were adopted. It didn't seem important at the time. Besides, how was I to know you didn't know?" Carl responded. "Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou are your parents in every way that matters. They raised you, cared for you, loved you, taught you as you grew up. At most all it means is that you have two sets of parents. They will never not love you, or stop being your parents. And didn't they arrange your betrothal to someone who you love? See, they are looking out for you."

Yun Xiao just had a stunned look of revelation on his face. "Yeah, you're right. I've been a fool."

Carl shrugged. "Eh, happens to the best of us. So, what brought this on anyway? How did you find out you were adopted?"

Yun Xiao looked over at Carl, blinking for a moment. "Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you that part. Their biological son, Yun Che, showed up one day while Seventh Sister and I were on a picnic. He was asking for directions, so we brought him back to the city. After some time and meeting our parents, it came out that he was their biological son." Yun Xiao shrugged. "I suddenly felt like an outsider when they found out." He stated, embarrassed.

"Hmm, well, Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou are probably a little worried about you running off then. So what's the story anyway about how you ended up getting switched?" Carl asked.

Yun Xiao then told him the tale of how, when Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou were on the Profound Sky Continent looking for Yun Canghai, they had met Yun Xiao's biological father, Xiao Ying. Xiao Ying and Yun Qinghong had became sworn brothers while adventuring around. Both were upright and forward kinds of men. They had immediately felt a kinship with each other.

So after adventuring together for some time, they went their own ways. Sometime later, when Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou were ambushed by members from the Sacred Ground while Mu Yurou was pregnant with Yun Che, they had sought temporary refuge with Xiao Ying to recover before running again. Mu Yurou had borne Yun Che that night, the same time that Yun Xiao had been born.

Xiao Ying, knowing that they were pursued by the Sacred Grounds and knowing that it was basically a death sentence, had switched Yun Che and Yun Xiao, in order that Yun Qinghong's son might have a chance at living and that his bloodline wouldn't go extinct.

Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou, however, managed to escape the blockade and made their way back to the Illusory Demon Realm with Yun Xiao before they succumbed to their wounds. They realized later what Xiao Ying had done, thinking that he was sacrificing his own son to preserve Yun Qinghong's family line, they honored Xiao Ying by raising Yun Xiao as their own son, giving him the name Xiao to honor his blood family.

Meanwhile the members of the Sacred Grounds had followed Yun Qinghong's trail, and tortured Xiao Ying to death while trying to get answers he wouldn't give about where the couple were. Xiao Ying's wife died soon thereafter, weakened from giving birth and grief at the loss of her husband and son.

Xiao Lie was Xiao Ying's father, and he raised Yun Che alongside his daughter, Xiao Lingxi, after his own wife passed away.

Yun Che hadn't gone into great detail about his adventures, but he was here now and reunited with his biological family.

Yun Xiao admitted to Carl that since he wasn't of the Yun Family blood, he was thinking about changing his name to Xiao Yun. Xiao was his biological family name, and taking on the name Yun would continue to honor the Yun Family that had raised him.

"Whether you choose to keep the name Yun Xiao, or change it to Xiao Yun, you will still be the same person that Seventh Sister loves. You'll still be mine and Caiyi's friend. So whatever you choose is good." Carl assured his friend. "Now, let's get a few more drinks in you before you return to your family for the evening." Carl said decisively before pouring more drinks.

After chatting for another hour, Carl sent Xiao Yun on his way back to his family. Xiao Yun had eventually decided that he would choose that name. While he was strongly bonded to his Yun parents, he didn't have a lot of good memories of the Yun Family, even though they were better ever since Carl gave them a talking to. And he didn't want them to think he was trying to cling onto the little Patriarch position now that it was known he didn't have their bloodline.

After Carl sent off Xiao Yun, he went in search of Caiyi. After finding her, Carl relayed the story that Xiao Yun had told him about Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou's time in the Profound Sky Continent.

"I do believe I'm going to make Xiao Yun a Duke." Caiyi eventually decided. "He's loyal, hardworking, and my friend. And his family did a lot for the Yun Family, who has done a lot for my Illusory Demon Royal Family."

Carl chuckled at her pronouncement. "I like it. I can't wait to see his face when you announce it." The two of them chuckled at the good surprise they would soon spring on their friend. "Giving him the standing of a Duke will also settle down any concerns the Under Heaven family has about Seventh Sister's marriage." Carl agreed.

Over their time in the Heavenly Time Pearl, Caiyi had told him about growing up with her father and brother, and how her father's best friend was Yun Canghai, the previous patriarch of the Yun Family. He was her favorite uncle, and he had done a lot for her growing up. She missed him when he disappeared after going in search of her father.

"After this 100 year ceremony, I'm going to do something nice to commemorate Yun Canghai's grandson returning to us." Caiyi said, her eyes unfocused as she thought about her memories of her father's friend who was like an uncle to her. "We still don't know what happened to him." Caiyi frowned.

"When we've built up our forces to make sure our home is secure, we can go find answers from the Four Sacred Grounds. Something tells me they won't be able to handle our methods of questioning and will be more than happy to give us answers." Carl stated with a feral grin. Carl got the message that Caiyi approved when she tackled him in a deep and passionate kiss. Things only got better from there for the rest of the night.

XX

The following two months leading up to the Hundred Year Ceremony was busy. Plenty of Nobles that were stationed around the continent made their way to the Capital for the ceremony to renew their oaths and celebrate the 100th anniversary of Caiyi's reign.

After leaving the time dilation, Carl returned a portion of his Farms to producing food for his inns and properties. They certainly needed it as the population of the Capital swelled for the upcoming ceremony.

Carl was kept busy meeting the nobles as they arrived. His subordinates would arrange housing if they didn't already have property in the city. Since his underlings took care of the details, Carl was left free to make friends and network.

Through networking, he started hearing many tales and stories of just what was around the continent. Despite the planet, Blue Pole Star, only having three continents and the surface was 97% water, each continent was much larger than Asia, Africa, and Europe combined from his original home world. So there were all kinds of nooks and crannies and wild untamed areas that were unknown to most except the locals that lived in the area.

It also made Carl aware of the amazing accomplishment that the original Demon Emperor did in conquering the land. As well as the ability of the subsequent Demon Emperors in keeping the Empire in one piece. There was a reason the members of the Empire were proud of their 10,000 years of history.

And Carl enjoyed hearing the different nobles talking about their homes and lands. They had a large sense of pride in what they accomplished, especially when they had to fight of hordes of beasts to keep themselves safe.

There was another purpose behind all the networking and ceremony and pomp. These were the nobles that Caiyi would be asking to send some of their most promising scions to live in the Capital for years while they trained them up before sending them back.

Caiyi wanted to raise the average profound level of her vassals around the Empire, to make sure they had a deep well of talent to pull from in times of need. With the local nobles strong, the Empire's backbone would be strong and even harder to break than before.

And while they could make it a Royal Command that the different Nobles send their scions to be taught, it took some delicate work to make it viable in the real world. If the nobles weren't convinced that it would benefit them, they would likely send the least talented members of their Clans in to technically fulfill the quota, but it would defeat the purpose that Caiyi was making the program for.

So Carl worked hard to schmooze the nobles and convince them it was in their best interests to wholeheartedly embrace the student exchange program.

On the night of the Ceremony, Carl stood besides Caiyi from just outside the banquet hall as the crowds of nobles filed in. The 12 Guardian Families and the Duke Palaces were seated closest to the Royal seating. Even though many of the Guardian Families and Duke Palaces were placed under the Slave Seals, their prestigious positions and many prerogatives were still granted them, for appearance sake if nothing else. It was all about face and politics. In order to remain an important part of the administration, they had to retain a certain level of position.

Looking over at the Yun Family, Carl saw Xiao Yun accompanying them. Good. And he saw who Carl assumed to be Yun Che. Carl had to admit that Yun Che was a good looking man with good features and an air of competence, danger, and manliness about him.

But what caught Carl's attention was that he saw what looked like a ghostly figure hovering behind Yun Che. It was the figure of a young and petite redhead girl. Carl could sense that even though she had no physical body, she was still very powerful and deadly. And no one else seemed to see her. Not even Caiyi when he asked her.

Carl wondered if it was his Wizarding blood that allowed him to see ghosts that let him see her. He was concerned about what it portended for the ghost to be there.

After a few moments, the young redhead ghost seemed to notice Carl's gaze, and looked over sharply. The feeling of being under her gaze struck Carl. It was an oppressive feeling. Not as strong as the Golden Crow Spirit, but plenty strong to deal with him if she so chose.

Carl, not being an idiot, respectfully gave her a salute from where he was hidden from most of the banquet goer's sight. Obviously she could still see him. She simply snorted at his salute then ignored him, acting as if he was beneath her.

'Which I really am.' Carl mumbled in his mind as he smiled wryly. 'Who knew I would keep running into strong women that could obliterate me easily on this world. Well, hopefully she will not do anything too overbearing.'

Eventually the guests had arrived and been seated, and it was time for Caiyi and Carl to enter and take their seats in the place of honor. Caiyi took one last look over Carl's ceremonial robes and made sure they were settled properly before taking his arm and the two swept out into the banquet hall.

Because of the powerful redhead spirit Carl kept his attention focused that way, so he perfectly saw Yun Che lustfully swallow his saliva when he first saw Carl's wife Caiyi.

'Of course. As a harem protagonist of the cultivator world he would be lustful.' Carl rolled his eyes, ignoring the fact that he himself had many ladies. At least he wasn't drooling over other people's wives so blatantly. 'Here's hoping the protagonist of this world can be reasonable and act like a jerk tonight.' Carl hoped that the presence of the MC wouldn't ruin his wife's night.

After the feast was served and talk began, Carl put Yun Che and the strong red headed ghost out of his mind and focused on interacting with the surrounding nobles. This 100 year Reign Ceremony Feast was an important time to strengthen the bonds among the nobles of the Empire. Only though being banded together as one could they hold strong against enemies like the Four Sacred Grounds of the Profound Sky Continent.

Suddenly the sounds of scoffing was loudly heard by all the banquet participants. The loud sound of a cup being slammed onto a table was heard. Carl looked over and saw Yun Che with an expression of anger and contempt on his face.

'Just what is this guy upset about?' Carl sighed. 'Evidently I'll be finding out soon. It was obviously too much to ask for the protagonist to keep his trap shut for one night when he wasn't the center of attention. Primadonnas."

Yun Che stood angrily and started pointing at all the nobles around the banquet room while haranguing them.

"I can't believe you people. Sitting here in luxury, playing at games. Smugly self assured in your power. While you have vilified and ignored a hero of your Empire. I'm talking about my grandfather, Yun Canghai!" Yun Che yells out.

Carl looks around to judge what everyone's expressions were. Not a lot of happy expressions, as expected when being berated by some stranger at a feast to celebrate the 100 year reign of the Demon Empress. This wasn't the time or place to be bringing up such topics.

The red head ghost girl behind Yun Che just folded her arms and looked on neutrally. Carl was relieved to see that the powerful ghost wasn't as angry about the topic as Yun Che himself. It gave Carl more leeway to act if the ghost herself wasn't emotionally invested in the scene.

Yun Che then went on a spiel about the suffering suffered by Yun Canghai over the past 100 years. Yun Canghai had been captured by the Sacred Grounds and imprisoned, starved and tortured over the past 100 years while protecting the Demon Emperor Seal.

Meanwhile the Illusory Demon nobles had been sitting in comfort and been enjoying the protection of Yun Canghai while being ungrateful and trashing his reputation and the prestige of his family. Yun Che continued to blather on about how every one of the nobles of the Empire should be ashamed of themselves.

Yun Che then brought out a coffin with Yun Canghai's corpse in it and demands that all the Duke Palaces and Guardian Families kneel down and apologize to Yun Canghai's corpse before he will return the Demon Emperor's Seal to the Demon Empress. But if he isn't satisfied then they can forget it.

Carl sighed in exasperation as he pinched the bridge of his nose at Yun Che's declarations. He looked to Caiyi, and silently asks her with a profound energy transmission if he can take care of this. She nods, so Carl stood up and steps in front of everyone.

"Yun Che. I get it. I really do." Carl's smooth voice carries to every corner of the banquet hall. He worked hard at his presentation, causing everyone to hang on his words. "You were stuck with your newly reunited Grandfather and managed to bond with him as he trained you. You saw his suffering, what he went through. You came to admire him. Then you saw his death. Seeing your loved ones die right in front of you is heartbreaking." Carl paused as he approached the angry young man.

"Then you arrive here at your Grandfather's home and find out that during all that time your grandfather was suffering, life here went on like normal, or so it seemed to you. I get that you've got this big ball of rage inside. I understand that you want others to suffer to make yourself feel better." Carl shook his head mournfully.

"But you're going about this all wrong. I get that you didn't grow up in the Illusory Demon Realm. You don't really know the Empire and how we do things here, so you want to lash out and punish everyone here for what you perceive as slights against you. For not caring about the things you and your Grandfather went through."

"But you're going about it all wrong. These people here that you're castigating? They are your family's allies. They stood by your family. They helped to capture and punish the people responsible for the whole treacherous plot. They stopped it and restored justice."

Carl motioned Yun Che's attention to his Yun Family. Yun Qinghong struggles to keep the embarrassed expression off his face was clearly seen by Yun Che.

"And they are more than happy to see Yun Canghai return home. They would love to celebrate his heroism and toast his bravery."

"But for you to come in here and berate your family's allies like they are naughty three year olds when they don't deserve the scolding is alienating them from your family. It honestly sounds to me like you're throwing a tantrum. Especially when you are interrupted a very important ceremony for our Demon Empress."

"And your threat to not return the Demon Emperor Seal until you get what you want? How dare you." Carl put some added disdain in his voice. "How dare you take the duty that your grandfather laid upon you and spit on his sacrifice? Did he say to only give back the item he was entrusted by the late Demon Emperor if you felt like it? If you had your demands met? If you felt appeased? NO. He gave you a familial duty. One that your family has been entrusted with for over 10,000 years. And here you are, making petty demands to assuage your petty anger."

Carl saw Yun Che's face getting red as his anger mounted. He kept an eye on the red headed ghost to see if she was going to do anything, but she seemed content to watch the play in front of her.

"Our Demon Empress thinks of Yun Canghai as an Uncle." Carl motioned to Caiyi. Everyone there could see the competing desires and stresses in her expression. "She grew up with your grandfather. He treated her as a favored niece. She loved the man. If you had come to her in person, she would have been happy to arrange a funeral of state and declare a period of mourning for Yun Canghai, the hero of the Illusory Demon Realm Empire. But instead you get up here and berate your family's allies, after they already caught and punished the culprits."

"So, do your duty, Yun Che. Do the duty Yun Canghai laid upon you, for no other reason than it reflects on Yun Canghai's honor how you comport yourself. Yun Canghai has suffered greatly for his duty. Don't besmirch his good name at the last moment over petty anger."

Feeling ashamed and a great anger at the same time, Yun Che struggled with what he wanted to do versus what he should do. He had always given in to his rage and anger to repay grievances before. Ever since his second life when he gained some strength, he wasn't willing to allow any slight to him go by without punishment. Not with the memories of being powerless and bullied in his first life.

But what Carl said was right as well. He shouldn't dishonor his Grandfather's last wish. But Yun Che just couldn't let the anger go. His habits were too ingrained to let it go without a fight.

"Fight me." Yun Che finally ground out.

"What was that?" Carl asked with an eyebrow raised. This Sky Profound cultivator wanted to fight him? Was he suicidal? Carl saw the Redhead ghost whisper something to Yun Che. Carl couldn't hear what she said, but Yun Che seemed to ignore her advice.

"Fight me. If you can defeat me, then I'll go along with what you said. If you can't, then we'll go along with what I said. Or are you afraid to put your money where your mouth is?" Yun Che arrogantly stated. "Don't tell me you're afraid to bet?"

Carl sighed at Yun Che's pitiful provocation. This protagonist was nothing but stubborn. He looked at the Yun Family. Yun Qinghong was looking somewhat embarrassed, like he didn't know which way to go. This was their biological son, their long lost boy. But he wasn't following the teachings of the family. It made sense though, since he was raised away from them. But it was still bloody embarrassing.

He looked at Caiyi, to see what her opinion was. She had personally grown up with Yun Canghai after all. He saw that she wanted him to resolve the issue and uphold his own honor. And Carl wanted to protect Caiyi's honor.

Despite Yun Che's assumptions and blatant stupidity, she had planned on honoring Yun Canghai, and still would no matter the circumstances. But there was her honor and prestige as the Demon Empress that couldn't be impugned if she was to remain their leader. So he had to fight Yun Che and win. And he had to win handily to send a message. Not that fighting a Sky Profound cultivator was something threatening in the Empire.

'Bloody idiot stubborn retard.' Carl cursed Yun Che in his mind. He had always hoped to avoid fighting the protagonist of the story, since he didn't want the drama. But he couldn't back down here.

Carl then looked at the powerful red head ghost behind Yun Che. He sent a voice transmission to her. [What about you miss? Will you interrupt this fight if it looks like Yun Che is about to lose? I promise I won't go overboard, I just want to beat some sense into the boy's head. At the rate he's going, he will continue to offend people he doesn't need to, especially his own allies, and cause his own destruction one day.]

The red head looked him over with pursed lips for a bit, a strange glint in her eye. [Fine. You may beat the idiot up. I won't do anything unless you take things too far.]

Carl nodded respectfully at her.

"Okay." Carl turned back to Yun Che. "If I win, you will apologize for being rude to your allies and drop your notion of forcing everyone to bow down in penance for the wrongs done to your Grandfather. You don't even have to kowtow or any nonsense, a simple verbal apology will be sufficient." Carl knew that with stubborn idiots, they would rather die than bend a bit. And he was trying to fix the problem and rift caused by Yun Che, not make a permanent enemy.

"If you win, the allies of your family will be forced to bow down and damage their prestige in order to appease your petty and misaimed anger." Carl wasn't above twisting the knife as he stated the terms in such a way to show just what he thought of the dude.

Judging by Yun Che's scoffing, he knew what Carl was doing but was beyond caring at this point.

Yun Che pulled out a great big honking sword. The thing must have been 9 feet long. Carl had no idea just how heavy it was, but Yun Che wielded it pretty well, although it seemed a bit on the heavy side of what Yun Che could handle.

Carl pulled out his own sword, Blue Orchid. Carl's sword looked puny compared to Yun Che's massive hunk of metal.

Carl noticed Yun Che focus abnormally on his sword a moment later. Yun Che didn't wait any more and came in swinging the big hunk of metal. Carl didn't lag and swiped his own sword, blasting Yun Che's sword back. The sword must have weighed at least several hundred thousand kilograms, because it was heavy.

But the strange thing was that it almost felt like Yun Che's sword was sticking to his sword before losing contact. Carl saw a greedy look appear on Yun Che's face as he gazed at Carl's sword. Yun Che then started swinging non stop, trying to break Carl's sword.

Carl wasn't having a particularly hard time fending off Yun Che as he tested the man to see how skilled he was. He was much slowing and weaker than Carl. But despite Blue Orchid being a full realm above Carl's own cultivation, he felt a sense of danger for his sword from Yun Che's sword. It was almost like Yun Che's sword wanted to devour Carl's sword. Carl scowled at the giant sword, not at all pleased with the idea.

Eventually Carl saw a small crack appear on his blade and Yun Che's sword seemed to swallow the chip that fell off. Carl was furious. He had spent a lot of money and effort getting the goblins to make his blade, then spent cp to transfer it in to his profound weapon.

At this point his sword was in the Divine Soul Realm level, but it was still damaged by Yun Che's sword.

'Damned Protagonist luck!' Carl cursed in his head. 'Of course he would find such an interesting blade.'

There was no way he was letting some jumped up hungry sword devour his blade.

He quickly put his blade away to protect it, and used his own hands to start beating on the flat of Yun Che's sword, not holding much back, and thereby knocking Yun Che around like a pinball. He transmitted his voice to Yun Che's hungry sword. [Bad sword! Bad! It's not nice to eat someone else's sword. Get your master to buy you food if you're hungry. But I'm not feeding you my sword. Bad sword! Bad!]

Carl felt a sense of pouting and crying from Yun Che's sword. 'Good. Serves it right to be scolded!'

After some time and being unable to do anything, Yun Che put away his giant sword and glared at Carl. Carl scoffed inside. What is the point of glaring at him? Yun Che is the one with a nasty sword that wants to eat other people's property.

Yun Che then started summoning giant fire birds and sent them at Carl. Carl vaguely sensed that they felt like the Phoenix bloodline. He didn't bother avoiding them, simply swatted them out of the air, and sent some small fireballs back at Yun Che. Not enough to seriously harm Yun Che, since Carl was acutely aware of the redhead ghost watching the fight, but enough to scorch him a bit.

Carl snorted when he saw that his fireballs didn't even singe Yun Che. 'So, he must have immunity to fire too? What, did he also get the Evil God's veins and the Evil God Fire Seed? What a pain. No wonder the dude is getting arrogant, if he's got some special trumps.'

Once Yun Che saw that he couldn't hurt Carl through fire, he started using ice. Yun Che attempted to freeze and strike Carl with ice attacks. Since Carl was also immune to water and ice attacks, he wasn't fazed.

He could see the shocked expression on the red head ghost when Carl also shrugged off the ice attacks like they were nothing. Carl felt a probe sink into his body from the redhead ghost. Scowling a bit at the ghost who was the whole reason that Carl had been holding back on beating Yun Che black and blue, Carl made a decision.

Carl was getting tired of this fight, of accommodating the childish Yun Che. It was past time to end this. Carl dashed forward to melee range and started taking Yun Che apart, figuratively speaking. He didn't break any bones, but he pummeled the stuffing out of Yun Che. He treated him like a rag doll, and made sure to beat his handsome face until it was swollen. Carl then used a jolt of electricity like a taser to knock Yun Che out.

Carl bent down and sent a profound probe into Yun Che to ensure his health was fine, before he levitated Yun Che to his biological parents with a transmitted assurance that he was only a bit bruised and would be fine.

Carl picked up the enormous sword, feeling the great weight. Shrugging at the look the redhead ghost was giving him, he sent a transmission to her. [I'm not interested in stealing his sword. Should I prop it in a corner for him to pick up later or have his parents bring it back for him?]

The red head ghost scoffed, although Carl wasn't sure at what, and nodded her head at Yun Qinghong. So he carried the sword over to him and placed it in his arms. Carl smiled reassuringly at Yun Qinghong so he knew that Carl wasn't going to hold a grudge over Yun Che's actions that night.

Carl then looked around at the gathered nobles, making note of their reactions to the fight. Caiyi was giving him a look like he was getting lucky tonight for his strong actions at defending her honor and the fight.

Carl then noticed a concerned and conflicted looks on the faces of Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou's faces as they too looked around. They were incredibly conflicted at the moment. They were dedicated to their roles as a Guardian family, and Carl himself was their savior and benefactor. But Yun Che was their biological son that they were just getting to know. Even with Carl's reassurance they were extremely conflicted about the goings on of that night.

Yun Che woke up at that moment, looking around frantically, before the realization that he lost came over him. He slumped down. Carl looked over at Yun Che consideringly.

[You're a somewhat decent man, Yun Che. At least I know you can be good to your people. But you carry a big ball of pus of anger in your heart. Like an abscess that has festered, your anger is festering. Whatever wrongs were done to you in the past, it's causing you to lash out for the slightest perceived wrong.] Carl transmitted to Yun Che. He didn't want to air the dude's laundry, that would just get his dander up again. But he felt that Yun Che needed to hear these words.

[I want you to think back to your past, Yun Che. How many problems have you had to deal with were because you were lashing out for the slightest insult, causing you to retaliate beyond justification? Which caused your enemies to escalate. How many enemies have you made because you lashed out in anger? How many times did those enemies you make try to attack you through your loved ones because that's the only way they could get to you?]

[I'm not saying you can't be a man with pride, or stand up for yourself. But you need to lance the boil of anger inside yourself and learn how to think before you respond with a belly full of anger. Maybe then you'll make a few less enemies that you didn't need to make.]

Yun Che looked like he was at least thinking about Carl's words. That would have to do for now. Carl stepped into the middle of the hall. Caiyi gave him a nod of approval for winning and how he had handled the situation so far.

"Now, before Yun Che offers his words, I'd like to announce that one week after the celebration of the Demon Empress's 100 year reign ceremony, the nation will be in mourning for two weeks. We have lost a great hero that has done so much for our Empire. Yun Canghai fulfilled his duty to the late Demon Emperor at a great cost to his own self. For that, we will honor him, now that he has been returned to us."

Carl then looked back at Yun Che. [The Demon Empress grew up with your grandfather as one of the few people she interacted with and loved and admired. Don't think that just because she must uphold her dignity as the Empress that it meant that she didn't wish to honor Yun Canghai. You could have come to us and talked about how to go about honoring Yun Canghai, and we would have been more than happy to give the great man his dues. Instead you decided to wait and crash the celebration of her rule, lessening her prestige in the eyes of her subjects. She may forgive you for that, for the sake of your grandfather. But I'm a little more petty. You offended my wife, and I'll remember that. I won't act against you due to the respect my wife has for your grandfather. Not to mention I really like your family. They are good people.]

[But just think about what you really accomplished here. I would have been more than happy to become your friend and help you in anything you needed because of your family connections. But now, you've made me dislike you. And you'll have to work hard in the future to get me to do anything for you. And look at how embarrassed your birth father looks over your rash actions. So my advice to you is to figure out how to temper your anger. Don't lash out at everyone. Learn to rely on your allies.] Carl finished and stepped back to Caiyi's side.

Carl gave Yun Che one last final look. Yun Che appeared to be in deep thought at the moment. Carl then joined his wife at their seats while Yun Che swallowed his pride and offered an apology for his rudeness at the celebration and hoped that everyone would give him advice in the future. He then offered up the Demon Emperors Seal to Caiyi.

'Good, looks like even a story protagonist can be gotten though to by my Celestial Profound Basic Decency Inducement perk.' Carl thought optimistically while sighing in relief. He had seen the way that the red headed ghost had looked over Yun Che. They had obviously been through some tough times, and had some kind of relationship with each other. He was just glad the red headed ghost seemed to be reasonable and not killing him because he bruised up Yun Che a little bit.

The announcement of Xiao Yun Being awarded a Duke's Palace position was almost anticlimactic after the drama that Yun Che brought to the feast. But Carl determinedly focused on Xiao Yun and cemented a good mental picture of his face when he realized his elevation. Carl would have to use a pensieve some time to make a picture or poster with Xiao Yun's face, just so his friend could properly enjoy Carl's amusement of the face Xiao Yun made.

The rest of the evening went well. Carl's show of force and strength seemed to have done a good job of making the nobles even more amenable. Far more than his diplomatic efforts previously had.

'Just goes to show they were raised in a culture of might makes right.' Carl snorted amusedly. For some reason he only felt a very faint twinge of feeling that it wasn't right to have a society set up like that. A remnant voice of conscience that he learned growing up that was somehow growing fainter and less important the longer he was on his jump chain adventures.

He wasn't going to go full on murder hobo on people. But there had been too many situations in Carl's life until now that required him to use force to solve the issues he faced. So he found it hard to keep thinking idealistically about some nebulous idea about how society should be; not when he had to keep relying on his own abilities to keep him and his people safe.