"Beatrice is pregnant."

Louis gasped.

He had been wondering earlier if, since they hadn't taken any precautions, they might accidentally hit the mark.

He never expected it to happen so quickly.

However, the joy in his heart couldn't help but rise to the surface. Ignoring his father-in-law, he turned around wanting to go see Beatrice again.

"Stop, where are you going?"

"To see your daughter." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"What's the rush? Will it really matter in a few minutes? Everything's been arranged already."

"No, I'm in a real hurry right now."

"Even if you're in a hurry, stay here. You don't want to see Beatrice upset when she wakes up, do you?!"

Louis: ???

Father-in-law, what kind of attitude is that?

But he sighed, deciding to stay.

At least he knew Beatrice couldn't leave the empire, Old Deng was right.

Yet he couldn't help feeling annoyed.

After all, to him, Beatrice was far more important than the empire.

"Didn't they say to leave the affairs of the Lokeshi Empire to me? I'll handle it later."

Louis, acting as if he was about to run off to deal with official business again.

"Stop, don't be in such a hurry to leave. Listen to me first."

"Fine, alright."

Louis sighed softly.

The emperor, helplessly, said, "If you had any ambition, you would have grasped the power of a prince long ago."

Louis puffed his chest and said, "What do I need so much power for? With Beatrice around, why should I hold so much power? Just to let others criticize me?"

"That's also true." The emperor's wrinkled cheeks smiled, "If it weren't for that, the royal family would have acted against you long ago."

Louis feigned a look of horror, "When were you planning to act?"

"At any moment before you officially married."

"Damn."

He finally couldn't hold back a curse.

Good old Deng, always secretly watching me!

The emperor chuckled, saying, "In the end, you're the one my daughter chose. I couldn't just ignore it completely, could I?"

"Now, what do you think of me?"

"Your strength... is just barely acceptable."

"Just barely? You couldn't even pull me just now."

"That's because I didn't want to use my strength."

The emperor's face was calm, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

But Louis suspiciously looked at him, feeling like Old Deng was just pretending to be unfazed.

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. There wasn't much time when I was clear-headed before, so I didn't get to explain some situations with the Lokeshi Empire."

The emperor closed his eyes, choosing to change the subject.

He told a story that happened many years ago while half asleep.

It was the founding myth of the Lokeshi Empire.

At that time, the world was still in the chaotic years following the collapse of the Elf Realm.

The elves rose quickly and declined even quicker.

They didn't give any of the major races a chance to react, sweeping across most of the Star Continent with lightning speed, becoming the de facto rulers of the era.

But as fate would have it, the cycle was unrelenting in its revenge.

The reason the major races didn't have time to resist was merely because the rise of the elves was too swift, as if everything was aligned for them, like protagonists gripping the script in a story.

Though it wasn't a "Mahayana Stage framed by Foundation Establishment Stage," it could be considered as "Mahayana Stage counter-killed by Nascent Soul Stage."

Later, as their size rapidly expanded, they obtained the divine remains of the God of Growth and Forest left behind in the Golden Land. The first Elf King split and consumed the god's remains, devouring the divine essence, divine power, divinity, divine status, and even the divine office, granting a foundation for godhood.

As everyone knows, fan communities keep purifying and crystallizing their fandom through external pressures, forming highly resilient and exclusive groups.

This phenomenon wasn't much different when it escalated to the Elf Realm.

In the face of global hostility, the elves were more united than ever, whether Sun Elves, Moon Elves, Forest Elves, or other smaller branches, all decided to contribute to creating a world where elves could survive.

They ultimately achieved a satisfactory outcome by uniting with other races, leading the contemporary Elf King to ascend to godhood.

Due to the choice of the Elf Main God, he didn't immediately leave the world like other deities. Instead, he lingered for a while on the Star Continent, using the World Tree as his foundation.

He was a true monster, beyond human capability.

While recounting this story, Louis once curiously asked the emperor how the Elf Main God compared to His Majesty back then.

The emperor's evaluation was "never fought, so don't know," but also said, "The current Grand Archon of the Elf Council met the former Elf Main God and chose not to act when he saw me, so I suppose our strength difference isn't that great."

Upon hearing this, Louis understood the prestige of the former Elf Main God.

The elves' version of the emperor, terrifying indeed.

Yet, how does this myth, mainly concerning elves, connect with the Lokeshi Empire?

Listening to the emperor continue, Louis suddenly understood.

The Elf Main God was very strong, extraordinarily so.

But the path of the strong has no absolute shortcuts, and taking shortcuts inevitably involves corresponding costs.

Even the legendary Seven Deadly Sins, if they grow smoothly, can become top demigods, but they still have to pay a heavy price.

In fact, most of the sins don't deserve sympathy.

Someone like Louis, a sin with a normal mental state, is among the few.

The emperor gave this high appraisal: "Beatrice said, you always think it's because of the power of the sins that you've become so strong.