The First Mission
[Mission target locked: Soulforge Citadel – Queen Rose!]
[If you succeed in conquering Queen Rose, you will obtain: True World's Number One Beast War Soul!]
[Current mission progress: 0%]
Nux didn't flinch when the system's mechanical chime rang in his head.
On the contrary, a faint smile tugged at his lips.
He had been waiting for this day far too long.
Truth was, he had known the Wife Taking System existed since early on. But the damned thing had rules—it refused to bind unless he possessed a human body. Back then, when he was still in the form of the Trisight Dragon and had cultivated for over three hundred thousand years, he'd already suspected the truth.
Even then, the greedy system had simply lingered at the edge of his awareness, dormant and untouchable. Only once he crossed the million-year threshold, only when the heavens themselves hurled their wrath upon him, could it finally awaken.
Other magical beasts dreamed their entire lives of breaking through the tribulation, becoming Gods, and ascending to the God Realm.
Nux had never cared for such a path.
Why? To become some bottom-ranked Godling in the so-called divine realm? To crawl under their feet while the Gods sneered at beasts like him? No thanks.
He had planned long ago to take that divine trial and twist it into his own rebirth.
And now, with the twenty-four petals of the Genesis Lotus, that plan had taken root.
This lotus wasn't just a shield against heavenly destruction. It was a miracle treasure, something no being in Spirita had ever held. When activated under the wrath of the million-year thunder calamity, it devoured both his cultivation and the lightning's fury, preserving his true spirit. From that destruction, it would forge the most flawless vessel possible—his divine human body.
If other cultivators' human forms were mortal clay, his would be forged steel and living divinity.
Just imagining the potential stirred even his steady heart.
A body without flaws. A War Soul unlike any in history. A system that rewarded him for winning hearts of Goddesses.
This… this was the true path of a traveler.
"Rose, huh?" Nux murmured inside his consciousness, eyes narrowing as he read the mission panel. "So the system's first target is her—the supreme Queen of the Soulforge Citadel."
He chuckled, a dry, amused sound.
For most, capturing a woman like Rose would be an impossible dream. She was untouchable—ruthless, intelligent, and cloaked in power and holiness. For him, though? He'd already crossed paths with her once. Their fates weren't strangers.
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 scene shifted. Deep within the Astral Forest, hidden beneath the lake in the core territory, was a sanctuary few had ever laid eyes on—Felberta's chamber.
Her dwelling wasn't decorated with gaudy splendor but with natural elegance, shaped by her essence itself. A vast jade bed gleamed beside a round agate-carved table. In the very center of the chamber lay a square pool, its waters dense with spiritual mist, brimming with vitality.
It was there the Genesis Lotus rested. Twenty-four petals glowed softly in the vapor, exuding waves of divine power while drinking in the essence of the spiritual liquid.
Felberta's purple eyes softened as she gazed at it, though her voice carried her usual bite.
"Hmph. Cheap for you," she muttered, folding her arms under her chest. "These elixirs are treasures I've hoarded for countless years. And now you lie there drinking them down as if you've earned it."
Her words dripped with coldness, but the faint tremor in her voice betrayed the truth: worry, relief, a flood of emotions she wasn't ready to show.
Felberta leaned closer, eyes narrowing at the glowing lotus. Her silver hair cascaded like a waterfall, brushing the edge of the pool as she whispered—this time not with mockery, but with genuine demand.
"Now, Nux… explain to me. What in the stars is going on?"