Catherine's Thoughts

At the top of the High Priest's Magic Tower.

For many years, Catherine had stood watch over the Yulan Empire from here. This was the place she needed to protect.

At this moment!

Her mood was somewhat different from before. She appeared to be gazing into the distance, but in truth, she was immersed in her own world.

Catherine had been exceptionally gifted from birth. Other than cultivation, she rarely paid attention to anything else. She had been the most dazzling genius of her era, much like Linley and Olivier were now—perhaps even more dazzling, because she was a woman.

After becoming a god,

not long afterward, Dylin was imprisoned in the Plane Prison, and Taros was taken by Beirut to the Graveyard of the Gods. For a long time, aside from the ruler of the Dark Forest and the Plane Guardian, there was not a second god-level expert on the Yulan Continent. She had been the ruler of the Yulan Continent.

The strong were lonely, and kings were solitary.

Yet Catherine was not passionate about power. When she realized she did not even have anyone to talk to, she felt very lonely.

Other than entering seclusion to cultivate, it was still entering seclusion to cultivate! She silently guarded the Yulan Empire.

Later, the War God became a god. His ambitions were great, and he wanted to defeat her and unify the Yulan Continent. But the War God had become a god by refining a divine spark, so he was no match for Catherine at all. After all, she had become a god on her own, and had done so long ago. She had traveled a long way along the path of godhood.

When she sparred with the War God, Catherine quickly realized that he was no match for her. Even with the material attacks she was not skilled at, she could defeat him, to say nothing of soul attacks.

In the end, for reasons she did not understand herself, Catherine did not defeat the War God head-on. They ended in a draw instead. The War God also knew he was no match for Catherine, and the two reached an unspoken understanding. The War God gave up on unifying the continent as well.

Catherine occasionally traveled across the continent, which was how she met Olivier. At first, she had not intended to pay him any attention. But when she sensed that Olivier might be able to help her break through, she took the initiative to speak with him. She had been stuck at the peak of the lower god level for many years without making a breakthrough, and had already begun to lose confidence.

After getting to know Olivier, she discovered that he knew many things even she did not know. His ideas were extremely novel, and he could always stir her emotions. Slowly, she began to enjoy being around him.

Olivier would call her stupid and laugh at her. If he had not been unable to beat her, he might even have dared to hit her.

She recalled when Olivier taught her Taiji Fist. If she failed to learn it properly while holding the teaching rod, she would get hit.

She recalled how reluctant she had been when Olivier left.

When she learned Olivier had returned, she suddenly felt very happy.

Olivier had said he could become a god, and sure enough, he returned as one not long afterward. That confidence of his...

Chatting about beautiful scenery together, discussing matters of the various divine planes—if things could continue like this, that would be nice too.

However.

Olivier was a standard lecher, bringing along two beautiful maidservants and living a debauched life. Thinking of this made Catherine feel particularly uncomfortable. She could not accept such a way of life.

She recalled Olivier wanting to see the face beneath her mask.

"Hmph, in your dreams, you lecher."

Catherine had become lost in thought. She somewhat understood that she actually had favorable feelings toward Olivier. If Olivier had merely been at the Saint level, she would not have allowed those feelings to grow.

But now.

Olivier had already become a god, and those feelings continued to grow beyond her control.

However, there were certain things Olivier did that she simply could not accept.

After all, she was a god-level expert. She was extremely proud at heart.

After more than ten thousand years of lonely time, Catherine had grown accustomed to being alone. Olivier's appearance might only add a few ripples to her peaceful life; it would not change her.

The Yulan Empire, guarded by the High Priest, was an ancient empire. Unlike younger empires, it was far from flourishing. The long years had already made it decayed.

The empire's nobles knew that, with the High Priest present, no empire and no Saint-level expert would dare cause trouble in the imperial capital of the Yulan Empire. As imperial nobles, they naturally enjoyed wealth and glory.

There were many nobles in the imperial capital, and their interests and relationships were complicated. Even the emperor could not easily decide the fates of the nobles, because even a single family might have once produced a Saint-level expert. That expert might have died, or might be cultivating in seclusion somewhere.

This was also what Dixie had said: those who determined the powerful and influential were not emperors, but supreme powers like Saint-level experts—the High Priest.

But within the Yulan Empire, the High Priest possessed absolute authority. A single sentence could decide anyone's life or death. Even the emperor and Saint-level experts regarded the High Priest as their god.

Therefore.

The appearance of people seemingly connected to the High Priest naturally drew everyone's attention.

The High Priest's direct disciples knew Sophie and Jessica's identities. But as lofty Saint-level experts and direct disciples themselves, they naturally knew that, other than striving to comprehend the laws and become gods, there was nothing especially worth currying favor with in the Sophie sisters or Olivier. At most, they instructed their families not to provoke them.

Other than knowing that Sophie and Jessica were connected to the High Priest, the nobles of the imperial capital had no further information. Everything else was merely speculation.

But!

Not knowing did not stop them from trying to approach and get acquainted with Sophie and Jessica.

Lise was one of them.

"Ah, Sophie, Jessica, you really have a man now."

Lise was another friend of Sophie and Jessica.

This Lise came from Delia's family and was, by relation, Delia's niece. After hearing the news about her friends, she had come to confirm whether it was true, just like Wendy.

"Fine, so you never believed us. You two girls, our friendship is over."

Both of their good friends had come with the same astonished reaction. Clearly, neither had believed what they had said before. Jessica said angrily.

At the academy, these were the only two people the sisters had told the truth to.

"Jessica, don't! We won't do it again. Please forgive us."

Wendy pleaded from the side.

Sophie also looked very angry beside her. The sisters had excellent tacit understanding and excellent acting skills. Lise and Wendy felt that they were genuinely angry.

"Our lord has returned. Since we're happy today, we'll let you off this once."

Sophie added.

"Ah, then he is Lord Olivier, the legendary 'Genius Sword Saint.'"

Wendy exclaimed again. Recalling what Sophie had told her, Sophie and Jessica had mentioned their man's identity.

"Yes, he is my lord."

Jessica nodded.

My lord is a god-level expert now.

Wendy and Lise's mouths fell open. Both were of extremely noble status, and it was not as though they had never seen Saint-level experts before. But in the eyes of Saint-level experts, they were insignificant. They had once hoped to marry a Saint-level expert someday, but even with their status, it was beyond their reach.

Lise in particular knew that her aunt Delia had married Linley, the legendary genius who was even more gifted than Olivier. She was very envious.

Now, a Saint-level expert stood before them, and he was the famous 'Genius Sword Saint.' They could not help becoming a little lovestruck.

"L-Lord Olivier, hello."

Wendy and Lise became somewhat restrained, and their speech was no longer as fluent as before.

"Hello."

Olivier replied with a smile.