Armipotent

"You are alive and have been living for thousands of years? In that isolated world?" It was another surprise from Avyn. Tang Shaoyang recalled something like she was alive before, but "alive" in his mind was more like a wandering spirit than a caged spirit like the others. He was not expecting the woman in front of him to be alive. A living being, not a spirit.

"Yeah, haven't I told you yet?" Avyn's eyes moved upward and furrowed her brow as she tried to recall their first meeting, "Kinda forgot, but yes, I am alive. This is not just a materialized body. If I die, I am dead, dead. Maybe you can summon me as a real spirit if that happens." The woman talked casually about her death as if it did not matter to her.

Of course, it was not that she did not care about her life, more like even though she was alive, there was no difference between dying and alive in her perspective. Living in the frozen world for years alone was not much different than dying. If she did not inherit the Kankara'Xeo bloodline and inherited her ancestor power, she would be dead already. Death was a relief for her, but she inherited not only her ancestor's power but also their memories and feelings. The vengeance, the desire to kill the gods who destroyed the peace in their world, did not fade despite how long it had passed.

Tang Shaoyang furrowed his brow as he gazed at the woman next to him. He thought the woman might be already dead, but she could not just accept her death which resulted in this situation. However, Avyn looked normal and sane, not someone delusional. Additionally, the memories she showed him and what she said might be the truth; she was not dead.

'I think she is not lying,' Zara, the Angel of Death, said in his mind, 'She does not stay in the Spirit Space like us, and we are surprised to hear her voice; that's why we did not join in your conversation.'

"I see," Tang Shaoyang nodded. He raised his eyebrow and met with the woman's blue-gray eyes, "Does that mean Spirit Blessing will not work on you since you are a living being?"

Spirit Blessing was a skill to make his spirit stronger, one of two methods to rank them up. If Avyn was a living being, he might not be able to use the Spirit Blessing on her. He got fifteen Spirit Blessings after he reached Ancient Rank. He planned to rank Zaneos up to Grade SSS Spirit before trying to resurrect the demon swordsman, but he intended to save the Spirit Blessing for Avyn. Again, he was still wary about the Gods who might interfere in the future.

"Spirit Blessing? Wait a moment, I don't know what you are talking about," Avyn paused for a moment and tried to find what Spirit Blessing was in her ancestor's memory, "Ah, that blessing. I think it still works, no? The System categorizes me as an Archaic Spirit, meaning I am still one of your spirits, alive or dead. The blessing should still work on me still."

"Let's find out," Tang Shaoyang activated [Spirit Blessing], and a list of his spirit's names appeared in front of him. He did not look to scroll down because Avyn's name was on the top, above Rumru and Zara. But then, he saw the number next to her name and immediately shook his head, "The good news is, yes, I can use the Spirit Blessing on you. The bad news is, I don't have enough Spirit Blessing to rank you up."

Tang Shaoyang needed fifty Spirit Blessings to rank her up. He doubted he would get that many blessings even after he advanced to Myth Rank. Then he looked at the two names below Avyn. Rumru and Zara. Both respectively needed ten Spirit Blessings for the next grade, but Rumru was not available to be upgraded. He still needed to go to Arkania to undo the seal.

"Guess I already found out how strong you are, Avyn. Can you return back to your world now? My mana is depleting very fast. This is not personal because I need to go to the Dimensional Tower later, and I don't want to meditate to recover my losing mana," He could sense the excitement from the woman next to him and excitement from living on a living world, "But if you need someone to speak, I think you still can communicate with the other spirits. They still can hear your voice even though you are not in the same space as them."

A frown formed on Avyn's forehead, but she understood the concern and nodded before returning to her world. He did not hear her voice anymore afterward, but he felt it was awkward as he expected her to speak with the other spirits.

'You are so silly. You haven't introduced us yet; how do we communicate?' The one who spoke was Lilliana, the Grand Guardian. She was the spirit who wanted to be a mother, and she started the conversation with Avyn. Even though Avyn's voice was cold, she responded to Lilliana. In just three minutes, Avyn opened up to Lilliana.

Tang Shaoyang wanted to ask Avyn about how much power she maintained through the summoning. The spirit could only have eighty percent of their power when they were being summoned, but Avyn was a different case. She was not really a spirit but a living being. He wanted to know whether she maintained the full power or the same, just eighty percent of her strength.

The conversation soon turned into a girl topic, and he cut off the connection. He shook his head, "Is Li Shuang awake, Origin?"

[Lady Li Shuang just woke up, and she is currently brushing her teeth in the bathroom. She is also grumbling about you, leaving without saying anything to her….]

"Alright, Don't tell me about the last part, Origin. You just need to answer what I ask, okay?" Tang Shaoyang immediately cut the smart AI off.

[Yes, Master.]

*** ***

Tang Shaoyang looked in the mirror and was about to scratch his hair, but Li Shuang caught his hand, "Don't mess your hair again. That's a bad habit for an Emperor. You look silly if you scratch your head like that, and you don't want to look silly in front of your subordinates. You are supposed to look dignified and charismatic."

When he asked for clothes, Li Shuang gave her a formal suit, shirt, and also vest. The type of clothes people used to work in the office, at least, that was the impression he got from the clothes. He refused to wear that as he liked the casual and simple clothes more than the stiff, formal style. In the end, she gave him the black long sleeve turtleneck, black pants, and a black coat. He chose the color, and he liked black.

He certainly looked better compared to his casual black shirt. In fact, he was surprised to see how good he was in the mirror, "Is that me?" He sounded confused as he looked at the man in the mirror.

"Yep, that's my man," Li Shuang nodded. She had become bolder and more confident. Before Li Shuang acted reserved around Tang Shaoyang, thinking she was too old for him, but the thoughts seemed to not bother her anymore.

"Where do you get all these clothes? Don't tell me you ask Tarrior to gather all the clothes in the high-end store?"

"No, I didn't ask Tarrior, but our designer did. The city is pretty safe now, so I asked them to gather the clothes, and I took some for us. It's autumn, you know; our people need thick clothes to survive," Li Shuangg nodded as she observed Tang Shaoyang in the mirror, "We are also designing the royal robe for you. Let me know if you have free time."

"We can make clothes too?" This was the first time he heard about this. He recalled all those papers' works, but he did not remember that much aside from the essential things for the Empire like the herb garden, the blacksmith, academy development, and also TEIS (Tang Empire Internal Security) update.

"Of course. Clothes are a basic need for our people. You don't want to see your people naked, running around on the street, right? Moreover, we have people who need jobs, and we have the expert designer too," Li Shuan rolled her eyes. She knew what in her man's head was all about power and forgot the small details, but important for survival, "Imagine going through winter with limited clothes?"

Tang Shaoyang was about to scratch his forehead, but he earned a glare from Li Shuang. The hand stopped midair as he smiled wryly, "Ah, I forgot about that. You know, I am immune to cold, so I don't think that far."

"I know, and it's not your job to think about that. You just need to be a reliable figure that makes people safe in your presence. That's what we need in a time like this, so you can leave the small details like this to us," Li Shuang smiled.

"It's my luck to have you," Tang Shaoyang kissed her on the cheek, "So, do we need a formal ceremony for the new division, My Chancellor?"

This would be the Tang Empire's first and biggest reformation. There would be only three divisions in the future, External Security Division, Internal Security Division, and Empire Development Division. That was the reformation, and Li Shuang would take a position in the Empire Development Division as Chancellor. Of course, Chancellor was the title she picked by herself.

The reason behind the reformation was to make the work less complicated. There were a lot of divisions, and each division head would make a weekly and monthly report to Tang Shaoyang, which he barely supervised. Now, all those divisions became a department and would make the report for the division head, which would be only three now, then three divisions would deliver the report to The Emperor himself. Instead of meeting with a bunch of people, he only needed to meet the three division heads and their secretary if they had any.

"Just a small party will do. Our people are concerned with their protection, food, and how they will continue their lives. I don't think it's a good idea to hold a big party. Just a small ceremony between the officials will do," Li Shuang expressed her idea.

"I will leave that to you, My Chancellor," He kissed her forehead, then he kissed her lips. It was a goodbye kiss, "I need to go now. I am kinda worried about the people inside the Dimensional Tower. Say my goodbye to Li Na," He glanced at the girl who was still sleeping on the bed.

Tang Shaoyang then turned around and walked toward the door. He was about to open the door but stopped and looked back, "Can we not make the royal robe thingy? I am not used to that official and fancy outfit; it just does not fit me."

"No," Li Shuang shook her head while smiling, "Don't worry, it's not an ancient design, but a modern design."

Tang Shaoyang let out a sigh and nodded. He opened the door and was about to leave the room, but he stopped and turned around once more, "What about this coat? Can I not wear it? You know, I am immune to cold."

"No."

The one-word answer defeated Tang Shaoyang. He could just take it off, but again, Li Shuang had dressed him up; she put effort into this. He appreciated the effort, so he would not just take it off without her permission. It was not like the outfit looked bad on him, too; he just liked a simple and casual outfit.

'I agree with Li Shuang. You can't just dress up casually because you are the face of the Empire. If you dress up as homeless people, it will look bad on your Empire's image. The others will think that you are from a poor Empire or a bumpkin-self-proclaimed-emperor.' Rosalie, the Flame Empress, added through direct telepathy.

"I know, I know," Tang Shaoyang accepted it. He chose this himself, after all, "Lead me to the portal, Origin."

[Yes, Master.]