Rachel Bella

As Lei Mo entered the city, Rachel Bella was carefully preparing the new Duke Mansion.

Lei Mo had broken through to the Saint Realm so suddenly that there had been no time to build a new Duke Mansion. So the king had converted the residence where Lei Mo had lived as crown prince into one.

There were no taboos here. Strength was everything. At Lei Mo's level, he looked down on the throne. The pursuit of those in the Saint Realm was always greater strength.

At that moment, Rachel Bella was busy in the Duke Mansion, sweating profusely, her excitement and fervor beyond words.

The duke was about to return to the royal capital. How could his beautiful little housekeeper not be thrilled?

A duke, a Saint Realm expert—either one was someone to look up to. And Lei Mo was both, as well as the founder of the family's first generation.

Rachel couldn't help trembling at the thought. She was immensely proud to take part in the birth of a legend, and she wished she could offer herself to him right then and there.

When Rachel had worked at the viscount's residence, she had treated service as a profession, a means of security. Now, serving Lei Mo had become her life's pursuit.

It might not sound very different, but her fervent worship and heartfelt zeal for the duke and the Duke Mansion were something else entirely. This was also tied to the long-standing atmosphere in the Keaton Kingdom.

If loyalty were measured as it was in a game, Rachel's loyalty would have gone off the charts, surpassing the maximum of one hundred.

It was the natural tendency of ordinary people to worship the strong. It had always been so, throughout history.

This was also connected to the kingdom's relentless propaganda over the past half month. In its telling, Lei Mo had fought wildly amid the encirclement of hundreds of thousands of troops, slaughtering enemies and comprehending Destruction Law—all of it portrayed as righteous battlefield valor.

There was no denying that public opinion was terrifying. No one cared about the poor soldiers Lei Mo had smashed into oblivion. They had become nothing more than a backdrop to his fearless valor.

The cruelty of this world revealed itself at every turn. It was also the inexhaustible driving force behind Lei Mo's path to power.

Enough of that. Lei Mo and Marshal Mengba had prepared an honor guard, and along the way they received a warm welcome from Padon City.

There were flowers, fine wine, and beautiful women. The soldiers ate and drank along the way, and at last they reached the Duke Mansion.

Lei Mo didn't have to meet the king. It was a mark of respect for the strong. After all, Lei Mo was already in the Saint Realm, and only the founder of the kingdom, Tagore Keaton, could conduct his ascension ceremony.

It also showed that Lei Mo's ducal title had been bestowed by the kingdom's first king and would endure for as long as the kingdom itself.

Later kings, including the current one, had no right to strip him of it.

In short, it all carried plenty of hidden meaning. Lei Mo had treated it like a game, but this had been interpreted as a strong man's pursuit of power and indifference to worldly authority.

They had made Lei Mo out to be utterly transcendent, never guessing what the crude old man really wanted: beautiful women and fine wine, not one to be missed.

Now Lei Mo finally dared to indulge himself a little. Ha! This time, he wouldn't turn anyone away. Having gained a talent for cultivation, he planned to comfort his lonely heart after nearly sixty years.

On the night he returned to the Duke Mansion, Rachel entered the master bedroom.

One of them had been longing to offer herself to him, her fervor practically spilling from her eyes. The other was relaxed and ready to indulge. They were like dry wood meeting a raging flame, oil poured on fire—it was impossible to stop once they got going.

In the morning, as he held Rachel's petite body, Lei Mo gently stroked the top of her head,

comforting her. "Don't worry. You'll still be in charge of the Duke Mansion from now on. You know what I'm pursuing, and who knows—you might become a strong cultivator yourself someday."

As he spoke, he took out a Rune Cube. Lei Mo had found the Rune Cubes quite handy, so he had made several more and stored them in his Space Ring.

This time, Lei Mo had learned his lesson and hadn't carved a Gravity Rune onto it. That one was too difficult!

The cube's six faces corresponded perfectly to six other Runes: the Strength Rune, Sturdiness Rune, Image Rune, Illusion Rune, Burning Rune, and Light Rune.

Together, they encompassed the Laws of earth, water, fire, and light. If she felt nothing at all, then she could only study the eight Totem Pillars in hopes of achieving an undying soul. Lei Mo wouldn't let Rachel refine a Divine Spark. There was no turning back from that path.

Because this Rune Cube had been fashioned by studying Franklin's true form, its Runes were far more complete than those carved by the Tauren Rune Engravers.

Though it still couldn't help someone comprehend Laws, it worked very well as a testing tool—far better than some crystal ball.

It seemed he had discovered the true use of Rune Engraving, opening up a whole new world for Lei Mo in an instant.

After getting up that morning, Lei Mo summoned everyone in the Duke Mansion for the first time.

There were probably more than a thousand people packed together. Once there were that many, managing them became difficult.

That was why Lei Mo had called everyone together: to establish rules and authority for Rachel.

Just for the way she gazed at him with those fervently admiring eyes, he had to help her. She had clearly reached her limit, yet she was still stubbornly hanging on.

"The Duke Mansion of Franklin has no specific rules. Or rather, my word is the rule!"

Lei Mo spoke slowly. His tone was calm, but thanks to the kingdom's propaganda, no one dared disregard the words of a Saint Realm expert.

"While I'm away, Rachel Bella will be in charge of everything in the Duke Mansion. Hear me? Everything!"

This time, Lei Mo spoke with great seriousness. A strong man's authority came from within. He needed no checks and balances, and nothing could diminish what his strength had won—not even the hearts of men.

"We obey the duke's command!"

More than a thousand people answered in unison. They seemed to have been drilled, too. Whether any of them were spies didn't matter to him.

The ducal investiture ceremony was still several days away. In the meantime, Lei Mo lived shamelessly and happily with Rachel. From time to time a maid joined them, but in the end they all came under Rachel's care.

Lei Mo wasn't sure whether Tauren could have children with ordinary humans. He decided to give it a try and never took precautions, which moved and delighted Rachel.

At the same time, he guided Rachel in cultivating battle qi. She had had the Rune Cube for several days now, but hadn't felt anything from it yet. She had, however, learned the basics of battle qi.

In the past, as a noble whose family had fallen into decline countless generations ago, she hadn't been qualified to learn battle qi. She had only trained her body and become a first-rank warrior.

Now that Lei Mo was there, there was no battle qi manual he couldn't get his hands on. Rachel was practicing one he had found for her.

It was a water-aspected form of battle qi well suited to women, with a slight nourishing effect on the body.

Once one reached the Saint Realm, one became qualified to create a battle qi manual. The easy way was to modify an existing manual into a new one.

But Lei Mo's ambitions were great. He always wanted to create a form of battle qi that encompassed more attributes, so he would have more choices when comprehending Laws after reaching the Saint Realm.

That didn't mean that a Saint Realm expert could only cultivate the Laws corresponding to their battle qi attribute. Rather, battle qi attributes could serve as a stepping stone, making it easier to comprehend the Mysteries of the Laws.

The prerequisite was a battle qi manual that could lead one all the way to the Saint Realm. Otherwise, one could only rely on sudden enlightenment.