Chapter 231: The Predator Shows Her Fangs
(Planet Gaia- Imperial Palace)
(Grand Hall)
Ten high nobles.
It was truly an absurd number to join together in one faction.
Of course, this was just a testament to the political power that the Imperial Teacher commanded.
An emperor who displayed no signs of ever wanting to get involved in the day-to-day operations of the Federation had created a power vacuum.
And the Imperial Teacher who acted as his right-hand minister had filled this vacuum with his own authority and now there were few nobles who wanted to oppose him.
Sophie sneered inwardly as she saw the mockery and arrogance hidden behind the eyes of the noble heirs approaching her group.
There was an underlying hint of disgust in the expressions of some as they intentionally glanced at her blade-like appendages and then whispered among themselves.
The atmosphere in the grand hall had frozen over and the tension in the air was so thick that one could cut it with a knife.
Everyone was waiting eagerly to see just how this meeting would unfold and there were several neutral parties who were watching with great interest.
It was no secret that the Imperial Teacher and Duke Peterlor's factions had been battling fiercely in the parliament.
Would this battle extend to the next generation?
Maybe if Duke Peterlor's heir was a normal human then there was a slim chance...
But that madman had openly declared his hybrid daughter as the heir to one of the most powerful dukedoms in the Federation.
Now there was no chance of reconciliation between the two factions especially considering the Imperial Teacher's belief in the Human Supremacy ideology.
Sophie's golden eyes narrowed, and a faint trace of bloodlust rose up just beneath the surface of her calm exterior.
Duke Peterlor had chosen her.
Did these arrogant nobles truly believe that their harsh words and stares would affect her?
She was the only daughter of the youngest god stage cultivator in the Federation!
"Miss Sophie Peterlor I presume?" an elderly man with a thick crop of white hair approached the hybrid girl with a shallow smile.
The rest of the nobles behind him also followed suit but none offered any form of greetings and were content to stay in the background.
Sophie knew the names of every one of them from the information files that her father had made her read before the gathering.
Ewan Bell, Kairo Richardson, Alexa Walker, Megan Dixon....
They were all from prominent noble families whose various businesses and industries spanned several galaxies.
There was an aura of arrogance and nobility that seemed to be engrained into every fibre of their being.
It was a characteristic that could have only been cultivated from years of being placed on a pedestal above the masses.
Sophie had to admit that she held a mild appreciation for the expensive clothing that they wore to the banquet.
Graceful dresses made from a silk-like material that flowed naturally with every step, luxurious gems and jewels that sparkled mesmerizingly under the light of the chandelier and tailor fitted black jackets with embedded gold links.
And the man who greeted her was...
Targon Goldmore.
A man over two hundred years old but his cultivation level was not particularly high, so his body suffered from the ravages of time.
Qi tide cultivators could only live for about three hundred years, so he was approaching the twilight era of his life.
He was in the same cultivation stage as Sophie was, and she knew from the information in her mind that he had been stuck for decades now with little to no progress.
Cultivation resources could only do so much and to advance from the qi tide stage to the void stage and beyond relied heavily on talent.
No number of genetic serums or rare herbs would be able to allow someone to forcefully cross that threshold.
"Mr. Goldmore your great reputation proceeds you," Sophie smiled politely and raised her wineglass.
"To what do I owe this unexpected encounter?"
"Why I could not believe my eyes when I saw you enter the room," Targon replied with a backwards glance at his companions.
"There are not as many nobles as... unique as yourself."
"I was caught by surprise and my first thought was that perhaps a palace servant had stolen the clothing of a nobleman."
Targon finished his sentence with a faint hint of mockery but Sophie continued to smile unaffected and smoothly responded,
"Well, that must mean that your information channels must be sorely lacking for my presence to come as a shock."
"I was told that Mr. Goldmore was feared for his great spy network that spanned the Federation, but that rumor must clearly be overblown."
"It is a real pity. I mean with your poor cultivation talent.... that spy network is really the only thing you have to be proud of."
Sophie giggled softly but her words were like sharp knifes that pierced the heart of the older man standing before her.
That was his inverse scale.
Targon could feel a hot wave of anger bubbling up as the hybrid girl leaned back and took another casual sip of wine after she humiliated him in front of all the watching nobles.
Despite the strength of his subordinates, it was an unfortunate truth that Targon himself was sorely lacking when compared to the other heirs of high noble houses.
It was just that no one had ever told him that to his face before.
Why was this happening?!
All the prior research on Sophie's past had revealed that the girl had spent years being relentlessly humiliated and bullied at school.
She should have developed an inferiority complex over her hybrid appearance.
Targon was secretly shaken but years of training allowed his face to only reveal a hint of his rage.
"Miss Peterlor is truly...." he raised a wineglass and began to speak when a few nobles in his faction decided to chime in.
"You dare to insult him?!"
"A mere hybrid girl like you doesn't deserve to be invited to the royal palace!"
"It is ridiculous that you can be the heir to a high noble family!"
Abuse and harsh words were yelled one after another at the beautiful girl standing with a composed expression.
Not to be outdone, Leona and the rest of Sophie's group also begun to fire back harsh words of their own and soon a battlefield had formed in the center of the hall.
"What are these idiots doing?" Targon whispered to himself in annoyance. The original plan was to be graceful and defeat the Peterlor heiress in a calm and composed manner.
Arguing loudly would ruin their images and turn away potential allies for both sides.
But the fact that the Human Supremacy Faction were the aggressors would cause them to take the most blame.
"Shut up! Do you want me to lose face in the presence of all the high nobles?" Targon roared at the members of his faction.
There was a stunned silence and Targon immediately regretted the tone that he had used.
He was clearly still affected by the hybrid girl's taunting words about his lack of cultivation talent.
Yelling at his own faction would just greatly affect their unity and image in the eyes of the surrounding nobles.
He could already tell that there was a faint hint of rejection in the gazes of some of the neutral bystanders watching the confrontation.
"Miss Peterlor. Perhaps we can continue the conversation in a more peaceful manner," Targon turned around and met Sophie's golden eyes.
"I..."
Targon was suddenly forced to take a step back as beads of sweat ran down his back and his legs trembled slightly in fear.
For a split second....
He could have sworn that a ravenous predator was staring right at him.