Chapter 584: The Princesses Arrive

The grand, sweeping architecture of the ancient Imperial Palace stretched endlessly before Marcus. Red-lacquered pillars carved with dragons and phoenixes, ornate eaves, and brilliantly colored glazed tiles blended seamlessly with the surrounding gardens, each detail contributing to an overwhelming display of imperial grandeur.

Luxury and authority seemed to radiate from every stone, creating a sense of power and majesty that demanded respect.

The Imperial Palace of the Dragon Dynasty had taken the finest elements of every ancient dynasty and brought them together into something breathtaking. Magnificent, sun-drenched, and beautiful enough to resemble a painting, it was the sort of place that made a person understand why countless people would spend their entire lives striving to reach the highest levels of power.

Thanks to Alana, Dr. Harrison was unusually warm and helpful, pointing out various landmarks as they made their way toward the Phoenix Garden behind Princess Phoenix’s residence. Marcus listened with interest, occasionally glancing around at the magnificent palace grounds, until the garden finally came into view.

"What a beautiful garden," Marcus couldn’t help but exclaim when he saw it.

Princess Phoenix’s private garden was enormous, covering an area roughly the size of five football fields. Ponds and elegant pavilions were scattered throughout it, while carefully arranged rock formations, towering trees, and lush groves filled the spaces between them. Threads of golden energy shimmered faintly through the air, nourishing an astonishing variety of plants.

Thanks to the presence of the Immortal Phoenix, colorful birds and small magical creatures also wandered freely through the garden, their calls blending with the rustling leaves as they chased one another among the trees.

This was supposed to be an imperial garden? It was practically a miniature paradise. The sheer extravagance of the Imperial Palace was no exaggeration.

Dr. Harrison led them deeper into the garden until they reached its center, where the legendary Divine-grade Phoenixwood Tree stood. Marcus immediately turned his attention toward it, but before he could examine the tree closely, he noticed the strange arrangement surrounding it.

At nine separate points around the garden, nine ancient mages with white hair and long beards knelt before massive stone pillars, their mouths moving continuously as they recited obscure incantations. With every word, the pillars pulsed with shifting light.

According to Dr. Harrison, those pillars had been forged from a Divine-grade material known as Heaven-Earth Gemstones. Working together with Alana, the nine mages would spend eighty-one days gradually transforming the entire garden into a Natural Growth Array.

Twenty minutes later, the nine Level 90 mages simultaneously activated the pillars. In an instant, they erupted with swirling, cloud-like streams of multicolored light that swept across the entire garden within seconds. The energy became almost tangible, carrying the qualities of the five elements, wind, light, darkness, and life.

Yet rather than clashing with one another, all those different forces merged into a single harmonious current of natural vitality.

Then Alana began her part. She raised her emerald-green bamboo staff, the Divine Artifact known as Asclepius’ Herbal Staff, and began chanting softly.

A gentle green radiance spread from the staff, flowing outward and sinking into the surrounding vegetation. Almost immediately, the plants began to sway as though responding to an invisible breeze. Their leaves and branches stretched toward the multicolored mist produced by the nine pillars, gradually absorbing it as greedily as parched earth drinking in rain after a long drought.

That was the principle behind the entire process. Alana’s ability allowed the plants to absorb the natural energy produced by the pillars and gradually develop an intense, wild vitality. As the days passed, the vegetation would assimilate more and more of the garden, eventually becoming part of the array itself.

After eighty-one days, the nine pillars would have transformed into the complete Natural Growth Array, while the entire five-acre garden would have become a fully developed wild ecosystem capable of supporting the Phoenixwood Tree.

Marcus raised his head and studied the legendary tree. Phoenixwood was the only type of tree capable of withstanding the flames of a phoenix. It possessed an incomparable fragrance and was said to be the only suitable perch for a Divine Beast Phoenix. Yet the tree standing before him looked almost pitiful.

It was barely larger than his fist, stunted and frail, with only a faint red glow lingering beneath its bark like the last embers of a dying fire. If no one had told Marcus what it was, he would never have imagined that this tiny, weakened plant was destined to become the towering Phoenixwood Tree described in the legends, a colossal tree capable of spreading its crown across the sky.

No wonder Princess Phoenix had been desperate enough to recruit Alana. Once the Phoenixwood matured, it would become one of the tallest and most famous landmarks in Dragon’s Peak Citadel, its enormous crown visible from miles away. For someone as proud as Princess Phoenix, watching such a precious tree slowly wither must have been unbearable.

Marcus’s gaze eventually returned to his beloved Alana. She stood gracefully among the vegetation, her elegant figure and delicate beauty making her look almost like a fairy as she wielded the Asclepius’ Herbal Staff.

Waves of green light flowed from the Divine Artifact and spread through the garden, and the sight left Marcus quietly amazed. Alana wasn’t merely stunningly beautiful. She was also a Grandmaster Alchemist with an extraordinary ability to control plant growth, someone capable of accomplishing things that ordinary people could only regard as miracles.

Even Marcus, who was not exactly lacking in confidence, had to admit that having Alana by his side was an incredible blessing.

And she was already proving her worth. In only three days, the withering Phoenixwood Tree had recovered enough vitality for its faint red glow to become visible again. It was still far from healthy, but the change was unmistakable.

After roughly fifty minutes, the plants had absorbed as much energy as they could for the time being. Their rate of absorption gradually slowed until it became almost imperceptible. They would need an entire day to digest the energy they had accumulated before they could continue absorbing more.

Marcus was still waiting for Alana to finish when the guards stationed at the garden entrance suddenly called out.

"Princess Phoenix and Princess Celeste have arrived at the Phoenix Garden!"

Damn. His luck was almost absurd.

Alana had told him that she had only seen Princess Phoenix on the first day, which meant Marcus had somehow managed to miss her ever since. Now, however, he wasn’t merely about to meet the second most beautiful woman on the entire Dreamland Continent. He was also about to meet Princess Celeste, the woman Alana had mentioned as a future contender for the top position in the Beauty Rankings.

Marcus turned toward the entrance. Surrounded by attendants and guards, two slender and graceful figures slowly approached. As soon as they drew close enough for him to see them clearly, Marcus found himself momentarily captivated.

The woman on the left appeared to be in her twenties. A golden phoenix crown rested atop her head, while a magnificent crimson phoenix gown flowed around her body. Every step she took carried the proud bearing of a phoenix in flight, yet there was also something graceful and alluring about her, like a peony in full bloom.

The layered crimson fabric emphasized her slender waist and elegant figure, while her mature features possessed the kind of beauty that seemed almost too perfectly sculpted to be real.

Her face was flawless, as though a master artisan had carefully carved every feature from the finest jade. Her beauty carried both nobility and mature allure, the sort of overwhelming presence that could easily leave an entire hall silent when she entered it.

There was no doubt about it. This had to be Princess Phoenix, the second most beautiful woman in the Dreamland Continent.

A tiny fiery-red phoenix, no larger than a house cat, fluttered beside her, while a crimson-glowing longsword hung at her waist. Both companions seemed to complement her appearance rather than distract from it, further emphasizing the overwhelming aura of royalty surrounding her.

Marcus finally understood why Alana had felt humbled when standing beside her. That combination of mature beauty, confidence, and regal bearing was extraordinary. Even among the remarkable women Marcus had encountered, Princess Phoenix could only be compared with someone like Professor Tina of Crestwood University.

She was truly a queen among women, noble and elegant without needing to deliberately display her status. Dressed in crimson, she seemed almost like a living phoenix, commanding attention wherever she went.

Then Marcus looked at the woman beside her, and for a moment, he forgot to breathe.

Princess Celeste looked around twenty years old and wore a flowing white palace gown that accentuated her slim, graceful figure. Her waist was slender, her appearance youthful and radiant, and there was a fresh, innocent quality to her beauty that made her seem like a flower just beginning to bloom.

Her features were so delicate that they almost seemed painted. Her skin was clear and luminous, her nose small and refined, and her lips soft and delicately shaped. Her entire appearance carried a purity reminiscent of flawless jade, yet there was enough maturity in her bearing to keep that innocence from making her seem childish.

She was beautiful, graceful, and undeniably charming. Marcus couldn’t help being drawn to her.

Standing beside the legendary Princess Phoenix, Princess Celeste should have been overshadowed. Instead, the two seemed to complement one another perfectly. One was like a magnificent crimson phoenix, mature and commanding, while the other was like a brilliant white blossom, youthful and radiant. Their contrasting appearances somehow made both women seem even more striking.

In Princess Celeste’s hand was an exquisitely carved single-handed magic staff that shimmered with elemental light, while Princess Phoenix carried her crimson-glowing longsword. The two walked side by side, their contrasting weapons and clothing creating an almost unreal scene. It was, without question, one of the most striking sights Marcus had ever witnessed.

"What a beauty..." The words escaped him before he could stop himself.

Compared with the mature and captivating Princess Phoenix, Princess Celeste’s beauty affected him in a completely different way. There was something about her youthful radiance and effortless charm that caught him completely off guard. Only Amber, perhaps after growing up, might one day possess beauty capable of standing alongside someone like her.

Marcus knew perfectly well that both women were system NPCs. He understood that, in the end, they were characters belonging to the world governed by the system. But knowing that did little to change what he felt when he looked at them.

Their extraordinary beauty and presence were simply too overwhelming for him to regard them with complete indifference. For a moment, a ridiculous thought surfaced in his mind. ’If only I could have them both...’

Marcus quickly realized just how outrageous the thought was, but he couldn’t deny that the two princesses had left a powerful impression on him.