•••

Astrallis and Bataar were in the midst of a friendly game of chess, the outcome of the match would be evident within a few moves.

Astrallis suddenly felt a commotion occur in his spacial ring. Thus he sent his consciousness in to look.

He removed the Royal Token that Eversnow had given him earlier, it was currently vibrating with golden colours radiating off of it.

“Oh, it seems that little girl wants to speak to you,” Bataar said with a smile.

“Indeed. It seems we must delay this game. She wants us to meet her at the Crown Princes’ residence. Her siblings want to meet me,” Astrallis replied.

“Seems like they realised your intentions,” Bataar said.

“We can go straight there, they’ve verified my token, no one will stop us,” Astrallis said as he jumped out the window.

Bataar followed and transformed into a ten-metre long emerald lion, with a blazing mane. Astrallis stood on his back. Bataar then shot off into the sky above the city and flew towards the centre.

Uncountable spiritual senses shone upon the duo as they soared through the sky. Unsolicited spiritual sense is often seen as rude, but many people of the city couldn’t hold back their curiosity when they saw the majestic beast that was Bataar in the sky.

Bataar arrogantly smiled when he noticed the people peeking at him, although his cultivation wasn’t what it used to be, he still had the aura of an immortal if he wanted to release it. Alas, the beast was too prideful, and he took joy in people watching him.

Astrallis didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when he saw the actions of Bataar.

“I’m no less of a beautifully handsome creature to other female beasts as you are to female humans,” Bataar said pridefully, “Okay, nearly the same level as you.”

Astrallis just smiled in response.

“Oh, why are you flying? Surely grandmother told you not to help me so much?” Astrallis asked in confusion.

“Ah,” Bataar started choking in response.

“I forgot, I got too carried away. It’s been a while since countless gazes have admired me.” Bataar laughed shamelessly.

“Whatever. At least we’ll get there within a few minutes, instead of a few hours. This city is incredibly large, but the architecture is one of a kind.” Astrallis said as he gazed down at the city, like a ruler before his subjects.

Sprawling mountain ranges soon came into view; multiple palatial structures lay built around the peaks.

•••

Back inside the pavilion in the Crown Prince’s residence, the siblings peered at an array before them.

On the array, one could see multiple golden dots moving around a topography of the Imperial City.

“The speed at which he’s moving is incredibly fast,” Algard scrunched his face in surprise.

“He must either have an incredibly flying treasure, or an expert with him. This shows that our inference is right, he’s a youth with great backing,” Evergreen nodded with a serious expression.

“Haha! I didn’t think he’d like wine so much that he’d come rushing here to drink some,” Venzion smacked his knee in glee.

If Astrallis could hear Venzion know he wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The Royal siblings now saw him as a drunkard because of Bataar’s actions.

A few hidden hermits within the Royal Court noticed Bataar speeding through the sky; bangs ran throughout the air as he soared past the speed of sound. They all began to move thinking that this beast was attacking the Royal Court. They were all quickly sent a message informing them not to be alarmed.

Although they all sat down, their attention was not on cultivating anymore but rather the beast, and to their surprise the youth standing on it.

“Haha, Eversnow. Your friend is now being watched by all the ancestors within the court,” Algard laughed in disbelief.

“Indeed. He really is like what you said Eversnow. Gold must be beneath his feet,” Evergreen said with a shine in her eyes.

“Sorry, it seems our conversation won’t be so private anymore,” Eversnow said sheepishly.

All the ancestors chuckled listening to their golden girl, the future of their Seven Dawns Imperial City.

“It was never going to be in the first place; he may give us some information about your constitution. Our Seniors would listen intently regardless,” Algard comforted her.

The siblings soon heard the sound of air splitting. They turned and saw waves of the lake following a gigantic beast as it shot towards them. Their mouths gaped when their eyes wandered onto the magnificent and stunning creature.

Bataar imposingly appeared before them, the regal aura of someone who has been the spotlight for countless millennia emanated before them.

“What beast is this?” Evergreen whispered.

She heard no reply, she turned towards her siblings and saw their dazed faces.

Confusion crossed her visage as she turned back to look at the beast, only then did she realise why her siblings were in a daze.

A prideful and aesthetic figure stood atop the lion, his handsome features out of this world. His visage was beyond the realms of perfection; such masculine beauty left the two Princess’ stunned. The tattoos of the roses across the left side of his neck and face created an indescribable allure, while his eyes magenta coloured eyes were so beautiful that any creature would be sucked into a dream upon first glance.

Silence rang throughout the chambers of the ancestors and powerhouses of the Royal Court. At their levels, beauty was something that most wouldn’t notice, but sometimes there were things so handsome or beautiful that one wouldn’t be able to not stop and stare.

An embarrassed smile appeared on his youthful visage, which looked younger than Eversnow’s, as he looked at the stunned faces before him.

“Roar,” Bataar roared waking everyone up from their stupor, while he inwardly grumbled, “Damn you Astrallis, always taking my bloody limelight. Back when I wandered the Universe…”

Algard and Venzion, being males, managed to react faster and moved forwards to greet Astrallis.

“Astrallis, thank you for coming. I’m the Crown Prince Algard. We didn’t expect for you to get here so quick,” Algard said as he cupped his hands in greeting.

“My apologies for imposing on you, your Highness,“ Astrallis reciprocated the greeting.

“Haha! None whatsoever. It is the great fortune of my little sister that she was able to find you.”

The two brothers spoke to Astrallis as they made their way to the pavilion.

Astrallis and the two twins sat down in their seats, unknown if intended or not but Astrallis found himself sitting next to Eversnow and Evergreen.

Astrallis gave a sweet smile to Eversnow and Evergreen when he noticed their non-stop gazes.

“Am I that pleasing to look at, your Highnesses?” Astrallius asked jokingly.

“Yes.” Both the girls replied.

Astrallis almost fell out of his seat.

The girls soon realised what they said, and their flashes flushed red with embarrassment. They swore to themselves that they would go for mental training after this, as they would go insane if they kept on staring at Astrallis.

Realising the awkward atmosphere, Venzion placed wine with a beautiful fragrance on the table.

“Brother Astrallis, it’s alright if I call you that?”

“Yes, it is,” Astrallis replied, liking the forthright nature of the Crown-Prince.

“Good, good. You may call me Brother Venzion; I’m sure Algard would be fine with that too.” The Martial Way Prince said enthusiastically.

A few hours later.

Over these past hours, the siblings and Astrallis had got to know each other well, laughing and enjoying each others company the entire time.

“Haha. Brother Astrallis I thought you would be arrogant when I heard the words of little-sister Evernow. But, speaking to your for the past few hours that is clearly not the case,” Evergreen said, an admiring look on her face.

Astrallis gave an inquisitive look towards Eversnow.

“Ummm, it’s just when you were fighting you were so imposing and arrogant. The aura you gave off was if there was no one above you,” Eversnow fumbled for words as she replied.

“Haha, little Astrallis is like that when he fights. Apart from learning that from his grandmother it’s also within his blood and being,” the now kitty-formed Bataar laughed gaily.

The siblings were intrigued by Bataars words, although they still found the juxtaposition of Bataar’s current size compared to his previous form jarring.

“I’ve said too much; it’s alright. You’ll know about his grandmother in a few years,” Bataar laughed, in only a few years the Astral Realm would be introduced to the Universe. Thus, finally connecting to the Cosmic-Data-Array and discovering about all the peak powers of the Universe.

This only made the siblings get even more interested, but they stopped asking once they saw Bataar wouldn’t say anything more.

"Well, we can confirm one thing at least. You really are a drunkard, you've drunk all my superior wine already," Algard said as he put his hand over his heart in mock pain.

In fact, he was quite happy, how could win compare to forging a relationship with such a figure?

Astrallis laughed his face flushed red with wine, he could quickly take away the effects of wine, but he didn't care too. The enjoyment of alcohol was something Astrallis simply couldn't put down.

If Grandmother Anemone was here to see this she would certainly say how introducing Astrallis to alcohol was the worst decision of her life.

This only made his handsome face all the more alluring for the girls.

“Eversnow, are there going to be people at the party who want to challenge you?” Astrallis asked curiously.

“There will be… Although I’m not afraid of any of them, there are still a few talents who will give me a run for my money,” Eversnow said with confidence.

“Well, I may as well tell you some features of your constitution and how to utilise them. That way maybe those old fogies can stop listening to our conversations,” Astrallis playfully said.

The ancestors went red in the face realising that the youth had understood they were spying on him, at the same time they were bewildered that he managed to achieve it.

“What strong soul power,” a regal and imposing figure, sitting on a throne, uttered in astonishment.

•••