Gacha Sovereign

The next day, Alex woke up inside the small hut that he made out of rock yesterday. He had all the furniture inside his Inventory, so even though the hut was made of rock, the inside was fairly comfortable.

He looked at Sherry on the bed, who, for an unknown reason, turned into her original form. Alex couldn't help but smile, looking at this cute little fox.

Turning around, Alex looked at the door he sealed with a curtain. He came out and searched for Kyle and Stina, only to find them still cultivating. However, they opened their eyes as soon as Alex came as if they knew everything.

Stina greeted Alex with a bow while Kyle smiled at him. "Congratulations, Master."

They didn't specify what the congratulations were for, but Alex somehow realized it wasn't for his advancement to Martial Monarch, but more to Sherry. He thought for a moment and said, "I will be with you guys for a couple of days until Nelson informs me."

Stina smiled and added, "And spend more time with Sherry."

Kyle didn't say anything. He might have some knowledge about it, but not experience. Rather than having embarrassed himself in front of Alex and Stina, he chose to stay quiet.

"Yeah," Alex admitted it boldly. He had a principle to stay as a human and rejected all those blood that might turn him into something other than human, but he never once thought it was wrong to have another being to be his wife. Although it was unofficial as they didn't have any ceremony or whatsoever, he regarded Anna, Anya, and Sherry as his.

"Master, we have a request." Kyle suddenly broke his silence, looking at Alex with a serious face. "Stina and I wish to stay here for the time being. I know that Master will go to another place after this and might only come back after a couple of months, but I am afraid that I need to stay here and cultivate to follow Master's cultivation speed."

This was the consensus of Stina and Kyle. Having a deep slumber shortened the distance between Alex and them. Stina, who woke up earlier, only managed to reach 2-Star not long ago while Sherry and Kyle were at the peak 1-Star Martial Monarch Stage. If they spent too much time outside, they were afraid Alex would be too strong for them.

Usually, they would have a few starts gap and helped him many times. The moment they lost that advantage would be the day they were useless… or so they thought.

Alex never cared about it, but he also respected their decision. They were his contracted beasts and his partners, not his slaves. Even if they were his slave, like Letizia, he would still think the best for them. That was why when they asked this, Alex had no need to think about the answer.

"Alright. I always hope the best for you."

Kyle and Stina bowed their head in unison. "Thank you, Master."

"Atlas has given me permission to use the Soul Altar to increase my strength, and I'm planning to ask whether both of you and Sherry can join me. If the answer is yes, will you go with me?" Alex asked, giving them the opportunity to grant that wish.

"Yes," Kyle and Stina answered without hesitation. They had discussed this matter earlier and thought Alex might be angry and forced them to enter it with him. As he said earlier, Alex just wanted the best for them. In that case, they only had one answer.

Alex nodded. "I will move forward with every step you take."

"Anyway, you guys can have some time first. I need to check Sherry." Alex turned around and waved his hands. He walked back to the hut and sat on the bed as he looked at this adorable fox.

However, when he was about to touch her, Sherry suddenly released a pink flame. Alex pulled his hand back out of reflex, not knowing what happened. He activated his Spirit Eyes and found out that there was a blazing red flame inside her body.

"What is this?" Alex narrowed his eyes and remembered the knowledge he learned from the Golden Lightning Tribulation. 'It should have the information about Celestial Fox, right?'

He closed his eyes and roamed his memory for almost half an hour before finding the information. The knowledge inside his brain was still messed up as he had yet to sort them out.

"Let me see…" Alex read through the information and muttered to himself. "It seems Sherry is undergoing another evolution. Celestial Fox has a hard time finding its mate because they are not worthy of their power. However, if they do find a mate, there are a few possibilities that will depend on their partner.

"If their partner is weaker, a seed of Celestial Fox's Fire will go inside their partner and nurture the Fire Energy inside their body. The original Celestial Fox will be weakened in due time. Of course, this condition will only appear if they have a life and death contract because the Celestial Fox has trusted them with their lives. Even if they are weakened, their partner will surely protect them. There are some rare cases where the partners of the Celestial Fox after acquiring their talent, but it is still rare.

"If the Celestial Fox doesn't trust them with their life, the Fire Seed wouldn't appear in the partner's body. This is one and crucial future to have the Celestial Fox not wanted by those power-hungry people.

"On the other hand, if their partner is stronger, the same will happen but on the Celestial Fox's body. There is only Pure Fire that has this qualification. The Pure Fire seed inside the body will nurture the Celestial Fox's fire. It may not have the same level of Pure Fire, but it will be very close to the point the Celestial Fox wouldn't feel a single elemental suppression from a Pure Fire user. It may allow them to battle against any Pure Element without being at a disadvantage."

Alex finished recalling his memory and could say that he was satisfied with Sherry's condition. "I see. Sherry is going to have my fire… But my Pure Fire has been strengthened to the level that can make other Pure Fire ashamed… Doesn't it mean Sherry's fire will have more improvement? In fact, she may get to Pure Fire level…"

There was only joy filling his heart when he thought about it. According to the knowledge, it would depend on their partner, which was him. The only one that qualified was Pure Fire, while he was one level higher than them. If Pure Fire could make Sherry close to it, his fire would allow Sherry to surpass that level. He didn't have concrete evidence, but the probability was high.

"I see… Sherry might become a Pure Fire user as well. No, it can be said she would be the one and only Celestial Fox that has Pure Fire." Alex closed his eyes, letting the happiness creep in his heart. Suddenly, he remembered another thing. "Pure Fire?"

Anxiety replaced all of his happiness in a split second when he remembered the Phoenix Seed. When having intercourse, Alex sealed his Pure Fire inside his Fire Phoenix Seed. He was afraid that it would affect Sherry and might even downgrade her flame. Sherry might not mind it, but Alex still wanted the best for her.

He activated his Spirit Eyes and checked his Fire Phoenix Seed inside his body, only to be shocked again by its disappearance. Out of reflex, Alex took out his fire and opened his eyes wide when he saw the fire. "This… This is my Pure Fire… Not my Phoenix Fire."

He channeled Spiritual Energy inside him to find the seed even though the answer was already apparent. Although he didn't want to admit, the seed was already inside Sherry.

Tears slowly formed on the corner of his eyes, and guilt began filling his heart as he looked at Sherry. "Sherry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry."

Alex still remembered the last time tears came out of his eyes. It was when Firia came to the Upper World and left him. And Sherry had become one of his heart's weak spots. If he somehow weakened Sherry by his own hand, the guilt will always be in his heart.

"I'm sorry, Sherry." Alex knelt on his knees in front of Sherry while slamming the bed. "I'm too careless… I should take a look at this knowledge first!"

"If I'm not… If I…" Alex clenched his hands while looking at Sherry.

Suddenly, his Spirit Eyes noticed something strange. What he saw was indeed his Phoenix Seed, but inside that seed was his Pure Fire. He didn't notice this because the Pure Fire had regenerated inside his body the moment the Phoenix Seed integrated with Sherry's body.

"This…" Alex dropped his jaw to the ground. "This… my Pure Fire is still there. Now that I think about it, the Phoenix Seed is storing Pure Fire while releasing the Phoenix Fire, right? If Sherry can melt that Phoenix Seed, will she get my Pure Fire?"

There was still hope in his eyes, and the only way to prove whether it was good news or not was to wait until Sherry woke up. This was the problem he created; he bore the responsibility to see it to a proper conclusion.

…

A few days later,

Alex still sat in front of Sherry, not taking away his eyes for even a second. He had no mood to cultivate these few days since this matter was more important to him.

Unfortunately, disappointment filled his heart as the seed had no sign of fusing or melting.

At this time, Sherry's body slowly turned into her human form, revealing her naked figure, and before long, she gradually opened her eyes.

"Master?" Sherry looked at him with fuzzy eyes as she slowly rose from the bed.

"Sherry…" Alex wanted to apologize, but the words stuck on his throat. One part of him wanted to explain the problem, but another part told him to wait until she discovered it first.

"Master… Why do you have anguish in your face? I just want to tell you about good news." Sherry stretched her hands to his cheeks and smiled.

"Good news?" Alex's body shook.

"Yes." Sherry retracted her hands before raising one in front of him. Her palm was on the top as a pink fire appeared on her hand.

"This…" Alex widened his eyes. The flame looked like her usual flame, but Alex could feel it… the feeling of Pure Fire. "This Fire is at the same level as my Pure Fire… The first time before the awakening and the evolution."

"Yes. I don't know why, but Master's Fire came inside him and refined my fire into something like this." Sherry nodded before smiling uncontrollably. "I have another surprise for Master, though."

"Another surprise?"

"Yes." Sherry nodded and closed her eyes for a few seconds before the flame on her hand blazed intensely.

"This… This…" Alex dropped his jaw to the ground. How could he not? The fire turned into his Pure Fire that had evolved.

"Actually, I want to apologize to Master for stealing your Phoenix Seed. However, the seed seems to have turned into something else. This seed can produce a little amount of Master's current Pure Fire and let me use it for a period of time."

"That's it!" Alex looked at the seed once more and noticed the difference. He hugged Sherry tightly. "Your Pure Fire has really turned into Pure Fire, and you can even use my evolved Pure Fire!"

"Yes." Sherry nodded, not knowing why Alex had such an exaggerated reaction.

"I'm glad… I'm truly glad!"

Sherry didn't know why he reacted like this, but hugged him and stroked his back when she felt his hand shaking. Although she didn't know whether she could give a Sacrificial Element to someone, she knew she would be more useful to Alex. Yet, she couldn't be fully happy because Alex had no way to prevent his Pure Fire from being found out.