"No, no, no, no! Did I mention no? Banish those thoughts from your mind!"
Konrad bellowed while a pouting Heide clung on his thigh. Following his handling of Chandra, Konrad prepared to bestow a massive gift on that favored daughter of his, but never did he expect she'd grab him by the thigh to plead the unthinkable!
"Dad, you can't treat me like this! I have already devoted my life to you. How can you let my sacrifices be in vain? It's decided, you must teach me dual cultivation."
Heide affirmed as if it was a done deal while clinging tighter on Konrad's left thigh. Even as he shook his leg, she held firm, refusing to let go!
"This Emperor orders you to shut up! How corrupted! The gals! Who gave you the right to form such thoughts? I have not yet punished you from your repeated peeping offenses that you add insult to injury? Do you really think I don't dare deal with you?
Good, if you won't behave, then I must strip you of all your Devil Artifacts remove your Devil Heart, and keep you locked in a secluded temple for the next ten thousand years!"
Konrad snarled while the sobbing Heide still held strong on his thigh.
"Three nights…"
"Get lost!"
"Two nights!"
"Away!"
"One and a half…no, even one! One is enough for my cultivation to rise by two levels!"
"This is your last warning!"
*Sniff* *Sniff* *Sniff*
Having no chip to bargain with, Heide could only let go in defeat, and sob as she vanished in one of Konrad's Infinite Void Spaces. But as she did, she couldn't see his furious face contorting into a beaming look!
"Ahh…they grow up so fast. What an educational success. Making Daphne her tutoress was undoubtedly a wise move. Perhaps we will soon have to introduce her to the priesthood."
Konrad pondered with a radiant smile before teleporting toward the Sea Dream Bataillon's gathering place. At the gate of the Sea Dream Temple's Core Zone, the 250 disciples gathered. 219 High Gods and 30 Cosmic Gods at the helm of which stood a 1.82 meters tall, Royal Blooded Mara Goddess whose startling beauty put Else's throne in danger.
Across the years, devil cultivation and bloodline transformations allowed Else's originally unrivaled beauty to rise to a brand-new level. But even then, this Goddess still held her own. It was as if every inch of her flawless body existed to keep the eyes spellbound. In the instant, he laid eyes on her, Konrad almost mistook her for the Mara Primogen and considered Daksha a fraud.
Throughout the Higher Realms, perhaps only Asmodeus could suppress this Goddess' momentum.
"What a doting father. No wonders Kama was willing to suffer that humiliation for the sake of her hand."
Konrad appraised while his eyes trailed Rati's spellbinding form. With but a glance, he realized Daksha's trick. The Mara Primogen sacrificed one billion years of cultivation and enormous bloodline strength in a eight-star God-Formation to bless Rati and refine her flesh and bloodline to the limit.
Although her bloodline level still stood beneath that of the Primogens or Malkam's, and her cultivation stopped at the half-step Legendary Goddess, her battle-power didn't lose out to the early-stage Legendary God Rank. To achieve this, Daksha undoubtedly sacrificed the opportunity to break through the peak of the Legendary God Rank. A move all those in the know considered unwise.
With one hand on her hip and the other arm hanging loose, Rati shifted her gleaming, magenta eyes toward the new entrant and graced him with a radiant, disarming smile.
"Greetings suicidal fellow, you're three seconds late. One billion pushups."
Rati began, causing no small amount of surprise in Konrad's eyes.
"Startled? You think this is a joke? Right, how could I be serious? It's not like on this expedition, the tiniest mistake can cost you your life. Right? Or do you expect the likes of the Primal Sun Sect and Eternal Void Palace to give face to our Sea Dream Temple?"
Rati pursued while her erupting pressure locked Konrad from all sides, and the hundreds of gathered disciples snickered at the reproach. Rati, however, didn't laugh, for within Konrad's gaze, she could see no trace of fright.
"Give me one good reason not to replace you."
She pursued, ignoring the jeering disciples to focus solely on Konrad. His lips curled into a smile.
"One, your other options are wastes.
Two, you won't cripple your fighting power to make a point.
Three, we live in chaotic times. Giving new talents the opportunity to reach their full potential should be the priority of a wise leader.
Four, and most important of all, I'm the best male company you can ever hope for."
Konrad replied with a devilish grin. And instantaneously, all disciples spun to lock their eyes on him. Even Rati stood dumbfounded, unable to believe her ears. Never had she expected that youth's brashness to reach such an unprecedented level!
"BOLD!"
Dozens of incensed male disciples rose in outrage and readied to teach the newcomer a lesson. However, before they could make a move, Rati raised her hand, stopping them mid-try.
"How arrogant."
She remarked while holding eye contact. The more she peered in Konrad's eyes, the more she felt a strange appeal lying within and pulling her increasingly closer toward him. Were it not for her strong willpower, she'd have undoubtedly stepped toward him.
Her eyes contorted into a frown.
"Inaccurate. As a man of wisdom once said, if you can't back up your words, it's arrogance. But if you can, it is merely confidence."
Konrad countered with that same roguish grin. Now, Rati firmly believed there was more to this deva than he previously let on. Worse, he allowed her to see the flaws where they lay as if assured that none of her moves could escape his grasp. Inwardly, she fully raised her defenses, but on the outside, she maintained a gentle smile.
"Interesting. I hope you can live up to those words."
Rati replied, then waved her hand, causing the 250 experts to vanish alongside her in a whirlwind of magenta light and cross Heaven's sky at speed that mirrored teleportation to land at the base of a vast expanse of trees glowing emerald.
Stretching across 100 million square kilometers, on Heaven's standards, the Essence Nurturing Forest was but a small plot of land serving as frontier between the Sea Dream and the Primal Sun Domains. In the past, the only thing worthy of note within was the tribe of Nature Spirits that called it home.
As far as race strength was concerned, Nature Spirits were an oddity. With sky-high bloodline strength that surpassed that of Royal Blooded Devas and Demons, they should have ranked extremely high. Unfortunately, as a race, their bloodline didn't pass down. Every new nature spirit was a gift of nature itself. Fortunately for them, Nature Spirits could feel when and where a new member of their kind would appear, thus allowing them to band in tribes.
Across the entirety of the Celestial Realm, less than 5000 Nature Spirits existed. This tribe was one of the largest with about 350 tribesmen and women. In the Infernal Realm, Nature Spirit slaves were proofs of status. In the Celestial Realm, they had it a bit better. However, for devas afraid of staining their bloodlines, Nature Spirit Slaves were costly, but perfect options.
Were it not for their strength, maintaining their freedom would have undoubtedly been an impossible matter.
Alas, with the Essence Nurturing Forest now harboring war-triggering resources, their fate was sealed. A ruinous fate of blood and gore.
