In the castle bedroom.
Maximus and his wives were enjoying a rare moment of bonding while their tired children slept, exhausted from their earlier playtime.
“How was your trip to the arcane continent?” Erica asked as she combed Maximus’ hair, with him leaning against her legs.
“It’s incredibly grand there. If we compare our place to the arcane continent, it’s like comparing a spect of dirt to a whole mountain,” Maximus mused, recalling what he had witnessed in the arcane land.
The arcane continent resembled an interstellar civilization, while their current location seemed backward and ancient in comparison.
“How is the quality of mana there?” Hazel asked curiously.
Hazel’s progress in training was slow due to the corrosive mana. As for the purification array, it was not enough for them.
So she was eager to know what it would feel if they train in the legendary land of the arcane.
“Don’t even start with the quality of mana. Just the quantity there is overwhelming. Suppose an ordinary person was placed in that environment. In that case, they might die due to the lack of adaptation,” Maximus replied.
“Furthermore, simply by living there, one can become an official mage or knight through minimal study upon reaching adulthood.”
Upon hearing this, all of his wives were shocked by the vision he described.
In their current location, advancing to an official mage required countless resources and painstaking meditation.
Sometimes they even took turns caring for their children just to have more time for training.
“Are there many beauties?” Rose asked, glancing at her protruding belly and then at her husband.
“Of course, there are countless beauties. I noticed that there were hardly any who were ugly or had disabilities in the arcane continent,” Maximus exaggerated.
While he did encounter many beauties, some even meeting his standards to pass the system fit value, but he had changed and was no longer desperately seeking more partners.
Moreover, the mere fact that his wives stared at him as if he were a scumbag gave him a headache.
Furthermore, he didn’t want to be a canary, always at the mercy and a lap dog for the system.
It was like being told to become a pig and give birth to many piglets, and in return, they would upgrade his cage to a larger one.
“Anyway, how is your pregnancy, Angeline, Rose, and Irene?” Maximus asked, diverting the topic.
They were already 9-10 months pregnant, so their due dates were approaching.
“We’re fine, thanks to the supplements you gave us. The babies are healthy,” Angeline smiled, gently caressing her bulging stomach.
Rose and Irene nodded in agreement.
“What’s your next plan, husband?” Luna asked.
The other wives were also curious.
𝞸𝓥xt.𝒪𝑚
Earlier in the day, their husband had mentioned that he would share his follow-up plan with them at night.
“I plan to relocate our family to the arcane continent,” Maximus said with a serious face.
He had come up with this idea during his trip to the arcane continent.
The quality and quantity of mana there alone were enough reasons to consider settling there.
Although the mana in the sunburnt plateau could eventually be upgraded to match the mana of the central continent using his system cheat, that was something to be done later.
For now, limited by his abilities, specifically financial resources, he could only alleviate and purify the mana to a certain extent.
Most of the scattered islands in the cursed continent followed a similar approach, reconstructing the terrain of their territories to alleviate and purify the mana.
However, they rarely invested too much in it.
The highest achievement was a tier 5 mana environment, which took countless generations to achieve.
Creating such an environment would likely cost hundreds of billions of low-grade magic crystals.
Meanwhile, even the most remote parts of the arcane continent could have a tier 5 mana environment simply by placing some arrays, similar to the manor he had rented.
And that only cost a million low-grade magic crystals per year, compared to the billions of magic crystals one would have to spend.
Finally, he had decided to relocate to the arcane continent because he hoped that his wives could advance alongside him.
Although the system mall offered various life-extension medicines, they were still medicines after all and will have resistance after long-term use.
…
After Maximus shared his decision, his wives were both excited and worried.
“How do you propose we settle in the arcane continent?” Erica asked, looking puzzled.
They didn’t have any backers or support when they arrived, so she was concerned about their safety.
“Don’t worry, I have made arrangements. I have found a teacher who is a tier 5 mystic mage and a tier 5 alchemist,” Maximus lied.
“Teacher has assured me that he will help us settle in the arcane continent and even advised against staying in the cursed continent any longer.”
He intended to have his disguise, Edward William, act as his teacher.
Because in the future, all his expenses will come from this identity.
Furthermore, having a tier 5 teacher conveniently provided a reason to acquire items from the system mall as well.
“But wouldn’t that add trouble for him?” Livia asked, expressing her worries.
“No, rest assured. As a tier 5 alchemist, he is quite wealthy, and he has even established his store,” Maximus explained.
Livia sighed with relief upon hearing this.
“In addition, I plan to attend the mechanic academy in the next five months, so we will depart in three or four months,” Maximus continued.
“What?” His wives were shocked.
They hadn’t expected that their husband would be studying, and they wondered if they would still have frequent opportunities to meet.
Seeing their saddened expressions, Maximus comforted them, saying, “Don’t worry. I’ve heard that the academy allows for a fair amount of freedom. Furthermore, once you advance to tier 2, your lifespan will increase, and we will have plenty of time together.”
His wives sighed with relief, fueling their determination to become stronger and accompany their husbands for a longer time.
“By the way, how will you manage the kingdom while you’re away? Are you going to abandon it?” Irene asked.
“Of course not. How could I abandon the foundation we have built?” Maximus immediately refuted.
All of his plans revolved around his current territory, so abandoning it was out of the question.
Going to the arcane continent was merely a transitional phase to earn money and transform his ideal kingdom.
Furthermore, Maximus found something peculiar about how the tier 9 powerhouses ruled over their domains.
Why was it that only by reaching tier 9 could one have their domain in the central continent?
Were these newly added domain created out of thin air, or were they shared among others?
It was also puzzling how the central continent had strict rules in place to protect and nurture the weak.
Shouldn’t they be worried about people becoming more powerful and potentially overthrowing them?
Moreover, despite having limited resources, they still vigorously trained knights and mages.
It had reached a point where there were more than a thousand tier-9 powerhouses.
Considering that tier 9 powerhouses already had an infinite lifespan which consumes higher resources.
Furthermore, only one person could master a specific law, having a thousand of them reduced the number of possible laws one needed to advance by a third.
This made Maximus think of the novel he had read in his previous life.
He thought that the tier 9 powerhouse did all of this to make the world advance.
Although it was a grand dream, it could be a possible reason they vigorously train talents.
Thus, he absolutely couldn’t abandon his territory, as it might be a piece to improve his strength to a new level in the future.
…
After hearing that Maximus wouldn’t abandon his territory, his wives were puzzled.
They had heard from him that the journey to the arcane continent would take almost a month, and the back-en-fort journey would be two months.
Managing the kingdom in such a manner would be a hassle and troublesome.
“How are you going to manage it then?” Irene asked, voicing the question that puzzled them.
“I bought a node connector to the continental array, and teacher gave me a mechanical puppet, so I can control the kingdom remotely while I am away,” Maximus explained.
“Oh,” Although his wives didn’t fully understand what he said, they nodded in response.
“Enough of that, let’s start the fight. I’ve been holding back these few months,” Maximus smiled evilly as he looked at his wives.
Maximus even inwardly shouted, ‘ I can fight ten!’
With just a year of training, he became a tier 4 sky knight.
Moreover, his knight training manual specialized in stamina and regeneration, so he felt confident that he could take on ten opponents.
The three wives who were pregnant, Angeline, Rose, and Irene, just shook their heads at their husband’s antics.
Looking at their bulging bellies, they smiled and wished their fellow wives good luck as they made their way out.
“Round 1, Fight!”