Double Happiness

November 10, Yulan Calendar 5000.

Kolan paced back and forth outside the palace. Maids were bustling about, and from within the palace, the heart-wrenching screams of a woman echoed from time to time.

"Your Majesty, Mother will surely be safe and sound," Victoria consoled Kolan.

Today was the day Isabelle was to give birth.

Kolan felt nothing but agitation and restlessness.

His soul power was focused entirely on the child at every moment.

Inside the palace, Isabelle gripped the silk quilt beneath her tightly with one hand while holding a maid's hand with the other. She followed the midwife's instructions to breathe, trying her best to refrain from wasting energy on screaming, but her forehead was already drenched in sweat. Her naturally peerless beauty had become somewhat distorted.

The Empress was having a difficult labor, and the midwife was growing anxious as well.

"Your Highness, push! Push harder, the child is almost out!"

Contractions came one after another. Isabelle's face turned pale from the pain; her entire body felt as if it were being pricked by needles, and the agony in her womb was so intense she felt as if she might tear apart. She wanted nothing more than to pass out, but the thought of the child in her womb kept her going.

Finally, with a single "waa" sound, Isabelle let out a long breath and fainted from exhaustion.

"Congratulations to the Empress, congratulations to the Emperor! It is a royal grandson!" The midwife was overjoyed. She then carefully stepped forward to cut the umbilical cord, wiped the child clean with meticulous care, and finally lifted the red, wailing infant into her arms.

The cries of the infant seemed like the most beautiful sound in the world, crossing through Kolan's mind and touching his heart.

Beneath the Tree of Life, Kolan's Life God clone, who had been sitting cross-legged in meditation, finally achieved enlightenment and took that crucial step forward.

A feeling of divine inspiration welled up within him.

"Hum~~"

A peculiar ripple of the Laws of the World descended, landing directly upon the location where Kolan sat.

Enveloped by the Laws of the World, Kolan could not help but float into the air.

Kolan kept his eyes closed. Suddenly, his Lower God Spark of the life attribute emerged from his head as if it were intangible, finally hovering above his crown.

A vast amount of life energy swirled around the spark, and under the control of the Laws of the World, the spark began to undergo a slow transformation.

A transformation from a Lower God Spark to a Middle God Spark!

As the life energy dissipated, the spark, which radiated a vibrant emerald light, emitted a significantly more powerful aura.

"Hum~~"

The spark spun rapidly before finally merging back into Kolan's body.

A moment later, the Laws of the World dissipated.

Kolan's Life God clone sat with his eyes closed, quietly contemplating the realm of a Middle God.

In the imperial palace, as Kolan broke through to become a Middle God, his Saint-level true body revealed a radiant smile.

This was a double blessing!

He had never expected that the birth of his son would allow him to gain insights into the Life Law and break through his bottleneck.

Overjoyed, Kolan bestowed generous rewards upon the midwife and the maids!

As for the birth of the eldest imperial son, Kolan declared a nationwide celebration.

All taxes for the year were waived.

Kolan could not stop smiling as he carefully held the child.

The more he looked, the more adorable the baby seemed; that feeling of blood connection was truly intoxicating.

Kolan had no heart for state affairs and spent every day accompanying his son.

In the blink of an eye, fifty years passed in a flash.

December 30, Yulan Calendar 5050. Snowflakes drifted from the sky, and the ground was covered in a blanket of silver.

At this moment, two luxurious carriages, escorted by a troop of elite cavalry, were moving along the main road.

"Your Majesty, we have arrived at Life Castle," a knight said respectfully in front of the carriage.

Immediately, several people stepped down from the two luxurious carriages.

"Royal Brother, Father previously said not to disturb him unless necessary. Aren't you afraid of being scolded by Father?" a girl with peerless beauty asked, acting somewhat mischievous.

"Hannah, do you not wish to see Father and Mother?" a young man said, carrying an air of majesty and wearing a ring on his finger.

"Besides, Amansa is pregnant. Is this not a major event?" the young man said as if it were a matter of course.

Looking at the castle and the towering trees, the young man's eyes held a sense of reverence.

He dared not underestimate these trees, for they were plant lifeforms that had reached the Saint level.

He still remembered that in the past, this place was guarded by Saint-level undead, but now they had been replaced by plant lifeforms.

Leaving the cavalry outside, the young man led the girl and the others into the castle.

"Leo, what if Father has gone out to travel the world?" a noblewoman asked with some concern.

"Amansa, rest assured. Father is definitely in the castle!" the young man, Leo, said.

Soon, they saw two women.

"Mother!"

"Mother!"

Leo and Hannah hurriedly bowed and called out.

These two women were none other than Isabelle and Victoria.

Over fifty years had passed, yet time seemed to have left no mark upon them.

Isabelle had become even more charming.

As for Victoria, she had shed her past youthful awkwardness, becoming fuller and even more alluring than before.

The two of them looked like a pair of mother-daughter flowers.

"You two, coming to the castle on a snowy day like this; Amansa is pregnant, that is the most important thing!" Isabelle said, feigning annoyance.

"Exactly, and Hannah, you are already thirty-five and still single, how do you have the face to come here!" Victoria scolded the young woman.

Leo was the son Isabelle had given birth to back then, and the only son of Kolan; he had been named Crown Prince at the age of three, reached the ninth-rank warrior level ten years ago, and inherited the throne to become the Emperor of the Empire.

Amansa was Leo's wife and the Empress of the Empire; the two had been married for ten years, and she was now pregnant with their second child.

Hannah was the daughter of Victoria, the eldest princess of the Empire, and the only daughter of Kolan; she had entered the Royal Academy to study magic at the age of nine.

"Grandmother~~" the child in Hannah's arms called out, looking bright and spirited.

"Oh, my dear grandson, Blake, I haven't seen you for two months and you've grown taller again." Isabelle's attitude shifted instantly as she went over to pick up the child.

Blake was Leo's first child, currently five years old.

"Mother, we came over this time to pay our respects to you both. Tomorrow is the Magnolia Festival, and I intend to name Blake as the Crown Prince. Since Amansa is pregnant, we also came to let Father know and ask for his blessing!" Leo said.

The current Kolan Empire was completely different from what it had been fifty years ago.

Fifty years ago, the Kolan Empire was in ruins, waiting to be rebuilt. Over those fifty years, it had long since been perfected.

The undead army that once suppressed everything had been withdrawn, replaced by human troops.

The military was divided into garrison forces, border armies, and the Imperial Guard.

For a typical city, it was equipped with one thousand garrison troops; a prefecture city was equipped with ten thousand; and a provincial capital was equipped with fifty thousand.

The vast territory of the entire Empire was divided into five provinces, each province divided into three prefectures, and each prefecture divided into five cities. Aside from the imperial capital, Kolan City, the entire Empire had five provincial capitals, fifteen prefecture cities, and seventy-five ordinary cities.

As for towns and villages, there were far more!

Each town had a baron or viscount serving as the lord in charge.

As for the lord of a city, they were titled count, while those managing a prefecture were marquesses. Those managing a province were dukes.

Of course, titles were divided into ordinary titles and hereditary titles; ordinary titles were downgraded by one rank each generation until they reached baron, after which the title was lost. Hereditary titles, however, could be passed down without being downgraded.

As for the border armies, there were four major ones: the Northern Army, Southern Army, Eastern Army, and Western Army, each consisting of one hundred thousand elite soldiers.

The Imperial Guard, which garrisoned the imperial capital, Kolan City, numbered two hundred thousand and were the elite of the elite.