Ten days later, the remaining upper echelons of the noble families arrived at the Imperial City.
After a year, Gray came to the Imperial City once again.
The Imperial City was rumored to have been built when the Purple Moon Kingdom was founded, but there were also rumors that it had been preserved from the era of the Empire.
A thousand years, or even more, had filled it with the vicissitudes of life. One could feel the vicissitudes and the passage of time from its body.
It was majestic and grand, like a sleeping beast that would wake up at any time.
This was not a metaphor, but a fact.
After a thousand years of perfection by the royal family of the Purple Moon Kingdom, the ground and even the walls of the city were full of rune patterns. Once these rune patterns were fully activated, they would have amazing defensive and terrifying offensive power.
And the most terrifying thing was that there might be an ultimate method in the rumors.
The power of the Imperial City's rune patterns could be used to enhance a person's body. Even a Desolate Blood Warrior could have the strength of a King Warrior after being enhanced by the power of the rune patterns.
Within the royal family, there weren't many King class experts, but there were definitely many Desolate Blood Warriors. One could only imagine how shocking it would be if these experts were supported by the power of the runes in the capital and all of them had the strength of a King class warrior.
Even if the Flame Kingdom came, they would definitely be defeated.
Gray did not know whether this rumor was true or not, but he vaguely felt that it was very likely to be true.
He also felt that, in contrast to the Purple Moon Kingdom, the other three kingdoms more or less had similar methods.
The Purple Moon Kingdom, the Scarlet Kingdom, and the Jewel Kingdom were able to contend with the Flame Kingdom, which had more King Warriors than them. Forming an alliance was one thing, but the most important thing was probably this kind of ultimate foundation.
The entrance of the Imperial City was bustling with noise and excitement. There were nobles and commoners, all of whom were cheering and celebrating the return of a group of nobles led by Francis Violet.
Francis Violet stood on a desolate-level blood beast, looking fresh and handsome, but not lacking in dignity.
Behind him were Sophia and Hillya, as well as other important members of the royal family.
Behind them were the Duke's family, the Marquis family, and other nobles.
Gray mingled among the upper echelons of the Marquises and was not too conspicuous.
Although his battle achievements were extremely terrifying, his reputation among the commoners and nobles of the Royal City was extremely low. Almost no one recognized him.
He rode a warhorse in a low-key manner and rode alongside Zaloyan, Polly, and Darren.
After entering the Royal City, he and the other three stayed in the residence arranged by the Royal Family.
"I really didn't expect you to be able to reach this step!"
In the residence of the four of them, Zaloyang sighed.
He still clearly remembered the first time he met Gray a few years ago.
At that time, although the other party was also quite talented and was already a middle-level Blood Warrior before the age of 17, it was absolutely unimaginable that the other party had grown to the point where he could kill Desolate Blood Warriors in just a few years' time and become famous throughout the Purple Moon Kingdom.
Gray smiled. With the ability to transform, it was within his expectations that he would be able to reach this stage. However, he was still quite happy that he was able to grow to this stage.
After thinking about it, he thanked the three of them solemnly.
"Thank you very much for the Royal Title."
Under normal circumstances, nobles with feudal titles who left the Royal Family would be hated. However, the three of them were very generous and did not have any dissatisfaction with him. This made him feel very touched.
"No need. The Sidney family has done enough."
Polly shook her head.
Her blonde hair was dazzling, her eyes were huge, and her skin was as white as ivory. After experiencing the great change in her family for a year, she appeared to be more mature and steady.
She did not have any resentment towards Gray for leaving the Sidney family.
Gray had done a lot for the Sidney family. If it were not for Gray risking his life to save them, they might have died in the pursuit. After that, he risked his life to protect them and came to the Royal City to inherit the Royal Title.
It could be said that the reason the Sidney family could still exist was all because of Gray.
Now that Gray was facing the threat of the Nahum family, he urgently needed such an identity to protect himself. She naturally had no reason to be resentful or stop him.
"Gray, don't feel too burdened. Even if my father was still around, he would definitely support you in accepting the Royal Title."
Zaro patted Gray's shoulder as he spoke. He could tell that Gray was still brooding over the matter of accepting the knighthood.
"Father …"
At the mention of the Sidney family head, Polly and Darren could not help but feel a little sad. Even though a year had passed, some pain could never be forgotten.
That day's incident seemed to have happened yesterday. It was still vivid in their minds and unforgettable. Many days and nights, they had been having nightmares about that night.
Gray looked at Polly and Darren, then at Zaloyang, who also had a hint of sadness in his eyes. After hesitating for a moment, he looked at the three of them and spoke seriously.
"If I can become a king-class expert, I will kill the King of Assassins to avenge the old Marquis!"
Back then, the old Marquis had treated the Fergus family and Gray extremely well. When he was not strong enough to go against the Orca family, it was the old Marquis who had intimidated the Orca family and prevented the Orca family from making a move on him. He had already heard about this from Zaloyang.
In addition, Zaloyang and the other two had magnanimously allowed him to leave the Sidney family, which made him feel a little ashamed. In the end, it had prompted him to make such a decision.
"Gray, thank … you!"
Polly raised her head in surprise and looked at Gray in a daze. Her eyes were filled with gratitude and excitement.
"Gray, thank you!"
Zaloyang and Darren's eyes were also filled with surprise. They stood up with Polly and bowed ninety degrees to Gray.
The talent that Gray had now displayed was highly valued even by the royal family of the Purple Moon Kingdom. He had a high chance of becoming a king-class expert. If it was him, he might really be able to kill the King of Assassins and avenge the dead Sidney family members.
"There's no need to be like this. The old Marquis treated me well back then. If there's a chance, I will naturally not refuse."
Gray helped the three of them up.
"Of course, the prerequisite is that I can become a king-class warrior. Maybe I can't become a king-class warrior, and your expectations will be in vain."
"No, you will definitely become a king-class warrior!"
Polly looked at Gray with her beautiful eyes and said with a determined gaze.
Looking at Gray like this, a strange ripple appeared in her heart. It was as if a small stone had been thrown into a pool of still water, causing strange ripples.
A few days later, Gray, Zaloyang, and Darren were picked up by the royal carriage and entered the palace to participate in the reward banquet.
One by one, the nobles came forward to receive their rewards.
The rewards were given according to the amount of battle achievements. There were rewards in terms of money, magic potions, magic weapons, and even titles.
Among them, a Marquis family was born. The Purple Moon Kingdom's three dukes and seven marquises were officially changed to three dukes and eight marquises.
The one who was promoted was the original Earl family, the Leo family. This was a family whose foundation was not inferior to the Marquis family. Gray, Earl Fergus, and the others had accepted the invitation of this family and participated in the banquet hosted by this family.
This time, this family had killed many barbarian blood warriors and finally accumulated enough battle achievements to become the Marquis family as they wished.
Gray received the title of Earl as a reward.
This reward was a little small for his battle achievements, but considering that it was his first time receiving a title of Earl, this reward seemed a little too generous.
The other families basically started from Lord, Baron, and Viscount through the hard work of several generations or even more than a dozen generations. However, he had achieved it in one step and was directly rewarded with the title of Earl. This was very rare in the history of the Purple Moon Kingdom.
The only family that surpassed him was the Sidney family. Because their battle achievements were too outstanding, the Purple Moon Kingdom's royal family directly rewarded the Marquis family.
In a room in the palace, Gray met Francis Violet and Sophia.
"Here, the areas marked with red lines on the map are the lands prepared for you. Each of them is about 50,000 square kilometers. Choose one yourself!"
Francis Violet handed a map of the Purple Moon Kingdom to Gray.
On the map, there were more than a dozen areas marked with red lines.
Some were slightly oval in shape, some were shaped like gears, and some were shaped like crescent moons … The shapes were all different, but in terms of area, they should be about the same size.
50,000 square kilometers was more than twice the size of the Fergus family's current territory. It was not difficult to see that the kingdom's nobles were treated better than the other nobles of the same rank.
And this was only one aspect of the preferential treatment. There should be more preferential treatment in other aspects. It was no wonder that the kingdom's nobles of the same rank were generally more powerful than the other nobles of the same rank. It was not without reason.
"These are all places with excellent natural conditions. My brother and I specially selected them."
At the side, Sophia explained with a smile.
Gray thanked her gratefully and finally chose a crescent-shaped territory.
There was a large lake in the territory that was rich in fish resources. Just this lake alone would bring in a lot of income every year.
Of course, the most important thing was that this place was very close to the Siderni territory. It should only take two to three days to reach the Siderni territory.
After selecting the territory, Gray chatted with the two while drinking the milk tea that the palace maids had prepared.
There was no particular topic. The content of their conversation was very casual and unspecific.
Although the two were of noble status, they did not use their status to oppress others. Gray did not find it difficult to get along with the two of them. Of course, this was only Gray's point of view. It was unknown if others would think the same.
"You said last time that you wanted to travel to the Flame Kingdom. You definitely can't go to the Flame Kingdom, but there is a chance in the Jewel Kingdom."
Francis Violet smiled as he looked at Gray.