Dark Lord's POV:
It took some time, but the day has finally arrived when I will see my beloved again. I have been working day and night without rest for six months straight to make this happen under those hooligans' noses. I will propose once more before her entire clan.
So far, I have tried multiple things to get on my Noxy's good side, but I have little luck getting her to grant me her favor. I first tried force, but that only led to the biggest scolding of this great lord's life. Then I tried seducing her using methods from her homeland, but it only led to me being covered in vomit. Then I tried to be spontaneous and try to catch her off guard with a romantic night of passionate lovemaking, but she just lit the room on fire with me inside because I had left her quite unsatisfied by the end. So, my new plan is to use the one thing she seems to respond well too, money.
"It was so obvious, it makes me wonder why I didn't think of this sooner!"
It was one of the first things I noticed about her, she is a greedy little devil. So, I am intending to give her a dowr to make her accept our engagement or at the very least go on an important date I've got planned for us.
"Hm? Oh, right! I will need to get her a tutor as well soon!"
As much as I love her wild side, there are those who will not understand the beauty within her savage nature, especially those uptight good-for-nothings who are real sticklers for etiquette. If I am to take her to a public event, then she needs to learn how to behave herself, or it could have dire consequences if she offended someone powerful. I would have loved to educate her personally, but there are different customs for men and women in these sorts of events. Hence, I will need to procure her an adequate tutor who can handle her antics. However, before I could decide on a suitable candidate, my thoughts were interrupted by one of the servants, kneeling at my throne.
"My lord! I believe we have arrived!"
I was currently sitting on the throne inside my personal carriage, while dressed in my finest red hanfu robe and decorated in only the most expensive jewelry and accessories. Though I call it a carriage, it would have been more apt to call it a small castle on wheels. It's a strange idea my brother in-law had suggested not long after joining my court. We had conquered an enemy nation's capital, only to realize we had fallen into a trap. Most of the forces had snuck out through a secret passage and cut off our supplies and communications before launching a surprise attack when we let our guards down. Having lost many of our men after the ambush we had ended up trapped inside the castle's barriers. Outnumbered, with limited supplies and no hope of reinforcements, things seemed bleak until my brother in-law suggested something crazy.
"If we can't leave the castle then can't we just take it with us?"
We all thought he was joking at the time, but to my surprise, he actually found a way. He had littered the castle with enchantments to lighten its weight, then he used spirit magic to dig out the underside of the castle, and befriended the mythical beast trapped beneath it, before convincing it to carry us along as it slaughtered its way past our enemies. No matter how much time passes, I still can't help but recall the beautiful sight of those crimson fields glistening under the morning sun as we escaped the jaws of death.
I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart as I looked back at the castle I just exited.
It has undergone some major alterations over the years. Its cracked orange barrier had been replaced with a stronger transparent one. Its old and weathered stone walls have been replaced with ones of various unknown metals painted black and decorated with the red banner of the Dark Empire. The four towers in each corner have been turned into red and black pagodas. The gates, doors and windows have been finely decorated with jewels and precious metals, and the outer walls have been outfitted with various artifacts to fend off any intruders. The castle itself now sports four giant adamantine boulders fastened under the castle as its wheels. Finally, the giant eight-headed serpent that once carried this fortress across the land with its teeth was now outfitted with a proper harness as it pulls this great lord's favorite carriage towards my beloved's mountain estate.
I turned my attention away from the castle and looked towards my beloved's family estate. However, something seemed off.
"Hm?"
"Is something the matter my lord?" One of my accompanying servants asked.
"It's nothing!" I replied as I moved towards the gates.
I can't quite place my finger on it, but something seems different about this place since the last I visited. However, it is of little importance compared to my plans for today.
*BOOM*
Just as I was about to leave the castle gates to greet my future in-laws, I watched one of the giant snake's heads were blown clean off its neck by a giant brown explosion.
"THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I WILL HAND OVER MY PRECIOUS GRANDDAUGHTER TO SOME ARROGANT SNOBS!!!"
"MOTHER STOP! WE CAN'T AFFORD TO OFFEND THESE PEOPLE!!!"
Looking down, I saw the rat-man trying to pull away the person who appears to be his mother, making her my future grandmother-in-law. It would seem as though my officials whom I had sent to announce my purpose here today had been pulverized.
"Interesting! It would appear that Noxy is not the only exceptional person in her family!" I muttered as I watched the snakehead grow back.
I had been severely disappointed upon first meeting my in-laws. Aside from my grandfather-in-law, none of these fools could remain on their feet in the presence of this great lord. They were little more than insects I could crush with a wave of my hand, but here is someone whom even I would have to be wary of.
*ROAR*
Soon after regenerating its head, the mythical serpents roared in anger as they prepared to attack. However, …
"QUIET DOWN!"
*BANG**BANG**BANG*BANG**BANG**BANG**BANG*BANG*
I waved my hand and released eight separate qi attacks of the wind element through spatial distortions targeting each individual head, knocking them all to the ground simultaneously.
"BASTARD! HOW DA-!"
*BOOM*
"Did you not hear this lord's words!" I said as I blew off the snake head that dared speak in defiance of my orders.
We had joined forces back then out of necessity, but once we escaped, it had attempted to kill me, only to beg for its life after nearly succumbing to my flames of destruction. If not for my brother-in-law's amusing suggestion of having him pull my carriage, this treacherous serpent would not be alive today. It should be thankful he is the only mythical beast within my empire fit to pull such a large carriage or I would have disposed of him by now.
"Who the hell are you supposed to be?"
"AH! IT'S YOU! THIS IS THE BEGGAR THAT SLUT WAS SLEEPING WITH!" The rat-man exclaimed.
It would seem as though this rat-man's vision is worse than I remembered. I had explicitly worn my most expensive attire for this occasion, while arriving in my portable castle being pulled by the mythical colossal snake Yamata to show him just how wealthy and great I really was, and yet he still believes this great lord to be a poor beggar. It's so comical I don't even know whether to strangle him or laugh at his stupidity.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE YOU STUPID BEGGAR?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHOSE BEAST YOU JUST STRUCK DOWN?! THAT IS THE GUARDIEN BEAST OF THE DARK EMPIRE! IT IS THE FAVORED PET OF THE DARK LORD HIMSELF! IF YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH THAN GO DIE ON YOUR OWN! DON'T GO PULLING OTHERS DOWN ALONG WITH YOU!!!" The rat-man screamed as he pointed angerly at me.
"Pft! HAHAHAHAHA!!!" Those words sent me over the edge, and I started laughing uncontrollably.
"Why is he laughing? Did he lose his mind out of fear!" The rat-man said as he backed away from this great lord.
It was then that my servants finally caught up as they floated down beside me.
"PLEASE SPARE OUR CLAN! IT WAS ALL THE DOING OF THIS CRAZY BEGGAR! WE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!" The rat-man begged my servants, making me laugh even harder.
"Are you sure you're really my kid? You seem kind of stupid!" My grandmother-in-law spoke to the rat-man.
"WHAT?!"
"HAHAHAHA! NO! HAHAH! PLEASE! NO MORE! *giggle* THIS *giggle* LORD WILL LAUGH HIMSELF TO DEATH IF YOU *chuckle* DON'T STOP! *Inhale* Pft! HAHAHAHA!" I laughed out while on my knees and clutched my cramping stomach in pain as I struggled to breathe.
After calming down a bit, I recomposed myself and gestured for the servants to take the place of my now dead officials on the ground, as they picked up the scrolls from their cold dead hands.
"THIS GREAT MAN WHO STANDS BEFORE YOU IS NONE OTHER THAN THE DARK LORD WHO RULES ABOVE ALL, HIS MAJESTY TIAN TAIO, AND HIS PURPOSE FOR GRACING YOU WITH HIS PRESENCE THIS DAY IS TO ASK FOR LADY NOX'S HAND IN MARRIAGE?" The servant said, looking bewildered for some strange reason as they read the scrolls.
"Dark, lord?" The rat-man muttered with a pale expression of disbelief, that nearly caused another round of laughter.
"I DON'T CARE HOW EDGY YOUR TITLE IS! GET LOST DIRTBAG, OR ELSE!" My grandmother-in-law threatened as she cracked her knuckles.
"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HI-!"
"Did I permit you to go off script!" I spoke as I directed my bloodlust towards the foolish servant who just attempted to sabotage my proposal by yelling at my in-laws.
"H-HIS M-MAJESTY IS HERE B-BRINGING GIFTS T-TO H-HIS DARK LADY N-NOX M-MANUS!"
"Hmph! If you think you can buy my granddaughter from me than you got another thing comin punk!"
"MOTHER PLEASE!" The rat-man pleaded.
"HER DOWR INCLUDES, 10 000 LOW-GRADE MAGIC STONES, 5 000 MID-GRADE MAGIC STONES, AND 1 000 HIGH-GRADE MAGIC STONES, 1 SPIRIT SPRING OF THE LIGHT ELEMENT, A COLLECTION OF THE MOST VALUABLE AND RARE, JEWELRY, CLOTHES, SILK AND ACCESSORIES WITHIN THE 2ND CONTINENT ALONG WITH THE RIGHTS TO A FOURTH OF THE EMPIRE'S LANDS!"
It would seem as though I caught the favor of the rat-man at the very least, judging by the drool running out of his chin as he stared dazedly into the air. However, …
*RUMBLE*
*SWOOSH*
"I SAID GET LOST DIRTBAG!" My future grandmother-in-law shouted as she made spears sprout out from the ground beneath my feet.
Though my future grandmother-in-law seems to share my beloved's temper, she does not share her greed unfortunately, as I could not see even a glimmer of the desire for my wealth within her eyes.
"YOU CAN FIND HER OVE-! UGH!" The rat-man shouted as he tried to grab her only to fall over as he was paralyzed by her qi pressure.
"SHUT UP! I know you don't like her, but that is no excuse for ratting out your own blood! So, keep your mouth shut!" She shouted at the rat-man, before turning her furious eyes back to me.
"You seem intent on standing in my way! May I ask, what is it that you find disagreeable about me as Noxy's husband?"
"You think I don't know what's going through that playboy head of yours?"
"*sigh* I so she even spread her slander to my in-laws! Hehe! I'll have to correct that!"
"CORRECT THIS!!!" My grandmother-in-law shouted as she threw a punch at my face.
*BOOM*
"Huh?"
She looked astonished when I blocked her attack with one hand.
"I believe you may have fallen for one of Noxy's pranks, grandmother-in-law!"
"Hmph!"
*RUMBLE*
It seems like she was in no mood to talk this out as she manipulated the earth beneath my feet to try and bury me alive. However, …
*BOOM*
"*sigh* the one time I try to avoid a violent confrontation! Hehe!" I chuckled as I released my qi pressure.
"Tsk!"
*BOOM**BANG**BOOM*
In mere moments after the battle began the landscape was almost completely unrecognizable. The front gate along with most of the surrounding mountains were leveled. Aside from the front gate, the only thing left untouched was my beloveds family estate, as we both tried to avoid damaging it while we looped around it at sonic speeds.
*BOOM*
"THIS IS BULLSHIT! HOW ARE YOU THIS STRONG?!"
*BOOM*
"HEHE! I ACCEPT THE COMPLIMENT! CAN I TAKE IT, YOU APPROVE OF MY STRENGTH?!"
Despite still being a nascent soul, I am able to match her in power, causing a stalemate as our attacks kept canceling each other out. Of course, if I used my aura as well as my qi, this battle would have been over already, but I doubt my beloved would be too happy if I killed her grandmother, so I restrained myself.
"GET FU-!"
*SMASH*
*POP*
*Crack*
Wanting to end this stalemate, I threw a consumable legendary-grade artifact at her, to seal her away temporarily. If I recall, it works by transporting whoever breaks the artifact to a pocket-space. The moment I threw the black cube at my in-law, she punched through it, activating the magic circles stored inside.
*Crack*
Though it's a legendary-grade sealing artifact there is no possible way it could hold an immortal cultivator for long. Hence, why the purple magic circles spinning in the air are already starting to fall apart.
*Crack*
In mere moments, she will have escaped her confinements, just as I planned.
*Pop*
"GET BACK HERE YO-!"
*BOOM*
As soon as she escaped the pocket-space, I launched one of my strongest qi techniques, creating an explosion that parted the clouds, before launching her into the horizon.
A common tactic to escape a formidable foe is to temporarily seal them away like I just did, before running away. Given the current situation where a nascent soul was matching an immortal's strength, it wouldn't be weird to assume I was using some method to boost my power. So, using such a tactic might indicate that I was reaching my limits and was planning to escape. However, a more level-headed person who can see passed such biased assumptions, might have noticed that my power is not the product of some temporary power boost. Fortunately, it seemed that my grandmother-in-law was too hotheaded to notice, creating an opening for me to exploit.
"Still, this is only possible thanks to my lovely Noxy's affection!" I muttered to myself as I recalled how I reached this stage.
Back before she conquered the 1st martial continent, I had reached my limit of suppressing my cultivation while searching for her, but just when I needed it the most, she had led me to the perfect place to have my advancement. It was a magical place where large amounts of qi belonging to all nine elements could be found.
These energy pools seemed to be made for storing qi as they were all filled to the brim with what I later found out were large amounts of qi concentrated into a liquid state. This substance was perfectly compatible with my cultivation, as the energy was almost effortlessly absorbed into my body. Not only that, but there was one pool for each of the elements I cultivated, and they were all giftwrapped in concealment and defensive barriers for my protection.
And the surprises kept coming. As I jumped from the stages of nascent soul, I suddenly discovered something unheard of, that I refer to as the 'Violet Core' stage of the nascent soul. The nascent soul is built up of 6 stages named after the glow of our cultivation core, going from red to indigo. However, I accidentally advanced past the final 6th stage which caused my core to turn violet as I entered this unknown 7th stage.
From what I understand, to become an immortal you do not actually need to reach the peak of the nascent soul realm. However, the higher your core's stage is the better your chances at surviving the transformation into an immortal, which might have played a part in why nobody else discovered this stage before me, but even so, I would find it strange if that was the only reason. Even for indigo core nascent souls, their chances of advancing under normal conditions are about one in ten, and the chances for the stages below that are even more abysmal. With such low chances of succeeding, I find it strange no one has discovered the violet stage before. I can only assume there was some kind of secret condition to advancing to the violet core. Regardless, the violet stage is part of the reason behind why I can match immortals in power despite still being a nascent soul, as I now possess power close to that of a human immortal, and with the mastery of the nine elements I can even compete with earth immortals like my grandmother-in-law.
"Now! Where, oh, where is my beloved hiding?" I muttered to myself as I looked down at the land below.
I used my sixth sense to search for her, but as expected, she was hiding herself again.
"That is fine! It does not take a genius such as myself to see where you are hiding!" I said, as I directed my attention to the only remaining mountain.
It was located at the back of the estate and was protected by a barrier that blocked my sixth sense. Even if she isn't in there, she will surely come out to confront me should I break the barrier, as she obviously is hiding something there.
"I wonder! It has been quite a while now, since then! Could she perhaps be planning to surprise this lord with another gift?" I pondered to myself in excitement as I created a hole in the barrier.
*BANG*
"FUCK OFF! NO PLAYBOYS ALLOWED!!!"
The moment I created an opening, my beloved suddenly jumped out from within the barrier, dressed in a multicolored outfit and gently punched me in the face.
"Hehe! As rambunctious as ever!" I said, as I wrapped my arms around her body so I could cuddle her to my heart's content while I carried her towards our carriage.
"HEY! GET OFF OF ME ASSHOLE! UGH! QUIT IT! I GOT STUFF TO DO!" She shouted while squirming in my arms.
"Indeed, you do! Like clearing my good name before my future in-laws!"
"WHAT DOES YOUR IN-LAWS GOT TO DO WITH ME!"
"Well, it was you who slandered my name! So, it is only right that you clear up any misunderstandings you caused!" I whispered into her ear as I rested my head on her shoulder.
"I HAVE DONE NO SUCH THING! NO LIES HAVE EVER LEFT THESE LIPS! I ONLY SPEAK THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH! NOW! LET! ME! GO!" She shouted as she tried to push away my handsome face.
"Hahaha! That is the most obvious lie I have ever heard come out of your mouth, my dear! Maybe, you will start being more honest if I-!"
*Sizzle*
*BANG*
*Sizzle*
*SWOOSH*
"GET YOUR GRUBBY HANDS OFF MY DAUGHTER!!!"
Just as I leaned in to give her a gentle kiss on the mask, I saw a bright light and before I knew it, I had been sent flying backwards. Back where I stood only moments ago, there now stood a dragonewt holding my beloved in a princess carry. His whole body radiated with a white light so blinding that just looking at him stung my eyes as if I were looking directly into the sun. If not for my sixth sense I wouldn't even be able to make out his silhouette.
"Hehe! This family is just full of surprises!"