“Your Majesty, can you please tell us how we can earn merit points?” Carlos looked really excited. Sebastian did not give them any ranks. Now that they were given a chance to rise in ranks, everyone wanted to become Duke.

“There are many ways for you to earn merit points. But the easiest way of earning merit points would be by developing the territories which you respectively governor. Each month, I want you all the personally come to the capital and submit a report on your monthly earnings and spending.”

“The second way of earning merit points would be by expanding the military power which is by recruiting more troops without burdening the earning. The third way is by capturing or killing wanted criminals. The fourth way would be by completing the missions that I will personally give to some of you in some cases.”

“In case your territory discovers any mines, you will be directly promoted. Also if you don’t wish to lose your title as the viscount and fall in the category of baron, you must earn at least 500 permit points per month.” The whole system was completely new to everyone. It was more like the King was running a sect.

“Your Majesty, what else we can do with the permit points?”

Aditya smiled and replied. “Other than rank promotion, one can use permit points to buy 3-star cultivation pills.”

“Seriously”

“Do you think I am joking?” With all the money Aditya has recently made, he can now afford to buy Julia higher quality alchemy materials that can allow her to make 3-star cultivation pills and many other 3-star pills._.

A 3-star cultivation pill can increase the cultivation speed of a 3rd-order by 25%. But these kinds of pills are extremely expensive even for the dukes and Kings. But if they can use their permit points to get 3-star cultivation pills, in a few years, they would multiple 3-star cultivators under their command. Just thinking about that every governor felt tempted.

“Your Majesty, one last question, does Duke Zayne and Sarlus would also have to follow this merit earning system?”

“Yes. But the benefits that they will receive will be different from yours. As they hold the rank of Duke, they will receive monthly cultivation resources even without needing any permit points.” By using this new system, all the nobles who are and will be a part of his empire will be loyal to him. By providing them with cultivation resources in exchange for permit points, Aditya was actually pushing the growth of his Empire.

‘If everything goes according to the plan, before next year, the Istarin Kingdom will have at least five or six 3rd-order cultivators.’

‘I am sorry Julia but it looks like you will have to work hard until we can find someone who is capable enough to replace you.’ In fact, Julia already had begun looking for suitable people who can replace her. During this wartime, Julia has constantly been working. Sometimes she would work for more than 18 hours or even 22 hours. She would barely get any sleep.

“Disperse.” All the governors felt relieved and very happy that their King was this different from Sebastian. Unlike Sebastian who wanted to control everything, Aditya gave them the freedom that they wanted. He added the merit point earning system which aligned perfectly with the governor’s desires to become powerful individuals. This method ensured that only the hard-working ones would receive the most benefits.

As Carlos and other governors walked out of the throne hall, Carlos looked at others and said. “Just you watch. Soon, I will become the 3rd Duke and will have multiple 3rd-order under my control.”

“Hahaha! Carlos, you’re still inexperienced. I bet you would be the last one to rise in rank.”

“We will see when the time comes.”

–

–

“Zachary!” From Aditya’s shadow, the old man Zachary appeared and kneeled behind the throne. Amber and others were surprised to see Zachary hiding in Aditya’s shadow. This entire time, the old man has been guarding Aditya without anyone noticing.

“I don’t fully trust these governors of mine. Send some of your men to keep a watch over them. If they find anything suspicious, report it to me at once. “

“Understood your Majesty.”

Swoosh!

Once again Zachary disappeared into the shadow. Aditya then glanced at his 7 generals who has fought for him and had slaughtered countless enemies in these 2 weeks. Unlike the governors, Aditya can fully trust them.

“I think its’ time to head back to…Knock! Knock!”

“Who is it?” Aditya asked calmly.

“Your Majesty, a messenger from the Nyland Kingdom has arrived.”

Amber and others looked at each other in confusion. Why would the Nyland Kingdom send a messenger? “Let him in.”

The golden doors were opened. A man wearing a 1-star leather vest walked into the throne hall. After walking in front of his Majesty, he kneeled and lowered his head. “Long live to his Majesty. I pray that Mother Goddess blesses the Istarin Land.”

“Hmm. You may rise.” The man looked like someone in his 30s. He was a late-stage 1st-order cultivator.

“Your Majesty, as you already have guessed, I have a message from his Majesty, the King of Nyland.”

“Go ahead, I am listening.”

[His Majesty has said the following. “As the neighboring Kingdom, the Kingdom of Nyland will oversee the meeting between the two Kingdoms and help them sort things. I shall personally attend this meeting. I humbly ask the Kings of both neighboring kingdoms to come as well. I hope both Kings will give the King of Nyland some face.”]

‘What does the King of Nyland is planning? What is he trying to gain by overseeing the meeting between two Kingdoms when the war had nothing to do with his Kingdom? Is he indirectly trying to help the Nepoca Kingdom during the meeting? If I don’t attend this meeting, then this will be a huge slap to the Nyland King’s face.’ Aditya was a little confused. When he was taking over the Zulux Dynasty, the Nyland Kingdom did not show any movement or signs of attacking. They easily could have taken advantage of Sabastian’s death to attack the Zulux Dynasty.

‘Did the Nepoca King and Nyland King make some kind of secret deal to suppress the Istarin kingdom? This meeting is the most important phase of my plan to dominate the Eastern part of the Dying Isle continent. If the Nyland King supports the Nepoca Kingdom, then I can’t demand the thing that I was going to ask for in exchange for Duke Easton.

‘Geo-politically the current Istarin Kingdom shares borders with both the Nepoca and the Nyland Kingdom. Our sudden rise must have threatened both Kingdoms. This was originally why the Nepoca Kingdom attacked us. There is a chance that both Kingdoms have allied themselves against My Kingdom.’

[Also His Majesty has told me to add this point. “The Nyland Kingdom is not allying with neither the Istarin nor the Nepoca Kingdom. The Nyland Kingdom will stay neutral in any conflict or in any clash between two Kingdoms. It’s my selfish wish to oversee the meeting between two Kingdoms.”]

Hearing those words, half of Aditya’s worries instantly disappeared. ‘There was no need for me to get worried. Currently, the Nyland kingdom is facing a throne succession problem. If the Kingdom starts a war, then the whole Kingdom is will thrown in chaos as the princes have started pulling powerful nobles and King’s advisor to their sides.’

“Very well. We, the Istarin Kingdom respect the Nyland King and Kingdom’s wishes. In fact, I personally also wish to form friendly relations with our neighboring Kingdom. I hope that the incident with the Zulux Dynast won’t be repeated another time. Also If possible, we hope to open trade routes between the two Kingdoms in the future.” The messenger smiled.

“Then I will pass these words to his Majesty. The meeting shall take place in the capital of the Kingdom of Thera in 2 days’ time.”

‘If I remember correctly the Kingdom of Thera is one of those small Kingdoms located between the Nyland and the Nepoca Kingdom. They also happen to share a border with our Empire. It looks like Nyland is serious when he said about staying neutral.’ Nyland King could be arranged the meeting to take place in his Kingdom but he didn’t do that. This itself showed that the Nyland King is not taking any sides here.

“If there isn’t anything else, this humble servant shall excuse himself.” After bowing to Aditya one more time, the messenger left the throne hall.

“Your Majesty, who are you planning on taking with you for the meeting?” In her heart, Amber wanted to go with Aditya and visit the small Kingdom of Thera.

“I was thinking of going alone. But Kings from both big Kingdoms are going to come, I can’t just go there alone.” Aditya can bet that both Kings are going to bring their strongest cultivators to the meeting.

“I will bring Morgan, Nathan, and Watson with me.” Since Morgan was a necromancer with supporting skills, if in case any battle breaks out, she can help Aditya with her supporting skills. Nathan can gather information about the enemy while Watson can help him in negotiating.

Amber lowered her head. She was slightly disappointed. “Meanwhile, Amber, Nathan, and Tyler, you three can head back to the Capital with the Wyverns.” These days Julia was been doing so hard. Maybe Amber’s presence can make her feel a little relaxed. While he sent Nathan with them so that he can go and inform Watson about the meeting.

“Now it’s time to office work.” Aditya stood up from the throne as he stretched his body. “First of all, I want all the budget reports on the military and public sectors. I also want to know about the total amount of tax that was collected in the last 3 years. Hurry up and bring all the papers to the study room.”