"I never expected you to give this fortune to the Empress," Qinglong's voice echoed in Chen Nan's mind.
The choice surprised him. Having parasitized Chen Nan's body, Qinglong was well aware of what the Empress had done to Chen Nan, especially after they acquired the Yin-Yang Twin Fish. The Empress had treated Chen Nan like an animal, using him multiple times a day, never regarding him as human.
Although the Empress had now given birth to their daughter, Chen Nian, Chen Nan had saved her life, helped the Snow Kingdom repel the demon race, and even sealed their portal. He had done more than enough. Yet now, he was giving her the opportunity to become a saint.
Chen Nan sighed. "After all, she gave birth to my daughter. I cannot let our daughter be without a mother."
His daughter's birth was unexpected, bringing both joy and trepidation. He felt like a young boy thrust into the role of a father. Unsure of his paternal duties, his only current goal was to provide his daughter with a complete home to the best of his ability.
The divine talisman entered the Empress's body. She instantly felt a cool sensation spreading within her. If her previous state was like a draining hourglass, the divine talisman had plugged the bottom. Not only that, but the cool energy began to subtly enhance her cultivation. At this rate, she would recover her peak strength within an hour.
A tempest raged in her heart. She was severely injured; even a divine being might not have been able to revive her. Yet, a simple divine talisman casually cast by Chen Nan had brought her back from the brink. Even as one of the eight supreme beings of humanity, she had never heard of such a miraculous talisman.
Sensing her thoughts, Chen Nan said irritably, "This fortune is given to you on account of our daughter. Otherwise, I wouldn't care if you lived or died. Seize this opportunity well."
The Empress smiled. "Though it's for our daughter's sake, I must still thank you."
Chen Nan recalled Nie Yao beside him. "By the way, her name is Nie Yao. She is my woman. She will live here from now on and help me with the child."
Nie Yao felt a pang of nervousness. While she had met Chen Nan first, the Empress was a supreme human being who had borne his daughter. Her status was far above Nie Yao's. Even in her injured state, Nie Yao sensed an immense pressure emanating from the Empress.
"Your Majesty, would you like to hold the little princess?" the wet nurse asked, her face glowing with maternal love. She approached, cradling the now-quieted baby princess in her arms. Despite being a wet nurse, she appeared to be in her early thirties, plump and well-rounded, a beauty unmatched even in the Tang Dynasty of Earth. A faint scent of milk clung to her.
"Can you not call me Empress?" Chen Nan asked, his voice harsh. But upon seeing his daughter's flushed, tender, jade-like face in the swaddling clothes, his anger vanished without a trace. At that moment, he felt a calmness he had never known. If anyone had asked him before if he had any regrets before dying, the answer would have been yes: that his life would not continue. But now, his life had been extended and passed on. The feeling of blood connection was an unbreakable bond, stronger than any distance.
"I'm not ready yet. I'll hold her in a few days," Chen Nan said, swallowing nervously. There was nothing in this world he feared doing, but today was different. He was afraid to touch his daughter, lest he accidentally hurt her. The wet nurse smiled knowingly beside him, accustomed to such reactions.
"Kill!"
Without warning, a chilling shout erupted from the city, deafening and piercing the heavens. It startled Chen Nian, who pouted and her bright eyes welled up with tears. Then, she let out a loud cry.
"Your Majesty, it is the Commander-in-Chief of the Yan Kingdom's three armies, Jiang Tongtian, leading reinforcements to our Snow Kingdom," Du Qingqiu's voice sounded from outside the hall.
"You continue your cultivation. I will go out to meet Jiang Tongtian," Chen Nan said, his figure flashing as he moved towards the city's teleportation array.
Jiang Tongtian had brought a hundred thousand elite soldiers. The ten thousand soldiers, clad in identical armor, exuded an earth-shattering aura of killing intent. However, at this moment, confusion filled their eyes. Who am I? Where am I? What is this place? Weren't the demon race's powerful warriors attacking the Snow Kingdom's walls? Why was it so quiet here? This hardly looked like a city under siege.
Seeing Chen Nan appear, Jiang Tongtian said, "Grandmaster Chen is here as well. May I ask what happened? Why is it so quiet?" He and Chen Nan were old acquaintances, so he spoke casually.
Chen Nan replied, "The demon race's powerful warriors have been repelled by me."
"???" Jiang Tongtian gasped. "Repelled by you? This... this doesn't seem surprising." Initially shocked, he soon found solace in Chen Nan's extraordinary abilities. With Chen Nan's power, he could have crushed the demon forces single-handedly.
Just then, the teleportation array activated again.
"Kill~~~" Guo Kai, the commander of the Qian Kingdom's imperial guards, led eighty thousand Qian Kingdom experts who poured out in a dense swarm. However, seeing Chen Nan and Jiang Tongtian chatting, Guo Kai paused. Were they in the mood to chat at a time like this?
"Commander Guo, we are a bit late," Jiang Tongtian said with a smile. "The demon race's powerful warriors have been driven back by Grandmaster Chen. The Snow Kingdom has regained peace. Fighting on the front lines is destined to be beyond our reach."
Guo Kai's heart shuddered. He knew Chen Nan had crossed the void and arrived at the Snow Kingdom ahead of time. But he never dreamed that Chen Nan had repelled the demon race's powerful warriors single-handedly. "This person's strength is far above that of the Qian Emperor. If the Qian Emperor were to fight Chen Nan, the loser would very likely be the Qian Emperor." Guo Kai gained a new understanding of Chen Nan's power.
Seeing the disappointed expressions on the faces of the experts from the Qian and Yan Kingdoms, Chen Nan said, "Since you're here, I can't let you be idle. Go and clean up the battlefield." The Snow Kingdom had suffered heavy casualties this time. Although they had sent people to clean up, the efficiency was low. Now, with one hundred and eighty thousand reinforcements, why shouldn't they contribute?
The corners of both their mouths twitched. They had traveled tens of thousands of miles via teleportation array to reinforce the Snow Kingdom, only to be tasked with such menial work upon arrival? Was that even polite?
Chen Nan looked at Du Qingqiu behind him. "Pass down the order to prepare Snow Kingdom's delicacies and wine to entertain our allied friends from the Qian and Yan Kingdoms. The weather in the Snow Kingdom is cold, but we must not let our allies feel the chill!"
Du Qingqiu replied, "As per the Empress's imperial decree!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Tongtian was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter. "No wonder you refused to marry my daughter. You wanted to be the Empress of the Snow Kingdom!" He then added, "Then from now on, we can't call you Grandmaster Chen. We should call you Empress Chen."
Boom!
Without warning, a deafening thunderclap boomed from the north. Chen Nan's face suddenly changed. "Not good, the demons have broken the seal again!"