“I’ll see you later.” Ku Lo was giving goodbyes to Huang Gingge in front of Dai Meifen’s door.

“okay,” Gingge muttered a response as she hugged him one more time.

On the way here, Gingge had once again become downcast. But who could blame her? This was a moment where she let her boyfriend run to another woman. Even if hypergamy and polygamy are the names of the game, some people still desire monogamy in many ways. The most accepting of the world’s status quo was Meifen, and she too showed jealosy at times. 

As they hugged, Gingge’s hands wrapped around his back.

He, on the other hand, reached for her ass. “Don’t be sad.” 

“not here~” she shrieked and her body pushed against his. “in the open like this.” 

Ku Lo chuckled as his hands let her go. “See ya-” He turned around and opened the door. “Fen’er, where are you?”   

“In here~” Came the siren call of Meifen, drawing him straight towards her position without further thought. 

Soon as he entered the bedroom, a naked Meifen approached him and pressed her melons against his chest.

“One serving of fresh Qi coming right up.” She then pulled down his pants, causing his dick, standing at full mast again, to press against her honed stomach, the tip almost reaching the underside of her breasts.

“I’ve heard this is a self-serving facility, though?” 

Meifen let out a lascivious moan as he pushed her onto the bed. “So forceful~”

… 

Long story short, she’d gone easy on him. The session ended much sooner than thought thanks to her using her blessed body in a way that brought him to the edge from the get-go.

Still, it seemed that she’d had her fun too since both of them laid panting side by side on the bed for a good ten minutes before refining the obtained Qis.

“I’ve been meaning to ask this for some time, so here I go: what other powers are there in the world? How does our sect stand within them?”

“I can tell you,” Meifen spoke as she sat in a lotus position opposite to him on the bed. “Anyway, there’s been something I’ve been bothered about, too.”

 “Go on.” Eyes closed, Ku Lo could still listen with his ears, speak, and think clearly because his way of refining took the bare minimum of focus.

“I shouldn’t be telling you this, so don’t go to town with this information. Promise me that.” 

“Promise.”

“You would have been told of this once made a Core Disciple. So consider this as me giving you an informational edge.”

“Right… But how do you…?”

“I used to be one, but I messed up while cultivating…  Anyway, that’s not important right now. The first thing you need to know about is our two suzerain sects—” 

“What?”

“Oh, right, you’re a mortal offspring. The Yin and Yang Palaces are top tier sects on this continent. As you can guess by their name, they are Dual Cultivation sects like us. They have branch sects like any other force, but there exist also co-founded branches like the Yin and Yang Sect. Though that’s something only they do.”

So like a fiefdom? Getting backed and paying tribute?

“But even among the co-founded sects, ours is special. They have hidden some forbidden treasure below the sect grounds, and not even Sect Master Rin knows exactly what.”

“‘Forbidden’ meaning dangerous and uncontrollable?”

“Yes, and of a scale that they don’t want the seal to break inside their sects. They keep it here and monitor it.”

“Do you-” He gulped. “Know anything of what it is?”

“I don’t. New Core disciples are shown the entrance and told to be ready to defend that place during any emergency or in times of even the smallest of upheavals.”

“Then how do you know it’s dangerous?”

“It gives off violent Yin Qi through a sea of seals carved into the gate and the surrounding walls. If I were to step inside, I’m sure I’d turn into a night fiend in minutes.” 

“Another thing I wanted to ask… during my breakthrough, I noticed something sprout inside me. It’s a small cluster. Do you know what it is?”

“Don’t worry. This is as it should be.”

“But what is it?”

“Don’t you worry about it…” 

Ku Lo could feel her tone on his skin and so decided not to push the issue any further.

…

“Ku Lo!” an angry voice yelled at him on the last alley to his courtyard. “You bastard, stay away from Feng Huling!” 

“What?” He shook his head to sober up from the deep pondering.

“You heard me!”

The streets were dark, but he still discerned the person as the one who talked to Feng Huling and stared at him with killing intent before. So it’s going to be like that… He blinked before focussing his eyes on the white seams on the fellow’s golden robes. Core Disciple. “Take it easy now. Let’s talk this through.” 

“There’s nothing to talk about, you lowborn-” The man strode towards him. “Leave Feng Huling alone or face the consequences,” he bellowed, smacking his knuckles against his other hand’s palm.  

“No need to get violent here-” Ku Lo matched his walking speed, though he walked backwards. “We can settle this in the arena. The sect doesn’t prohibit fights like this.” 

Before his love rival answered, he hit his back into two other men. 

Those two men then smacked him to the ground without much effort or warning. 

“Stay there,” one of the two thugs said, placing his feet on Ku Lo’s chest. 

The boot was a heavy one, Ku Lo tried but had no way to struggle free. 

“How about it? Are you going to leave Feng Huling alone?” His enemy walked next to his two friends with a smirk plastered on his face. 

“Pathetic!” The friend who didn’t have his boot on Ku Lo’s chest kicked him to the side. 

“Weakling-” The boot on his chest pushed down, Ku Lo felt his rib about to cave in. “You shouldn’t have caught what you can’t keep.” 

“Now, now, friends. We aren’t here to kill him.” 

“Why not boss?”

“Yeah boss, he deserves it for chasing after the boss’s girl.” 

“That’s a last resort option-” The enemy shook his head. “Just because we can kill this maggot doesn’t mean we have to.”  

“Right, the boss is smart!”

“But what do we do with him then?” 

“Depends on what he answers-” The enemy crouched down, taking a choking grip of Ku Lo’s throat. “What is it? Will you leave Feng Huling alone?” 

“N-no,” he uttered as he felt his windpipe become obstructed. 

“We’ll see how long you keep dreaming like this.” The hand on his throat exerted more strength for a second before it threw his head against the ground. “You know what to do, boys. Trash him and throw him into the river for a swim.”

Ku Lo listened to the footsteps fading into the distance before his head became overrun by pain. The thugs unleashed a flurry of kicks, laughs, and punches. 

He took it best he could, not giving them the satisfaction of hearing him scream or squirm. It was best to lie in there and accept the beating for now and plot revenge.

Where’s the stalker when you need her? It was weird to even think; however, he sure missed Rin Tin Tin’s stalking right now.