"You..."
Mary pointed at Qin Shilei, her face flushed with shame and anger, and roared, "You big liar, I'm going to kill you!"
As she spoke, she unleashed several dimensional slashes towards Qin Shilei.
Teleport!
Feeling a bit guilty, Qin Shilei directly teleported out of the secret chamber.
He had just appeared in the air outside when he realized Mary had chased after him.
Several more dimensional slashes rained down.
Qin Shilei had no choice but to continue flying out of the city.
As he flew, he shouted back, "Can you calm down and let's talk this out?"
"What's there to talk about? You lying scumbag." Mary pursued relentlessly.
"Your Majesty, we're here to help you!"
Countless figures either flew up from nowhere or rode griffins, chasing after them from the city.
"All of you, stand down and don't follow," Mary commanded icily.
The two, one chasing and one fleeing, soon flew above a dense forest.
"Liar, keep running, why did you stop?" Mary said through gritted teeth.
"Alas!" Qin Shilei sighed lightly. "I was momentarily blinded by lust and deceived you. That was wrong of me. How do you want me to compensate you?"
Mary suddenly stared intently into Qin Shilei's eyes and asked word by word, "How many women have you deceived using this transformation technique?"
"Uh." Qin Shilei paused for a moment before replying, "Besides you, I haven't used this transformation technique to deceive any other woman."
"Then what are your feelings for me?" Mary asked expressionlessly.
Qin Shilei desperately wanted to tell the truth, that it was just a one-night stand, but he wisely said, "I admire your abilities and am amazed by your beauty. I can't say I love you yet, but there is a sort of indescribable liking."
"Then are you willing to stay and help me recreate the glory of the Sun Never Sets Empire?" Mary's icy expression finally softened slightly.
Qin Shilei shook his head. "To improve my strength, I must continue to travel on Blue Star."
"Then go, and never appear before me again." Mary turned around, no longer looking at Qin Shilei.
'Should I try to control her with my Purple Eye of Illusion?'
This thought flashed through Qin Shilei's mind.
But looking at Mary's slightly trembling shoulders, a wave of guilt suddenly washed over him.
'Didn't we just meet yesterday? Aren't Westerners supposed to be open-minded? And I was disguised then. This is a bit strange of you.'
Various thoughts flooded his mind. Qin Shilei sighed inwardly and stepped forward, reaching out to embrace her from behind.
"Wuu wuu wuu!"
Mary turned around, hugged Qin Shilei tightly, and began to sob softly.
"You liar, why did you deceive me?"
"My parents are dead, and all my friends are dead. I just wanted to find someone to rely on. Why did that person have to be fake?"
"I've lived for twenty-three years and finally fell in love, and you just wanted to take advantage and leave. You're so heartless!"
"If I could kill you, I would have."
'First time falling in love?' Qin Shilei was a little confused.
As if hearing Qin Shilei's thoughts, Mary suddenly looked up and asked, "Do you Easterners care a lot if a woman is a virgin?"
"In middle school, I lost it due to overly vigorous exercise. Do you believe me?"
Looking at her tear-streaked face, Qin Shilei quickly replied, "I believe you, I believe you."
'This is crazy. Even in Great Xia, twenty-three-year-old women aren't this pure.'
Mary suddenly pushed Qin Shilei away again. "You should go. Let's just consider this a beautiful encounter!"
'A woman's heart is like a needle in the sea! Mary, you are the empress of the Sun Never Sets Empire. Can't you be a little less emotional?'
Qin Shilei opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but finding himself at a loss for words.
'It's probably not appropriate to ask her for methods to contract large numbers of flying beasts right now, is it?'
The two looked at each other for several minutes.
Qin Shilei clearly understood that there could be no love between them at this moment.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, Mary suddenly stepped forward and hugged him again.
Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and offered him her lips.
"Love me one more time!"
@#$%
"Woman, you're making this very difficult for me." Qin Shilei sighed inwardly, but without hesitation, he picked her up and flew into a small villa.
Three hours later.
Mary was fully dressed and sat opposite Qin Shilei.
"Prince Qin An, are you willing to form an alliance with our Sun Never Sets Empire and watch over each other?"
Her formal and serious expression made Qin Shilei involuntarily recall her seductive demeanor in bed just moments ago.
'Women are truly fickle creatures.'
"Yes, I am. Mary, do you have any specific terms for this alliance?" Qin Shilei readily agreed.
Mary didn't reply but took a book from her ring. It was about an inch thick and emanated a dark golden light.
Contracting Tome (Orange): Can forcefully contract one beast of Diamond rank or below for the host. Can also increase the success rate of others contracting beasts.
Qin Shilei looked at her with some envy. Mary was only at Gold Seven Star cultivation but possessed two orange-tier items. It seemed her luck was on par with An Qian's.
"You help me and my subordinates improve our cultivation, and I'll help you contract powerful beasts." After showing Qin Shilei the attributes of the Contracting Tome, she didn't immediately put it back into her spatial ring but placed it on the table between them.
"Aren't you afraid I'll snatch the Contracting Tome and run away?" Qin Shilei couldn't help but ask.
Mary just stared at Qin Shilei, not saying a word.
Under her gaze, Qin Shilei chuckled dryly, "I was just asking. If I were to snatch anything, I'd snatch you, the Empress, not some broken book."
"Hmph!" Mary pouted coquettishly. "If you really managed to snatch it, I could only consider myself unlucky to have met such a big liar like you."
Qin Shilei didn't quite believe her. The fact that she dared to take it out so unguardedly suggested she had unknown trump cards that would prevent him from easily obtaining the Contracting Tome. Seeing that Qin Shilei didn't make a move to snatch it, Mary secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
She spoke again, "What do you say?"
Qin Shilei countered, "Was your army of 300,000 griffins established solely through the Contracting Tome?"
Mary truthfully replied, "This Contracting Tome can generate three illusory Contracting Tomes. My subordinates used those illusory Contracting Tomes to increase their success rate in contracting beasts, combined with my Platinum Griffins assisting, we were able to establish the griffin army in less than a month."
Qin Shilei pondered for a moment and said, "I don't need you to help me contract beasts. I just need you to help me establish a flying army."
"Deal!" Mary raised her right hand.
Qin Shilei also raised his right hand, and they clasped hands in an oath.