Mingyuan followed behind two guards as they walked through the hallways of the stone palace.
One of them was a monkey with a staff while the other was a slithering python.
Their posture was rigid and serious, the kind that gave off the unapproachable vibe.
Soon, they brought Mingyuan to an arched stone bridge leading into a vast, circular platform.
The platform was a plateau, and the moment they stepped onto the bridge, Mingyuan realized that the entire stone castle was built high in the sky, far from the imperial city.
"Luckily, I don't fear heights," Mingyuan murmured while crossing the bridge.
On the other side of the bridge, the young Crown Prince was resting on a stone bed while the two female white tigers kept him company.
One massaged his back and the other massaged his legs.
Yes, his legs were high and resting on the back of a human slave. He had a collar, a gag in his mouth, and he was dressed in that birthday suit.
It was unsightly to say the least.
Mingyuan spared the human a glance, and the other looked over. Eyes hollow, not a hint of emotion, like furniture.
Mingyuan looked away, a faint smile on his face.
They stood before the young Crown Prince.
White hair, golden eyes, sharp fangs, and streaks akin to whiskers lined his cheeks.
"This is my first time seeing a wild human," said the Crown Prince, his eyes gleaming with interest.
"All the humans I saw so far were the tamed, domestic kind. It started to get boring," his tone was a little off.
Mingyuan scratched the back of his head and had a difficult expression on his face.
"Well," he started, trying to find the words. "I guess I haven't seen a civilized animal before either? All of them were the wild type just as well…"
The air froze; two powerful auras, filled with killing intent, locked onto Mingyuan.
His vision blurred for a moment, and the next instant, the two maids flanked his front and back, sharp claws millimeters into his neck.
Blood trickled down.
Mingyuan quickly brought his hands up in mock surrender, his face a mask of disguised terror.
"Oh boy," he exhaled sharply. "I thought we're all civilized people…"
He paused, eyes sweeping the two maids and the clear animalistic features on their bodies. "Maybe not people, but civilized nonetheless?"
The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow. "You're not scared, human?"
Little could compare to the instincts of a beast, as they could literally smell a person's emotions.
Mingyuan believed this because it was a well-proven study that emotions were the result of chemical reactions in the brain. When humans sweat from nervousness, that's just one part of it.
As such, having the innate wisdom to differentiate a person's state of mind through analyzing their secreted body order wasn't too incomprehensible.
Mingyuan's act of feigning fear couldn't get past Raizen, but he wasn't trying to fool the white tiger anyway.
"I'm more valuable alive than dead," Mingyuan said with a smile. "They won't dare kill me without your orders, Your Highness."
Raizen smiled and waved his hand, commanding the two maids to retreat.
"Indeed, you're more valuable to me alive than dead," he spoke evenly with a smile. "However, I can only use those I trust, and if I can't use you, where does your value lie?"
Mingyuan rolled his eyes. "Isn't it just an issue of trust? Easy enough! Here I swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao to not ill-advise, harbor malice, or act against the collective interests of Your Highness in this life, lest my path to the Dao be severed!"
Boom!
The skies went dark, a bolt of heavenly lightning striking past. In the flash of lightning, hints of Dao charm lingered around Mingyuan before entering his chest.
Raizen and his two maids were stunned.
A Dao oath just like that? Was this human really intent on siding with the monsters?
Although, he made an oath to work with the Crown Prince's interests as a priority, meaning that as long as the Crown Prince remains in the Monster Kingdom, this human must put the kingdom as his priority by proxy.
For a moment, Raizen was lost for words.
Then, his smile stretched wide, and he laughed from the bottom of his heart. "Hahaha! Wild! Reckless! Bold! Hahaha!"
With a whoosh, he moved to stand before Mingyuan.
Now that he stood up, Mingyuan had but one thought in mind: Damn, this guy is fucking huge!
A massive hand clamped down on Mingyuan's shoulder, firm and stable with the grip.
"Mingyuan, right? That was your name? Hahaha! Truly bold and wise, this Prince won't let you suffer! I'll send three of my generals to the Ashveil continent as your escort to build a stronghold in the Tiandu Rainforest, what do you say?"
Mingyuan smiled. "Your Highness is worried about the spatial turbulence, hence you can only deploy top-tier combat power as a vanguard, right?"
Raizen didn't avoid the issue and nodded his head. He was even more satisfied, as Mingyuan wasn't flattered but rather spotted the crux of the issue.
"No need to worry," Mingyuan waved his hand dismissively. "Actually, I didn't enter the Tiandu continent by accident, I used fate to calculate when the two continents are perfectly aligned and simply walked here. I can do some calculations for the next alignment, and we can dispatch more troops from the start."
In the original plot, the armies of the Monster Kingdom moved in batches for fear of the spatial turbulence. The vanguard army took over 80 years just to occupy the Tiandu Rainforest.
These 80 years were crucial for Lu Xuan's growth. It had to be said, when a protagonist is having it easy and his cultivation is soaring by the day, it usually means a great catastrophe is on the horizon.
Mingyuan couldn't wait a hundred years for Lu Xuan to grow steadily by fighting other humans, that's not efficient.
Humans fighting humans isn't ruthless enough.
Mingyuan's eyes darkened for a moment, deep malice swirling within.
It flashed by so quickly that even Raizen failed to notice. Then again, he was astonished by Mingyuan's revelation.
"Fate? Do you have a talent in that field?"
Mingyuan smiled. For a while now, fate has been bestowing him with various gifts.
Fate comprehension, law comprehension, and cultivation base increase.
His connection with Lu Xuan was at the Red Fate level, while his connection with Liu Tianji was at the Yellow Fate level.
The former had a 4x multiplier for cultivation base and law comprehension, while the latter had an 8x multiplier for technique and law comprehension respectively.
The third option for Liu Tianji remained empty for now, while Lu Xuan's was yet to be unlocked.
"I don't like fighting and killing," Mingyuan spoke earnestly. "I study fate, karma, and destiny. I felt an opportunity here, so I arrived promptly to seize it."
"So that's how it is," Raizen understood immediately. As things were, Mingyuan hadn't accidentally discovered the spatial channel but rather found it with intent and purpose.
With that in mind, Raizen valued him even more.
"Alright!" Raizen was just as bold. "Then you can be my advisor from now on, and I'll lead the vanguard army myself! Let's build a stronghold in the new world, then conquer it with fire and blood!"
Thick and ambitious was the fighting intent that soared to the sky, causing the wind to howl like the roar of an ancient tiger.
This roar crossed vast distances and caused the blood of monsters and beasts to boil over, feeling a call from the depths of their bloodlines.
A call for violence and war.