Chapter 1064: Chapter 1051: Competing for the Throne, Exiled Chapter 1064: Chapter 1051: Competing for the Throne, Exiled “I don’t know.” Muria shook his head. Given his current age, the words he had spoken two days ago were indeed astonishing, but when combined with his identity, they seemed quite normal instead. Being of royal blood, having some peculiar characteristics compared to an ordinary infant was just to be expected.

“Then do you remember what you said two days ago?” Ferdinand asked in as even a tone as possible, but even when he deliberately softened his voice, it still carried an inherent sense of authority.

Compared to being a father, he was more accustomed to being a king. Who could blame him for having so many children? As a king, he could manage these children better than as a mere father.

“I have some impression.” Muria pretended to ponder for a moment before nodding.

“Do you wish for our nation to become the strongest?” Ferdinand asked with a stiff smile. He had grown used to facing everything expressionless, unaccustomed to smiling.

“Yes.” Muria answered without a second thought.

“Why is that?” Ferdinand’s smile softened subconsciously. “Is it because you do not want to learn the languages of other nations?”

“Hmm.” Muria nodded vigorously and then voiced a sentiment that could only come from a child troubled by language studies,
“Just in books, they make us learn twenty-one scripts. Although it’s not required to master them all, there is a mandatory condition; we must master more than ten languages before adulthood.

But these languages are not related to each other, which significantly increases the difficulty of learning. It’s torture for me and my siblings. We don’t want to learn.”

“Hahaha!” Hearing Muria’s reason, Ferdinand could not help but reveal a smile, “Your reason for wishing Gai Nation to become the strongest in the world is interesting. But whatever the reason, it’s commendable that you have such ambition.”

“If one day I become king, leading Gai Nation to be the strongest in the world, I will definitely abolish the scripts of other nations and promote our nation’s script and culture among the subjects, making it the only language in the world.”

Muria casually spun out part of the theory of great unification, which startled Ferdinand immensely.

“Why would you want to abolish other nations’ languages and scripts?” Ferdinand was unfazed by the disrespectful tone in Muria’s speech, taking it as child’s talk.

“Because a unified script is the foundation for long-term governance!” Muria said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Many conflicts in the world arise from the inability to communicate. If both sides have a way to communicate, most disputes can be eliminated.

This is also why royals like them have to learn multiple languages; they must master them to communicate and negotiate with royals of other countries.

“Who taught you these things?” Ferdinand nodded thoughtfully at Muria’s words, but then something occurred to him, and he asked affectionately, “Did your mother teach you to say this?”

“No, these are my own thoughts.” Muria looked at his suspicious father and replied with certainty.

“Very good,” said Ferdinand, nodding. He said no more. Whether he truly believed it or not was only known to him.

“Child, your ambition is lofty, but do you know the difficulties you will face in achieving your goals?” Ferdinand asked again. In his eyes, this son, whose birth order he could scarcely recall, seemed quite intriguing.

“I don’t know.” Muria shook his head. “I don’t know how big the world is, or how many nations there are.”

“Knowing nothing, you still thumped your chest and told your brother that you could lead Gai Nation to become the strongest in the world?” Ferdinand laughed disbelievingly.

“Hmm, I think I can.” Muria nodded, his confidence in himself absolute. Given time, he believed he could achieve any goal.

“You have more ambition than I do!” Ferdinand laughed at Muria’s words and then slowly paced to the palace door, looking up at the sky, “I don’t have such high aspirations; my only goal is to make our nation the strongest on the Ymir Plateau.”

“Then you won’t need to learn the languages of other nations, only our own country’s,” Ferdinand turned, smiling at Muria.

“If we’re not the strongest in the world, then the number of languages we’ll need to learn will not decrease; in fact, it might be as many as now, just that the types of languages we need to learn will have changed,” Muria stated with a child’s voice.

“The strongest in the world? I’m past that point now. It’s up to your brother, or perhaps you,” said Ferdinand, looking at Muria with a smile full of meaning, “Only the finest offspring can take my place.”

…

After being pulled aside for a talk by his almost emotionless father and then subjected to some persuasion, Muria returned to his dwelling.

The talk today had been within his expectations and of course, the words he had spoken, which from his perspective were sincere, probably seemed like naive child’s prattle to his father.

After all, who would believe the words of a child who spoke of becoming the strongest in the world? However, Muria’s words, though treated as a joke by his father, had provided Muria with a piece of important information from his father.

He seemed to be plotting something, Muria was certain of it; the way his father had just spoken about making the Gai Nation the most powerful country on the prairie didn’t seem like he was fooling a child.

Indeed, Ferdinand had no reason to fool him, unless he was out of his mind, to boast to his son, not even two years old. Needless to say, it would be meaningless, even if Muria was somewhat special.

“Just don’t know what my father is up to. If played right, I could gain a better starting point. If it goes too far…”

Thinking of his father’s goal and then what could happen if it were botched, Muria felt a headache coming on and rubbed his temples.

Of course, in any nation, the royals and nobles enjoyed the best resources, but when a country was destroyed, they suffered the worst.

“Fortunately, this world possesses extraordinary powers, where individual might can dominate over the collective.”

Muria raised his palm, and a faint black and red aura emerged on it, so thin that it could easily be overlooked in poor light.

“The nature of this power…” Muria felt the power in his palm finely, and though he had experienced it many times before, he still found it a bit astonishing.

Because the level of this power didn’t seem like something humans could wield—had he to describe it, it was like an epic force that had been weakened several times.

Yes, this was how Muria appraised the inherent power of his reincarnated body. Such power was not unattainable for mortals.

Like the believers who prayed to deities, the extraordinary powers they received from the deities were indeed weakened divine powers.

But their control over such powers depended on the deities. Should the deity fall, their power would dissipate, and they would tumble from their lofty heights to become mere mortals because, in the end, the power was never truly theirs.

The power within Muria, which seemed like a greatly diminished epic force, had no connection with the outside world; hence, it was impervious to external influences. The only possibility of this power fading was if Muria’s reincarnated body, its vessel, died.

“This power is too feeble now, but if I can enhance it to a certain degree, there should be some very interesting changes,” Muria mused, his hand forming a fist, and a marble-sized orb of black and red energy materialized within his grasp.

Under Muria’s control, the energy orb moved gracefully around his body, eventually integrating into his forehead. A comfortable sensation spread from there, but it quickly faded due to the power’s extreme weakness.

“I should spend some time perfecting the cultivation method that enhances the power within me!”

When Muria had just begun to babble, he acquired a method of cultivation to enhance his inner power. To someone of Muria’s epic perspective, that cultivation method was riddled with flaws and much in need of refinement.

While optimizing the cultivation method available to royalty, Muria also prepared two sets of plans for himself.

Both plans were devised based on the information he had gathered. The first was predicated on Ferdinand’s successful schemes, detailing how he could ascend to the throne as the Gai Nation grew stronger.

The second plan prepared for the worst-case scenario: if Ferdinand failed and Muria became an exiled royal, detailing what to do next.

The sole commonality between the two plans, and the core that would allow their execution, was his own strength. Whether to claim the throne or to survive as an exiled royal, both required substantial power.

To vie for the throne or to flee into exile successfully, one cannot rely on oneself alone. He needed many followers. And the simplest way to attract followers was to demonstrate sufficient strength; it’s easy for the powerful to gain followers.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read