With the pill done, Grant called an attendant in, indicating that the pill itself was finished.

  Soon after, the emperor entered the courtyard followed by the empress and the crown prince.

  The crown prince had a small life type dragon perched on his should something he recognized easily as the critter that had followed the crown prince the last time he'd run into the two of them.

  Upon closer inspection, the dragon looked like an axolotl with wings, though the crest had been replaced with little shoots.

  It didn't look that smart either, but in some cases that was a good thing.

  After all, the particularly intelligent dragons aren't inclined to having someone riding on their head.

  Because of that, Grant never suggested having dragons for familiars, unless you've raised it from birth or the master is completely capable of suppressing the beast.

  And even then, not suggested.

  Grant walked over and asked calmly.

  "Are you ready?" he asked the emperor and the emperor nodded calmly. He had suggested his son bring the young dragon to introduce his future master Grant to the crown price's current pet, but in reality, there was another reason.

  Despite its dumb looking appearance, it had a remarkable pension for detecting poisons and seeking benefits.

  It was for this reason the emperor permitted his son keeping such a dangerous pet, one with an unstable nature. It had already warned his son of multiple instances of poisoning and respectively, it had found his son many treasures, since both of them had a connection to the wood element.

  And looking at it practically jumping for joy, its mouth leaking saliva like the waters of a waterfall, it was clear that this pill was a true benefit.

  Seeing the little fellow determined to gnaw on his hard work, he solved a branch of Yggdrasill into its mouth and placating it. It looked reluctant, still eagerly eyeing the pill, but its honest mouth began chewing on the stick with relish.

  "It's you again senior!" he said respectfully, clearly remembering the mysterious master before him.

  Grant's aura changed upon turning to face the boy, from his cold rigid nature to a warm, welcoming air about him as he bent down to face the child.

  It was truly astonishing how two-faced Grant could be with children versus adults.

  The emperor already had his own suspicions.

  This man was likely a father. Or was a father. An older brother was not impossible either, for that aura was one that was common amongst caring adults with younger family members or disciples.

  "Yes, it's me. How are you feeling right now?" Grant asked patiently and the boy responded graciously, clearly having been raised well.

  "I'm doing alright thanks to your grace sir."

  Hearing this, Grant blew a raspberry in exasperation. "Sir? Sir? No need for such formal terms. I'm your master now, so call me that."

  Hearing this, the crown prince, responded diligently, his childish voice ringing thoughout the courtyard.

  "Good, good!" Grant said happily, before bringing the pill in front of the child, the pill emitting an alluring aroma that seemed to lighten the boy's mood just by smelling it.

  It was tantalizing.

  "Consider this master's first gift. " Grant positioned the pill in front of the kids mouth.

  "Alright then. Aah." Grant said and the prince obediently opened his mouth, as he had already noticed his pet dragon's watering mouth, and clearly greedy eyes.

  Grant popped the pill into the boy's mouth.

  To the child, the process was painless, as it went down, causing a special warmth to spread throughout his boy, evoking a relaxing and invigorating feeling as his body changed, his very nature changed.

  Truth be told, the boy was lucky, as the process was far less painful due to the special alchemy techniques Grant had utilized, something he had learned from Flamel. Laojun was good, but Flamel as a being who was as old as the world itself, was far better at alchemy.

  Normal bloodline awakening would cause great pain throughout the process, and even Taisheng Laojun could only reduce the pain.

  Of course, if he had simply remained comatose throughout the process, then the pain would be minimized as well. It would still hurt like hell; he just wouldn't be awake to remember or feel it.

  As the crown prince, his appearance was already pretty good for a child his age, yet his appearance seemed to drastically improve at this moment, his blemishes disappearing as his body grew ever so slightly.

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  His hair, which was already a healthy blonde, seemed to have become a loom of gold, attracting awe and envy.

  His appearance had become simply divine.

  As the crown prince underwent changes, the area around him seemed to come to life, the grass growing at a rapid pace, and wonderful flowers began to bloom, seemingly out of nowhere.

  Seeing this, Grant purposefully scratched his chin, or what would be a chin behind the mask.

  "Hmm, it seems he's awakened the law of flourishing. Wonderful, simply wonderful." he said, as if amazed by the boy's opportunity, continuing the act of seemingly being unaware of what the boy had received.

  The emperor smiled, happy and relieved to see that his choice to trust the master beside him had paid off, and his appraisal of the adventurer Grant went up a notch or two.

  While he did have the momentary thought about whether or not this process could be replicated, he quickly squashed the thought, realizing the difficulty of implementing such a thing.

  As Grant had stated, the laszarus rock was exceptionally rare, and he had never seen such a thing.

  Second of all, he wasn't even sure if the man before him would be willing to replicate the process.

  Clearly, the man had put great effort into this as a man with appreciation for talent and the young.

  It was unlikely he would cooperate for another demigod, especially if it wasn't a child.

  Pointless for an emperor considering a demigod army.

  Devis could tell that although Grant was going through similar procedures for the crown prince when it came to apprenticeship, he was subtly more distant than he had been with his ceremony.

  For one thing, the crown prince didn't receive a selective ceremony.

  No most compatible job test, just promise of education. Devis had always been an observant child, from a young age able to discern those who didn't like him and those who did.

  The emperor didn't notice it since he hadn't witnessed Grant's previous ceremony, but Devis had been the focus of the last one.

  He noticed.

  Even though he didn't say anything, it made him quietly happy. Happy that he was more valued in his master's eyes.

  Happy that he was more recognized.

  Devis was right. Grant was subtly more distant. Not cause he disliked his new student, but because of the reality.

  Despite being a cultivator, Grant valued certain taoist ideals more, such as disconnect from those in power.

  Taking students from noble families was always a big no-no, since it tied the master to a noble family, which could become troublesome over the centuries.

  Grant wasn't as strict as they were with the idea; he took students as he pleased. Still, he agreed that for the long-lived practitioners, the less connection with the royal family the better.

  His student was the crown prince, so it was only natural he'd be dragged into some things as the child's master.

  Because of this, Grant could ultimately never be as close to the crown prince as he would to Devis, who was (mostly) an orphan.

  His noble grandfather would be a discussion for another time.

  When the crown prince grew older, and eventually became emperor, he would have to balance his ties to the empire against his ties to his master.

  Grant fully expected that perhaps one day that this new student of his may turns against him, so naturally the relationship was less intimate as his apprentice ship with Devis, who really only knew his now deceased parents.

  He still went through the necessary process, giving gifts and feed to the young dragon.

  The gifts were still precious, but for the crown prince, negligible.

  There was one special thing. Or a pair rather.

  "These are the eyes of a young zhulong." He said, twirling a pair of gold and silver orbs between his fingers casually, yet the child couldn't take his eyes off it, and even the emperor seemed to realize how valuable they were.

  "Besides being aesthetically pleasing, the eyes of a zhulong contain the laws of the sun and moon, yin and yang, and time. They are very useful as supplements to a secret realm, capable of replacing the sun and moon in a secret realm. As emperor, I'm sure you have a secret realm or two in your hands.

  I don't suggest using these on a dungeon, since ultimately dungeons are living beings, and while they may appreciate it now, they may not care in the long run. Better to keep it in the family." Grant explained, also presenting other items capable of perfecting a secret realm, elevating its level and ensuring it'll produce better materials.

  For an emperor, this is naturally a more thoughtful gift than another powerful weapon, of which he may have plenty.

  The crown prince was polite throughout the process and refrained from doing anything foolish. Polite and courteous.

  Yet it was such actions that affirmed Grant's judgement. Nobility would always have a sense of detachment in relations to their master, for they will always be a noble first and foremost.

  He would never blame the child for that, who would blame the next emperor for being thoughtful?

  After completing the ceremony, Grant and the emperor began discussing what he would do as the boy's teacher.

  "Well, that depends on what you can do." The emperor stated, choosing to allow the master before him to reveal what he could do.

  Grant however, was unbothered. "Whatever you want me to teach him. Whether it be magic, swordsmanship, weapon refining, literary analysis or governing, whatever you want." He said, pushing the question back to the emperor.

  After all, he did master all fields to a certain extent.

  500 years of memory absorption had made him a master in any field, even the dark ones. Even if he was requested to teach the fields he was least expertise in, it would still be enough for him to educate the crown prince on.

  Well, history would be his weakest field currently given that he was in a different world, and thus a different history. Even so, using the system, he could easily gather the world's history with but a thought.

  As for necromancy? Forget it. If he dared to mention dark arts, then he dared to clean out the royal family.

  The emperor, seeing that Grant exposed nothing about himself, responded with his prepared response. "In that case, why don't you take over magic then? Honestly speaking, our current magic teacher has no interest in teaching. Despite her great skills, she'd much rather return to her work in the magic tower." He said, giving the head mage a look, one she chose to ignore.

  "Sure" Grant thought that was easy enough. Given the boy had just consumed a pill related to flourishing, and his status as prince, he thought it wouldn't be a bad thing to focus on magic related to growth, which could be used to boost the growth of crops.

  "Actually, since he's awakened the law of flourishing, could you also guide him in the ways of farming and agriculture?" The emperor asked, deciding to throw in another course since the boy's talents clearly lied in this field.

  "Sure" Grant said casually, secretly approving of the emperor's decision to add agriculture and farming.

  Even if he ends up being a mediocre emperor one day, the ability to bring prosperity wherever he goes will be enough to make him unforgettable.

  No matter what land you go to, no one forgets a lord or god related to crop development. Demeter, Shennong, Freyr and many other figures.

  In this regard, Grant could already tell that his new apprentice could serve well as a stable emperor, rather than a radical or war emperor.

  That was good enough for him. He might be tyrannical on his own, but he really didn't want to be known as one of those crazy imperial teachers who corrupt the next generation of emperors.