Emperor Magnus Ironhorn Seeks to Become a Devil God

At the next morning court session, Ian Song publicly announced: Tessa is now conferred the title of Star Consort.

Who is Tessa?

All the officials were quite puzzled, but none dared to question Ian Song.

......

A year later, Star Consort gave birth to a son for Ian Song, named Stellan Huang.

Imperial Garden.

Harriet Gu, Lynn Ning, Snow Yue, and Tessa sat together in the pavilion, drinking tea and chatting over snacks. Five children were chasing butterflies in the Imperial Garden, laughing and playing without a care in the world.

Suddenly, the youngest child accidentally fell to the ground, making Tessa tense up. At that moment, the eldest child—who had been running ahead—turned back to help the youngest up, asking with concern, "Third Brother, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Big Brother."

"Come on, let Big Brother hold your hand. You won't fall again."

"Thanks, Big Brother."

Seeing this, Tessa sat back down and smiled at Harriet Gu. "The eldest prince really is thoughtful. He's so young but already knows how to take care of others."

"You're too kind, Sister Tessa. Victor is actually quite mischievous most of the time," Harriet Gu said modestly, though she was clearly pleased.

Although Harriet Gu was the empress, she never put on airs in front of the other three women, so everyone got along very well. Of course, this also had to do with their personalities: Lynn Ning was gentle and soft-spoken, and her favorite thing was personally attending to Ian Song—even after having children.

Snow Yue was bold and straightforward, never one for subtlety.

As for Tessa, she was once a Martial Goddess, but now she lived with a detached, peaceful temperament, unconcerned with worldly matters.

That’s why the four women got along so harmoniously. Naturally, Ian Song was delighted by this—after all, in his previous life, he’d watched enough palace dramas to worry about inner-court scheming and betrayal among consorts.

But now, it seemed those worries were completely unnecessary.

"His Majesty arrives!"

As soon as the words fell, Ian Song strode into the Imperial Garden in his black dragon robe, flanked by two palace maids.

Instantly, the four women’s eyes lit up, and the five children chasing butterflies all shouted 'Father!' and ran toward him.

"You little rascals, slow down! Don’t trip and fall."

Ian Song quickly walked over, looking genuinely worried.

"Father!"

Winter Huang and Lia Huang were the first to leap into Ian Song’s arms, where he hugged them both tightly.

"Snow, Ling, were you two naughty today?" Ian Song asked dotingly.

"No way, Father! I was really good today!" Winter Huang replied in her childish voice, her face full of anticipation, as if she were hoping for praise.

"You’re such a good girl, Snow," Ian Song said with a smile.

"Father, I behaved too!" Seeing Snow get praised, Lia Huang quickly chimed in.

"Yes, Ling, you were good too. Here, this is your reward." Ian Song took out two fluffy toy rabbits from his storage ring and handed them to his daughters.

"Wow, such pretty little bunnies! I love them! Thank you, Father!" Snow gave Ian Song a kiss on the cheek, making him burst out laughing.

Not to be outdone, Ling planted a kiss on his other cheek.

Seeing Snow and Ling both get toys, Victor Huang, Nathan Huang, and Stellan Huang—who were standing behind—looked a bit unhappy. Stellan, the youngest, even pouted as if to say, 'If you don’t give me a toy, I’ll cry.'

"Victor, Nathan, Stellan, come here. Father’s got gifts for you too." Ian Song beckoned to the three boys.

Instantly, the three boys broke into smiles and ran over to surround Ian Song.

"Victor, this is yours." Ian Song handed Victor Huang a finely crafted wooden sword.

Next, Ian Song took out a small wooden knife and gave it to Nathan Huang. "Nathan, this is for you."

Finally, Ian Song produced a slingshot and handed it to Stellan Huang. "Stellan, this is yours."

The three boys were overjoyed to receive their gifts and all shouted together, "Thank you, Father!"

"Alright, go play!"

Ian Song patted each of his five children on the head.

After sending the kids off, Ian noticed Harriet Gu and the other three women had already come to his side.

"What brings Your Majesty here today?" Harriet Gu asked with a smile.

"I just missed you all—and the children—so I came to visit and relax a bit." Ian Song replied with a smile.

Nowadays, the empire was tangled in countless affairs, and many matters required Ian Song’s personal decision. Plus, he still had to cultivate, so he rarely had time for his four consorts.

Luckily, all four women understood him.

Especially lately, news had arrived from the Strongarm Bull Devils: dozens of their villages had been massacred, with death tolls reaching the hundreds of thousands.

Even worse, the Strongarm Bull Devils claimed it was the Humans who did it.

But Ian Song knew that wasn’t true. He’d asked Meng Li, and Meng hadn’t sent anyone into Bull Devil territory.

However, Ian remembered something: years ago, on the Blood River battlefield, he helped Lei Jiuming defend against attacks, and Emperor Magnus Ironhorn sent out a group to collect souls using crystal skulls. This soul harvesting was at the emperor’s command, as he sought to use the souls to become a Devil God.

So, Ian suspected the massacres were orchestrated by Emperor Magnus Ironhorn himself.

Among the Ten Great Devil Clans, not every clan has a Devil God. The Blade Devils, Three-Eyed Devils, Winged Devils, and Devil Apes do, so the other six are eager to cultivate one of their own.

Only with a Devil God can they gain greater power and benefits.

Among the Demon Clans, there are also three Demon Gods.

The Humans have less territory than the Demon and Devil races, but their population is larger. Plus, with three Martial Gods, the Demon and Devil races have not been able to wipe out humanity. If the Devils gain another Devil God, they’ll become even more confident and may try to destroy the Humans completely. That’s why the Strongarm Bull Devils must not succeed.

Upon receiving this news, Ian sent his Martial-Soul Huang Yan, along with three Martial Gods, to infiltrate Devil territory and investigate. If things were as he suspected, he’d have to personally travel to the Strongarm Bull Devils’ domain to stop Emperor Magnus Ironhorn’s ascension.

After sharing a meal with his four consorts and five children, Ian Song departed.

News soon arrived from the Heavenworks Institute: their craftsmen had successfully developed a prototype automobile.

With the emperor’s support and nearly all of humanity’s top artisans gathered at the Heavenworks Institute, progress was made every day.

Two hours later, Ian Song left the Heavenworks Institute and returned to the Imperial Study, where he found Huang Yan waiting.

"How did the investigation go?" Ian Song asked.

By now, Huang Yan’s cultivation had reached the peak of the Martial Saint realm, but becoming a Martial God was still extremely difficult.

"In the Strongarm Bull Devils’ royal city, I found an altar nearing completion. You guessed right—Emperor Magnus Ironhorn plans to use a soul-sacrifice ritual to ascend as a Devil God!" Huang Yan said worriedly.