Death... and me

Time passed as everyone used the extra time to cultivate and train. Soon, half of the time the formation could still work passed in a flash. Only six to eight months were available to the formation's natural core energy, according to Sister orb. Nothing much happened during this time, though. It's just that Laro didn't come out to negotiate with the people outside. He wanted to talk after the formation had gone down.

Rean's group, of course, improved by leaps and bounds during this time. The same could be said about the others. 

Today, Calina was finally going to make her last breakthrough under the Core Formation Realm. Calina had made her breakthrough to the Late Stage of the Core Formation Realm over five years ago, after all. With Rean's massive amount of Rank Three Spirit Stones from the Communication System, she had no problem with Spiritual Energy. The same could be said for Malaka.

Suddenly, a burst of Spiritual Energy came out of her dantian and spread outwards. Everyone in a kilometer around her noticed that as they looked in her dwelling's direction. However, they quickly ignored that and returned to do their own things. There were several breakthroughs happening every day in the valley, so no one found anything strange about it.

Roan looked at the condition of Calina's dantian after she finished her breakthrough and nodded.

"That went better than I thought. I was afraid that you might have cultivated a little too quickly. However, it seems like the Foundation Stabilizing Pills I gave you after your last breakthrough did the job. This time, however, I don't want you to take the pills. Otherwise, your body will form an immunity against it. Take your time in letting your foundation naturally calm down. Refrain from cultivating for the next two months or so."

Calina smiled as she nodded. She was now in the Peak of the Core Formation Realm.

"Thank you, Roan."

Malaka then hugged Calina.

"Congratulations."

Calina couldn't help but laugh.

"Thank you as well."

She then looked outside and focused her sights on the natural formation in the sky. However, it was far dimmer than before to the point that it almost seemed non-existent. 

"Seems like we won't be able to use this time acceleration formation for much longer."

Roan nodded.

"There's no helping that. The natural formation isn't something we can intervene with. It was already great that we were here when it happened."

Calina then thought about how the time for her to go back to the capital was getting closer. Of course, just a little less than a year had passed outside, though. She still had around a decade even after the formation went down. At least, that was Roan's expectation.

It was then that someone entered the room as well. Immediately, Calina's face had a weird expression on it. There was only one person capable of making her feel helpless like that at the moment, which was Wulio.

"Congratulations on your breakthrough. It seems like it won't be long before you reach the same realm as me."

Calina bitterly smiled as she replied.

"Thank you."

Wulio nodded before asking.

"So, the time's almost up. Have you decided what to do about my proposal?"

Malaka narrowed her eyes when she heard that.

"Do you really need to force Calina to marry you to gain your support? First of all, do you even love her?"

Wulio looked at Malaka with a puzzled expression as he responded.

"What are you talking about? This is just a political marriage of sorts. I'll give her my support as one of the Emperor's sons. In exchange, I'll be able to keep a close eye on her in case she decides to join the Chrole Empire's side. If she really is doing it to stop a war from happening between our Empires, then this is her best option."

Roan then looked at Wulio before asking.

"And if you find out that she's really doing it for Sasamil Empire? What will you do from there onwards? What will be your position if she becomes the empress?"

Wulio laughed as he replied.

"Hahaha! Well, I'm giving her my support, but I seriously doubt she'll become the empress. First Brother will do his best to stop it, and so will Fifth Brother. Well, the other direct bloodline princes and princesses won't stay idle either."

"However, let's consider that she somehow succeeds in taking the throne. In that case, I'll do my job as her husband. When an Emperor ascends to the throne, his wife becomes the empress. The same thing happens the other way around. I'll become the Emperor. However, the one who really holds power is the one who made his way up there. The other is just a symbolic existence. For me, that's perfect. I won't need to take care of anything other than keeping an eye on her. In exchange, I will have unlimited resources and free time. How could I not be happy to be her husband at that time."

Just as he was finished talking, a voice came from the entrance of the room.

"I see... That being said, you at least believe that Calina has a very small chance of becoming the empress."

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Rean making his way into the room.

"Congratulations, Calina."

Calina smiled at Rean as well.

"Thank you."

Wulio, on the other hand, was taken aback by Rean's words. However, he quickly recovered before saying.

"There's one thing I came to understand in this cultivation world. The heavens will never close all doors. There's always a chance. I'm simply taking that chance in my hands in case it appears."

Roan was more than satisfied with that. At least, Wulio had a reason to help Calina. Well, that was considering that what he was saying was the truth.

However, Calina then looked at Roan as she asked.

"Don't you mind it even a little bit?"

Roan was puzzled by that question. However, he quickly had an idea.

"Are you talking about the chances that he might betray you? That's something I can't guarantee. At least, I do believe he's being serious."

Wulio smiled as he looked at Calina and Roan. He wasn't a dense person like Roan, so he could totally tell what was happening here. Still, it didn't seem like he minded that.

Rean and Malaka felt like crying already. How can he be that oblivious?

Surprisingly, Calina didn't seem to be disheartened by Roan's answer. Instead, it had finally reached a point where she began to get angry. Soon after, she got up and looked at Wulio before saying.

"I accept your proposal."

Malaka and Rean were tekan aback by that. Did she finally give up? However...

*Vup!*

Calina grabbed Roan's arm and pulled him over. Roan wasn't expecting anything like that at all, so before he could even react, Calina stole a kiss from him!