"That was a gathering of the finest experts in all Great Chu. The former Ten Great Sects and several great clans all sent their top experts, and the imperial palace was certainly no exception.
"Before, I thought they were only at the Martial Sect Realm.
"Now it seems I underestimated them far too much. You had to be at least at the Martial Marquis Realm to qualify for the sword debates," Luo Daimei said.
"Back then, perhaps you were thinking, 'In ten years, I'll sweep across Mount Song with my sword,'" Tang Wen said with a hearty laugh.
"You're awful." Luo Daimei blushed and rolled her eyes at him.
They soon reached the mall. After making a round of inspection, Tang Wen entered his private office.
Unexpectedly, he had barely arrived when an imperial edict followed on his heels.
Accompanying the eunuch delivering the edict was an envoy called the Ninth Duke.
The man wore plain white robes. His face was slightly round, his eyebrows tilted upward a little, but his nose was flat. He looked utterly unremarkable.
A Telekinesis Thread approached him without a sound, only to encounter resistance.
In the end, however, Tang Wen broke through his aura barrier.
He froze in surprise. Damn! An expert! There's an eighty-percent chance this man is a Martial Marquis Perfection Realm expert. The party returned to Taiyue Lake.
Upon entering the artificial environment space and glancing at the little sun overhead, the Ninth Duke also froze briefly, then secretly surveyed his surroundings.
"Your Highness, this space of yours is enormous."
"Hehe, this is a space Westerners created using magic," Tang Wen replied with a smile.
"You've been to the Western Lands?" the Ninth Duke asked.
"I have business dealings there. All my goods come from the Western Lands," Tang Wen replied.