'No, seriously, you were making it all grand and philosophical, talking about heaven and hell.'
'But when it comes to the real deal, you just drop a bomb like that?'
'Even though it wasn't the "organ" Leon had in mind, the sudden pun really caught him off guard.'
"As expected of Master, even the secret techniques found at the risk of life are this abstract," Leon took two deep breaths, adjusted his mindset, and continued reading.
Thankfully, the names of the next few techniques were normal, nothing weird. He let out a sigh of relief.
But when he reached the final technique's name, his fingers froze mid-page-turn, eyes locked onto the simple two characters, murmuring, "Death Gate."
Leon's pupils trembled, "Sounds like a move where you take down the enemy at the cost of severe self-damage…"
He shook his head, pulling his thoughts back.
He wasn't at the final gate yet; he had to master the first eight before even thinking about it.
"So, the way to open the first gate is…"
Leon flipped through the book, finding the relevant content.
[Opening the first gate requires some external assistance, preferably from someone trustworthy and possessing Dragon King-level power…]
"Hiss… Dragon King… Dragon King…"
Muttering to himself, a name naturally popped into his mind.
"Ross… weise?"
———
That night, after settling Little Light in the nursery, Leon returned to Rossweise's room.
The bedroom lights were off, but the study's light was still on, meaning Rossweise was still working late.
Leon stepped to the study's entrance and peeked inside.
The scene in the study was like a tranquil painting. The silver-haired beauty sat upright at the sandalwood desk, her back perfectly straight. Her shoulders subtly rose and fell as her steel pen moved in harmony with the paper.
Her long, snow-white legs rested on a high stool, and a pair of slightly childish dragon-wing slippers dangled from her toes, teetering on the edge, forming an adorable contrast with her elegance and focus.
She wore a soft nightgown—simple in outline yet carrying an unintended hint of allure. The dragon mark on her chest seemed to come alive with each breath, dancing over her soft curves.
Her figure had returned to its pre-pregnancy state. Slim where it should be, curvy where it counted.
Of course, Leon wasn't in the study to ogle his fake wife's body.
If he wanted to look, he could just say so, and Rossweise had a thousand ways to tease him into lighting up his dragon mark.
Leon silently watched her for a while, then opened his mouth but said nothing.
Rossweise was always serious about work, and Leon understood how annoying it was to be interrupted when deeply focused.
Besides, the favor he wanted to ask… was a little hard to say out loud.
'Maybe I should check if there's another way to open the first gate…', Leon thought, about to turn and leave.
"Do you need something?"
Just as he lifted his foot, that familiar, emotionless voice rang out.
Leon halted at the doorway, turned back to look at her, but still said nothing.
Sensing his gaze, Rossweise paused, set down her pen, and lifted her head, "Speak. Do you need something? I'm done with work."
Leon glanced at the pile of documents on her desk.
He had studied under her for a while, so he could roughly understand the type of work she was handling.
Clearly… there was still a lot left to do, yet she insisted she was finished.
'Well, whatever.'
Since the queen herself had deliberately set time aside for him, hesitating now would only ruin the moment.
"I need a favor," Leon said.
"Hm? What favor?"
"Help me open the gate."
The queen blinked, momentarily confused, "Open… what gate? You have the key to my room, don't you?"
General Leon's face turned red. Awkwardly, he pulled out Nine Hells Gate from behind him.
Rossweise's gaze fell on the book.
She remembered, it was the ancient text Tiger had given Leon in the cave a few days ago, recording some powerful physical techniques.
Rossweise leaned forward slightly, resting her chin on one hand, and asked leisurely, "So, 'gate' is a term from this book, and you need my help with training?"
Leon nodded, "Basically, yeah."
Rossweise had studied plenty of magic and ancient texts, so when Leon mentioned Nine Hells Gate and asked her to "open a gate," she quickly grasped what he meant.
She just didn't understand why such a simple request. A mere training exercise, could make the usually thick-skinned Leon blush.
Setting her curiosity aside, the queen readily agreed.
"No problem. Which gate are we opening? And what do I need to do? Just tell me directly."
"The… uh, Steel—Steel Gate."
If crows could "caw caw" their way inside, they would have.
But the queen's study was not a place one could just barge into.
Even so, the moment that absurdly named technique left Leon's mouth, the study was instantly filled with an awkward silence.
Rossweise's face flushed red.
Now she understood why this bastard was stuttering earlier. So, this was the kind of request he wanted to make.
After a moment of forced composure, Rossweise tried to keep her voice as neutral as usual, "Leon, as you probably know, dragons value pure love. I am no exception. Even if we are only a fake couple, I would never betray you."
She continued, "But your request… even the purest love might struggle to accept this. At least, personally, I can't."
Then, under her breath, she muttered, "Tch, I didn't expect you to be that kinky."
"No, Rossweise, let me explain—", Leon tried to salvage his dignity.
"If you're trying to convince me to try out your new kink, you can forget about it," For the first time, Rossweise showed a slightly disgusted expression.
Too bad Leon wasn't a masochist. Otherwise, he might have enjoyed this rare moment of disdain.
He quickly stepped forward, placed Nine Hells Gate on the desk, and flipped it open.
"No, you've got it all wrong. It's just a training concept. See for yourself."
With suspicion in her eyes, Rossweise skimmed through the text.
Then, she rolled her eyes, "Why is your master's stuff always this abstract?"
Leon shrugged helplessly, "You know, abstract thinking is a family tradition. I just happened to elevate it to an art form."
Rossweise stretched her long legs and kicked Leon's knee under the table, "Quit bragging, prisoner."
With that, she stood up, straightened her slightly wrinkled nightgown from sitting too long, and strode out of the study.
"Let's go—helping you open the Steel Gate."
Hiss—
Even though he knew this was just part of training, and that Steel Gate wasn't that kind of gate, he still felt a chill down his spine.
Leon swallowed, took a deep breath to steady himself, and followed Rossweise to the bedroom, book in hand.
With the bedside lamp on, Leon took off his shirt and lay on the soft bed.
Rossweise knelt beside him, one hand holding Nine Hells Gate, the other resting gently on his abdomen.
"The first gate is the foundation of this technique. Once opened, it remains permanently unlocked, eliminating the need to reopen it in future battles or training."
She read aloud, "So in simpler terms, it's like laying the foundation of a house. You need a solid base before you can build upward."
"I'd praise your analogy, Your Majesty, but can we hurry this up? Your hand on my stomach makes me nervous."
Bare-chested, making physical contact with Rossweise, this felt like a fluffy little lamb scrubbing itself clean and walking up to a wolf, saying, 'Mr. Wolf, please don't eat me.'
Smack—
Rossweise slapped Leon's lower abdomen, "Shut up. Let me see what I need to do... According to the book, the waist and abdomen are the core areas of body strength. Hmm... this, I do have deep experience with."
'Very deep, very deep experience.'
"At the same time, it also acts as a certain kind of switch for body strength. Only by simultaneously mobilizing strength internally and externally to impact this 'switch' can the First Gate be opened."
"And this force must be guided and assisted by someone at the Dragon King level."
"Not that the strength itself needs to reach the level of a Dragon King, but the degree of delicate control over the force..."
"Oh~ Simply put, if there's a mistake, the practitioner will just get blown up, right?"
After understanding the principle of opening the gate, Rossweise looked at Leon. Her warm fingertips slowly traced over his abdominal muscles, her face full of mischief, and her tone filled with feigned delicate concern.
"Husband~ You really trust me, huh? What if I accidentally blow you up?"
"Then you'll have two husbands," Leon replied.
"What do you mean?"
"The upper half and the lower half. You can see which one you prefer and keep that one."
Leon joked with her.
Though the joke was a bit dark.
Rossweise chuckled and pinched his waist, "I want both the upper half and the lower half. Alright, I more or less know what to do now. Are you ready?"
Leon pursed his lips, took a few deep breaths, then nodded, "Alright, let's do this."
"OK, feel my power while mobilizing your own magic. The two forces will collide, let's try to open the First Gate in one go."
"Alright."
Leon closed his eyes and summoned the magic he had accumulated in his dragon markings.
Rossweise also slowly guided out her own power.
At the initial stage, the two of them first released a small portion of their energy to sense each other.
After confirming they could perceive each other, they increased their magical output.
"Leon, the book says that in addition to magic, you also need to mobilize 'Qi and Blood' and gather it in your abdomen. This will accelerate the opening of the First Gate—try it."
"Alright."
The so-called 'Qi and Blood' was explained in detail in the book.
Qi, that is, the 'Vital Energy' within the human body, could also be referred to as 'Essence Energy.' It was the most fundamental and important energy in the human body, and the original driving force for sustaining life activities.
Blood, as the name suggested, simply referred to blood.
The combination of the two was called 'Qi and Blood.'
Where Qi and Blood flowed, it would enhance the efficiency of the body's magical circuit transmission and accelerate metabolism. As Rossweise mentioned, the gathering of Qi and Blood was beneficial for opening the First Gate.
However, Leon's understanding of 'Qi and Blood' was not deep. He was not a Qi Blood Master and had not done much training in this area.
For most people, their innate magical circuits were already sufficient, making the assistance of Qi and Blood unnecessary.
But now, to open the First Gate, he had no choice but to mobilize Qi and Blood.
How regretful it was to realize the importance of knowledge only when it was needed. Leon silently sighed in his heart.
"Leon, focus a bit, you can do this."
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