The mont the empress said those final words while still lying against the sheets, Lucas felt sothing inside him break loose. It was not pain. It was not discomfort. It was sothing far more overwhelming and intoxicating.
A dizzying wave rushed through him, as if the world had tilted on its axis. His vision swam for a mont, and he reached out instinctively to steady himself, but even that simple movent felt distant, almost dreamlike. The Yin energy coursing through his ridians was wild and imnse, far more intense than anything he had ever absorbed before. It was as if her entire cultivation foundation had poured its essence directly into him in a single, unstoppable surge.
His breathing grew uneven. His pulse hamred against his ribs like a war drum. He tried to speak but the first sound ca out strangled. He pressed a hand against the bedpost, then the wall, trying to ground himself, but the rush kept climbing, drowning every other sensation.
The empress slowly lifted her head from the pillow, watching him closely. Her expression shifted from satisfaction to slight alarm as she noticed the way he swayed and how unfocused his eyes had beco.
"Xavier?" she called softly.
He lifted a hand, trying to reassure her, even though he could barely stand straight.
He could feel his core whirling, pulling in the Yin energy at a speed he never imagined was possible. He felt powerful yet painfully overloaded, as if one more breath might make him explode.
He forced his trembling lips to move.
"You... you should not waste ti," he muttered, the words slurring slightly as he staggered backward. "Use it. Use this mont. Break your bottleneck now... before it fades."
Even in his unstable state, he managed a faint smirk, though it was crooked from how lightheaded he had beco.
"This... this amount of Yin... it is too much for ..."
The empress sat up imdiately. She recognized the seriousness of his condition and understood precisely what he ant. Her eyes narrowed with determination, and she slid gracefully off the bed, adjusting her clothing around her shoulders.
She moved to the open space near the center of the chamber and lowered herself onto the floor, legs crossed. The calmness that settled over her was instantaneous, like a candle fla shielding itself from the wind.
"I will not waste a single breath," she said quietly, her tone filled with resolve.
Lucas leaned heavily against the wall, still trying to breathe normally as the overwhelming rush of Yin made his limbs feel weightless and heavy at the sa ti. His entire body felt as though it were floating, humming with power that had nowhere to settle.
He watched her take a deep breath. Her aura flared, growing sharper and brighter as she pulled in the remaining strands of energy circulating in the room.
Then she closed her eyes and began cultivating instantly, drawing every shred of the Yang-filled montum into her core in a focused, relentless surge.
And Lucas, barely managing to stay conscious, let his back slide down the wall as he muttered one final breathless complaint under his breath, his voice thin from the overwhelming high.
"Too much... way too much..."
The empress, already deep into her breakthrough attempt, did not answer. Her focus was absolute. The room vibrated faintly with the force of her cultivation, while Lucas struggled to remain aware of the world around him.
Everything after that beca still and heavy, held in a fragile balance as she pushed toward the bottleneck that had kept her stuck for years.
The empress could barely steady her breathing as the realization of what she was about to attempt settled over her, a mix of anticipation and raw hunger pulsing through her veins. The sheer amount of Yang energy flowing within her felt almost unreal, a dense and luminous tide that surged and curled through every ridian like a living storm waiting to be unleashed. Her heart thudded steadily yet forcefully against her ribs, not from fear but from the intoxicating thrill of sensing a breakthrough so close that it tasted almost tangible. She moved swiftly, determined not to waste a single breath, and summoned her celestial Qi with a precision born of centuries of discipline. It rose around her in a shimring veil of pale light that thickened and expanded until it filled the chamber, forming a perfect barrier that sealed off the room completely.
The air inside shifted as the barrier stabilized, becoming denser and heavier with concentrated Qi. It humd softly like a great heartbeat, responding to her control and obeying without resistance. She reinforced all sides until not even a trace of energy could leak beyond those walls. The empress did not want a single soul in the palace to sense what was coming. A breakthrough of her level would normally shake the foundations of the entire residence and alert every cultivator within miles, but tonight she intended to rise in silence. The glow around her settled, dimd into transparency, and then vanished entirely, though she knew it remained solid and impenetrable. Only then, with the room sealed and the power contained, did she allow herself to truly surrender to the pull of cultivation.
She drew in a deep breath that echoed faintly in the enclosed space. The Yang within her responded instantly, swirling inwards, drawn to her core like iron filings dragged toward a magnet. Her aura flared softly, expanding and tightening in waves that rolled outward before collapsing back into her again in a steady rhythm. A faint shimr rippled over her skin, outlining her silhouette with an ethereal glow as she dove headfirst into a state of profound focus, her consciousness sliding seamlessly toward the threshold she had chased for years.
As for Lucas, the overwhelming flood of Yin energy that had poured into him was far beyond what his body could safely hold. His limbs had grown numb almost instantly and his mind felt as if it had been lifted out of his skull and thrown into a haze that spun without direction. The last coherent sensation he registered was the floor tilting beneath his feet and the vague awareness that he was sinking into sothing soft. His body simply gave out. He collapsed without resistance, his breathing shallow and uneven as his consciousness dissolved into the thick, intoxicating fog draining every thought from his mind. In just seconds, he lay completely still, like a man who had succumbed to the deep stupor of a powerful drink.
While the empress sat in absolute stillness, wrapped in the luminous tide of her surging power, Lucas had already slipped into unconsciousness like a drunk who could no longer hear the world around him.
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