Chapter 256: The Captivating Camillo

Marcus stared at the system notification for several seconds, his thoughts moving quickly as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. The Divine Artifact Leaderboard had finally been activated, just as the system promised, but the entries themselves left him puzzled.

The Asclepius’ Herbal Staff and the Hundred-Flower Cloud Robe clearly belonged to Alana. They had been entrusted to her long before he ever appeared in the Peach Blossom Immortal Realm. So why was the system listing him as the owner?

Frowning slightly, Marcus opened Alana’s status window to examine it more closely.

—

Alana

Role: Retainer to Stonehaven

Background: Granddaughter of the Saint Doctor Silas Vance. Possessing the rare Body of a Hundred Flowers, her potential for growth is extraordinary. However, she has little interest in combat and prefers the calm discipline of alchemy over the chaos of battle. Her unique constitution also emits a subtle life aura that attracts aggressive creatures.

Level: 10

Class: Grandmaster Alchemist

Stats:

Health: 800 | Mana: 1000 | Attack: 200 | Defense: 200

Abilities:

Body of a Hundred Flowers

Grants an innate connection to plant life and limitless growth potential. Currently provides immunity to all poisons, a 10% bonus to elemental resistance, and produces a faint floral fragrance that naturally soothes nearby allies.

Encyclopedia of Herbs:

An ancient tome that significantly accelerates her progress in medicine and alchemy.

Skills:

Grandmaster Herb Gathering

Grandmaster Potion Making

Equipment:

Asclepius’ Herbal Staff (Divine)

Hundred-Flower Cloud Robe (Divine)

—

Marcus studied the window thoughtfully, then compared her information with that of his other companion, Lyanna, the Wyvern Saint Knight.

The difference became clear almost immediately.

Lyanna was technically classified as a pet. Her soul was bound to Marcus, and while she possessed intelligence and a physical form, her existence was still fundamentally tied to his. She could not speak freely, she normally resided within his spirit space, and she acted only when he issued commands. Even the equipment she carried was hers alone. Marcus had no authority to take it from her.

Alana’s situation was entirely different.

She was a Retainer.

Unlike a pet, a retainer was an independent living being with her own thoughts, emotions, and the ability to speak and make decisions. However, because she had sworn herself to Marcus’s service, her possessions and resources were legally under his authority within the system.

That meant Marcus could direct how her items were used, reassign them if necessary, or even claim them outright.

It was this technicality that had caused the system to register the artifacts under his name and trigger the global leaderboard.

Unfortunately, a closer look at the equipment details confirmed that both artifacts were soul-bound to Alana herself. Only she could actually wield them.

“Still,” Marcus thought, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly, “this turned out better than I expected.”

Not only had he obtained the legendary Spring of Life, but gaining Alana as a retainer effectively secured two of the most powerful artifacts currently known in the game.

His gaze drifted toward her.

Alana stood quietly a short distance away, her posture small and fragile. Even among Dominion’s many beautifully designed characters, she was breathtaking in a way that felt almost unreal. Her delicate features and gentle expression made her seem as if she had stepped straight out of an old myth or painting.

At that moment, a single crystalline tear slid slowly down her cheek.

The sight stirred something unexpected inside Marcus. A quiet protective instinct rose in his chest, stronger than he anticipated.

“Alana, don’t worry,” he said softly.

He stepped closer and gently took her hand in his. Her fingers were slender and cool, trembling faintly in his grasp.

“Your Grandfather is strong,” Marcus continued in a reassuring voice. “He’s survived things far worse than this. He’ll recover and come find us once he’s ready.”

Their intimacy level had already passed ninety, high enough that gestures like this no longer triggered any resistance from the system.

Alana didn’t pull away.

Instead, she looked up at him, her eyes wide and filled with quiet trust.

“Master…” she whispered.

Marcus reached up and gently brushed away the tear from her cheek.

“I’ll take care of you,” he said.

The words came naturally, spoken with calm certainty rather than dramatic emphasis.

Alana lowered her head slightly and leaned against his chest, the tension in her shoulders gradually fading as the last of her quiet sobbing subsided.

“I know, Master,” she murmured.

Marcus let her stay there for a moment.

As he rested his hand lightly on her back, he felt the weight of the responsibility he had just accepted. Protecting someone was not a trivial matter. In his mind, a man who could not offer security to the people who depended on him was not much of a man at all.

Once Alana had finally calmed down, Marcus shifted his attention back to the rewards of their journey.

He reached into his inventory and pulled out a small jade vial. Inside it shimmered a pale, luminous liquid.

The legendary Spring of Life.

—

Spring of Life

A sacred nectar harvested from the Elven Sacred Spring. A single drop requires fifty years to form and is saturated with concentrated primal elemental energy.

Effects:

Permanent +500 Health

Permanent +500 Mana

+20% Elemental Resistance

Unlocks the ability to channel Elven Divine Power, adding 100 points of elemental damage to all attacks.

Marcus raised his eyebrows slightly as he read the description.

“Incredible,” he muttered.

The item was easily comparable to the five legendary springs that existed across the Dreamland Continent. Treasures like this rarely appeared even once in a generation.

Without hesitating further, he uncorked the vial and drank the liquid inside.

The moment it touched his lips, the cool nectar flowed down his throat like liquid moonlight.

Ding!

“Congratulations, Stonehaven! You have consumed the Spring of Life.

Health +500

Mana +500

Elemental Resistance +20%

You have unlocked the Elven Divine Power path.”

A refreshing surge of energy spread instantly through Marcus’s body, coursing through his veins like a gentle tide of power. His senses sharpened, and his muscles felt lighter, stronger.

More importantly, this meant he could now pass through the Elven Gate and enter the Elven Canyon, a region that had previously been inaccessible.

But Marcus wasn’t finished yet.

“Summon Camillo,” he said calmly.

Aside from Alana, the greatest prize he had taken from the Peach Blossom Immortal Realm was the Vixen Queen herself. During the chaos of their escape he had barely spared her a glance, but now he finally had the opportunity to see exactly what kind of creature he had captured.

A swirl of soft pink petals suddenly filled the room.

The air grew warm with the faint fragrance of peach blossoms as a graceful figure slowly materialized before him.

The Queen of the Vixens had arrived.

Camillo was the embodiment of temptation itself.

Her pointed ears were tipped with soft tufts of pale fur, and behind her swayed eight magnificent fox tails, long and plush, moving gently like living silk in the air. Every part of her presence seemed designed to unsettle a man’s composure.

Marcus had always considered Lily and the others to represent the height of beauty within Dominion.

But standing before Camillo, he realized the Vixen Queen existed on an entirely different level.

She wore a sleek gown of rose-pink silk that clung closely to her lithe, athletic figure. The sleeveless design left her shoulders bare, while the fabric curved elegantly around her waist and hips before falling in flowing layers. High slits along the sides revealed long, shapely legs whenever she moved.

Her skin was smooth and pale like polished alabaster, and her eyes shimmered with a playful, predatory light that made Marcus’s heartbeat skip once before he even realized it.

The faint scent of peach blossoms lingered around her like a natural perfume.

Marcus found his gaze drifting downward for a moment, taking in the elegant lines of her posture and the effortless grace with which she carried herself.

She moved with the relaxed confidence of a creature fully aware of her own beauty.

’What beauty,’ Marcus thought.

Yet despite the impact of her appearance, something about her reaction irritated him slightly. Camillo seemed completely indifferent to him.

She stood there calmly, her expression faintly bored, as if becoming someone’s summoned companion was merely a mild inconvenience in her otherwise long life.

Marcus suppressed a sigh and opened her status window. If nothing else, he needed to understand what kind of power he had just acquired.

—

Camillo (Vixen Queen)

Species: Eight-Tailed Vixen Spirit

Background: The most beautiful and powerful Vixen Spirit to appear in ten thousand years. She is the only Vixen Queen with the potential to evolve into the legendary Nine-Tailed Saint Jade Fox.

Five years ago, her ambition drove her to attempt the Ninth Heaven’s Lightning Trial before she was ready. The attempt nearly destroyed her. Her level was reset to zero, and she suffered devastating injuries that can only be fully healed through rare Herbs or other legendary treasures.

Level: 0 (Current cap: 50)

Her recovery has been accelerated by the solar energy contained within Marcus’s blood, restoring roughly half of her lost vitality.

Stats:

Health: 1000 | Mana: 1000 | Attack: 800 | Defense: 800

Abilities:

Captivating Allure (Passive)

Reduces the combat stats of nearby enemies by 20% and has a 30% chance to inflict Confusion, causing affected enemies to attack their own allies for 3–5 seconds.

Range: 10 meters (scales with level).

Peerless Seductress (Active)

Camillo releases a pink haze that alters the behavior of nearby creatures. Common monsters become non-aggressive, while higher-tier monsters react depending on the level difference.

Duration: 30 minutes

Range: 10 meters (scales with level).

Jade Seduction Scripture

An ancient technique passed down through the Vixen lineage. Allows her to fly and perform advanced spiritual techniques.

Skills:

Peach Blossom Spark

Launches razor-sharp petals toward enemies in a low-level but rapid strike.

Vixen Agility (Passive)

+2 Movement Speed

+10% Evasion

—

Marcus leaned back slightly after reading through the window.

Her intimacy level sat at only eighty. That was high enough for cooperation, but still far from genuine loyalty.

Which meant the proud Vixen Queen was keeping him at arm’s length for now.

Marcus closed the status screen and glanced toward her again.

“For the moment,” he thought with quiet resignation, “I’ll have to settle for her combat strength… and that dangerously beautiful face.”

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