Weapon seller in the world of magic

As the third prince of the Phoenix Empire asked Emperor Shi to speak of his intentions, the latter simply let out a smile and said, "What do you think of my granddaughter, Princess Shi Juan? You met her yesterday. I believe both of you are a good match."

The image of a battle-crazy lady in knight's armor appeared in Shang Wei's head, and instantly, his mood soured a bit. Forcing out a smile, he replied, "Your Majesty, I already have a girl that I love."

"Who is it that stole the heart of an intellectual like you?" asked the 83-year-old emperor without showing any sort of displeasure at getting his proposition rejected. It looked like he was quite curious. "Which empire's princess is she? I heard that Western Moon's princess was quite intelligent and wise. Is it her perhaps?"

Shang Wei answered honestly, "She is not a princess but the daughter of a minister. He is the current head of the Lin Clan."

"But, you are going to be the successor to Emperor Shang Fu and will take his place soon," commented the surprised emperor. He further said, "Don't make the same mistake as your father, Prince Wei. You should marry someone of a royal bloodline to match your status.

It is not because she is my granddaughter that I'm telling you this. But, it is because we have cordial relationship with the Phoenix Empire for centuries and I just wanted your future to be brighter.

As you know, Princess Shi Juan isn't just beautiful and strong but she also awakened our ancestral bloodline too. Your descendants will obviously rule the south for the next millennia too.

As a well-wisher, I suggest you take Princess Shi Juan as your first wife and then marry whoever you like. I heard that you are one of the smartest in the Phoenix Empire and I also see your intellectual prowess in person. I'm sure you will make the right choice. So, take your time and answer."

Shang Wei wanted to reject him right away as it hasn't been that long since he watched the princess battling a 7-circle realm beast king without caring about her injuries.

Her bloodied figure on top of the monster's corpse, her barbarian style of eating the meat and drinking the wine, and her straightforwardness in talking, everything is still fresh on his mind.

In his opinion, apart from her pretty face and nice figure, there's nothing elegant about her. Even if he wasn't in love with Lin Xue, Shang Wei would never marry such a person.

At the same time, he was also aware that once the bloodline of Phoenix integrates into his body, his own potential will also become comparable to his second brother, Shang Wen. Perhaps, then the Lin Clan's heiress would finally accept him. Or so, Shang Wei hopes it to be.

Hence, there is no way that he would even try to ponder on the subject but then again, he should consider the old man's identity too.

In the end, he gave a diplomatic answer, "Your Majesty, I'm thankful for your goodwill. I will think about it and send you my reply very soon."

"Good, I'm expecting good news." Emperor Shi was satisfied by his reply and Shang Wei continued to negotiate the terms of their agreements.

It was the time of evening. Shang Wei somehow managed to finish his dinner after being intimidated by the presence of a gracefully looking Princess Shi Juan the entire time. Her younger brother was bragging about her heroics during the battle against a rebel army.

He was explaining how she, with just a unit of 18, faced more than 300 enemies, how she still emerged as the winner and earned the title of Blood warrior.

Killing a monster is quite different from killing a human being without any mercy even if the opponent is an enemy. Not to mention, as a scholar who grew up in the era of peace, Shang Wei had never seen even a small war. So, he wasn't that comfortable with the solution that can result in so many deaths.

Shang Wei felt like this princess believed in violence to solve every issue and stayed away from her as much as possible. Thankfully, the princess didn't care about his presence. So, no harm was being done here and he managed to return to his room without facing any unexpected issues.

But then again, he also grew up as a prince and it is impossible that a person of his stature wouldn't get embroiled in something troublesome.

And it came in the form of a whisper from his trusted imperial guard.

Shang Wei wanted to sleep in peace for he was looking forward to returning home. Just like anyone who has been away for several weeks away from his family, he was quite excited to see them.

There are so many things that he wished to share with his father and there are so many things he would also like to know the details of. After all, many lives have been changed since his departure from the Phoenix Empire.

However, the news from his bodyguard made his lose his sleep completely. He fell into deep thoughts.

"The moment I learned that I will receive the seed of fire, I knew that Eldest brother would try to eliminate me but never in the world did I expect him to be in cahoots with that mysterious "Soul" organization.

According to Shang Bo (fourth prince), even his NET couldn't get hold of the information on this organization. But, they appeared to be quite powerful and did many high-profile assassinations without failure.

As long as I'm in the city, I will be safe. It's quite possible that they try to assassinate me when I travel to Western Yan by sea route. And once I reach home, I will absorb the fire seed and possibly make a breakthrough.

So, how should I survive this?"

Shang Wei thought for a while before he started writing something in the scroll.

Soon, his bodyguard left the palace with the letter and the prince lies down on the bed, "Well, I feel a bit guilty for using Emperor Shi's favorable impression of me to my advantage but I guess all is fair in love and war."