Lidiqi woke up, but she couldn’t really remember what happened that day.
All she recalled was that her team seemed to have been attacked by dark magic, and then Freya risked her life to protect her.
She felt very sad about her companions’ deaths, but as an imperial soldier, she quickly pulled herself out of that mood.
“Lord Freya, thank you for having your subordinate save my life.”
Lidiqi thanked Chen Xing once again.
She’d been saved by Chen Xing twice along the way, so both officially and personally, Chen Xing was a great benefactor to her, and her gratitude was obvious.
“It was nothing.”
Chen Xing waved her hand casually.
To be honest, she actually felt a bit guilty toward Lidiqi, since it was her own doing that killed Lidiqi’s subordinates.
She’d have to find a chance to make it up to Lidiqi later, maybe by granting her eternal life or something.
Lidiqi clearly wasn’t qualified to be her guardian, but making her into a loyal servant like Salina was still possible.
Although her mind would be affected a bit, she’d also gain a lot of benefits: a body created by a witch that’s immune to most physical damage, super strong regeneration, eternal life, and powerful dark magic.
In the past, a lot of people dreamed of this.
To get eternal life and great power, they’d willingly become a witch’s loyal servant.
The group continued on their way.
Not long after they left, Salina destroyed the church that had tried to scam Chen Xing earlier.
While Salina was torturing the priest, Chen Xing even checked in through their link and found that Salina really had a lot of tricks up her sleeve—some things Chen Xing hadn’t even thought of.
The closer they got to the kingdom’s capital, the more groups Chen Xing saw on the road.
They traveled in packs, but their clothes didn’t look local.
The reason she knew so much was because she’d devoured Salina’s soul and read her memories, so naturally she knew about this world from Salina’s perspective.
Salina, as a second-generation witch’s servant, had lived a long time and knew a lot.
So Chen Xing could tell at a glance that these groups were from other countries.
Of course, Salina’s memories weren’t always in Chen Xing’s mind.
She only searched them when she needed to.
Otherwise, as she devoured more people, her mind would get more and more chaotic.
To put it simply, Chen Xing compressed Salina’s memories and only decompressed them when she needed to read them.
“Looks like the Queen is about to hold a marriage contest.”
“The Queen’s holding a marriage contest?” Chen Xing was surprised, but she quickly recalled from Salina’s memories that the Snow Queen had indeed done this in the past.
But Salina didn’t care about that stuff, so she didn’t know much.
“The Queen wants to pass on a strong bloodline, so her partner has to be powerful too.
That’s why every five years there’s a marriage contest.
Strong people from every country can join, but most of these people on the road are just going to watch.
The real contenders wouldn’t be riding in carriages.”
“I see.” There wasn’t much about the Snow Queen in Salina’s memories, just that she was a cold ruler, so Chen Xing asked curiously, “What kind of person is the Queen?”
“To us, the Queen is like a goddess.
She’s the strongest person, and even though she’s cold and ruthless, everything she does is for the country…”
Lidiqi said a lot, but it all boiled down to a few things: admiring the Queen’s strength, respecting her will, and obeying her orders.
“You said the Queen’s been holding these contests for years with no result, so how old is she now?”
“The Queen’s age is taboo.
We’re not allowed to talk about it.
But the magic she practices can freeze her body’s age, so she always looks like she did at sixteen.”
“You said the Queen is the most beautiful person.
I wonder if I could join the contest… hahaha.” Chen Xing joked, but Lidiqi immediately gave a definite answer.
“Of course you can.
No matter your age, gender, or race, as long as you pass the trials, you can marry the Queen.”
“You’re not kidding? I’m… a woman, you know?”
“You don’t know about the elves’ Vine of Reproduction?”
“Vine of Reproduction?” Chen Xing frowned and searched Salina’s memories for the keyword, and sure enough, she found the Seed of Reproduction.
It was something from the elves—a vine-like thing that could link two girls together, absorb their bloodlines, and then grow a new seed on the vine.
Whoever the seed was implanted in would get pregnant.
After learning what it was, Chen Xing couldn’t help but marvel, “Wow, that’s amazing.”
“Elves are all female, and they use this method to have children.
Outsider women can do it too.
The Snow Empire and the Elven Forest trade a lot, so the vine is among the goods.
That’s why anyone can join the contest, regardless of gender.”
“Oh~” Hearing this, a new plan popped into Chen Xing’s mind: she could join the contest to get close to the Snow Queen.
The witch’s treasure was always kept by the Queen, so only by getting close could she get it back.
With her current strength, as long as she didn’t expose her dark magic, beating the other contestants wouldn’t be hard.
“Lord Freya, if you really plan to enter, I think you should think it through.”
“Why?”
“Because…” Lidiqi hesitated, since this was something her country was ashamed of, but since Chen Xing had saved her life, she gritted her teeth and shared the rumor.
“Going back six generations, all our rulers have been queens.
Do you know why every queen only has a mother and no father?”
“Why?”
“Because… they all died.”
“…Huh?”
“I heard from the elders that after the marriage contest, the new king would disappear for a while.
When they saw him again, he was so thin his muscles had caved in, nothing like the strong man from the contest.
Even his spirit was gone, and there wasn’t a trace of magic left in him, like he’d been sucked dry.”
“Damn, your Queen is…” Chen Xing realized that was a bit disrespectful, so she stopped halfway.
“You may be a woman, but if you really get chosen, I’m afraid you’ll end up like those kings.
So please think carefully.”
This was a royal secret that outsiders didn’t know, so a lot of people still entered the contest.
But since Chen Xing had saved her life, Lidiqi made an exception and told her.
