Immortal Paladin

[POV: Alice]

Yellow Dragon City stood untouched by the chaos that had swallowed countless worlds. Within the elegant Plum Blossom Pavilion, the fragrance of herbs and blooming flowers drifted through open windows, carried by a gentle spring breeze. The room itself was quiet, decorated with carved wooden screens and paintings of mountain ranges hidden beneath mist.

At the center sat Alice, her delicate features illuminated by soft afternoon light. Her long pink hair flowed down her back like strands of silk, its gentle color contrasting with the dark robes she wore. The robes were embroidered with pale blossoms that seemed to bloom across the fabric itself, elegant yet subdued, befitting someone who had long abandoned the vanity of appearances.

She lifted a porcelain cup to her lips and took a small sip of medicinal tea. The bitterness barely registered anymore. Her consciousness sank inward, guiding both mana and qi through her body as she once again examined her womb. It had become a ritual she performed countless times every day, searching for even the faintest spark of life that might have escaped her notice.

There was nothing.

The emptiness greeted her again.

Across from her, Xin Yune gently reached out and wrapped two fingers around Alice’s wrist. Her expression remained calm and focused as spiritual energy flowed through the pulse, tracing every pathway within Alice’s body. The Divine Physician remained silent for several moments before slowly opening her eyes.

”It seems you’ve recovered a little of your life force,” Xin Yune said quietly. ”Your spiritual foundation is stabilizing. As for my healing arts... I have always trusted them, but there may still be things beyond my understanding that I have overlooked.”

Alice lowered her cup onto the table and looked at the Divine Physician with tired eyes.

”Then be frank,” she said. ”Tell me the truth.”

Xin Yune’s fingers tightened ever so slightly around her wrist. ”I cannot find anything wrong with your body. Your meridians are healthy, your vitality is abundant, and your soul is stable.” She hesitated, uncertainty appearing on her face. ”Alice... how many miscarriages have you suffered?”

The room grew silent.

Xin Yune had borne the title of Divine Physician for longer than most kingdoms had existed. She was one of the very few people David trusted without reservation, someone whose skills bordered on the miraculous. If anyone deserved to know the truth, it was her.

Alice stared into the surface of her tea, watching the ripples settle.

”It would have been the second time,” she answered softly.

Xin Yune blinked. ”How long ago?”

”The most recent was yesterday.” Alice’s voice remained steady, almost detached. ”The first... was before the battle against the Great Beast.”

A look of horror spread across Xin Yune’s face.

”...I am sorry.”

Alice closed her eyes.

She could still remember the day she discovered her first pregnancy. The excitement in her voice. The happiness she had shared with Gu Jie and Lin Lim. For a brief moment, after endless wars and impossible battles, she thought fate had finally given her something to protect that belonged only to her.

When she lost the child, she convinced herself it had simply been bad luck.

She blamed the endless fighting, the strain on her body, and the collapse of the world itself.

But when it happened again...?

And again...?

The excuses began to lose their meaning.

Perhaps the problem had always been her.

She had never found the courage to tell David about the first miscarriage. The Great Beast had already descended, and the fate of countless lives rested upon his shoulders. She had watched him carry burdens that would have broken anyone else, and she could not bring herself to add another.

The second time was no different.

There was still too much resting upon him.

Too many people relying on him.

She feared that perhaps David already knew, but Gu Jie had assured her otherwise.

”Mother,” a gentle voice echoed inside the room.

Alice looked up.

Gu Jie stood quietly by the doorway, her expression carrying a sadness far older than her appearance suggested.

”Maybe... maybe we should stop,” Gu Jie said softly. ”I gathered what little remained of my authority and bent destiny itself. I gave you the fate to become pregnant once more.”

Her eyes lowered.

”And even then... it still ended the same way.”

Silence lingered between them before Gu Jie forced herself to continue.

”To save everyone from more heartache, perhaps you should stop trying.”

Alice stared at the tea in her hands.

The liquid had long since grown cold.

”...I regret it,” whispered Gu Jie with pain in her voice. ”I am sorry for my existence. My rebirth was never natural. I know that. Somewhere along the way, I stole something precious. I robbed you of becoming a mother.”

A bitter smile appeared on her face.

”I kept trying to fill that emptiness. I wanted to prove that we could still have that relationship and future.” Her voice grew quieter. ”But just like Father... there is too much resting on my shoulders. I cannot remain a child forever.”

The room fell completely still.

Gu Jie would always be Alice’s daughter, and Alice cherished that connection.

However, it wasn’t that easy.

”Out,” Alice said.

Gu Jie lowered her head.

”...Yes, Mother.”

She turned and quietly left the pavilion, the wooden door sliding shut behind her.

Xin Yune watched the doorway for a long moment before looking back at Alice.

”Do not be so harsh on her,” she said gently, reached across the table and placed her hand over Alice’s. ”Her conception may have been a miracle... or perhaps a freak of nature. But none of that changes what she is. She is still your daughter. By blood. And by fate.”

Alice quietly studied Xin Yune from across the table.

The Divine Physician had always carried herself with an air of serenity. Silver robes embroidered with blooming white lotuses draped over her slender figure, and the years had only refined a beauty that countless cultivators had once admired from afar. There was a gentle maturity to her appearance, one that made others instinctively trust her.

Alice knew something else as well.

David had once shared a fleeting romance with her.

The thought lingered in Alice’s mind for a long moment before she finally spoke.

“Xin Yune,” Alice began calmly, “would you mind if David sowed his seeds on your womb?”

Xin Yune had been in the midst of sipping her tea. At the words, she choked violently, nearly spilling the cup as she coughed and sputtered. Her eyes widened in pure shock. “W-what did you mean by that, Lady Alice?”

Alice’s expression remained calm, though a trace of melancholy hid beneath it.

”I mean exactly what I said.”

She lowered her gaze to the tea between her hands.

”I want to experience motherhood. I want to raise someone from the moment they open their eyes. I want to spoil them, teach them, watch them stumble, watch them grow, and be there for every step they take.”

A faint smile crossed her lips before it disappeared.

”Gu Jie came into my life already carrying burdens far too great for a child. Before I realized it, she had already grown up. David... he belongs to the world more often than he belongs to this family. As the Holy Emperor, there is always another crisis waiting for him.”

Alice’s fingers tightened slightly around the porcelain cup.

”I thought I could accept that, but... somewhere along the way, I realized there was still a part of me that felt incomplete.”

She understood how unreasonable her request sounded.

There were only a handful of women she trusted with something so precious. Xin Yune was one of them. She was a widow, someone who had once shared feelings with David—

Xin Yune raised a hand before Alice could continue.

”I think Da Wei’s feelings are far more important than ours in this matter.”

She let out a quiet sigh.

”And to be honest, I would rather avoid the pain of giving birth altogether.”

A small smile appeared on her face.

”Especially if the child carried the Holy Emperor’s blood. Do you have any idea what kind of political chaos that would create? Every kingdom and sect in existence would lose their minds.”

Alice blinked before lowering her head.

”...I apologize.”

She released a soft breath.

”I may have been too hasty.”

Suddenly, the doors to the pavilion burst open.

”Emergency! Emergency!”

Gu Jie came rushing inside, her expression completely panicked.

Floating behind her was the corpse puppet fashioned from Wen Yuhan’s body. Its golden eyes burned brightly, while Gu Jie’s own pupils had transformed into revolving compass patterns that spun with frightening speed.

Alice stood immediately.

”Calm down, dear. Explain slowly.”

Gu Jie frantically waved her arms.

”Father’s been scammed!”

Before either woman could ask another question, Gu Jie formed a series of hand seals. Golden threads of destiny spread throughout the room, weaving together into a shimmering screen. The Divine Phantasm of Dreams manifested, revealing a projection from an impossibly distant place.

David appeared on the other side and he looked very nervous.

He glanced around before noticing them.

”Oh! Nice work, Daughter!”

He immediately dropped to his knees, clasping his hands together before Alice.

”I didn’t mean to do it! Please, save me!”

Alice pinched the bridge of her nose.

”...Explain, so that we can understand.”

David nodded furiously.

”It was Supreme Heart! He kidnapped me! Then he started talking about destiny and cosmic balance and some nonsense about restoring the heavens. Next thing I knew, he somehow turned the whole thing into a wedding ceremony and is trying to marry me off to Aixin!”

Silence filled the pavilion.

Alice slowly lowered her hand.

”...Aixin?”

Her eye twitched.

”The same woman who stole Joan’s body?”

David gave an awkward nod.

”...Yes.”

Something inside Alice quietly snapped.

”Oh.”

She smiled.

It was not a pleasant smile.

”I see.”

Xin Yune instinctively took half a step backward.

Gu Jie quietly hid behind her corpse puppet.

Alice looked directly at the projection.

”David.”

”Y-Yes?”

”Tell me everything.”

David recounted every detail he could remember, from the moment Supreme Heart abducted him to the preparations for the ceremony itself. Gu Jie occasionally interrupted, adding what her control over destiny allowed her to perceive.

Alice listened without missing a single word. She asked questions. She refined possibilities. She discarded flaws.

As a Warlock, she understood better than almost anyone that rituals and ceremonies were not merely symbolic. They obeyed ancient laws, and if those laws were disrupted at the critical moment, the entire working could collapse.

Slowly, a plan took shape.

Gu Jie adjusted the threads of destiny.

David suggested several desperate ideas.

Alice refined them all.

Finally, she looked up.

Her expression was perfectly calm.

”David.”

”Yes?”

”When Supreme Heart reaches the final vows, delay your answer.”

David nodded.

Alice continued.

”The rest... leave to me.”

…

..

.

[POV: Da Wei]

The cathedral stretched endlessly toward the heavens.

Countless stars circled above the impossible structure while Supreme Heart stood at its center, radiating an authority that seemed capable of commanding creation itself. He looked between Aixin and me. His voice echoed across the entire realm.

”Before heaven and earth, before fate and eternity, do you accept this union, to walk together through countless cycles and share one destiny until all things return to nothingness?”

The colossal celestial titan lowered her head.

”I do.”

Supreme Heart turned toward me.

His golden eyes narrowed slightly.

”And you, Da Wei. Do you accept Aixin as your partner, to stand beside her through the endless ages and bind your fate to hers for all eternity?”

I looked at him, and then at Aixin, and then back at Supreme Heart.

”...You know, this really feels like a scam.”

Supreme Heart frowned.

”Answer the question.”

I smiled, and then I reached upward. The sky shattered. The Hollowed World descended above the cathedral. An ocean of turbulent qi crashed downward, reducing entire sections of the divine structure to rubble. Countless Ezekiels spread across the heavens like an army of white stars.

A streak of crimson and black shot through the collapsing ceiling.

Alice landed behind us in full armor, her cloak billowing violently.

”I OBJECT!”

I nearly collapsed from relief.

Alice was dragging a thoroughly bewildered blonde priestess behind her.

She pointed directly at me.

”That man is already married to this woman!”

Joan stumbled forward, blinking at the impossible gathering.

Alice produced an old spiritual record. Across its surface, in glowing letters, was written a single name. ’David_69.’ Thank god, she found it quickly in the imperial vaults. Now, the question was... If it would work?

The entire cathedral fell silent.

Supreme Heart stared at the glowing spiritual record in Alice’s hand. His eyes slowly drifted from the ancient marriage contract to Joan, then to me, and finally back to Alice. For one beautiful, glorious moment, I thought the bastard had finally realized how ridiculous this entire situation was.

Slowly, his face twisted.

”Oh, you absolute, shameless, double-timing bastard!” Supreme Heart roared, pointing directly at me. ”You faithless little scoundrel! You have the audacity to already have a wife hidden away while standing at my ceremony? Have you no shame? No dignity? No conscience whatsoever?”

I blinked.

”...In my defense, I forgot.”

”You forgot?!”

”I’ve been through several apocalypses, multiple reincarnations, two universes trying to kill me, and at least three reality-ending catastrophes this month alone. Which, one of them was started by you! I think forgetting an online marriage certificate is understandable.”

Supreme Heart looked ready to have an aneurysm.

He pointed toward Aixin.

”It doesn’t matter! This is a polygamous world! One wife, two wives, ten wives! What difference does it make? The ceremony shall proceed!”

I narrowed my eyes.

”...Hold on.”

Supreme Heart folded his arms.

”What?”

”If the Binding Vow you’re trying to lord over me actually works the way you think it does...”

A strange silence settled over the cathedral. My Ophanim turned. Countless rings of impossible geometry rotated within my vision. Lines of causality stretched before me. Possibilities unfolded. All at once, the answer became clear.

I started smiling.

Supreme Heart’s expression slowly changed.

”...Why are you smiling?”

I looked directly into his eyes.

”Because the Binding Vow doesn’t work that way.”

His face froze.

I could practically see him running through the laws governing rituals and celestial contracts. The marriage record between Joan and David_69 existed and it apparently have enough weight to contest with the bullshit Binding Vow.

The vow demanded exclusivity under its own ancient framework.

The two systems clashed.

Neither could fully overwrite the other.

Which meant, the entire ceremony was invalid.

”...Well,” I said, ”would you look at that?”

The corners of Supreme Heart’s mouth twitched.

Then I took one step forward.

”If you still refuse to let me leave...”

I pointed upward.

”...I’ll remove the Dark Veil covering the Hollowed World.”

The countless guests collectively sucked in a breath.

”I’ll drop the False Earth, and then I’ll open the way to the Supreme Void. You want to gamble? Fine.” I’ll burn everything. I’ll tear down every wall separating those monsters from reality. I’ll reduce this entire game board to ashes.”

I smiled.

”Scorched earth, motherfucker.”

Nobody moved or dared to breathe.

Alice stood behind me with her arms folded.

Aixin remained perfectly still.

Joan looked utterly confused.

The celestial guests, immortals, gods, and ancient beings alike all clammed up. Two Rulers of Laws stared at one another. It wasn’t a battle of cultivation. It wasn’t a clash of divine arts. It was a fight of nerves.

The first one to blink would lose.

Truthfully, I wasn’t confident.

Supreme Heart was ancient, powerful, and apparently insane. And I really didn’t want to find out if I could beat him in a straight fight. But I didn’t have a choice anymore. If I backed down now, I’d probably wake up with another wife.

So I held my ground.

Seconds passed, and then minutes.

Neither of us moved.

Finally...

Supreme Heart let out a long, exhausted sigh.

”You win this one.”

The crushing pressure filling the cathedral vanished.

He glared at me with enough hatred to kill lesser beings.

”I’ll let you go.”

I didn’t lower my guard.

Supreme Heart pointed a finger at me.

”But this won’t be the last time, Da Wei.”

His eyes burned with absolute conviction.

”One day, whether by fate, destiny, or my own two hands, I will finish this wedding.”

I immediately stepped backward until I was standing beside Alice.

I looked at him.

”...You’re actually crazy.”

Alice quietly grabbed my sleeve.

”Let’s go.”

I didn’t need to be told twice.