Chapter 59 Courting Favor

Nian Tu found it hard to believe, unable to process the reality.

Yet the divine tree rustled its leaves, confirming her guess with crisp, decisive certainty, "It is you."

"You are my child."

"The most perfect female beast-person, personally created by my own hands..."

She was the very first life the deity had ever attempted to create during those long, lonely years, modeled after the appearance of its devout followers.

It remained the divine tree's deepest regret that it had been unable to raise this child with its own hands.

"You fell into a spatial turbulence and drifted to a distant place..."

"But I knew you were still alive."

"I searched for so long, so very long... and finally, I have found you..."

Soft, tender branches wrapped tightly around Nian Tu, as if embracing a long-lost, priceless treasure.

Nian Tu stood frozen in place.

The shock was immense, far too overwhelming to digest all at once.

Having lived for twenty years as an ordinary Earthling, enduring cold glances and exploitation at home, she had never once imagined that she wasn't even her parents' biological child!

She wasn't even human!

That being the case, it was no longer surprising that she had been able to awaken her spiritual power...

...

Outside the perimeter of the Sacred Grounds.

Felic, Xion, and Lu Zhan waited from dawn until dusk, growing increasingly restless and anxious.

One hour, two hours... a full six hours passed. The other females had all awakened successfully and been teleported out, yet there was still no news of Nian Tu.

Could something have gone wrong with her awakening?

The three men requested entry into the Sacred Grounds to search for Nian Tu several times, only to be rejected, until they finally lost all patience.

"Get out of the way!" the hot-tempered Xion surged to the front, breaking through the guards' blockade.

He was willing to pay the price, even willing to go to prison, but he had to see Nian Tu right now!

"Xion!"

A crisp call made him abruptly halt in his tracks.

Including the guards on duty, everyone's gaze snapped uniformly toward the teleportation device.

The slender, graceful figure of the little female finally appeared there.

The moment they caught sight of Nian Tu, the minds of the guards on duty short-circuited with a loud, buzzing hum.

Wild urges of submission and devotion welled up uncontrollably from the depths of their souls.

Several young guards walked toward Nian Tu in a daze, some bowing their heads, others dropping to one knee, all of them deeply respectful, eagerly and flatteringly currying favor with her.

"How are you feeling?"

"Please, have some nutritional fluid..."

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Please, command me as you wish!"

"I am entirely at your disposal as well..."

"Me too..."

Even though she had deeply experienced how high a female's status was and how adored they were ever since her transmigrations, Nian Tu had never witnessed a spectacle like this.

The unfamiliar males genuinely looked as though they had been captivated by a love potion, lifting her high up like the moon surrounded by stars.

None of the other females who walked out of the Sacred Grounds had received such treatment.

Felic frowned and gave a low cough, casting a warning glare at the daring fools.

The Marshal's imposing aura was too overwhelming. The guards felt the chilling pressure of the top of the food chain press down on their backs, snapping them back to their senses.

"I'm sorry, I—I didn't mean to..."

!!"Please forgive my offense!!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Once they came to their senses, they realized they must have gone mad just moments ago to shamelessly curry favor with the Marshal's female.

This was not only a provocation against the Marshal, but an offense to the female herself!

Covered in cold sweat, the guards were terrified of displeasing Nian Tu.

"It's fine, you may continue your work," Nian Tu did not blame them.

She uttered those words in a light, casual tone, yet the guards fell into another trance, instinctively straightening their postures as if receiving the highest-level military command.

Nian Tu found them a bit strange, but before she could dwell on it, a wave of heat washed over her as Xion pulled her tightly into his arms.

The tall male was built with hard, solid muscles, and as his arms wrapped around her, they completely engulfed Nian Tu's petite figure.

Nian Tu reflexively pushed against Xion's chest, her fingertips shrinking back, scalded by the solid contact, and awkwardly withdrew her hands.

"Niannian, Niannian," Xion breathed heavily, revealing an unprecedented vulnerability, "I was so scared..."

Every minute spent waiting outside the Sacred Grounds had been excruciatingly agonizing; the mere thought that something might have happened to Nian Tu had nearly made his heart stop beating.

Nian Tu's initially resisting hands suddenly froze.

She had forgotten—she had stayed by the divine tree's side for far too long.

Having finally reunited with its lost child, the tree's branches had tightly entwined around her, reluctant to let her go. She had only been released after repeatedly promising that she would visit the divine tree in the Sacred Grounds often.

It seemed this poor lion had truly been frightened out of his wits...

Projecting the image of a pitiful, wronged big lion onto Xion, Nian Tu's heart instantly melted. She raised a hand and gently ruffled Xion's short blonde hair.

The beautiful little female obediently curled up in the male's embrace, soothingly stroking his head. To an outsider, the scene looked extraordinarily picturesque, but in the eyes of her two rival suitors, Lu Zhan and Felic, it tasted utterly bitter and sour.

Lu Zhan couldn't help stepping forward, grabbing the back of Xion's collar and forcefully pulling him away from Nian Tu's embrace. "Alright, it's time to head to the Spiritual Power Testing Center."

Now was not the time for romance; there was important business to attend to.

Every female who successfully awakened her spiritual power was required to go to the Empire's Spiritual Power Testing Center to have her spiritual rank evaluated and updated in her system profile.

It was a mandatory procedure.

Having smoothly shoved Xion aside, Lu Zhan immediately took his place, taking Nian Tu's hand as he whispered with a soft sigh, "I'm just glad you're safe."

Nian Tu couldn't help smiling, leaning in closer to affectionately press against him.

Now it was Xion's turn to be jealous.

Yet the person who was undoubtedly the most jealous of all was Felic.

Both young males had received comfort from Nian Tu, while he alone had nothing.

Nian Tu briefly caught Felic's yearning gaze, but hesitatingly looked away, pretending not to see it.

Uncle Felic's protectiveness at the ball had touched her deeply, but that crisp, decisive declaration of "wife" had truly startled her.

She had clearly... always looked at Uncle Felic as an elder!

Nian Tu's evasion made Felic's expression darken, a dull ache blooming in his chest.

In the past few decades of his life, he had never experienced this clawing, heart-gnawing sensation of jealousy.

He didn't know what exactly about him made Nian Tu dislike him.

Was his personality too overbearing?

Was the tone of his voice too cold and rigid?

Or had his previous presumptuous assumptions and offenses during his video call with Xion been too much, causing her to sentence him to death in her heart?

Felic closed his eyes, pondering the various sins he might have committed, already plotting to proffer a birch branch and plead guilty before Nian Tu.

He truly and sincerely repented for his past coldness and prejudice.

Barely maintaining his composure, Felic urged her in a hoarse voice, "Let's go."

Taking a small flyer from the Sacred Grounds to the Spiritual Power Testing Center took only ten minutes.

Upon arrival, Felic's universally recognized face instantly drew attention.

A vacuum zone formed around him; people coming and going stole glances at him from the corners of their eyes, not daring to step forward and disturb him.

Marshal Felic? Why would he be at the Spiritual Power Testing Center?

News of everything that had happened at the ball had been strictly suppressed. Unaware of the events at the royal banquet, the crowd looked at Felic with gossip in their eyes, only to gasp in wonder as Nian Tu stepped out of the flyer.

What a gorgeous female!

For some reason, even though she looked so gentle and soft, she inexplicably stirred a deep desire to submit to her...

Had Marshal Felic not been standing guard beside her like a tiger eyeing its prey, there was no doubt several males would have already been unable to help themselves from kneeling and begging for mercy at her feet.

While the news suppression regarding the royal ball could fool the general public, it couldn't fool the high-reaching titans pulling strings across the empire.

The moment Nian Tu appeared, numerous pairs of eyes were already locked onto her from the shadows, waiting solely for her test results to come out.

Just how high was her spiritual power?

S-grade?

Or... SS-grade?

An SS-grade female was something that had never once appeared in the history of the empire. Until the results were definitively out, almost no one dared to easily believe miracles could happen.

Even Felic did not dare to be certain that Nian Tu could truly awaken an SS-grade spiritual power.

He lowered his voice to comfort Nian Tu, "Don't put any pressure on yourself. No matter the outcome, you are a one-of-a-kind treasure."