Chapter 61
Victoria gathered what strength she had left into a delicate fist and tapped it against his chest, eyes closed, she shook her head.
She didn’t dare resist Soren anymore, this scoundrel might as well have been sent down by the heavens to subdue her, having accepted that she couldn’t handle him, and could only ever be handled, she made her peace with it.
Soren turned to business. "As you know, my goal is the entire Azure Spirit World, now this Heavenly Demon Alliance has entered the picture."
"I need you to help me hold the Endless Demonic Domain."
"You have deep administrative experience, and the strength of an Upper-Tier Demon Emperor."
"Only with the Domain managed by your hand, alongside your Violet Jade Immortal Domain, can I truly stop worrying about it."
Victoria’s lip curled. "You bully me every chance you get, and you want me toiling away for you, how are you this domineering?"
"But do I even have the right to refuse?"
"And if I had the right, would you give me the chance?"
"Whatever you ask of me, I’ll simply agree to all of it."
The change from yesterday was enormous, on the Strategy Encyclopedia, her relationship with Soren lit the final tier.
Following to the Death meant she would never betray him, in any world, under any pressure. Wherever he went, whatever he did, Victoria would follow to the end, he had become her everything.
However far he went, she would never resent him for it.
"However, I still have a few questions."
"You have to answer them obediently and clear my doubts." Victoria bargaining for small conditions.
"Speak."
She rolled over at once, propping her cheeks on both hands to study him. "Between Lysara and me, who do you like more?"
Still just jealousy, then.
"You two are different."
"Different how?" She awaited the answer with pale purple eyes sparkling, a whole galaxy adrift in them.
"You are my woman."
"She is not." Soren was being honest, he genuinely wasn’t lying.
"So that means you like me more?" A knowing smile bloomed across her face.
Soren nodded. "You could say that."
"Then, between me and her, who satisfies you more?"
"Ahem, well, about that..."
"Why are you hesitating? Could it be I’m not as good as her..." Disappointment seized her, the kind that drops a person straight through lake ice, plain in her eyes and face.
He had hesitated, yes, that did not mean she came up short, all of it was Victoria’s own runaway speculation.
"I refuse to accept this." From childhood on, Victoria had never tolerated second place, when had she ever swallowed a grievance like this?
By rights she should have been angry at him, but her relationship with Soren sat at the highest tier, crossing that threshold could reshape a person’s manner, tone, even behavior.
It could magnify one fixation in her heart without limit, right now, Soren could do no wrong in her eyes.
Any fault would be searched for in herself, or in others.
Victoria seemed to arrive at some decision, her gaze firming by degrees, she changed tack. "I’ve even met your mother already, I refuse to lose to Lysara."
"I will keep accumulating experience until you can’t pick out a single flaw."
Soren stared at her, she was acting stranger by the minute, he summoned the Strategy Encyclopedia with a thought.
Sure enough, a new title in a color he had never seen sat on Victoria’s profile, hers alone.
Bruce and Arnold, who had also lit Following to the Death, showed nothing like it.
Hidden Trait, and in the parentheses after it: Competitive Nature.
He expanded the details, text woven from Great Dao energy surfaced fast.
[Lighting Following to the Death was the prerequisite for a Hidden Trait to appear.]
[Competitiveness was fiercer than jealousy.]
[Victoria would compete with others over the care she received from her Master, or over the care she gave to her Master.]
[Unless she surpassed the other party, she would never rest.]
Soren’s mouth twitched. "This joke is not funny."
"Hm? What are you muttering about?" Victoria asked.
"Nothing." He kept his focus on the panel.
Once a special relationship title appeared, it was irreversible.
However, it also meant he could aid Victoria’s cultivation through dual cultivation, through his own destiny and fortune, he could dramatically elevate her constitution, with that improved, her advancement would climb even faster.
He hadn’t expected an effect that miraculous, a privilege of being the Strategy Encyclopedia’s master, perhaps? The corner of his mouth curved up, his good mood plain to see.
Seeing it, Victoria’s voice went soft and coaxing. "One last question."
"How many times did you touch her?"
Soren fell silent, only because he held the Strategy Encyclopedia did he know this was the Competitive Nature at work.
Without it, how would he have guessed that love had blown one emotion in her heart completely out of proportion?
Competitiveness wasn’t about comparing, it was about outdoing.
Bluntly, Victoria was determined to surpass any other woman alive, if someone else scored a one, she had to score a two, if they scored a two, she needed a three.
Soren told her the number without ceremony, nothing that small was worth lying about.
Victoria stared at him, expression hovering between sour and eager. "As the woman who has already met your mother, if I can’t outdo that Lysara, wouldn’t I look terribly incompetent?"
"If you aren’t in a hurry to send me off to the Endless Demonic Domain to take up my post~"
The Ice Heaven Alluring Fox clan territory.
Bruce had been appointed by Soren to guide Jared’s cultivation, his realm stopped at Venerable, but for teaching a King Realm student, that was more than enough.
Jared’s bloodline wasn’t outstanding, his aptitude was decent though, and he worked like a man possessed.
Bruce could see exactly why, all of it to repay Soren as fast as possible, his fondness for the young man kept ticking upward.
While the two sat resting, Ethel and Sylene arrived.
Sylene was Soren’s mother in this world, Bruce and Jared were Soren’s men, both greeted her with the utmost respect and humility.
Ethel trailed behind Sylene wearing a radiant smile, not forgetting to flick a greeting glance at her brother.
She had become quite the figure, walking the territory now, even the clansmen who had once frozen her out had to attend her with polite, careful smiles.