The effects of Yu Fusheng still lingered.
At this moment, Luo Luo looked at the Divine Lord, who seemed enveloped in a shimmering halo of gold and red.
A seductive glow rippled slowly between the bed curtains.
Under this play of light, his dark circles appeared much lighter, the hollows of his cheeks less pronounced—only an ethereal sharpness remained. His skin was no longer deathly pale but rather like cold moonlight.
His features were more refined than Li Zhaoye's.
It was as if comparing two stone statues—one meticulously carved with delicate precision, the other shaped by sweeping, unrestrained sword energy.
How could two people look so alike?
Luo Luo was lost in thought when his sleeve shifted abruptly, and a hand reached toward her dantian.
Her dantian was like a sea caught in a rainstorm—a drenching, relentless downpour of spiritual energy, saturating her body and mind until she felt utterly pliant.
Yet his hand was unyielding, as if intent on piercing and crushing her.
A warning bell clanged in Luo Luo's heart!
She slammed her palm against the bed, propelling herself backward toward the foot of the bed while kicking the pile of embroidered quilts toward him.
The movement was too forceful—the bed curtains tore loose and collapsed.
Caught off guard, he let out an annoyed click of his tongue, swatting away the tangle of silk and brocade. Anything that clung to his hand was ripped off and tossed aside.
"Why are you running?" he asked, baffled.
Luo Luo: "..."
Of course she was running.
Back on the beach, when he had pointed his sword at her, she had secretly wondered if he might extend a hand to help her up, like Li Zhaoye would have. But instead, he had run her through with one strike, then finished her off with a second.
That wasn't so long ago—how could she not be wary?
Annoyed, he teleported in a flash, pinning her against the corner of the bed.
One large hand gripped her shoulder, his knee wedging forward, his body crowding in to trap her against the bed's edge.
He leaned down, smirking coldly. "Do you really think you can escape when I’m serious?"
The moment Luo Luo's right hand twitched, he seized her wrist and pinned it aside.
His dark eyes narrowed in warning as he glanced at her restless left hand, one brow quirking slightly.
The message was clear: Do you want both hands restrained?
Luo Luo did not, so she stayed still.
In the sudden quiet, she became acutely aware of their proximity—Yu Fusheng's influence pulled at them both, every point of contact sparking like live wires.
Their auras tangled in the air, a silent, intoxicating battle.
Luo Luo held her breath, but it was no use.
"Hmm?"
His fingers kneaded her wrist, testing.
"Your bones are so thin, so soft," he mused, squeezing experimentally. "How do you even fight like this?"
Luo Luo shot him an indignant look but answered earnestly, "I have meridians."
"Oh—" He feigned realization. "Still not great."
Truthfully, Luo Luo didn’t think her bones were weak—it was all relative.
In her sect, when sparring with fellow disciples, only Li Zhaoye could overpower her. The others always ended up wincing in pain.
But she was human. Compared to a beast like him, of course she seemed fragile.
Luo Luo averted her gaze to the claw marks scoring the palace walls and said, with zero sarcasm, "I’m not like Your Excellency, who enjoys... exercising all over the palace."
He: "..."
His eyes darkened dangerously. "Careful, or I’ll use you for exercise."
Luo Luo’s mind conjured an image of him dragging her around like a rag, scrubbing the floors with her.
Horrifying.
"..." He exhaled, exasperated. "Stop thinking."
Luo Luo: "Okay."
After much distraction, he finally refocused.
His hand returned to her dantian.
This time, she was truly immobilized.
Luo Luo curled her toes, wanting to resist but powerless.
As his palm pressed down, an icy, overwhelming surge of spiritual energy flooded her body, clogging her meridians and freezing her dantian.
"Relax."
His fingers flexed, forcibly generating spiritual pressure within her energy sea.
The pressure drew all surrounding spiritual energy into a frenzied whirlpool inside her.
"Tch—!" Luo Luo clenched her teeth against the pain.
Her hands scrabbled helplessly at the bedding, twisting the embroidered peonies into ruin, her nails leaving fresh scratches on the curtains.
Sweat poured from her like rain.
"Remember this feeling," he ordered. "Hold it in. Don’t let it spill."
Luo Luo’s pupils trembled, but she nodded firmly.
With the Grand Cloud Assembly approaching, she had to maximize her training using the time dilation within the Yu Fusheng dreamscape. Just as she had forced Chen Xuanyi’s breakthrough in the illusion—days passing inside, while only a night elapsed in reality.
The spirit stones she gave Chen Xuanyi had been fake, but the Yu Fusheng in her system was real.
Once inside the dream, she needed to consciously channel all her energy into her dantian for sustained cultivation—not leak it unconsciously like a sieve.
She lifted her sweat-drenched face and rasped, "I understand!"
"Good." He withdrew, tossing her two fresh vials of Yu Fusheng. "Again."
Luo Luo stared. "...Already?"
If it were exhaustion, pain, or hardship, she could endure it.
But this was an aphrodisiac!
Wave after wave, fire fueling fire, thunder igniting the heavens...
"I have no interest in you," he said flatly. "You’re too weak. Whatever ideas you’re entertaining—they won’t happen."
Luo Luo: "..."
Fine. Whatever.
Pursing her lips, she took one vial and downed it.
As she waited for the effects, she focused on containing her energy, refusing to let it dissipate.
A brief haze of disorientation—
Luo Luo channeled the scorching desire through her meridians, then slowly opened her eyes.
This time, would it be the beach, or—
Neither. They sat facing each other on the bed, blinking in mutual confusion.
"Oh... we’re not in the dream yet."
Just as Luo Luo was about to close her eyes again, he suddenly pressed two fingers against her eyelids, holding them open.
Luo Luo: "......???"
Who in their right mind peels someone’s eyes open like this?!
"You," he said, narrowing his gaze, "really do have designs on me. Caught red-handed—what do you have to say for yourself?"
Luo Luo: "?"
Her eyes widened as she belatedly noticed he looked even more striking now—no scars, no dark circles.
After a beat, she realized: this wasn’t the real palace. They had already entered the Yu Fusheng dreamscape.
A memory... of the most wanton, intimate scene?
Panicked, Luo Luo protested, "Impossible! I didn’t even dream of the Abyss Valley—how could it be here?"
He simply crossed his arms, smirking as if to say, Go on, keep digging your grave.
Flustered, Luo Luo only grew more incoherent, secretly clawing at the bedding in frustration, the silk shredding under her nails.
She pressed her lips together in bitter resolve, focusing her mind and steadying her breath—channeling all her energy into her dantian.
He rose from the bed and strode to the window seat, sitting carelessly before lifting the teapot to his lips for a long, unrestrained drink. After gulping down the tea, he drawled lazily, "If you’ve calmed down, come here and die."
Luo Luo: "..."
What did she need to calm down for? Her heart belonged only to Li Zhaoye.
Fuming, she churned a violent storm of spiritual pressure in her dantian, her emotions and spiritual energy surging toward it.
"Fine," she gritted out with a sharp smile. "I’ll kill you then!"
She leapt from the bed, drawing her sword in a flash—clang!
The Autumn Water Sword thrust straight toward the teapot in his hand. Right now, all she wanted was to splash tea leaves right in his face.
Clang!
He blocked her strike with his forearm, not even bothering to glance up as he continued drinking, his throat bobbing with each swallow.
His flesh met steel effortlessly, leaving him unscathed while the impact sent a numbing shock through Luo Luo’s wrist.
She retreated hastily, narrowly avoiding the lethal flick of his fingers—a single tea leaf sliced past her throat like a blade.
This man would kill her without hesitation at any moment.
"Tsk—" He sighed in mock disappointment before popping the tea leaf back into his mouth to chew.
A bizarre intuition struck Luo Luo: even if he succeeded in slitting her throat, he’d still eat the "murder weapon."
Absolute beast.
He moved again. With a flick of his sleeve, a bloodstained sealing thread unfurled from his body, whistling through the air as it pierced toward her.
Luo Luo barely raised her sword before pain lanced through her wrist.
Then, pinpricks of agony bloomed across her body—every joint had been skewered by those fine threads in an instant.
With a tug of his fingers, she lurched forward like a marionette, stumbling helplessly toward him.
Luo Luo cursed under her breath.
She drove the Autumn Water Sword into the floor with all her strength.
Screech—spark!
The unyielding stone tiles erupted in a shower of sparks.
Another yank from him nearly wrenched the sword from her grip. Luo Luo tumbled toward the window seat like a kite cut loose.
He smiled faintly, lifting his free hand to clamp around her throat.
The moment his calloused fingers touched her skin, Luo Luo’s eyes flashed with realization. She met his gaze. "I’ve got it!"
His grip tightened around her neck, his other hand idly toying with the sealing threads—just enough to let her speak.
"You’re bleeding, yet these seals are intact!" Luo Luo declared. "This isn’t my memory—it’s yours!"
His pupils flickered as if struck by lightning.
Seizing his distraction, she ignored the searing pain and twisted her wrist—one hand slashing backward, the other shoving her sword forward.
Clang!
The blade pressed against his throat.
Luo Luo grinned triumphantly. "Draw!"
His gaze slid slowly to hers.
His left hand still gripped her neck. She couldn’t break his defenses, but he could crush her bones effortlessly.
Yet she wasn’t wrong.
Given the vast gap in their cultivation, her sword at his throat during his lapse was a draw.
He released her with a lazy shrug. "Fine. But this isn’t my memory—it’s yours."
"?" Luo Luo bristled. "It’s obviously you! In my memory, you were drenched in blood. Look at yourself now!"
He smirked. "You lust after my true form. Is that a problem?"
Luo Luo gaped at his shamelessness.
"Seems you won’t admit it until it’s undeniable," he mused. "You don’t even know which seals correspond to the formations outside. If I remove these, nothing out there will change. That’ll prove you’re the one obsessed with me."
With a vicious yank—
Squelch!
Blood gushed, nearly splattering Luo Luo’s face.
He’d torn the seal out ruthlessly, flesh and dark fragments clinging to it.
Boom—
A thunderous tremor shook the southeastern horizon.
Before Luo Luo could react, he jammed the seal back in place, feigning innocence.
Luo Luo: "?"
He stood abruptly, scowling. "Got time to waste? Train or not? I’ll fight you at Golden Core level!"
Luo Luo: "..."
With an irritated snort, he flung open the window and vanished into the training grounds outside.
Their battle raged like a storm—from the grounds to the rooftops, then the obsidian tower.
Luo Luo still couldn’t defeat him, but she’d mastered a new trick: shouting, "You’re the one obsessed with me!" at random intervals.
All’s fair in war.
His momentary fury bought her breaths of respite, enough to clash with him anew.
Days and nights blurred. By the time his sealing threads finally slit her throat, Luo Luo had no strength left.
Having experienced a novel way to die, she departed peacefully.
The puppet servants tidied the Divine Lord’s chambers on schedule.
The shredded bedding and curtains bore clear claw marks—evidence of a woman’s struggle, though whether in agony or ecstasy was unclear.
The rest, torn to ribbons, bore His signature brutality.
Not a single furnishing survived the bedchamber’s ravages.
Holy Maiden Wu Xie studied the wreckage in silence before secretly summoning Luo Luo.
Their meeting began with a stunned pause.
"Are you... unharmed after last night?" Wu Xie cut straight to the point.
Luo Luo looked haggard and pale—far from "unharmed."
Though her cultivation had solidified from absorbing vast spiritual energy, wrestling those sinister threads had drained her mentally.
Even illusions could inflict phantom pain—hence Chen Xuanyi’s bloodied coughs.
Luo Luo waved weakly. "I’m fine."
"You..." Wu Xie hesitated, her dark eyes piercing. "You... managed it?"
Luo Luo blinked blankly.
After a long silence, Wu Xie sighed. "You’re clever. I worried needlessly. Conceiving a divine heir is fatal, but preserving your maidenhood through... alternative methods is impressive. And gaining cultivation too? Remarkable."
Wu Xie couldn’t fathom how Luo Luo’s innocent face had convinced Him to indulge in such... unorthodox activities without taking her purity.
Luo Luo: "......???"
What in the world? Better stay silent.
After parting with Wu Xie and retrieving the corpse puppet, Luo Luo belatedly realized—she and the Holy Maiden now shared a colossal misunderstanding.
Luo Luo learned quickly.
After two deaths, she’d mastered locking Yu Fusheng’s potency entirely within her dantian.
"Let’s add the corpse puppet now."
He’d helped her this much—it was time to repay him.
Both turned to the puppet.
If Holy Maiden Wu Xie hadn’t lied... this was His mother.
Together, the trio shared Yu Fusheng.
Luo Luo: This is so weird. Hold it in. Don’t overthink it, absolutely don’t overthink it. Stop, stop thinking, stop thinking right now!
The Divine Lord couldn’t take it anymore and forced a bottle of medicine down her throat to shut her up.
By now, Luo Luo had almost grown accustomed to the flames of passion.
When she found herself appearing in the Divine Palace once again, her emotions remained remarkably steady.
She suppressed the heat coursing through her body, channeling it into her dantian, slowly absorbing it as she glanced around.
Suddenly, a young girl’s figure rushed past Luo Luo and dashed into the inner chambers.
Clad in white robes, her steps light and cheerful, the girl bore a striking resemblance to the youthful form of the Holy Maiden Wu Xie.
She seemed completely unaware of Luo Luo’s presence.
After scanning the area and failing to find the Divine Lord, Luo Luo hesitated for a moment before following the girl into the palace.
Just as she stepped over the threshold, a low, bone-chilling growl echoed from within the chamber: "Ugh… ah…"
Luo Luo shuddered.
It was nearly impossible to describe what kind of sound it was—raspy, grating, like flesh and bone grinding against each other.
"Your Eminence! Wu Ya has come to see you!" The girl’s clear voice rang out immediately after.
Luo Luo nearly tripped over the threshold.
Heart pounding, she peered inside just as the wind lifted the gauzy curtains, revealing a horrifying sight.
The Divine Lord held the girl in an embrace so twisted that His joints bent unnaturally, His limbs splayed like a massive spider’s.
Crimson streaks flickered in His eyes as an impossibly long tongue slithered out, licking the girl’s cheek.
"Wu… Ya…" His throat rumbled with a beast-like growl.
So He was calling her name.
"Shh, shh, quiet now!" Wu Ya chided gently. "You’re too loud! If Grandmother hears, she and Aunt Zhen Tu will start chanting to put you to sleep again!"
The Divine Lord let out a disgruntled rumble.
Zhen Tu? Luo Luo thought. That must be another elder Holy Maiden.
So… Wu Ya is Wu Xie’s granddaughter?
She didn’t seem like some unwilling sacrifice forced to serve the Divine Lord. No, she adored Him—the way she gazed up at Him made Luo Luo’s cheeks burn, as if struck by an arrow from the past. So this was how obvious love could be!
"You’ve learned to say my name! You’re so amazing!" Wu Ya showered Him with praise. "I know You’re not the mindless beast they say You are. You’re the kindest of all!"
He let out a soft whimper, slowly resting His face against her shoulder, carefully retracting His claws.
"Next time, I’ll trim Your nails again," Wu Ya murmured, stroking His hand. "I forgot to bring my tools today."
He stole a glance at her, then painstakingly adjusted His dislocated joints one by one, mimicking her posture.
Luo Luo took a step back, pressing against a pillar as emotions surged within her.
This was the previous Divine Lord… and the mother of His child.
Such pure devotion.
"I’ll come back tomorrow!"
Wu Ya lingered, reluctant to leave, turning back every few steps.
As she passed Luo Luo, Luo Luo instinctively reached out to stop her: "You—"
You’ll die. You’ll become a corpse puppet!
Her fingers passed through the girl’s body like mist. The scene rippled violently, as if plunged into water.
The vision shattered.
Torrential rain poured as the Divine Lord’s chambers lay sealed under layers of enchantments. A bestial roar erupted from within.
Two rows of Divine Palace attendants stood solemnly on the steps, while Wu Ya knelt in the center, weeping as she begged her grandmother, Wu Xie:
"Your Eminence has a mind! He truly does! He’s not a beast—He learns, He understands, He’s gentle and wise! Please, Grandmother, I beg you! Don’t seal Him away! We love each other!"
Wu Xie’s face was ice. "Pray you aren’t with child."
The other Holy Maiden, Zhen Tu, tugged at Wu Xie’s sleeve, warning her against careless words.
A divine pregnancy was a blessing beyond measure—how could she speak like this?
Even if it was her most cherished granddaughter, the one she had raised with such care.
"I will bear His child!" Wu Ya declared. "Grandmother, believe me! He’s no beast, and our child will be good and wise. We’ll break this cursed cycle—I swear it!"
Wu Xie’s expression didn’t waver. "You will never see Him again."
The scene shifted once more.
Wu Ya was in labor.
Luo Luo’s heart clenched.
She desperately wished the girl could survive, but she already knew her fate.
Wu Xie stood beneath the eaves, listening to the agonized screams inside. Strand by strand, her black hair turned snow-white.
"There are no exceptions…"
Then, a single beam of golden light pierced the storm clouds, spilling through the doorway.
At that very moment—
A newborn’s fierce cry split the air.
"She’s delivered?!"
Wu Xie lunged inside.
Against all odds, Wu Ya had given birth to a normal, healthy baby.
The infant wailed with startling vigor.
Wu Xie trembled, torn between stepping forward and holding back.
On the bed, Wu Ya lifted her head weakly and smiled. "Grandmother… do you believe me now?"
Wu Xie’s fingers dug into her palms beneath her sleeves.
"I’ll find a way… to protect you both."
A sickening tear.
Wu Ya looked down.
Ten blackened nails tore through her abdomen, clawing their way out of her flesh.
There was no escape.
Every Divine Lord was born this way—ripping free from the mother’s womb.
Wu Ya had carried twins.
With her last strength, she reached out, brushing the tiny hand emerging from her body. Then, with trembling fingers, she touched the firstborn child.
No sound escaped her now, but her lips formed a plea: "Him… please…"
Wu Xie’s gaze fell upon the human infant.
A boy.
She looked back at her granddaughter. "I won’t kill him. Rest easy."
Wu Ya’s eyes remained fixed on her.
Wu Xie sighed. "But he cannot stay in the Divine Palace. The law is absolute. I’ll place him in the Sacred River. His fate… will be decided by heaven."
Wu Ya closed her eyes.
"The gods… will watch over him… They must…"
"Your father and I… will be waiting… above… Grow… strong… my…"
