Chapter 3: When Rotten Apples Knock on Your Door (R-18)

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"Ahh...ahh...aaah!!!" The sound of flesh slapping flesh rocked a spacious room as two entangled figures groaned in one another's arms. Sprawling on a round, velvet-sheeted mattress, a beauty swayed below a dark-skinned youth, her flailing legs spread wide, and her tongue hanging loose. At first, she kept her hands tightly on his ass, helping him drive his meat-slab down her dripping cunt with long, hard strokes. But when speed, intensity and technique meshed in an organic whole, her body submitted to the electrifying assault, enabling the youth to plunder her wantonly.

Few could imagine that this hubris-filled autocrat of a woman could so willingly yield her body and mind to a man's crotch. But for those that experienced Xinzi's prowess, scenes like this made perfect sense. Grabbing Yan Le by the waist, Xinzi lifted her while bending back so that the two fell into a sitting position. Dazed by lust, she initially didn't notice the change. But when Xinzi's wolfish eyes locked on hers, her heartbeat sped up, her body shuddered, and her cunt tightened in response.

As a decades-old rogue cultivator, Yan Le had seen her fair share of strapping men and pretty boys. From conceit to inexperience, most carried too many flaws to hold her attention. But in Xinzi's brown eyes she saw a mystical, almost animalistic appeal that sapped her strength—putting her in his thrall. This wasn't entirely Xinzi's merit. Not only were the Copulation Arrays skewed in his favor, but his comprehension of the Clear Heart mantra had long fallen into demonism—thereby prompting fiendish effects on his prey.

Passing one hand through Yan Le's ponytail, Xinzi pulled out her hairpin, letting her dark-brown hair drop at her back. For a second, he stood still, maintaining eye contact. Her cunt tightened further, and he took her lips into his.

Not prepared for this level of intimacy, Yan Le lost whatever bit of sanity she had left, falling further into Xinzi's thrall. Sensing his partner's disordered state of mind, Xinzi pressed on, thrusting his cock up and down her hole in the slow and sensuous lotus position. "Ohh yes...ohh...abbot...abbot! Ahhh!" The paced stuffing and scraping of her insides made short work of the lady's senses. Holding onto Xinzi's back, she swung her hips to match his thrusts, unwittingly breaking into a licentious dance.

"Fill me, abbot! Mark me! Plow me! Make me yours! Ahhhh!" Yan Le grunted as her tits bounced against Xinzi's face, and she convulsed in her umpteenth orgasm. Never one to let down a faithful donor, Xinzi broke his lance—unloading his thick spunk deep in Yan Le's hole. Throwing her head back, she curled her lips into a silly smile—laying there in a blissful daze. At that time, strands of golden flames surged from underneath the mattress, wrapping the two in a great fireball.

Already a step away from a breakthrough, Xinzi pushed past the final barrier and reached the ninth level of Qi Refinement. Meanwhile, though his cultivation couldn't match Yanle's, Xinzi was born under the seventh full moon of the rat's year—giving him a body of Yin-Yang Harmony. To dual cultivators, such bodies were of marvelous use. Thus, while Xinzi's cultivation couldn't compare to Yanle's, she benefitted as much as he did—making great strides towards the Pulse Condensation stage.

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Following this session of hard, sweaty enlightenment, Xinzi returned to his office to ponder a pressing issue: Xia Hu.

Xinzi's interest in Chunxu went far beyond wanton lust.

First, just like him, Chunxu was born under the seventh full moon of the rat's year. This not only made her an exquisite dual cultivation partner but also ensured that even without a peerless technique such as the Yin-Yang Sword Array, the two of them would receive massive benefits from dual cultivation. Their compatibility level was off the charts. With her as his partner, to say nothing of Foundation Building, Xinzi didn't doubt that within 200 years, he could break through to the Nascent Soul stage and become a sect powerhouse.

Second, as the Sword Fairy, Chunxu's understanding of sword principles put many elite disciples to shame. Once they combined her sword savvy with his formation talent, the Yin-Yang Sword Array's might would reach unprecedented heights. No matter how he approached the issue, Xinzi couldn't let go of this bride. But with Xia Hu in the way, how could he snatch her? It was almost as if fate itself demanded that he become Xia Hu's stepping stone—his body stiffened at the thought.

"Never mind. With enough preparation, even a mountain can collapse. No matter how fast you rise, as long as you remain a Qi Refinement disciple, I have the means to deal with you."

'A'Zhi, take 10,000 spirit stones from the treasury and buy me the best second-layer Jewel Box of the Armament Hall. A'Zhu, announce to our donors that the Liberation Temple will close its doors until further notice. I must prepare for the Yin-Yang Controller competition.' Unleashing his Spiritual Sense, Xinzi sent a mental message to his two initiates.

'As you command, abbot,' A'Zhi said and left for the Armament Hall.

'Abbot...the outer court's prime disciple, Rong Suishan, wants to meet you. He...holds the patriarch's token,' A'Zhu stressed the last two words—trembling as she spoke. Though he ranked at the top of the outer court and would one day surpass her, Rong Suishan couldn't provoke such a reaction from A'Zhu. But whenever the patriarch's token appeared, to say nothing of her, even elders couldn't hold still.

By cultivating the Yin-Yang Sword Array to the fifth level, the sect masters, Guang Fanghu and Zi Yao reached the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm at just 500. Worse, once they unleashed the array, even late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators couldn't compete with them. Building their prestige on countless corpses, the husband-wife pair held equal status to the strongest three of the Dongli State—with many believing that they'd soon outpace the old monsters.

If their name carried such prestige beyond the sect, one could only imagine what they represented within its walls. Rong Suishan didn't doubt that with the patriarch's token in his hands, Xinzi would rush to greet him. However...

'Oh? Interesting. Bring him in,' Xinzi said, and a moment later, A'Zhu was knocking on his door with a Suishan at her left. Controlled by formless forces, the door opened wide. Rong Suishan saw this as Xinzi's invitation and calmly walked in. Her job done, A'Zhu bowed at Xinzi and returned to the front office.

Again, Rong Suishan expected Xinzi to make the first move. But when greeted by the lotus monk's closed eyes and silence, he realized that while Xinzi might give face to the patriarch's token, in his mind, Rong Suishan didn't mean a fart. If the disrespect frustrated him, Rong Suishan didn't show it. Better, he cupped his hands in greeting and bowed at Xinzi.

"Junior brother, congratulations on your breakthrough. At this pace, it won't be long before you join the inner court," Rong Suishan started. Unless Xinzi concealed his accomplishments, anyone could probe his cultivation base. Therefore, Rong Suishan's words didn't surprise him.

"What a pity...that when compared to Xia Hu, these accomplishments are not worth mentioning. Tell me, junior brother, how many Spiritual Drops do you think Xia Hu has cultivated? 1,000? 1,500?" Rong Suishan straightened his back and smiled at Xinzi. On usual days, a man smiling at him in such fashion would fill Xinzi with goosebumps, but as he pondered his senior's words, Xinzi couldn't jest.

Qi Refinement cultivators harvested the Qi of Heaven and Earth and refined it into Spiritual Drops. Dual cultivation might enable them to generate more Spiritual Qi and accelerate the conversion speed, but the process remained the same. With each level demanding 10 Spiritual Drops, ninth-level Qi Refinement cultivators such as Xinzi had 90 drops, whereas the traditional tenth-level Qi Refinement expert had 100. But here starts the problem.

Breaking through to Foundation Building with only 100 Spiritual Drops almost guaranteed that the expert would stop at that stage. Besides the most mediocre of disciples, who could accept this? Thus, before pushing for Foundation Building, most talents saturated their dantian with as many Spiritual Drops as they could cultivate. The more Spiritual Drops, the stronger they became, and the farther they could go on the cultivation road.

Rong Suishan had reached the peak of Qi Refinement 10 years ago but suppressed himself to cultivate more drops. Now with 350 drops at 32, he could be considered a top talent of the Dongli state. In Qi Refinement, Guang Fanghu and Zi Yao had cultivated 600, a once-in-a-century achievement that enabled them to contend with mid-stage Foundation Building cultivators. Even Chun Xu, the once-in-a-thousand-year Sword Fairy, capped at 1,500. With this, she could beat late-stage Foundation Building experts like raggedy dogs. But Xia Hu...no one could tell for sure.

To defeat inner disciples the way he did, 1,500 was the bare minimum. But if he cultivated more, yet somehow concealed the true depth of his achievements, Xinzi couldn't fathom the outcome of a rash challenge.

"The Golden Lotus be praised. You also know that my big brother's strength has gone far beyond the limits of Qi Refinement but have the nerve to bring a motley crew to challenge him? Are you so desperate for beauties that you no longer care for your neck?"

"Gentlemen die for beauties, how can we escape?"

"Damn your mother. Who wants to die?"

"Huh?" Although he'd heard rumors of Xinzi's unconventional religious stance, Rong Suishan didn't expect to hear such coarse language from a genius monk. His jaw dropped, and his eyes blinked at Xinzi.

"Hum, hum. Anyway, you're correct, 10, 15, 20, it doesn't matter. To defeat Xia Hu, raw numbers are not the answer.

"So you want me to support you. To join your motley crew and use a second-layer Formation to make your team's strength overlap. With my skills as a black-grade Formation Master and your team's cultivation level, 10 Xia Hu cannot survive," Xinzi sneered at Rong Suishan's petty thoughts. But never did he expect his next words to be...

"No. I want you to support yourself. Better, let us support you. Xinzi, you are the most favored disciple of the Great Elders. Granted, he has never made his stance clear, but even the Yang Patriarch favors you. Who do you think he'd rather pair his adored daughter with? Me or you?

Formation Masters rule this world. This...is your world. For you, the sect can bend millennia-old rules and accommodate all fancies. Chun Xu, Dong Ling, if only you're willing to seize the momentum we offer, you can have them both. All achievements require sacrifices. Can your friendship with Xia Hu compare to the immeasurable road the patriarch can pave for you?" As the words rolled off his tongue, Rong Suishan kneeled and extended his hands towards Xinzi.

A translucent orb of crackling lightning shot out of his storage ring, unleashing waves of horrifying Qi that threatened to rip all formations asunder.

"A Wisp...of Heaven's Breath?" Xinzi's eyebrows arched up, and his heart drummed against his chest.