30 minutes later, Emperor Shang Fu ordered the withdrawal of troops.
60 minutes later, the demon king made a visit to Mark and handed over the divine-grade weapon, the Bo staff, as he cannot take it with him to his world.
"This weapon…" Mark frowned as he read the details.
It turned out to be Ruyi Jingu Bang, the weapon of Sun Wukong from the legends. However, it was slightly a disappointment for Mark as a weapon with such legendary status is nothing but a low-quality divine-grade item (Mythril grade).
Mark kept it in his inventory as he has yet to decide what to do with it. The system recommended it for Allen but as he already had a better divine-grade weapon, Mark felt like it doesn't make any sense to hand it to him.
At the same time, he couldn't extract raw materials through weapon transmutation or dismantle them through Devil Hand because of the availability of upgrades.
As long as he uses superior-grade upgrade stone on it, he could upgrade it to Celestial grade. Then, he can decide whether he should dismantle it or not.
After sending away the demon king back to his realm, Mark then thought about his next move. But, as it cannot be rushed, he waited for the right time.
About 7-8 hours later, Emperor Shang Fu and the other officials reached the Imperial city, which is currently protected by the second prince and his troops in the absence of the Emperor.
It was already dark by the time he arrived and he was probably so affected by the result of the war that he forgot about informing Mark regarding the death of Wu Weibao. He slept without eating any food that evening.
However, Mark was quite happy to not get any formal letter from the imperial palace. He felt like he found an opportunity to get into a feud with the Emperor.
The following morning, Feng Wu's messenger turned official ambassador, Huo Fen, along with his royal tutor arrived at the palace with their official proposal of peace, although it's more like a list of demands.
According to it, the entire Western Yan, which used to be in the control of the Feng Dynasty before it was overthrown by the Phoenix Empire, will be handed back to them.
The Phoenix Empire will not only formally acknowledge Western Yan as an independent kingdom but also give a written guarantee that the Empire's army will never start an unprovoked war in the future.
As a part of compensation for looting the Feng Dynasty for several years, the Phoenix Empire shall be giving 1 million gold coins a year for the next decade.
Finally, the Emperor or any prince shall attend the coronation ceremony of the king which is happening in two days of time.
In return, the war will be stopped. All the hostages will also be released.
Of course, the royal tutor of Western Yan didn't forget to add that there were no negotiations on their terms. It's all or nothing.
Emperor Shang was trying his best to control his rage this time. He wanted to kill both of them, but he couldn't do it as it will only invite doom to the Empire with the loss of two divine-grade items and Song Tai turning mortal.
In the end, he agreed to the conditions and stamped the imperial seal right away.
After their job is done, both of them left the palace and made their way toward the Hanga district, located in the outer sector of the imperial city.
As Mark already knew about their visit beforehand, he opened the store.
"Good morning, welcome to Genesis weapon store." Allen greeted the customers with a genuine smile on his face. He was really happy to see someone coming in even if it is a familiar face.
Mark was also happy but for a different reason.
As the android greeted the customers, his master spoke, "I was waiting for both of you."
"His Highness ordered me to give this to you," replied Huo Fen as he took out a storage ring from his pocket and placed it on the desk.
Mark grabbed it and poured his consciousness into the ring to check the contents. It didn't have any treasures or gold as Huo Fen expected. There were only the destroyed robots and weapons inside.
But Mark exactly wanted them too.
He specifically instructed Feng Wu to collect them and send them back after the war is over. The system could repair them for a fee, but Mark is interested in studying them in his free time.
As for why he couldn't just buy it and break it down to study them, Mark had that thought a couple of months ago, but the system warned him not to do that as it is considered disrespectful.
Mark cannot go against the invincible, stubborn, and sassy system head-on. Hence, he could only find loopholes and exploit them.
After confirming that the goods were there, Mark bid farewell to the both of them without intending to talk about their affairs for too long. He was aware that there are spies watching his store for a couple of days.
As they left, NET's spy on the roof of a nearby residence quickly took out a special note from his pocket and wrote something with ether energy.
Some time passed away and the Sun reached its peak position.
Once again, the spider-shaped spaceship made its appearance at the Imperial Palace, this time without any appointment or so whatever.
Perhaps, the imperial family has already guessed the reason for his visit. They sent the second prince to escort Mark and Allen to the Emperor's private chamber.
However, Mark's intentions were never about claiming compensation, asking for an apology, or something. He wanted to break off the relationship with the Imperial family he developed until now.
Hence, he had to act like he was mad.
Giving off an angry look at the noble second prince, Mark rejected to have a private talk with the Emperor and further said, "General Shang, the things I wanted to talk about, I needed the imperial courtroom. Would you be able to arrange a full audience of the ministers right now? At the very least, Nie Rougang should be here."
"Is this about Venerable Wu?" asked the second prince, wondering whether Mark wants to complain or something.
To which, Mark shook his head in response, "Not exactly."
"Then?" As the second prince tried to press for the truth, Mark replied, "I will only say that in the court."
"Brother Lu, His Majesty isn't in a situation where he can attend the courtroom session. And suddenly summoning the ministers without telling anything to them might create unnecessary panic. Please understand and…"
As the second prince was trying to convince Mark to attend a private meeting with the Emperor instead, Mark interrupted him with a statement, "I'm a weapons seller and I cannot prefer one over another. Everyone who walks into the store is a customer no matter what kind of relationship I have with them. This is what the motto is. I put my ethic aside for the sake of the imperial palace and sacrificed a supreme being. I should deserve at least this much, right?"
"This…"
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