The night of the grand wedding arrived.
Mo Chuan, with a helpless expression, carried Luo Ni to the bed and tidied the covers for her. This "Number One Warrior of Loulan" (self-proclaimed) had, with a brave face, drunk a large jar of Loulan's potent liquor in front of everyone during the royal banquet. After that, she had passed out, snoring soundly on Mo Chuan's chest.
"She's such a handful... Though speaking of which, this silly girl looks no older than sixteen or seventeen at most... Am I a loli-con?"
Just as Mo Chuan was about to get up, Luo Ni suddenly grabbed him and slurred, "Hiccup~ Master... Where are we..."
"In the bridal chamber... You've had too much to drink, lie down and rest for a bit." Mo Chuan tried to lay Luo Ni down and tuck her in again.
"Wait!—Wait a moment!" Luo Ni's speech was becoming slurred. She tightly held Mo Chuan's neck and, breathing like orchids into his ear, whispered, "Why... why are you still marrying me? Clearly... clearly my father the Emperor sent you to the front lines to fight and die..."
"But I made a promise." Mo Chuan gently circled Luo Ni's waist with his hands and said, "I swore I would love you, take good care of you, and never leave your side. So, of course, I will keep my promise."
"Mmm..." Luo Ni gently pressed her face against Mo Chuan's cheek, feeling his warmth, and then said, "Turn off the lamp."
"Alright." Mo Chuan didn't think much of it and got up to extinguish the oil lamp.
"Come here."
"What's wrong? Are you uncomfortable—Mmm—"
...A moment of spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold, flowers possess their fragrance, and the moon its shade...
The next day.
Mo Chuan woke up early and began to survey the bridal chamber.
Besides the oath he was forced to make to take care of Luo Ni, there was another reason Mo Chuan decided to go through with the marriage for now – by following the plot, he could leave the illusion as long as he didn't die.
However, as Mo Chuan looked around, he couldn't find anything that seemed helpful.
"Deng deng deng..."
A knock sounded at the door. Mo Chuan opened it to find a maid curtseying lightly and saying, "Your Highness the consort, His Majesty requests your presence."
...
"Greetings, Father Emperor."
"Oh~ My dear son-in-law." Harvey VIII flashed a benevolent smile and asked, "How are you settling in? I heard your people from Dateng aren't very accustomed to our Loulan's hard beds..."
"No, I'm living very well." Mo Chuan nodded slightly. "What is it that Father Emperor wishes to discuss?"
"It's like this." Harvey VIII stood up from his seat and walked to Mo Chuan's side, saying, "As our Royal Warrior, you will go forth to fight the Xiongnu. I've decided to take you to the Loulan Imperial Ancestral Temple to undergo a trial. If you can activate the divine artifact within, you will be invincible from then on."
"Invincible?" Mo Chuan thought to himself. "Then how did Loulan fall?"
Despite his thoughts, Mo Chuan accompanied Harvey VIII into the Imperial Ancestral Temple, located on the thirteenth floor of the Loulan Palace.
Harvey VIII first had Mo Chuan bow with him before the murals of past emperors. Then, he inserted his scepter into a hole in the wall.
With a rumbling sound of immense stone shifting, a suit of pitch-black iron armor appeared before Mo Chuan.
Mo Chuan's expression changed – he was too familiar with the style of this armor. Wasn't this Mordekaiser's armor?
The heavy pauldrons, the bone-like chassis of the armor, the dark gauntlets, the dark red cape, and the helmet with its strangely intimidating "horns"... but strangely, Mo Chuan didn't see Mordekaiser's iconic mace, "Nightfall."
"Come, drip your blood onto it and see how it reacts," Harvey VIII said, handing Mo Chuan a silver dagger.
Mo Chuan took the dagger, cut his palm, and let his crimson blood drip onto the armor. However, after a while, nothing happened.
"Alas... Is there no warrior who can wear this armor... I've already done as the ancestral teachings require..."
But before Harvey VIII could finish sighing, two eerie green lights flashed from the gaps in the helmet of the armor. A bone-chilling cold that followed made Harvey VIII shiver.
"This... this is..."
The armor, which had been posed in its original owner's posture, seemed to instantly find a new wearer. It slowly stood up, its hands resting on the sides of the stone throne.
The nearly three-meter-tall armor first surveyed its surroundings, then slowly lowered its "head" to look at Mo Chuan, and then extended a hand.
Mo Chuan looked at this pitch-black iron arm and, as if by instinct, reached out his right hand.
*Hummm*—
The armor instantly disintegrated into several pieces, transforming into streams of eerie green light that flowed into Mo Chuan's body.
Mo Chuan was overwhelmed by a massive influx of information, his vision went black, and he fainted.
...
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—"
Mo Chuan felt a dull ache in his back and waist. He opened his eyes and found himself in what seemed to be a carriage.
Although there was a soft carpet beneath him and a thick fox fur coat covering him, these could not entirely counteract the jolting of the journey.
"Master, you're awake?"
A voice, tinged with worry and surprise, reached him. Mo Chuan looked and saw Luo Ni holding his hand, looking at him with tear-filled eyes.
However, her sapphire-blue eyes were already swollen, bloodshot, and had heavy dark circles.
She gently stroked Mo Chuan's face, then pulled back the carriage's curtains and commanded, "The consort is awake. Stop the carriage and let's rest."
"But... Princess, we must press on..."
"Are you disobeying my command?"
"Your slave dares not!"
Afterward, Mo Chuan learned the current situation in a semi-conscious state:
Firstly, the Xiongnu had breached Loulan Palace's only two barriers, "Tugula Mountain." Therefore, Harvey VIII could not wait for Mo Chuan to wake up and, under the cover of night, dispatched Mo Chuan and Luo Ni with three thousand Imperial Guards to Anjiyan, the last pass between the Loulan Palace and the Xiongnu army.
This place was situated on a plain between two mountains and served as the final defense line protecting the Loulan Palace behind it.
Secondly, the system had notified him of the full benefits of the Iron Revenant through information:
"Obtained Hero Card: [Iron Revenant]. Host's new hero slot: 1. Do you wish to fuse?"
"Congratulations to the Host for fusing the new hero: Iron Revenant—Mordekaiser. Since the system detects that the Host has already learned two of this hero's skills, upon the Host leveling up and learning duplicate skills, the system will provide the Host with a purple gift package.
The skills have now undergone system modification and the passive skill [Undying] has been acquired: After hitting targets 3 times with normal skills or attacks, you will be enveloped in a shroud of negative energy. This shroud deals magic damage to nearby targets per second and grants you movement speed, while also blocking all smaller flying units. (This effect lasts for 4 minutes and refreshes upon hitting an enemy unit with a skill or attack.)
Additionally, normal attacks deal bonus magic damage."
Mo Chuan: "Wooohoo~ Let's go~!"