Several days after leaving Imperial Beast City, Lu Ran returned without fanfare, giving the city no advance notice.
Otherwise, given his military exploits, even the entire city turning out to welcome him would not have been excessive.
"Master."
Inside the palace's main hall, Lu Ran met privately with the Cloud Emperor. He bowed slightly, only to immediately feel his hand being caught.
"No need for formalities." The Cloud Emperor's mouth twitched. "You're back."
"Senior Six Paths Flower truly is formidable."
"What you have done will surely be remembered in the Empire's history."
The Cloud Emperor had thought that he would have to devote everything to fighting the Four Great Fierce Beast Empires throughout his reign. He had never expected all four threats to be resolved so easily.
And all of this was thanks to the young man before him. The Cloud Emperor's expression was complicated.
Lu Ran's next words left the Cloud Emperor feeling conflicted as well.
"It was my duty. Sharing your burdens was what I promised when I became your disciple."
"Oh, right, Master. Didn't you say that all the military merit I earned on the front lines would be rewarded at ten times the normal rate for officers and soldiers?"
"For killing enemies on the battlefield, I get ten times the rewards for my military merit!"
Lu Ran gazed at the Cloud Emperor with sparkling eyes, afraid he would deny it.
Military merit could be exchanged for resources, after all.
Although Lu Ran had squeezed quite a few resources out of the Four Great Fierce Beast Empires, they were still not enough to satisfy him.
He suspected that the Four Great Fierce Beast Empires had originally possessed plenty of resources, but Infinite City had swallowed them up because it could not be bothered to create so many.