'Huh?'

Astaria frowned. This time, Nux actually disappeared from her vision, which, shouldn't have been possible considering that her speed was way higher than his.

Many questions popped up in Astaria's head, however, she kept all of them aside and in a fraction of a second, she prepared her body to take on Nux's attack and enhanced her senses.

"…"

More than a few seconds passed but nothing happened.

A frown appeared on Astaria's face.

Wasn't he going to attack her?

What happened?

Wait…

A smile appeared on Astaria's face and she joked,

"After all that build-up, you aren't telling me that your ultimate technique is hiding from me?"

"…"

There was no answer.

Astaria narrowed her eyes. She turned towards Nux's wives to see their reaction, however, seeing the frowns on their faces, she realized that they were as confused as she was.

'Is he… using [Conceal]?'

Felberta questioned with a frown on her face. Content is © by .

'But we still had our eyes on him, [Conceal] won't take effect unless he uses it when he is out of the target's vision.'

Thyra pointed out.

'Yes, [Conceal] doesn't work like that, also, I am pretty sure Nux told me that [Conceal] wouldn't work on Astaria.'

Amaya nodded.

'Then what is it?'

Ember questioned.

'I don't have any idea.' Amaya shook her head.

'Heh, it's not like we know what those Purple Spikes are, also, the way he is dealing with her punches, that doesn't seem normal either,

Don't forget, Nux has been visiting the Bloodhill Wilderness pretty often nowadays, he seems much more serious about Cultivation than ever before, I am sure he has developed some new abilities.'

Allura smiled proudly.

'Heh, to think he would go toe to toe against an Emperor Stage Cultivator.' Ember commented with an amazed look on her face.

'Guys…'

Suddenly, Felberta called out.

'Nux has been focusing and training to get stronger a lot more than before…

You don't think it is because he predicted what Lady Astaria's demand beforehand, do you…?'

'…'

'…'

'…'

Everyone turned silent.

'That… that… might actually be possible…'

Suddenly, Ember spoke up.

Everyone turned towards her and Ember started explaining.

'It is not like it is his first time being challenged like this…'

'Yes, you challenged him as well.' Thyra nodded.

'Yes, if I think about it now, me and Lady Astaria have a lot in common, she may not show it directly as I do, but, I can still feel that there is a warrior inside her. There are chances that that warrior is now resting since Lady Astaria's cultivation talent is simply absurd and she has already reached the peak,

However, I can perfectly see a warrior challenging a man who confessed to her and giving herself away as a reward.

Not only that, but Lady Astaria is also an Emperor, just like how a strong and capable man would never enter the Harem of a woman weaker than her, she wouldn't just enter Nux's Harem when he is weaker than her. That would be disrespecting her cultivation which she has worked for so many years now.

If he thinks about it, predicting her conditions wouldn't be too difficult for Nux, and since he knows he can't just grow stronger using his previous method…'

'He is using all these methods to get stronger.' Evane completed Ember's sentence.

'Indeed.' Ember nodded.

The women came to a new conclusion and turned towards the battlefield.

'And his method seems to be working…'

Amaya commented.

'Indeed.'

Felberta and the others nodded.

'Don't conclude things too early.'

Ember, however, shook her head.

'Emperor is called the peak for a reason.'

She commented, her expression turning serious.

On the other hand, since she failed to provoke him, Astaria took a deep breath and closed her eyes to heighten her senses.

However, as if he was waiting for this exact moment, Nux appeared right behind Astaria, in a position where Astaria couldn't dodge even if she wanted to.

His sword moved, Astaria's eyes widened in surprise, she tried to defend herself, however, it was already too late.

In a desperate situation, Astaria was forced to move her Mana to her shoulder, where Nux was aiming at, and prepared for the impact.

*Tap*

However, in the end, Nux just placed his sword on her shoulder, without any force in it.

Astaria frowned.

'Is he trying to show me that he won? Does he really think that successfully aiming at my shoulder defea-'

Suddenly, Astaria's eyes widened in surprise and,

*Pukes*

She puked blood.

However, Astaria didn't have the time to remain surprised, a horrifying feeling enshrouded her entire body.

Fear, she felt fear.

Her instincts kicked in, the Mana inside her body moved as quickly as it could and quickly dispelled Nux's attack.

Seeing this, a weak smile appeared on Nux's face,

"I still couldn't do it huh…"

Blood trailed out of his mouth and,

He passed out.

"NUX!!"

Seeing that, his women quickly rushed towards him, Ember, being the fastest quickly appeared beside him and placed his head on her lap.

"Nux!"

She shouted, she then wiped the blood that came out of his mouth, however, as soon as she touched his skin, her reaction changed.

She quickly grabbed his arm, then touched his biceps, then her hand went over his chest and her eyes widened in horror.

"What happened?" Amaya questioned as she and the others crouched around Nux's body.

"E-Every single one of his muscles are shaking… something is wrong!" Ember replied.

"Call a Medic!"

Amaya shouted.

Lane, however, was already on her way to the Royal Palace.

The rest of the women prepared a healing potion and tried to feed it to Nux but it came out of his mouth.

"He isn't drinking it," Amaya spoke.

Without a second of hesitation, Ember drank the potion and then kissed Nux.

Soon, however, she broke the kiss and shook her head,

"His body is rejecting it."

"Huh? What does that mean!? Let me try it!"

Amaya shouted.

Ember, however, stopped her before she could do anything, with a serious look on her face, she spoke,

"His body is rejecting it, there must a reason behind it.

Calm down and think properly.

Let's wait for the medics.

Don't act recklessly."