Chapter 379

It's 4 a. m.

=> 【1】 4 a. m.

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Then

The lengthy secret talk that had lasted a full three hours finally ended; by the time the two emerged from the underground wine cellar, Patelnaluosi had already been waiting impatiently.

She eyed the two with suspicion.

"What did you two talk about that took so long?"

Luosen shrugged: "Mainly future plans, and he gave me pointers on cultivation to boost my soul power more quickly."

"Really, sister?"

Adiera nodded expressionlessly: "Your Majesty is telling the truth."

Apparently afraid her sister would press further, she urged: "We've been away too long this time; everything's settled now, it's time to head back."

Having said that, she didn't wait for Patelnaluosi's reply and hurried away from the cellar entrance.

Patelnaluosi was no simpleton; she glanced at Adiera's back for a few seconds, then turned her head and gave Luosen a meaningful look.

But she said nothing, instead quickening her steps to catch up with Adiera.

Soon, the sisters slipped out of the Tulip Manor under cover of night.

Not long after walking, Patelnaluosi spoke: "Sister, you and His Majesty have everything settled, right?"

"Yes, everything's settled, and I even got from him the knack for casting ordinary spells."

"Mm~ That's really not bad."

After a pause, Patelnaluosi suddenly asked: "Sister, you and Luosen did it in there, didn't you?"

Adiera frowned and snapped: "What nonsense are you spouting?!"

Patelnaluosi wasn't scared at all; instead she was curious: "Sister, aren't you always the one who despises playboy gentlemen the most?"

Adiera knew she couldn't hide it and sighed: "To be precise, I despise gentlemen who are nothing but playboys and good for nothing else."

"But clearly, His Majesty Luosen isn't like that; his philandering is indeed a flaw, yet he possesses countless virtues."

"Hypocritical." Patelnaluosi pursed her lips and muttered under her breath.

"What did you say?" Adiera didn't quite catch it.

"Sister, you swore you'd keep your distance from him, yet after just a few hours of meeting you went and did it with him—and for so long—what else is that if not hypocrisy?"

Hearing this, Adiera's face flushed, she felt embarrassed, and had nothing to say in reply.

Patelnaluosi's tone shifted: "But I also know your temperament, sister; I'm sure this wasn't your idea—it must be that philandering emperor stirring up trouble, right?!"

Adiera felt a weight lift; she had originally resented Luosen a bit, but subconsciously she went along with the excuse her sister gave her.

"Exactly, he's the one causing trouble. He's so formidable that I'm no match for him—I could only submit."

Patelnaluosi, blunt by nature, flared up at once and turned back on her heels.

"Sister, you wait here; I'm heading back now to confront him and demand an explanation!"

"Don't—"

Adiera hadn't finished speaking when Patelnaluosi had already vanished.

On the wind came her reply: "Don't worry, sister—I won't act recklessly."

Adiera's mind was a tangled mess—shyness, resentment, worry, and various emotions intertwined; for a moment she didn't know what to do with herself, so she could only find a nearby hiding spot to wait.

Meanwhile, Patelnaluosi sprinted all the way and was back at Tulip Manor in under ten minutes.

She scaled the manor's outer wall, tiptoed around the courtyard, and soon followed the clues to find Luosen in the underground wine cellar.

The illumination spell remained active, lighting the cellar as bright as day.

By a stack of large wine barrels, Luosen leaned against a barrel, holding a glass of red wine, with another glass set on the barrel.

Seeing Patelnaluosi storming over, he smiled and asked: "Miss, what's got you angry?"

Patelnaluosi snorted coldly: "His Majesty Luosen, I never thought you were this sort of person—forcing my sister to do that!"

Luosen immediately understood: Adiera was saving face, so she was pushing all the blame onto him.

This was originally his doing, and Adiera's reserved, shy nature meant the blame rightly fell on him.

So he nodded in admission, smiling: "This was indeed my fault; if I get the chance, I'll apologize to your sister."

"I see you've run quite a distance, your forehead beaded with sweat—you must be thirsty; have a drink."

He flicked his wrist, and the glass of red wine floated over to her: "This year's new brew tastes quite good."

Patelnaluosi was indeed thirsty; she took the glass and gulped a large mouthful: "Your Majesty, I must say, you've handled this poorly—mere apology isn't enough; you need to compensate!"

Luosen nodded: "I agree, but what compensation do you have in mind?"

Patelnaluosi hesitated, momentarily unsure what to ask for.

Luosen saw this as a perfect chance to delve deeper into the sisters' personalities—after all, their projections and true selves differed, and they planned to venture together into the Dawn Imperial Palace; at critical moments, they'd need to trust each other's backs.

If the other party harbored ulterior motives, that could be deadly.

Moreover, he wanted to verify the temporal vision he had once seen.

Seeing she couldn't think of anything, Luosen reached into his pocket, pulled out a box, and said: "Sun Essence—you know what that is, right?"

Patelnaluosi's heart jolted: "Of course!"

This substance is an extremely concentrated source of power, capable of greatly enhancing a divine physique's combat strength.

They originally had something similar, but it wasn't called Sun Essence—it was named Eternal Essence, and its power density exceeds that of Sun Essence by an order of magnitude.

But having been in this world too long, their Eternal Essence has long been exhausted; normally they can only draw a bit of power from burning and food, yet that rate is naturally far less convenient and lasting than Sun Essence.

Luosen tossed the box to Patelnaluosi: "I've taken advantage of your sister twice, each session about fifty minutes; at a rate of ten minutes per gram, I'm giving ten grams of Sun Essence as compensation—the power contained should be enough for your sister to use openly for fifty years."

Being able to last that long is due first to the high power density of Sun Essence, and second to the very slow power consumption in this world—Patelnaluosi heard this and felt a slight jolt in her heart.

She was both shocked by Luosen's prowess in that regard and astonished by his generosity.

For her, such acts were merely trivial pastimes; only her sister cared so much, so she herself didn't think much of it—if she liked someone, she could just go ahead.

Unfortunately, the men of this demi‑plane are either mortals or enemies, giving her no chance to act on it.

For such a small matter to give this much sun essence, His Majesty the Emperor is indeed generous.

"Your Majesty, do you have a lot of sun essence?"

"Indeed, I have quite a bit, after all I personally entered a half-plane for this trip; I couldn't go without any preparation, right?"

Luosen took a sip of wine and reminded: "But I've hidden my things very well; unless someone possesses a time talent far surpassing mine, they will absolutely not find them."

He dares to say this because of the Tiralin Teaching's time-space spell "Space Treasury," which functions like a spatial pocket, making it especially convenient to store things.

Patenuoluosi originally had thoughts of stealing, but hearing this, she immediately abandoned that idea; however, she did not give up on obtaining more sun essence, as this stuff is extremely useful. After thinking, she asked: "Your Majesty, what's the price for ten minutes per gram?"

Upon hearing this, Luosen immediately understood Patenuoluosi's thoughts, his gaze sweeping over her alluring figure wrapped in tight leather armor.

"That's the standard compensation for your sister. If it were someone else, it would be calculated differently."

Compared to Adela's reserve, Patenuoluosi is much more straightforward, directly saying: "Then what about me?"

"There are two standards. One is ordinary timing: I give you fifteen minutes per gram."

Patenuoluosi immediately felt dissatisfied: "Why is mine so much lower than my sister's?"

Luosen smiled slightly: "I don't mean to belittle you, Miss; you certainly have an excellent figure and appearance, but everyone's preferences differ, and I happen to prefer your sister's type."

Adela is gentle as water and reservedly shy, truly a great enjoyment; in contrast, Patenuoluosi has a straightforward personality and her attire is somewhat tomboyish, naturally lacking much feminine charm.

His answer left Patenuoluosi with nothing to fault: "Then what about the second standard?"

"The second is a bet. We'll wager on who can last longer. If you last longer, I'll give you twenty grams at once; if I last longer, you'll only get one gram."

Patenuoluosi hesitated not at all in choosing the second: "I choose the second!"

Luosen raised his eyebrows, seeing that this girl naturally likes adventure and is a man of action.

In contrast, Adela's temperament is steady and cautious, making her and Patenuoluosi two extremes.

"Then shall we begin now?"

"Come on then!"

Patenuoluosi provocatively glanced at Luosen.

Afterward, the two began comparing their endurance.

About a quarter of an hour later, Patenuoluosi conceded defeat, but she was unwilling.

After recovering, she immediately said: "I lost this time, let's go again!"

"Alright."

Luosen actually has twenty-six kilograms of sun essence; in this world, power is consumed slowly, so even if used openly, it could last tens of thousands of years. A mere gram of sun essence is not even worth his notice.

After another round, Luosen won again: "Miss, can you still hold on?"

Patenuoluosi began drawing strength from the sun essence, quickly recovering to her original state.

"Of course no problem, let's go again!"

The third contest began.

This time Patenuoluosi proved much stronger, holding on for twenty minutes straight, even shaking a wine barrel apart, yet she did not lose.

Luosen also grew more enthusiastic with each battle, shouting with delight.

But he certainly didn't forget to monitor external changes.

After another ten minutes, he felt Adela return.

He chuckled to himself: "Sure enough, it's exactly as the time-space fantasy foretold."

He also didn't stop it, just letting things unfold.

Since human nature often reveals itself in conflict, he wanted to see how this pair of sisters would act.

At this moment, Patenuoluosi had no spare attention for external changes; she was fully focused on resisting Luosen's assault.

Suddenly, the wooden door of the underground wine cellar was shoved open, and Adela strode in, shouting angrily: "Sister, you've really let me down!"

Patenuoluosi was startled, her defenses broken, and she suffered a crushing defeat, letting Luosen reap a great advantage.

After a while, Patenuoluosi calmed down, feeling somewhat ashamed as she looked at Adela: "Sister, I."

She had originally come to seek an explanation from Adela, but now things had turned out this way, and for a moment she didn't know what to say.

Luosen, however, had an explanation.

He calmly cleaned up the mess for Patenuoluosi: "Miss Adela, our transaction is completely fair and just; Miss Patenuoluosi has no reason to demand justice from you, right?"

Adela was also speechless.

Patenuoluosi was taken aback: "Sister, what does Your Majesty's words mean?"

Now it was Adela's turn to feel ashamed: "Sister, I hadn't finished speaking when you ran off; I simply didn't have time to tell you everything."

At this moment, Luosen came again to stir things up.

He took out a large chunk of sun essence, and in Adela's presence, gently placed it into Patenuoluosi's pocket.

"I'm very satisfied with this final battle; adding the previous ones, it totals fifty grams."

Patenuoluosi secretly rejoiced, immediately carefully storing the sun essence into her own Time-Space Treasury.

The effect of sun essence on a divine body is truly immense; fifty grams is by no means a small amount.

Adela suddenly lost her composure, annoyed: "Your Majesty, this transaction is unfair!"

Before Luosen could speak, Patenuoluosi interjected: "How is it unfair? I think it's quite fair."

Luosen laughed heartily: "Misses, we have plenty of time ahead; there's no need to quibble over temporary gains and losses."

"It's not early either; you two ladies should set off now, and I also need to get proper rest."

This remark helped neither side, and gave no room for rebuttal.

Adela and Patenuoluosi, this pair of sister flowers, looked at each other.

Nobody spoke.

Finally, Patenuoluosi broke the silence: "Sister, Your Majesty is right; from now on we'll have plenty of time."

"Let's go, sister."

"As they spoke, she led the way out of the underground wine cellar."

"Adela remained silent, she stared fixedly at Luosen, then turned and left as well."

"The two sisters left the Tulip Manor one after another."

"Luosen watched her leave, raising his hand to lightly rub his chin, savoring Adela's final gaze in his mind, always feeling something was off."

"He couldn't quite understand it himself, so he let Laifu analyze."

"Laifu quickly came to a conclusion."

"Luosen glanced at it, secretly marveling: 'Tsk tsk tsk~ This is getting interesting; I suppose I need to placate him well, lest resentment breed hatred.'"

"(End of chapter)"