I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

As another song ended, Ji Tian released Elena's hand, took a half step back, and glanced at the east side of the banquet hall.

There, Prime Minister Augustus was chatting and laughing with several nobles, raising his glass in a friendly manner.

A moment later, he put down his wine glass, whispered a few words to the servant beside him, then turned and walked towards a side door on the side of the hall, disappearing behind the curtain.

Almost simultaneously, the nobles who had been chatting happily with him also put down their wine glasses and followed him in twos and threes.

Ji Tian raised an eyebrow.

His divine sense had already covered the entire manor, and now he was probing inward through the side door. However, as soon as his divine sense touched the hidden corridor under the garden outside the side door, it encountered an invisible barrier.

There is a sacred object shielding the probe.

Ji Tian withdrew his divine sense and did not venture deeper rashly. He turned his head to look at Elena.

She was looking up at her own expression, and said considerately, "I'll go sit with my mother for a while. If you have something to do, you can go ahead and do it."

Ji Tian nodded, turned and walked towards the pillars on the side of the hall, disappearing into the gaps in the crowd without leaving a trace.

In the sofa area on the side of the hall, the Viscountess was chatting with several familiar ladies when Elena gracefully walked over and sat down beside her.

A lady in a dark green dress, with a jade hairpin tucked behind her ear, leaned closer and chuckled in a low voice, "Elena, that young man you were dancing with earlier was quite handsome. Which family's son is he? I've never seen him before."

Another lady joined in, her eyes sparkling: "I saw you two dance several times. Your relationship must be something special, right? Is he your sweetheart?"

Elena picked up her wine glass, using the rim to hide the smile on her lips, and softly replied, "Yes."

The Viscountess gently patted her daughter's hand, her tone gentle and composed:

"The children's affairs are still early. Elena is currently studying at the Royal Magic Academy in the capital. She has good talent and it's time for her to focus on learning magic. As for the others... let's wait and see, there's no rush."

This is the kind of understated elegance typical of the nobility in the capital, meaning that an engagement is certain, but a formal marriage and having children will have to wait.

The ladies exchanged glances, smiled knowingly, and didn't press the matter further.

……

A hidden corridor in the garden led to the manor's underground. Ji Tian's figure moved silently in the shadows as he followed one of the slower-moving nobles.

His ability to conceal his presence has reached a state of perfection, and with the added advantages of super intelligence and super strength, he can calmly deal with even if he is discovered by a sacred object.

At worst, I can imitate the "Berserker's Creed" from my previous life, beat everyone who discovers me until they lose their memories, and directly achieve the "Perfect Infiltration" achievement.

At the end of the corridor was a heavy oak door, tightly closed, with a dim, warm yellow light shining through the cracks.

The nobleman in front knocked on the door in the agreed-upon rhythm, and a few seconds later, the door was opened from the inside.

Ji Tian's divine sense was still blocked by that invisible barrier, and he could not sense the aura behind the barrier, but his eyes could see that the people inside were the other nobles who had just left, as well as Prime Minister Augustus.

Seeing the nobleman enter, he did not hesitate, his figure as swift as smoke, following the person in front into the door.

It was a secret underground chamber.

The dome is about two stories high, the stone walls are polished smooth and flat, and the floor is covered with a dark red carpet.

In the center of the secret room stood a long table covered with dark green velvet. Several nobles sat on either side, holding playing cards and surrounded by chips.

Ji Tian's gaze swept over the "chips" and he found that they were stacks of parchment, on which were written place names, manor names, and even the taxation rights of a certain viscounty.

They are playing cards.

Using the stripped titles, confiscated lands and estates of William's lineage as stakes.

Prime Minister Augustus sat at the head of the long table, holding a few cards in his hand, and casually looked at the table.

Deep inside the secret chamber, against the wall, stands a stone platform upon which rests an exquisite scale.

The balance scale is made of neither gold nor jade, and is dark silver in color. On each of the two trays, there is a weight. The weights are engraved with dense runes and are floating up and down at an extremely slow speed, emitting a soft, almost invisible halo.

【Balance of Order】!

It was this sacred object that shielded Ji Tian's divine sense.

The reason Ji Tian was able to recognize it and know its name was entirely because the object's shape was exactly the same as the national emblem on the back of the standard gold coin of the human kingdom.

He had seen the illustration of the national emblem in Elena's book: it featured a holy sword representing the church, a magician's staff representing the sorcerer, the scales of order representing the nobility, and a golden crown representing the royal family.

The four elements intertwine to form the kingdom's emblem.

So this is what the real thing looks like.

Ji Tian glanced at the balance scale a few more times, confirming that it had only blocked the detection and would not actively attack or issue a warning, before he felt relieved.

He then turned his gaze back to the long table.

The nobles were still playing cards, occasionally exchanging a few words in hushed tones, nothing more than "the boundary of this land has been moved half a mile to the east" or "that manor is mine now."

Augustus would occasionally chime in with a casual remark, as if he were handing out candy to children.

There was no conspiracy among nobles to overthrow the royal family, no party, and no "auction" that Ji Tianxin had been longing for.

"They're having a blast dividing up the spoils, but what I'm missing is a noble auction where the grand finale features the most valuable treasures, and nobles, unable to compete at the auction, resort to real-life murder and robbery offline, while my king descends from the sky, seizes the treasure, and leaves in style—who's going to fill that gap for me?!"

Ji Tian stood in the corner, expressionless, watching for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea. His heart was unmoved, and he even considered leaving.

Finally, after all the cards were played, the nobles put the parchment they had won into their sleeves and rose to congratulate each other.

Augustus also stood up, shook hands with everyone, and then walked towards the door first.

Ji Tian stepped aside and followed the last nobleman out of the secret room silently.

……

The corridor above the stone steps was quiet again. Ji Tian deactivated his invisibility at the corner, straightened his robes, and planned to walk back to the banquet hall as if nothing had happened.

As soon as he stepped out of the garden, he heard a voice that was both languid and tinged with displeasure coming from the side.

"stop."

Ji Tian paused slightly and turned his head to look.

Princess Sonia was leaning against the window sill in the banquet hall corridor, holding a half-eaten cookie in her hand.

It seems like her mouth never stops moving, does she? She can eat so much!

She wore a pale gold dress, and the small pearl crown on her head gleamed warmly under the wall lamp. A few blades of grass clung to the hem of her dress—she had probably just rushed back from the garden.

Ji Tian's divine sense had actually detected her long ago, but given her aloof attitude at the banquet, he didn't think she would notice him or call out to him.

The little princess looked him up and down, her gaze lingering on his face for a moment before sweeping over his neatly straightened collar. "Are you a guest of the Pompeii family?"

Ji Tian bowed slightly. "Yes, Your Highness, what are your instructions?"

The little princess popped the last bite of cookie into her mouth, patted the crumbs off her hands, pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve to wipe her fingertips, and slowly began to speak:

"Nothing much to say, I just saw you coming out of the garden, and the way you walked didn't look like you were going to the restroom."

She paused, tilted her head to look at him, a hint of mockery in her eyes, and asked, "What were you doing in there?"

Ji Tian remained expressionless, calmly meeting her gaze.

"I got lost while taking a walk to digest my food."

The little princess stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly chuckled, tucked the handkerchief back into her sleeve, and turned to walk towards the banquet hall.

After taking two steps, she stopped again and glanced at him sideways.

"Next time you get lost, remember not to take that road. The people in there don't like being disturbed."

After saying that, she disappeared at the end of the corridor without looking back.

Ji Tian stood there, watching the pale golden figure recede into the distance. 'The person inside? The garden?'

For safety reasons, he had his consciousness suppressed in the secret room, and after coming out, he only habitually observed the area within a hundred meters.

"That reminds me. I can find out what's in the garden as soon as I explore it." Ji Tian's divine sense spread out again, scanning towards the garden.

"...It seems the nobles of the capital are playing these tricks. Could the little princess have stumbled upon these scenes and rushed back?"

After a moment of silence, he shook his head again. "Forget it, it's just worldly pleasures. Nothing compares to the exhilaration of cultivation."

Thinking of this, Ji Tian, ​​who was "Chu Nan" in both his past and present lives, straightened his chest and strode towards the banquet hall.