Chapter 456: Beast God’s blessing

"What? You took photos of Rory?"

Jasper stared at Nix in surprise. There were a lot of stalls nearby selling stuffed animals, all of which were quite cute. He had just gone over to pick one out for Rory and hadn’t seen Nix taking her picture.

"Open them up, let me see!" Jasper urged him.

Now that Vincent had called him out, there was no point in Nix trying to deny it anymore. He looked at Vincent and Jasper with a troubled face.

"Rory told me to delete them, but I secretly restored them. If you two look at them, you can’t tell Rory, okay?"

Jasper frowned. "Why did Rory ask you to delete them? Did you take really ugly photos of her?"

"Of course not!" Nix immediately denied it. "I took super cute photos of her! Maybe Rory just isn’t into that kind of cute style."

Vincent expressed extreme skepticism. "Cut the talk. Hurry up, open the photos and send them to our devices."

Reluctantly, Nix opened his device and forwarded those few photos to Vincent and Jasper.

"I really did make Rory look super cute," Nix emphasized again, worried they wouldn’t believe him.

Jasper tapped on his device, opened one of the photos Nix had sent, and looked at Rory rolling her eyes weirdly. His eyes twitched violently.

No wonder Rory made him delete them. The fact that she hadn’t beaten him to death was proof of true love.

After looking through the rest of the photos, Jasper suppressed the urge to beat Nix up and clapped him heavily on the shoulder. "Be a good boy—you are strictly forbidden from taking photos of Rory next time."

Rory didn’t hit him, but he certainly wanted to.

Vincent nodded in agreement. "That goes for photos of me, too. You’re not allowed to take any in the future. I don’t have as good a temper as Rory, so I will actually beat you to death."

"What do you guys mean by that?" Nix bristled instantly. "Are they not cute?"

"Not cute," Jasper replied with absolute conviction. "Not only are they not cute, but they’re also hideously abstract."

Vincent nodded. "Exactly."

Nix: "..."

***

Meanwhile, over on the other side.

Rory had found an exceptionally beautiful spot, and Aren was taking photos of her.

"Rory, how does this set look?" Aren handed his device over to Rory.

Rory walked over, looked at the photos on his screen, and nodded with immense satisfaction. Now this was a true masterclass.

In the photo, she stood beneath a flowering tree with her head slightly tilted up. Speckles of light filtered through the canopy, spilling over her cheeks and the hem of her dress—it looked ethereal, like something out of a dream. It didn’t even need any editing.

The rest of the shots were equally stunning, each one more breathtaking than the last.

"Aren, you’re amazing! You made me look so good!"

Seeing her so happy, the smile on Aren’s face grew even warmer. "You’re already beautiful to begin with; I just happened to capture it."

Not only was he great at taking photos, but he was also surprisingly good at giving compliments. Flustered by his praise, a faint blush rose on Rory’s cheeks.

"I might look good, but your photography skills are great too!" Saying so, Rory sent the photos Aren had taken directly into the group chat.

Rory: *[@Everyone, look at the photos Aren took of me! Pretty, right?]*

She wanted Nix to take a good look at what real art actually looked like!

Once Rory had sent the photos, Aren took his device back and pointed toward the ocean of flowers ahead. "I think the view over there is pretty nice too. Want to take a few more, Rory? Actually, I really want to take a few photos together with you to put in my room. That way, whenever I miss you, all I have to do is look up."

Since he put it like that, how could Rory possibly refuse?

Vangar walked over holding some chilled juice that Xarion had prepared. Hearing that Rory was going to take photos with Aren, he immediately chimed in, "Rory, I want to take a photo with you too!"

How could he let Aren keep such a good thing all to himself?

Xarion nodded along as well. "Me too."

"There’s enough for everyone, everyone gets a turn!" How could Rory favor one over the other? "Go call Vincent and the rest over too. We’ll take them one by one."

She had to keep the playing field completely level.

However, balancing the scales turned out to be an exhausting task. To be fair to everyone, they kept taking photos until night fell and the carnival began before they finally finished.

---

When the final ray of daylight on the central planet of the Interstellar Empire dipped below the horizon, the entire planet seemed to awaken in an instant. Brilliant pillars of energy shot up into the sky, piercing straight through the clouds.

Airships were nowhere to be seen in the sky anymore. Instead, mythical beasts composed of countless energy particles slowly materialized overhead.

A glowing giant whale drifted through the sky carrying a live band, its energetic music making everyone want to dance along. Flocks of starlight butterflies trailed colorful flames of light as they danced above the crowds. Magnificent birds pulled exquisite open-topped carriages, carrying carefully dressed females enjoying the festival.

The air was filled with a unique fragrance blended from all sorts of rare, exotic flora. Interactive sensory tiles were paved across the ground, lighting up with every step so that a radiant lotus flower bloomed beneath one’s feet with every stride.

The Female Festival was the grandest holiday established by the Interstellar Empire for all females. On this day, every female enjoyed unparalleled honor and privilege. They could enjoy all services within the Empire free of charge and receive gifts and blessings from the government, businesses, and even complete strangers.

"The Festival has officially started!" Lola ran over excitedly, taking Rory and Gina by the hands as she charged toward the crowd of females. "Let’s go party!"

Seeing Lola pull Rory into the surging crowd, Vincent immediately gave chase. "Rory, slow down! Don’t get bumped into!"

Vincent, Vangar, and the others stayed close by Rory’s side, deeply worried she might get separated in the crowd.

The Festival was, in truth, extremely safe. Since every female in the Central District was present tonight, the military and government secured the entire planet like an iron fortress—not even an interstellar mosquito could slip through uninvited.

Still, there were minor risks. With so many people around tonight, getting separated would make finding each other quite a headache.

"Didn’t you guys install a tracking device on me? Don’t worry, I can protect myself," Rory said, unbothered. She was a Rank 10 now, after all. Even if a Rank 11 powerhouse showed up, her abilities would allow her to make a clean escape even if she couldn’t win the fight.

---

Meanwhile, over on the other side.

After dealing with several Zerg members who tried to stir up trouble tonight, Lian sensed that familiar aura vanish once again. He frowned in frustration.

Damn it, that guy managed to slip away again.

It was getting late; he couldn’t keep chasing. Now that the Female Festival had begun, it was time for him to head back to Rory’s side.

By the time Lian returned, Rory had already merged into the crowd. The streets were packed shoulder to shoulder. Even though Vincent and the others were following closely behind Rory, they were still pushed a bit further apart by the mob.

Just as Wen was about to walk over, a beam of divine light suddenly descended from the night sky.

"Look, it’s the Beast God’s Blessing Light!" The crowd instantly boiled over with excitement.

"Hurry, get over there! Females bathed in the Beast God’s divine light receive his blessing! The lucky ones can not only rank up, but also get matched by the Beast God to even more outstanding partners!"

Females wanted to rank up, while males wanted a good female master.

Gina took Rory and Lola by the hand, running along with the crowd toward the divine light. "Let’s go receive the Beast God’s blessing too!"