At that moment, the princess was looking deep into his eyes, waiting for his answer.

"How about this, princess? I have some difficulties I'm unable to share, so please give me a bit more time. I can, however, assure you that I will never join the Violetcloud Imperium no matter what. If I have to make a choice to join one side or the other, I’ll definitely choose the Divineglory Dynasty."

He had expected that the princess would try recruiting him again, and it turned out to be the case. He had a feeling that she was a little annoyed, but he couldn't be sure.

"How long will you need?" she asked, seemingly not displeased in any way.

"Maybe wait until I get first place in the ranking! After that, we'll negotiate the conditions with more clarity. After all, two seven-star universal manna wouldn't quite be enough for the first ranker, right?" Tianming said stubbornly.

The princess looked stunned. "You want to take first place?"

"Yes."

"Hmm, that's ambitious." There was an undetectable hint of contempt in her look. However, it wasn't that she looked...