No matter how strong his Perception was, he couldn't find a single flaw. Her skin was soft and supple, glowing with health. Her golden hair had an added level of sheen to it, still reflecting the light of the moon and the nine red-gold clouds that hung above their heads. Although her assets didn't grow in size, they had become even more perfectly proportioned, as though the golden ratio wasn't based on natures whim, but rather her body…
"The suppression is gone, my little man. Don't you want to have fun with me?" Evangeline happily teased Dyon with her words. She no longer needed to entice him with her hot breath or her endless cleavage. She simply stood and allowed the world to bask in her beauty, exuding an aura of absolute confidence.
Dyon's runic flame and the poison ran rampant in its body, both emanating an impossible level of heat, yet of drastically different kinds. Even so, Dyon didn't move.
"To be your wife must be the best thing in the world." Evangeline clapped in admiration. "I wonder, is it because of them you haven't acted, or is it because you want to die with dignity? What if I tell you that as long as you scamper along and go have fun with your little Junior Sisters, I'll allow them to let you live? Hm? How about it?"
Dyon couldn't understand anything this woman was doing. If she was so eager to have him rape and pillage, what was the point in showing him her true appearance? Was she really so set on shattering his will to its core?
Evangeline smiled silently, scanning Dyon's face before her teasing gave way to admiration.
With a wave of her hand, a complex array appeared on Dyon's arm.
Seeing Dyon's shocked expression, Evangeline shrugged. "That old lizard doesn't deserve to see what happens next."
Evangeline's skin began to glow once more. "This is how I looked when I first began to cleanse myself with enigmatic energy and became a Pseudo-Dao Formation Expert."
Dyon's eyes widened. No matter how fast his processing speed was, he couldn't understand what he was seeing. It was almost as though a mere essence gatherer like him didn't have the right to lay eyes on such beauty… He was blaspheming the work of art that was Evangeline… Tainting her with his eyes.
This time, there was no understanding what his heart did because the moment he fought back on the impulse to pounce on Evangeline and push her beneath him, his vision blackened.
His heart had stopped beating completely. The combination of the poison and his injuries, topped with the visual stimulation Evangeline gave him, was simply too much.
In the end, he kept his own integrity and even though he was certain that he'd die, he still had a smile on his face. To him, he had won.
Evangeline caught Dyon before he fell to the ground. Her playful and teasing appearance was gone, instead replaced by worry and affection.
She sighed. "You always do the most ridiculous things to yourself."
If Dyon had been conscious to hear her, he might have fainted from anger this time. How did him being poisoned have anything to do with him?
Evangeline's skin glowed once more. This time, she held nothing back, allowing her truest appearance to grace the world.
In that moment, the moon seemed to dim. The flowing river that ran through the courtyard began to swirl swirled oddly, even as the flowers and creatures in the surroundings bowed. Not even the wind was left unaffected as it began to sing in the warm night air.
Nature itself felt inferior in the presence of this beauty, yet she only had eyes for handsome and bloodied young man lying unconscious in her arms, not caring about how his sweat and injuries were ruining her clothes and once stainless hands.
Evangeline leaned forward, pressing her hand to Dyon's broad chest and gently restarting his heart.
"I'm sorry for testing you like that, I should have known that my man's will is indomitable. I'm proud to be your wife." Evangeline's lips gently pressed against Dyon's as her energies began to slowly heal him.
**
When Dyon awoke, he had no idea how much time had passed.
At first, he was groggy and without sense of direction. But, the moment his memories came back to him, he shot up, causing his head to almost hit the ceiling.
It was only at that point that he realized that he was actually within his own room, the same one he took when he moved in with Vice Master Evangeline.
'What the hell?' Dyon had every right to be confused. For one, he had already assumed that he would never wake up again. And, even if he did wake up, it should have been in a cell crafted by Soul Market. How he was here, safe and sound, was beyond him.
Dyon quickly looked to his wrist, sighing in relief when he realized that the Dragon King was still there. After Evangeline placed a seal on him, Dyon had expected to lose this weapon and everything else he owned. But, from what he could see, not only was the Dragon King still here, all of his spatial rings and everything in them were still there as well. There was even a new set of cleanly folded disciple robes on the lone chair in the room, waiting for him to use.
'Old Lizard, how long has it been since that night?'
'Two weeks or so.'
'Did you see what happened?'
'No. When my senses came back to me, you were already in this room. That woman's level of array alchemy is more than enough to block me off completely when I still have this many seals on me.'
Dyon's frown deepened. 'Maybe?'
With a flip of his palm, a miniature tower appeared in Dyon's hand. 'Tower spirit, did you record everything that happened?'
'Yes.' The spirit replied with a yawn.
'Can you play it back for me, please?'
'No.'
Just when Dyon was about to say thank you, the tower spirit's reply registered. 'What the hell? Why not?!'
'Because she told me not to.'
'Who's the master here, me or her?!'
'Technically, neither of you.'
Dyon began to feel more frustrated than he had on the night all of this happened. He was supposed to be a weapon's master, yet he couldn't make a measly tower spirit obey simple orders? What the fuck?
'Aren't weapon's spirits supposed to be bound by a set of laws?!' Dyon argued. 'Even if I haven't conquered all of your floors yet, 1 floor is still more than 0! How could you listen to her over me?!'
'I am following my own rules. While you were asleep, she conquered 2 floors.'
When Dyon heard this, he was completely stumped. He had no argument left, this woman had really thought of everything. But, since she knew how valuable the treasures he had on him were, why did she leave them behind? Why didn't she take them? None of this made any sense!
Taking a deep breath, Dyon forced himself to calm down. 'Is there anything she is allowing you to say?'
Dyon had no other choice but to take a back step. Conquering the first floor had pushed him to his absolute limits, so he was very aware that it would be impossible for him to conquer the second floor any time soon.
On top of that, the spirit might not listen to him if he only conquered the same number of floors as Evangeline. To guarantee that he could get answers, he'd have to conquer the third floor, and who knows when he'd be able to do that?
'She did.'
'And those things are?'
'She wanted me to call you a pervert. She said that I must refer to you as Mr. Jaws from now on. And, the final thing she said is that I could allow you to benefit from the benefits she gained conquering the second floor.'
Dyon's frown deepened. 'Pervert? Only Ri and Clara call me that… Mr. Jaws? Only Ri calls me that. Is she trying to hint at something? These aren't things that someone who isn't close to me would understand… But I don't know who she is!'
Dyon couldn't understand. The only dao formation experts he knew were Madeleine's parents. He didn't know anyone else. And, obviously, Evangeline wasn't Madeleine's mother.
'There's really something in this universe I can't figure out?... Wait, did you say I could benefit from what she conquered?' Dyon sounded slightly excited, almost forgetting that that woman had almost killed him.
'Yes.'
'Tell me about it.'
'The number of puppets you have access to have doubled. Also, conquering the second floor gives you access to the room above the Weapon Devouring Room. This room is known as the Origin Beast Room. While the Weapon Devouring room allows weapons to feast on each other to grow in level, the Origin Beast Room is a training room for beasts to purify their bloodlines.
'Technically speaking, even a beast with the thinnest of bloodlines could trace their blood back to its origin and reach higher levels. Even if the origin that beast is seeking is on the Supreme level or beyond.
'Unlike the Weapon Devouring Room, though, the Origin Beast Room doesn't need energy stones. Instead, it needs an astronomical amount of beast blood. The higher quality the beast blood, the better. However, the results are more effective when the type of blood is appropriate. For example, don't do something stupid like try to awaken Dragon blood with Tiger blood.'
