If I ever find the person who invented "diplomatic travel," I am going to short-sell their soul into the lowest pits of the Abyssal Continent.

  We were currently on route to the Tian Empire for the Summit of Sovereigns. Normally, a journey across the Heavenridge Continent would take months, but when you are traveling with a Golden Immortal father and six siblings who treat "speed limits" as a personal insult, you do it in a week. Specifically, a week inside a carriage that was essentially a mobile high-pressure chamber.

  The carriage was a masterpiece of Nova Empire engineering—a floating fortress of white jade and dragon-scale wood. Inside, it was larger than a luxury suite on a cruise ship, but with my siblings packed in, it felt like a sardine can made of gold.

  "Xian-er, sit up," my eldest brother, Tianhao, said for the fourteenth time that hour. He was currently polishing a suit of ceremonial armor that was so shiny it was legally a flash-bang grenade. "The Tian Empire isn't like the Zhou. They don't care about your money or your 'Liquidation' tactics. They care about presence. You need to radiate 'Imperial Grace,' not 'I-just-woke-up-from-a-twelve-hour-coma'."

  "I did just wake up from a twelve-hour coma," I muffled into a silk pillow. "It was the only way to survive the G-force of Brother Jianfeng’s driving."

  "He's right, you know," Lu Lingshu added, her fingers flying across a stack of ledgers. "I’ve been analyzing the market trends of the Tian capital. They value 'Profound Mystery.' If you walk in looking too approachable, they'll think the Lu Empire has gone soft. I’ve prepared a list of cryptic phrases you should use during the banquet. If someone asks you a question, just look at the moon and say, 'The ocean knows the weight of the mountain, but the mountain has forgotten the sea.'"

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  I stared at her. "Lingshu, that doesn't mean anything. That’s just a series of nouns."

  "Exactly!" she chirped. "That’s what makes it profound! It’s 'unfathomable'!"

  In the corner, Lu Yueran was sharpening a set of needles that glowed with a faint, hypnotic purple light. "And if the 'unfathomable' act fails, I’ve developed a temporary facial-nerve stimulant. One prick behind the ear, and your face will be locked in a noble, stoic expression for forty-eight hours. You won't be able to blink or eat, but you'll look like a god."

  "Stay away from my ears!" I scrambled to the other side of the carriage, only to bump into Lu Chenyi, who was currently painting a "Stealth Formation" onto my dress shoes.

  "Don't worry, Xian-er," Chenyi whispered, his eyes gleaming. "These shoes will make your footsteps silent. If the Summit gets too boring, you can literally walk out of the hall and nobody will notice. It’s the ultimate 'Ghosting' technique."

  I looked at my family. My father was at the front of the convoy, probably talking to the clouds. My siblings were here, basically trying to "patch" my personality like I was a buggy software update. And in the carriage behind us, Qin Chenfeng and Zhou Wenhao were reportedly arguing over who got to be my "primary bodyguard" once we reached the Tian border.

  I just wanted to be a dog, I thought, closing my eyes and trying to find my 27% Space-Time Dao happy place. A dog in a nice house with a bowl of premium spirit-kibble. Instead, I’m the 'Monster' of Luòtiān, being groomed to face the 'Perfect' Prince of the Supreme Empire.

  As we crossed the border, the Qi in the air suddenly changed. It became heavy, ancient, and unnervingly still. The Tian Empire didn't need to show off; the very atmosphere told you that you were entering the origin of the world.

  "We're here," Tianhao said, his voice dropping the playful tone.

  I looked out the window. In the distance, floating above a sea of white clouds, was the Tian Sovereign City. It didn't sit on the ground; it sat on the laws of reality. And at the gates, I could see the shimmering auras of other "Monsters" who had arrived for the summit.

  The "Shark" was about to enter a tank filled with whales.