The First Mission
[Mission target locked: Soulforge Citadel – Queen Rose!]
[If you emerge victorious from taking down Queen Rose, you will receive: True World's Number One Beast War Soul!]
[Current mission progress: 0%]
Nux didn't blink as the system's mechanical chime echoed in his head.
Instead, a small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.
He had waited this long for this day.
Truth was, he'd been aware that the Wife Taking System was around since the beginning. But the blasted thing had regulations—it wouldn't bind if he didn't have a human body. At the time when he was still in the shape of the Trisight Dragon and had cultivated for more than three hundred thousand years, he'd already guessed the truth.
Even so, the avaricious system had merely waited at the periphery of his perception, inert and inaccessible. It was only when he passed the million-year mark, only when the heavens themselves unleashed their fury upon him, that it was able to stir.
All other magical creatures dreamed their whole lives about shattering the tribulation, becoming Gods, and reaching the God Realm.
Nux had never liked such a way.
Why? To be some bottom-tier Godling in this so-called divine plane? To grovel beneath their feet as the Gods laughed at brutes like him? No thank you.
He had long ago schemed to take that divine test and turn it into his own resurrection.
And now, with the twenty-four petals of the Genesis Lotus, that scheme had germinated.
This lotus was more than a protective barrier to heavenly devastation. It was a miracle treasure, a thing no creature in Spirita ever possessed. When triggered in the midst of the fury of the million-year thunder calamity, it consumed both his cultivation and the lightning's ferocity, leaving his true spirit intact. Out of that devastation, it would create the most perfect vessel there could be—his divine human body.
If other farmers' human bodies were mortal clay, his would be forged steel and living divinity.
Even just to think of the possibilities excited even his steadfast heart.
A flawless body. A War Soul like none in history. A system that gave him rewards for winning hearts of Goddesses.
This… this was the real path of a traveler.
"Rose, yeah?" Nux whispered in his mind, eyes squinting as he scanned the mission board. "The system's first target is her—the highest Queen of the Soulforge Citadel."
He laughed, a dry, amused noise.
To most, taking a woman like Rose would be a pipe dream. She was off-limits—brutal, clever, and wrapped in power and sanctity. To him, however? He'd already met her once. Their destinies weren't acquaintances.
The system's reward tempted him just as much. The True World's Number One Beast War Soul?
He tapped a finger against the thought, curiosity brightening his eyes.
"What does that even mean? More formidable than the so-called Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon bloodline? Hah. If it's anything less than a God-level War Soul, I'll call the system a fucking scam."
________________________________________
The atmosphere changed. Deep in the Astral Forest, underneath the lake within the core lands, there existed a sanctuary few had ever seen—Felberta's room.
Her home was not adorned with tawdry grandeur but with inner elegance, molded by herself. There was a huge jade bed shining next to a circular agate-carved table. At the very center of the room was a square pool, its water thick with spiritual haze, full of life.
It was there that the Genesis Lotus lay. Twenty-four petals softly illuminated the mist, radiating waves of divine power while absorbing the spiritual liquid's essence.
Felberta's purple eyes relaxed as she looked at it, although her voice still had its usual edge.
"Hmph. Cheap for you," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "These elixirs are treasures I've saved for centuries. And now you lie there pouring them down your throat like you've deserved it."
Her tone was cold, but the slight tremble in her voice revealed the truth: concern, relief, an avalanche of feelings she wasn't yet prepared to express.
Felberta hunched forward, eyes scrutinizing the radiant lotus. Her silver locks flowed like a waterfall, skimming along the rim of the pool as she spoke—this time not in mocking tones, but in real expectation.
"Now, Nux… tell me. What in the stars is happening?"