The interior of the Secret Realm was a paradise of lush, vibrant greenery and floating islands suspended in the air by ancient, gravity-defying arrays, but down in the central valley, the tranquility had been shattered into a chaotic, violent storm of fire and water.
Feng Xiao stood on the surface of the central lake, his black robes whipping around him in the gale force winds generated by his own Battle Aura. He looked every inch the hero of a legend, his back straight, his expression fierce and unyielding. In front of him, the water boiled and churned as the guardians of the Azure Sea Soul Grass rose from the depths to reclaim their territory.
It wasn’t just three Deep Sea Hydras. It was a veritable army of aquatic nightmares.
Three massive Abyssal Hydra Kings, each with nine heads weaving through the air like venomous snakes, roared in unison, their scales glistening with a dark, tallic blue luster. They were peak-tier Beast Kings, their individual auras pressing down on the valley with the weight of a mountain range, easily equivalent to a 5th Stage Martial King. Flanking them were two Blood-Tooth Sawshark Kings, leviathans that "swam" through the air as easily as water, their snouts lined with serrated bone blades that buzzed with lethal Water Qi.
Feng Xiao was only a 1st Stage Martial King. By all logic, he should have been turned into paste within seconds.
But Feng Xiao didn’t follow logic. He followed destiny.
"Sister Su! Stay back!" Feng Xiao roared, his voice cutting through the deafening roar of the beasts. He didn’t look back at Ya Su, who was cowering near the entrance of the valley, but his concern was palpable. "Do not enter the water! The domain of these beasts is absolute!"
"Brother Xiao... be careful!" Ya Su cried out, her voice trembling. She wasn’t acting. The pressure rolling off the Beast Kings was terrifying, enough to suppress her Elite Martialist cultivation into paralysis. But beneath her fear for him, there was a darker, colder fear gripping her heart—the fear of the invisible monster watching from the shadows, the fear of the curse stamped onto her womb. She watched Feng Xiao, her heart twisting. ’He fights for ... for us... and I am... soiled.’
The battle erupted instantly.
One of the Hydras unleashed a torrent of pressurized water from all nine mouths, a beam of destruction capable of punching through a city wall.
Feng Xiao didn’t dodge. He stomped his foot on the water’s surface.
"Heavenly Fla Transformation: First Style—Cerulean Sea Heart!"
A magnificent, deep blue fla erupted from his body. It wasn’t hot like normal fire; it was fluid, heavy, and possessed the crushing pressure of the deep ocean. The Cerulean Sea Heart Fla. It clashed with the Hydra’s water beam, not evaporating it, but dominating it, turning the water attack into a mist of superheated steam that blinded the beast.
But the Sawsharks were already moving, blurring through the mist, their serrated blades aiming for Feng Xiao’s neck.
Feng Xiao spun, his heavy black sword appearing in his hand.
"Second Style—Netherworld Ghost Fla!"
His sword ignited with a pale, bone-white fire that scread with the voices of the damned. He slashed out, a crescent of white fire cutting through the air. The Sawsharks shrieked as the fla touched them—it didn’t burn their flesh, it burned their souls. They recoiled, thrashing in the air, their spiritual connection to the water disrupted.
High up on a ridge overlooking the valley, shrouded in a stealth field that bent light and sound around them, Alaric watched the spectacle with his arms crossed, a critical, unimpressed look on his face. Lin Ruoli stood a step behind him, her eyes wide as she watched the devastation below.
"He’s strong," Lin Ruoli whispered, her voice barely audible. "To fight five Beast Kings at once... and he is winning. His flas... they are terrifying."
"He’s the protagonist," Alaric said, his voice flat, analyzing the fight like a butcher examining a carcass. "Of course he’s winning. Look at him. He’s not just using one fla. He’s juggling them."
Down below, the battle intensified. The Hydras, enraged, combined their attacks, creating a massive tsunami of Water Qi that threatened to drown the entire valley.
Feng Xiao’s eyes glowed gold. He roared, his aura exploding.
"Third Style—Titan’s Core Fla!"
A thick, heavy, brownish-gold fire erupted from his chest, forming a massive armor around him. It was a fla born from the crushing pressure of the earth’s core. He punched the tsunami, the heavy fla shattering the water like glass.
Then, he combined them.
"Tri-Color Lotus Annihilation!"
Feng Xiao brought his hands together. The Blue, White, and Gold flas swirled, compressing into a beautiful, terrifying three-colored lotus flower in his palm. He flicked it forward.
The lotus drifted lazily toward the center of the beast formation. The Beast Kings, sensing imminent death, tried to flee, but it was too late.
BOOM.
A mushroom cloud of multi-colored fire rose into the sky, vaporizing the lake water instantly. The shockwave flattened the trees for a mile. The Beast Kings were blasted backward, their scales charred, their formations broken. They weren’t dead—Beast Kings were incredibly resilient—but they were howling in pain, their regeneration halted by the lingering energy of the Heavenly Flas.
"He’ll win," Alaric judged, turning away from the light show. "He’s going to grind them down. It will take him... maybe a day. Maybe two. He has to harvest their cores and grab the herb without damaging it. He’ll be busy."
He looked at Lin Ruoli. "This is where we part ways for now."
"Master?" Lin Ruoli asked, tearing her eyes away from the battlefield.
"I have a date," Alaric said, looking toward the distant, snowy peaks that ringed the pocket dinsion. "Ti is all I need. You stay here. Keep an eye on the ’hero.’ If he finishes early, or if he heads towards the mountains... alert through the soul link. Do not engage him. Do not let him see you."
"I understand," Lin Ruoli bowed.
Alaric didn’t waste another second. He stepped off the ridge, his body blurring as he utilized his spatial magic. He didn’t fly; he stepped through the air, folding the distance between himself and the peaks with casual ease. He left the noise and the fire behind, heading into the silent, biting cold of the mountains.
The air grew thinner, sharper. The lush greenery faded, replaced by ice-rid rock and eternal snow.
Alaric moved fast, his Arcane Eye scanning the flow of Qi. He could feel it—a massive, chaotic knot of Ice Qi hidden deep within a canyon. It was a beacon to anyone sensitive to magic, but invisible to a Martialist who only looked for Battle Aura.
He landed on a narrow ledge halfway up a sheer cliff face. Before him stood a cave entrance, completely sealed by a wall of translucent, blue ice.
Alaric ran his hand over the surface. It was cold enough to freeze blood instantly. Etched into the ice was a stylized snowflake symbol.
"The Frozen Cloud Asgard," Alaric murmured, tracing the lines. He didn’t recognize the specific technique—he wasn’t a scholar of this world’s martial arts—but he recognized the intent. "A containnt seal. Hastily made. Desperate."
"She locked herself in," he analyzed, his breath misting in the air. "She knew her breakthrough was going wrong. She tried to force the transition to Martial King without enough origin essence. Stupid. Or arrogant. Probably hurt, or maybe she used a forbidden technique that burned her reserves. The energy backfired, freezing her ridians to save her life, but trapping her in a coma. A living ice statue."
He chuckled darkly. "Normally, Feng Xiao would find her. He’d grab his herb, co up here exploring, and use his Heavenly Fla to gently lt the ice, saving her life. They would have a romantic mont. She would wake up, weak and vulnerable, in the arms of the man she secretly loves. She would fall deeper."
Alaric’s lips curled into a sneer. "Too bad. I’m stealing that scene. And the actress."
He placed his palm flat against the ice wall.
"Burn," he whispered.
He didn’t use a Heavenly Fla. He didn’t have one. He summoned the Azure Spirit Lion’s flas—a unique, spectral fire that burned spiritual energy, mana, and Qi itself. It was a violet-blue fire that made no sound and gave off no heat, yet it consud the very essence of magic.
The ice wall didn’t lt into water; it unraveled. The Qi holding the ice together was devoured by Alaric’s fla, turning the barrier into harmless vapor. He carved a hole just big enough for him to walk through.
He stepped inside.
The interior of the cave was a cathedral of white. Stalactites of ice hung from the ceiling like jagged teeth. The air was so cold it felt solid, a heavy pressure that would have killed a normal human instantly.
In the center of the cave, suspended in a massive, rough-hewn block of "Absolute Zero Ice," was a woman.
Yun Lan.
Alaric stopped, his breath catching in his throat for just a second.
She was stunning. Even frozen in a block of ice, her beauty was undeniable, otherworldly. Her skin was pale as moonlight, flawless and smooth. Her long white hair fanned out around her in the ice like a halo of frost. She wore the intricate, layered robes of the Frozen Cloud Asgard—blue and white silk embroidered with silver threads. Her face was peaceful, her eyes closed, looking like a sleeping goddess.
But Alaric’s Mage Sight saw the truth. The chaos within her. Her Qi was a frozen storm, trapped mid-explosion. She was on the edge of death.
He walked up to the block of ice, circling it like a shark.
"You really ssed yourself up, didn’t you?" he whispered, his voice echoing in the cave.
He raised his hand again, summoning the Azure flas. He began to lt the ice block, but he did it with surgical precision. He didn’t just want to free her. He wanted to... unwrap her.
He directed the spectral fire carefully. The ice began to recede, turning to steam.
As the ice lted away from her body, Alaric increased the intensity of the fla just enough.
The fabric of her robes, brittle from the absolute cold and infused with the ice Qi, stood no chance against the Azure fire. It incinerated instantly upon contact, turning to grey ash that floated away on the rising steam.
Layer by layer, the silk vanished. The outer robe. The inner tunic. The undergarnts.
Yun Lan was revealed. Naked. Vulnerable. Exposed.
Alaric let the last of the ice lt, catching her as she slumped forward, unconscious.
She fell into his arms, her skin ice-cold, hard as marble. He held her easily, his strength far surpassing that of a human.
He looked down at her.
She was a mature beauty, a woman in her pri, not a girl. Her body was a masterpiece of curves and softness that belied her icy reputation. Her breasts were full and high, heavy with maturity, tipped with frozen pink nipples that looked like berries in the snow. Her waist was slender, but her hips flared out perfectly, wide and inviting, hips made for bearing children.
His eyes traveled down. Her pussy was a neat, pink slit, hairless and pristine, looking innocent and untouched.
Alaric extended his senses, probing her aura with a thread of his magic. He checked for the tell-tale sign of the Primordial Yin—the source of a female cultivator’s purity.
It was gone.
Alaric’s eyes narrowed, then widened with a flash of dark, possessive excitent.
’She’s not a virgin,’ he noted, a smirk twisting his lips. ’Feng Xiao... you lucky little bastard. You’ve already claid her, haven’t you? The student and the teacher. Keeping it secret from the world. How naughty.’
Most n would be disappointed. Alaric wasn’t most n.
’Taking a virgin is conquering a fortress,’ he thought, his hand sliding down the curve of her cold, naked back. ’But taking a woman who belongs to another man? Taking a woman who has already given her heart and body to the hero? That is plundering. That is theft. And stolen fruit always tastes sweeter.’
He held her there for a mont, just enjoying the weight of her against him. He wasn’t going to fuck her. Not yet. Not while she was a corpse. That was inefficient. He needed her mind. He needed her gratitude. He needed to twist her loyalty until she was his.
But that didn’t an he couldn’t have a taste.
He shifted his grip, one arm supporting her back, his other hand moving to her chest. He cupped her breast, the flesh cold and firm. He squeezed, kneading the soft weight, watching the pale skin depress under his fingers.
"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty," he whispered, leaning down.
He kissed her. Her lips were cold, unresponsive, but soft. He pushed his tongue into her mouth, exploring the cavern, tasting the lingering ice energy. He kissed her deeply, thoroughly, stealing the breath she wasn’t even taking.
His hand moved down, over her flat stomach, to her hip. He gripped her buttock, squeezing the soft, cold flesh, pulling her hips against his groin. He ground himself against her, his erection hard behind his trousers.
"You feel good," he murmured against her neck, biting the skin lightly. "Cold, but good. I’ll warm you up soon enough."
He pulled back, looking at her face. She was still unconscious, completely unaware of the violation.
"Right," Alaric said, shifting into "actor" mode. "Ti to play the hero."
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