It was not difficult for Gen to find himself a newborn girl, especially so close to a city filled with degenerates.

That night, he stood within an underground cave that he built himself. He held a baby in one hand and a bottle in the other.

He made sure to go as deep as he could so as not to attract any unwelcome attention.

He created an altar and placed the sleeping newborn upon it.

Then, he looked at the bottle.

He sighed.

This was a gamble too.

He circulated his spiritual energy and activated the soul character so as to be able to directly grab her soul as he opened the bottle.

As soon as it opened, the soul within tried its best to rush away. Of course, he would never allow that. He was prepared and quickly grabbed at it.

A woman whose beauty was unable to be described ended up stuck with him.

She was the Empress of the Ocean.

The one and only.

And she was fuming in anger.

Her glare was devastating. If it had been someone else with a weaker soul…Fortunately, while his body was not up there, his soul was that of a peak cultivator. It could resist her existential charm.

Why did he not go break her out himself then? Because of the oath he made in the first place. He did not want to help the other cultivators stuck in the Peak. And especially not the one who had managed to end the story of the woman in front of him.

She saw that he remained unaffected and relaxed slightly. She ordered: “Let me go”

He chuckled: “Afraid I can’t do that, Your Highness”

She snickered: “Are you going to defile my soul by forcing me to reincarnate in a body that is not mine?”

He nodded awkwardly.

She screamed at him: “Who do you think you are?!”

He took a step back. She was indeed one of the top players of her era. He composed himself and stated firmly: “I need your help”

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She coldly rebuked him: “You are nothing to me and I have no reasons to help you”

Right.

He chuckled.

Convincing her would not be an easy task. The soul technique to replace a newborn soul with an old one in a newborn body was evil and against the heavens by nature. However, it was not against the heavens in a good way.

The World itself would not allow someone who robbed the chance of life to a new soul and broke the Fate itself to ever ascend.

Using this technique would anchor whoever used it to the realm.

Forever until it died.

And when it died, there would not be any call from the heavens to that soul. It would simply be annihilated.

A finite end of everything.

To accept such a thing…Only the craziest or most cowardly would.

She was neither.

Unlike Gen and Risa.

Gen looked at her deeply before he stated: “The man who imprisoned you has ascended eons ago and the one who betrayed you still remain here as the ruler of the Oceans that you left behind”

“So what?” she coldly retorted.

He faltered for a moment. He thought that it would have at least brought her some reactions…but it did not.

“That man is trying to get the crown. Your crown” he added.

“He can have it for all I care” she replied.

There was an awkward silence.

Gen never thought she would be this stubborn to die and uncaring about this world. Then again, she spent eons alone in a cave trapped.

He could slightly understand- No, he could not.

If it had been him- No, that was not the kind of suffering one could easily relate to or even dare say that they could.

He could not understand her. So, he might as well directly ask her: “Why do you wish to die so much?”

She answered him: “My life was nothing but a tragedy filled with sufferings. I do not wish for it to repeat”

He frowned: “Did you never think that you might be able to change the way things are?”

She snickered: “I stood on a place far higher than you ever did and ever will be at. I saw and experienced things beyond your imagination. I know perfectly the limits of the Fate that was given to us when we were born”

“What do you mean?” He asked.

She looked sad as she answered him: “In this world, everyone is Fated to fight until they die”

Gen did not comprehend the problem with that. Fighting and struggling for your ideals was worth it.

She sighed: “You do not understand. I cannot blame you though. Your Horizon itself is limited”

Gen looked up at her: “Maybe. Or maybe you are the one who lost herself”

She frowned: “What are you insinuating?”

Gen told her: “You say that you saw further than me? Haven’t you lost sight of what was in front of you as you did?”

She snickered: “Impudent!”

Gen laughed.

Then, he grinned: “You see, I just realized something. I don’t need your consent right now”

She frowned heavily: “You would not dare-“

Before she could finish, he started making hand signs as the soul character appeared on the forehead of the newborn.

The Empress trembled from rage: “You will be the first I will kill”

Gen laughed as the soul of the Empress was sucked within the baby girl’s body.

Moments later, the ritual finished and he fell to his knees.

The ritual aside, her presence itself did have an effect on him. Sweat dripped down his back while he panted heavily.

Regardless, he had a grin on his face.

She was sane!

She did remain sane!

She would be one of the best ally one could ever hope for!

…If she did not kill him…

He would work on that when the time came.

For now, he had to rest and then return to the new sect.

There was much to do.