Luo Luo blocked the procession of the Divine Palace at the temple steps.
A low rumble of thunder rolled through the thick clouds, signaling an impending downpour. Luo Luo realized today’s weather was eerily similar to the night Wu Ya had knelt on those very steps.
Wu Xie regarded her with an impassive expression. "You’ve performed your task well. Whatever you seek, I have my suspicions—rest assured, you won’t be left unrewarded."
Luo Luo: ?
She wasn’t even sure herself.
Wu Xie lowered his gaze. "Dual cultivation is not the righteous path. Once this is over, spirit stones and elixirs will be yours in abundance."
Luo Luo had no idea how to respond, so she simply skipped past his words and continued with her own agenda. "We won’t need so many people tonight. I’ll make my selection."
Wu Xie and the saintess Zhen Tu exchanged a subtle glance, their eyes communicating silently.
Wu Xie: Do you understand what she’s thinking?
Zhen Tu: Honestly? No.
Wu Xie: So young, yet so cunning.
Zhen Tu: Either a fool or a god.
With a slight nod, they stepped aside, gesturing for Luo Luo to proceed as she pleased.
Luo Luo strode forward and surveyed the scene—twenty young women stood in four neat rows.
Plump and slender… though none were particularly thin.
After steeling herself, Luo Luo lifted her chin with an air of arrogance. "The Divine Lord loves only me, and our hearts are entwined. Are you all truly determined to compete with me?"
A ripple of uneasy glances fell upon her.
Luo Luo smirked darkly. "Don’t say I didn’t warn you—I’m not known for mercy. This is your last chance to turn back and leave the Divine Palace."
A murmur spread among the women.
A sturdy, rosy-cheeked girl from the leftmost row boldly stepped forward. "But my father already took twenty taels of silver from the Divine Palace."
Luo Luo waved a hand dismissively. "Leave now, and I’ll give you twenty more!"
The girl beamed. "Oh! Thank you, my lady! Thank you, Divine Palace!"
Wu Xie and Zhen Tu’s eyes twitched slightly.
Luo Luo cast a meaningful look at the two saintesses. "Those who don’t wish to stay should be sent back where they came from. Let’s not add to our sins."
These women didn’t yet know the Divine Palace’s secrets—letting them go posed no risk.
Though Wu Xie didn’t understand why Luo Luo was wasting time on potential vessels, he saw no reason to oppose her now. With a nod, he motioned for a white-robed attendant to escort the girl away.
The remaining women grew restless.
"Wait, we can really leave? Then… me too!" "Same here!" "My family took twenty-five taels…" "I never wanted to share a husband anyway—it was just desperation. If you could spare thirty taels more…"
In moments, over half the women had scattered.
"Though I admire the Divine Lord, I refuse to steal another’s beloved," declared a haughty girl with a disdainful curl of her lip. "I’ll yield to you."
Luo Luo grinned. "Thanks, thanks!"
Of course, not everyone shared the same sentiment.
Luo Luo’s sharp ears caught whispers from the back: "If she can win the Divine Lord’s heart, why can’t I?"
"Hmph. Let’s see who has the better skills."
"If I bear a divine heir, the first thing I’ll do is demote her to a foot-washing maid—I can’t stand her arrogance! Heehee!"
In the end, only four women remained.
No matter how Luo Luo reasoned with them, these four refused to back down, determined to join the fray.
Saintess Zhen Tu sighed wearily. "If you keep this up, even I’ll start thinking about going home."
Wu Xie cut in decisively. "Enough. This will do. Before tomorrow, ensure the Divine Lord’s… attention is evenly distributed."
He fixed Luo Luo with a piercing glare, his eyes sharp with warning: Don’t give the Divine Palace reason to doubt your loyalty.
Luo Luo: I don’t speak cryptic glances.
She turned and led the four women up the black stone steps.
An uncomfortable weight settled between her shoulder blades—someone’s gaze, heavy with malice.
One of the women deliberately pitched her voice just loud enough to provoke: "I don’t see what’s so special about her. Her looks are average, and her figure’s nothing to boast about."
Luo Luo: "..."
She glanced back. "Your fight isn’t with me."
She looked up at the storm-laden sky and sighed. "It’s with fate."
The massive black obsidian doors groaned shut behind them.
Before the four ambitious women could even catch a glimpse of the Divine Lord’s face, a large quilt billowed through the air and smothered them.
Pfft!
All four were bundled neatly into the fabric. Before they could scream, the corners were knotted tight—sealing them into one giant dumpling of a package.
Luo Luo asked, "If a fight breaks out later, will the doors hold?"
After a moment’s thought, he hoisted the four-woman bundle with one hand and deposited it in a corner of the chamber.
Dusting his hands, he tilted his head. "Alright. Time to work."
Luo Luo: "Mm!"
They settled onto the bed, exchanging a glance before turning their attention to the neatly arranged vials of Yu Fusheng before them. Multiple doses, multiple people.
Luo Luo had never fought a battle this well-supplied.
With a resigned breath, she grabbed a vial of shimmering liquid. "Bottoms up!"
Before the aphrodisiac’s effects could take hold, she downed every last drop—this was their final night, and there was no time to pace herself.
Her vision blurred, then flooded with crimson.
Gripping her knees, Luo Luo swayed upright and lifted her gaze. He stood before her, tendrils of dark energy writhing at his back, his eyes burning like blood.
The potency of over a dozen doses of Yu Fusheng was no joke—her mind teetered on a razor’s edge.
"Eep—"
Reason frayed into a thin thread, barely clinging.
With a deafening crash, desire struck like a meteor, obliterating the last fragile barrier.
Unconsciously, she stumbled toward him, every fiber of her being screaming to entwine with him, to merge until nothing separated them.
He raised a hand, planting it firmly on her forehead to keep her at bay.
His pupils trembled as he growled, voice rough: "Do you have a death wish?"
He didn’t notice the inky threads of his own seals and malevolent energy slipping free, creeping toward her like a rising tide.
Strand by strand, coil by coil—they slithered around her wrists, her ankles, her waist, her neck. Clinging, caressing, possessive and ravenous.
Luo Luo blinked at his scolding.
She hadn’t forgotten to guard her dantian.
But now, it felt like a massive, detonated fireball raged inside—explosive shockwaves threatening to tear her apart. Yet her body was bound by icy, perilous restraints.
"I… I can’t hold—cough cough!"
Her own voice startled her. Never in her life had she sounded so… shamelessly soft. She hastily coughed to cover it up.
He said flatly, "Hold it in anyway."
Luo Luo: "Oh."
She exhaled inwardly—thank goodness he didn’t notice.
"I’m going to act now," he warned.
He withdrew his hand and stepped back.
Just as Luo Luo braced herself, she suddenly lurched forward—straight into his arms.
Their eyes locked. Lightning might as well have struck them both.
"I—"
"You—"
He looked down, horrified, at the dark tendrils coiled around her—they had dragged her to him.
Before she could notice, he yanked them back.
Gritting his teeth, he placed both hands on her shoulders, steadied her, and pushed her upright.
Luo Luo: "Huh?"
Though she didn’t quite understand why, this time she had genuinely "thrown herself into his arms," and surprisingly, he hadn’t scolded her.
"I’m starting," he said expressionlessly. "This is the last night. You won’t get another chance to escape death. Learn this sword technique, fight back against me, or I will truly kill you."
After all, if she wasn’t going to die by his hand, she’d die at the hands of the Divine Palace’s people. He didn’t mind giving her a quick end.
Luo Luo: "Fine."
She tightened her grip on her sword.
Fear and battlelust ignited her excitement—only this burning thrill could suppress the overwhelming flood of desire.
"Come on, fight!" she roared at him.
With a flick of his wrist, he pulled out a long, bloodstained sealing thread.
A thunderous rumble came from the southeast as a corner of the Eight Trigrams seal in the sky rippled like water.
"Whoosh—" The faint sound of cutting wind echoed as one deadly thread after another shot toward her.
Luo Luo dodged and weaved.
As she leaned back, a blood-red thread nearly grazed her eyeball.
"Clink."
It embedded itself into the black tower behind her.
In the next instant, it abruptly retracted, dragging down a section of the tower wall that crashed toward her.
As Luo Luo leaped away, the thread pierced through her ankle.
"Tch—"
In that moment of hesitation, the sealing thread burrowed into her marrow, instantly spiraling up, piercing her shinbone and embedding itself into her spine.
In the span of a single breath, her entire skeletal structure was compromised.
With a sharp tug of his hand, she plummeted from midair and slammed heavily into the ruins of the black tower before him.
Before she could struggle to her feet, he planted a foot on her shoulder.
Leaning forward, hand resting on his knee, he gazed down at her. A faint smile played on his lips, but his tone was icy.
"Seems you didn’t take my words seriously."
His fingers twitched, and a thin thread coiled around her neck, slowly tightening.
Luo Luo’s hair stood on end.
"I was wrong!" she shouted. "That was a mistake—I should’ve cut off my foot to escape! Give me one more chance!"
Subconsciously, she still hadn’t treated this as a life-or-death battle.
Now she knew her error.
He considered for a moment, then nodded. "One last time. Show me your resolve to survive at all costs."
The sealing thread withdrew.
This was a completely one-sided fight.
He overpowered her effortlessly, already familiar with her every move, predicting her actions before she made them.
His sleeves billowed as he unleashed lethal strikes, reducing black palaces, towers, and pavilions to rubble in their wake.
Again and again, Luo Luo was sent crashing into the wreckage.
She dared not let her guard down again. Even if it meant shattering bones or losing a hand, she refused to give him another chance to land a killing blow.
In this dream, pain was real—but non-fatal wounds could be mended with sheer will.
Every time she crawled out of the dust, she emerged anew.
"Come," she rasped, raising her sword toward him. "Again!"
Hovering midair, sleeves fluttering, he controlled the threads of death with his fingers. His aura was both foreign and familiar.
They fought from the mountaintop to the base, then back to the training grounds before the palace.
A pause, a closing of eyes—and the ruined battlefield restored itself.
Luo Luo understood. He was rehearsing their escape from the Divine Palace.
She threw herself into the role, evading his attacks while deliberately avoiding collapsing structures, searching for the shortest path to survival.
Noticing her efforts, he didn’t withhold praise. "Not bad."
Then he struck harder, breaking her bones anew.
Luo Luo: "Oh, how kind of you!"
"BOOM!"
Her body shattered and reformed over and over. Her meridians grew tougher, her spiritual energy denser, tidal waves of power surging through her dantian.
Suddenly, Luo Luo threw up a hand. "W-wait! I’m about to break through!"
Her golden core was swollen to bursting with condensed spiritual energy, cracks beginning to form.
He grabbed a black stone pillar and swung it down at her. "Hold it in."
Luo Luo: "..."
She raised her sword to block. Sparks flew as the impact sent her skidding back dozens of feet, leaving deep grooves in the ground.
In a flash, he was before her again.
His elbow slammed into her collarbone, his voice frigid. "If he’s at the Divine Transformation stage, what difference does it make if you’re Golden Core or Nascent Soul?"
Luo Luo nodded. "Prepare for the worst. I get it—both are insignificant against a Divine Transformation cultivator."
The corner of his mouth lifted. "A Golden Core might make him underestimate you."
Luo Luo’s eyes brightened. "Exactly!"
His smile widened. "And me talking to you? That’s to make you drop your guard."
Luo Luo: "...Grass." (A certain plant)
She barely dodged the fatal strike, tumbling into the ruins once more.
"CRASH!"
From the palace, breaking the southeast trigram, all the way to the mountain’s base.
Over and over.
Luo Luo memorized the path until she could navigate it blindfolded.
But...
She seized a moment to ask, "Why do they only chase us to the foot of the mountain?"
In response, he manipulated the massive seal behind him.
With a flip of his palm, the seal inverted into its opposite trigram.
"Trapping the pursuers inside!" Luo Luo gasped. "You’re a genius!"
She was certain he’d improvised this mid-battle.
He sent her flying with a palm strike, displeased. "What’s the use? A simple sword technique, and you still can’t grasp it after a whole night."
Luo Luo: "..."
These prodigies were truly insufferable.
Li Zhaoye was the same—always looking down at her, asking why she couldn’t master a new technique in one read, why two practice sessions weren’t enough, why she only scored nine out of ten on exams.
Luo Luo fumed: "You only beat me by one point!"
Li Zhaoye replied earnestly: "Because ten was the highest."
Give him a hundred more questions, and he still wouldn’t miss one.
Infuriating.
"Swish—"
A sealing thread grazed her cheek as he arched a brow. "Daring to space out?"
Luo Luo realized belatedly: "...In this dream, can you not hear my thoughts?"
He smirked. "Does it matter?"
"...Not really."
Luo Luo’s golden core felt indestructible now.
The escape route was etched into her mind.
She sensed dawn approaching.
They had to strike first, catching the Divine Palace off guard.
The Palace would surely activate the seal to suppress him, forcing him back into slumber. Their only hope was to exploit the narrow window before the seal fully closed.
Yet Luo Luo still hadn’t mastered that sword technique.
Its essence was too profound—she couldn’t grasp it.
He looked down at her, understanding in his gaze. "You still don’t fear death."
Luo Luo protested: "That’s not true."
Though he couldn’t read her mind here, his piercing stare seemed to strip her bare. "Your obsession isn’t with this world. Those who wish to die can’t comprehend this sword."
Her mind buzzed.
He’d shattered her most fortified disguise. All her frantic efforts—revenge, distractions—were just ways to numb herself.
If she truly wanted to see Li Zhaoye again, the simplest path was clear.
All she had to do was die.
Just die.
Luo Luo's pupils trembled as she staggered backward. "I—"
"Then die."
He struck without warning.
This time, he left her no room to escape.
Before Luo Luo could even raise her sword, her bones shattered one by one under his assault.
Her ability to regenerate limbs with her mind couldn’t keep up with the devastation he wrought.
Her body trembled like a leaf in the wind, too weak to dodge.
Suddenly, his slender, skeletal hand paused mid-air.
He gave her a cold smile. "Watch closely. I’ll only show you once."
His fingers clenched, and a sword materialized in his palm—forged from black, malevolent energy.
"Clang—"
In Luo Luo’s widened eyes, she saw the most perfect strike imaginable.
Her heartbeat stopped entirely.
The illusion shattered. Luo Luo’s eyes snapped open just as a large hand clamped around her wrist.
He teleported them both. The icy terror of being impaled still clung to her chest when he flung open the obsidian palace gates, standing beneath a sky full of stars.
For a moment, Luo Luo was dazed.
This scene had repeated countless times. But now—this was the last. In the real world, they would break free.
He glanced at her, expressionless. "This time, you’ll get the death you beg for."
Luo Luo turned her gaze slowly. "Begin."
His lips curved, the marks in his eyes flickering. "Begin."
The scenario from the dream played out again.
He tore out a blood-soaked seal. The southeast trembled violently as a metallic eight-trigram formation shook the earth.
Several figures tumbled out from behind the formation.
One scrambled to crawl back, another shouted hoarsely, "Something’s wrong!"
In a flash, Luo Luo stood atop a black tower.
He released her, yanking out threads of the seal to shatter golden nodes lighting up across the formation.
Striding forward, Luo Luo moved beside him with practiced ease, dodging collapsing iron ruins.
A third of the way through, the awaited disruption came—
The massive formation ignited in blue-gold light. Chants like sacred hymns echoed through the mountain.
"Hum… hum…"
Luo Luo turned to see blood gushing from his mouth, golden and red seals flashing violently across his body.
He closed his eyes briefly. When they reopened, they burned with fury.
The threads of the seal darkened with corruption, spreading like veins across the formation—a path of decay.
He walked forward, self-destructing with every step.
Buildings crumbled behind him.
His timing was flawless. The formation lagged just behind him, sealing shut in his wake.
In a blink, they cleared the mountainside, leaving a trail of ruins that curved like a shortcut.
Success was within reach—almost too easy.
Even Luo Luo’s steady heart pounded. Thud! Thud-thud!
A glimmer of light flickered in the distance.
Two deafening chants struck from behind.
Wu Xie and Zhen Tu had caught up.
Luo Luo looked at him anxiously. Blood poured from his lips, his brow furrowed, eyes occasionally freezing—he was fighting the seal’s suppression.
With a sweep of his hands, a crosshatch of lethal threads sliced toward the two priestesses.
Luo Luo’s breath hitched.
If he’d used this on her, she’d have been minced into ten thousand pieces.
But the priestesses were near-ascendant cultivators. Though strained, they endured.
Their chants grew louder, vibrating through Luo Luo’s skull, churning her blood.
The god didn’t pause. The moment his attack launched, he grabbed Luo Luo and teleported to the final rooftop.
He wrenched the last seal.
Blood sprayed. To Luo Luo, the starlit sky seemed painted crimson.
But the final seal differed from the dreams—to avoid alerting the divine palace, he’d deduced its location himself. And he’d miscalculated.
It was the harem.
Luo Luo snarled, "Who in their right mind uses helpless women as a formation anchor?!"
Anger was pointless now.
Forcing the seal would bury the witless women alive.
Without hesitation, Luo Luo said, "I’ll save them. You go if you must!"
He wouldn’t care if she died. When it was time, he’d leave.
She’d save who she could. Not saving them would haunt her.
For cultivators, an unquiet mind was the greatest danger.
Luo Luo dove on her sword.
Now at the peak of the Golden Core stage, her power felt entirely new—like a child suddenly wielding an adult’s strength.
She weaved through collapsing halls, smashing doors and windows.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
She bundled sleeping women in bedsheets, hauling them behind her.
Soon, she dragged a chain of them.
One stirred in the wind, clapping like a child. "Fly—flying! Flying!"
Others woke, joining in. "Fly-fly! Woo—fly-fly!"
The eldest was near eighty.
At life’s cruel end, they rediscovered childlike joy.
Amid the chaos, Luo Luo spotted a "familiar" face—Wu Ya, the corpse puppet. She grabbed her too.
As the harem crumbled, Luo Luo burst free, landing the women safely in a clearing.
Turning to leave, she saw one slowly wave. Then another. And another…
She raced back.
Ahead, a circular clearing had been carved from the ruins—everything within reduced to dust.
Three figures stood at the center.
One step back, and he could’ve escaped the seal alone.
But he’d waited for her. That delay let Wu Xie and Zhen Tu trap him with curses.
His tall frame bent slightly, eyes half-lidded, blood pooling at his feet. Seeing Luo Luo, he smirked—weak but defiant.
"You…"
Suppressing her emotions, Luo Luo stepped in front of him, shielding him.
"I thought you were a smart one," Wu Xie halted her incantation, her expression cold. "Never imagined you could be this foolish. Tonight's actions were already idiotic enough, and now you insist on saving those worthless lives? That’s sheer stupidity piled atop stupidity!"
"Is that so?" Luo Luo replied. "Does the Holy Maiden believe some lives are more precious than others?"
Wu Xie had no patience left for her. Her lips moved silently as she resumed channeling the sealing spell.
The golden Eight Trigrams seal covering the divine mountain’s sky descended once more, closing in on them.
Once the Divine Lord was imprisoned, Luo Luo would be nothing more than an ant beneath her palm.
"But I don’t see it that way," Luo Luo continued. "To me, every life is equally precious—whether it’s the Divine Lord, the Holy Maiden, a cultivator, a mortal..."
Wu Xie remained unmoved.
Luo Luo pressed on: "Or a corpse puppet kept in the divine palace because an old woman couldn’t bear to let her leave this world. Or even... a baby who drifted down the Sacred River, picked up and raised to grow strong and beautiful."
Wu Xie’s face betrayed no emotion, but her pupils flickered twice.
Her lips parted slightly, her chanting slowing, forcing the Holy Maiden’s sacred diagram to pause and wait for her.
"How do you know this?" Wu Xie’s voice dripped with lethal intent.
Luo Luo: "..."
She had thought it would be obvious.
Had the new technique she and he developed together really been this obscure—no, this unorthodox?
Speaking to Wu Xie, Luo Luo had grown accustomed to keeping her expression blank. "I know more than that. I also know a life-or-death secret concerning your great-grandson."
A glint flashed in Wu Xie’s eyes.
Zhen Tu frowned. "Wu Xie. Don’t compound your mistakes. Kill her."
Wu Xie pressed her lips together. "I know."
Yet she couldn’t resist asking Luo Luo: "What secret? Speak, and I’ll spare your life."
Luo Luo: "Lean closer. I’ll tell you."
Wu Xie glanced up. The sky-wide seal had already descended, its locking incantations nearly complete.
She lowered her gaze, vanished in an instant, and reappeared before Luo Luo, her hand gripping the girl’s collar. "Talk."
A mere Golden Core cultivator.
In that split second, Luo Luo’s hand—hanging limply at her side—suddenly moved.
In it was her sword.
It was the most ordinary-looking strike, one she had practiced a thousand times in her dreams yet never mastered.
But now, with death looming and a reason to survive burning in her heart, she finally understood its essence.
"Clang—"
This was the life-and-death strike of a Golden Core cultivator, one even the Nascent Soul cultivator Qingxu Zhenjun had once witnessed.
And now, Holy Maiden Wu Xie stared blankly at the bloodied tip of the sword protruding from her chest.
She—a Nascent Soul cultivator—had been pierced through by a mere Golden Core’s blade, her spell severed mid-cast.
Luo Luo struck and retreated without hesitation.
She flipped backward, and the momentarily freed Divine Lord seized her wrist, his grin bloody.
He threw back his head and laughed. "You’ve graduated!"
With her in tow, he lunged for the last sliver of unsealed space.
As their sleeves billowed, he formed a hand seal with his free hand. The reversal array—complete!
The first golden light of dawn spilled over them.
Bathed in radiance, the two figures no longer seemed ragged. From afar, they looked like a pair of eagles soaring into the boundless sky.
