"Shit! I completely forgot about the inventory skill and exposed it in front of them," I shouted inwardly.

It wasn't like I wanted to hide it from them. I just didn't want the hassle of explaining how and where I acquired this skill.

Taking a couple of seconds to think of a proper reply, I responded, "It's the innate skill of my bloodline, but why are you guys so surprised by it?"

"Because dimensional manipulation skills are privileged to gods only," Ume replied, her voice still carrying a hint of surprise. "Only those who have reached the realm of True-God or are born with divinity can fathom the complexity of these skills."

She grabbed my cheeks between her hands, scanning my face. "How strange. You are clearly at a low-tier realm, and I can't sense any divine Soulforce within you."

Her eyes sharpened as she continued with a serious face, "Are you a lost son of some god?"

Removing her hand from my face, I replied with a sigh, "What are you saying, Ume? You already know about my past. And forget about that—tell me, are these Soul Stones enough to keep the array working?"

She turned toward the mountain of Soul Stones before her and replied with a chuckle, "These are enough to keep the array active for years, and I can also upgrade the array to function by itself using these Soul Stones. Take half and consume them to improve your cultivation. I will manage the array with the remaining stones."

"You may use them all," I replied, giving her a gentle smile.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?" she asked, playing with the strands of hair on her cheek.

"You seem like a caring wife managing the house budget after her husband returned with salary," I explained with a sly, last laugh to tease her.

This time, instead of giving me the usual cute, flustered reaction, she pinched my cheeks softly and replied, "Keep manifesting and it might come true."

Before I could react, a dozen petals appeared before my eyes, and the next moment, she had already vanished with half of the Soul Stones from the stack.

"Did she just agree to marry me?" I murmured, my face turning red.

"Why won't she?" Jambavan laughed, slapping my back. "Ya two have already exchanged the rings. It's just a matter of time."

As Jambavan was teasing me, noises of screams and metal crashing echoed from the smoking army camp in the open ground.

"Who the fuck stole all my Soul Stones?"

"My Soul Stones are also missing," awakeners from the left side of the front camp shouted.

"You were eyeing my space ring since morning. It must be you who stole my Soul Stones. Return them or I will kill you."

Tang… tang…

"Idiot, stop attacking me. Someone also took my Soul Stones from the ring."

The army, which was gathered with the sole greed of Soul Stones, turned into complete chaos the moment they were stripped of the very thing they were trying to earn from this war.

"Hehehe, forget about days—they won't even survive hours like this," I laughed, turning back.

The rest of the night passed rather quickly as I refilled my Soulforce from the Soul Stones that got consumed because of maintaining Vyaghra's blessing for hours. To give my body enough rest, I let Vivi handle the absorption task while I took a long nap of three hours.

---

Sunlight was already kissing my skin when I opened my eyes after completing the absorption.

I was sitting on the walkway of the rampart with my legs stretched forward and my back leaning on the wall—the position I took to consume the Soulforce comfortably.

Ume was sleeping soundly at my left, her head resting on my shoulder. Her soft, fluffy, folded-down ears brushed my skin, and my arm was embraced between both of hers.

"Good morning, sunshine," I whispered, touching her cheeks softly.

The cutie was sleeping so peacefully that she didn't react to my voice at all.

I moved my eyes to scan the area and realized we were the only two there.

Making sure not to wake her up, I moved my face towards her, gently kissed her head, and whispered, "The more I look at you, the more mesmerizing and enchanting you seem, Ume."

The moment I said those words, Ume's grip around my arm tightened, and she dug her face into my neck, burning with the fumes of intense red.

"Y-you were awake," I stammered, turning pink-cheeked.

"No, I wasn't," she whimpered in an adorable tone, clinging to me. "You may continue with your compliments."

I moved my free hand and asked, brushing her tender cheeks, "Silly, why didn't you sleep in the castle? It's cold and uncomfortable here."

"Dummy, there isn't a more peaceful place than this for me," she replied, tapping my shoulder with her chin.

"Aaaa, she is giving me butterflies again," I screamed inwardly, squeezing my eyes.

To not appear too immature by giving flustered expressions, I asked, changing the topic, "Have you upgraded the array?"

"Yes, I have. The array can easily last for six months without any recalibration."

"Alright then, I should also move to the camps to observe how things are going there."

As I was about to move, Ume pinched my forearm and hissed in a low tone, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Now that was the typical woman's question—the one guaranteed to send shivers down every man's back.

I ran my horses for more than ten seconds, but nothing came to mind at all.

"Aghh! She is definitely gonna throw a tantrum if I don't answer her soon. Fuck it. Instead of making a wild guess, it will be better if I directly ask her."

Taking a big gulp, I asked, trying to play it cool, "Oh really? What is it?"

Her ears dropped low, her face puffed with an irresistibly cute pout as she whined, "I spent the whole night working to complete the array and barely took half an hour of sleep. No one appreciates my efforts."

"Am I dreaming or what?" I gasped inwardly. "She is angry because I didn't praise her for her efforts. When did she become so needy? It's not like I mind it or anything. In fact, I totally love it. If only I could capture her heavenly pout in a photograph."

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