Bianca still had the conversation in her head as they went to sleep in their respective tents by the end of the day, having moved a considerable distance throughout the day and evening. It wasn’t that she managed to regain the same state that she had back when transcending the tribulation and now understood all the nonsense being said, but she was curious about the exact nature of her skills and therefore her Demonic Tyrant.

Where did it come from, and how did it produce all those skills and techniques from a few random manuals? She may not have been able to understand most of them, but it was obvious that there was a big difference between the original skills and the ones that she ended up receiving.

Where did those changes come from? What exactly did the Demonic Tyrant do in order to give her those abilities, and what were the consequences of such a thing?

‘As if I’d ever know that… it’s all way too strange for me,’ Bianca sighed, pulling Song Ming into a closer embrace as the latter had already fallen asleep, ‘It would’ve been nice if I had come here with something that allowed me to understand skills myself, or at least didn’t force me into using these few that I’m now stuck with… and as far as I can tell, I can’t even remove any from the list, not that I’d want to mess up what Xue Yaling calls a near-complete archetype. If I lose the ability to defend myself and gain the ability to make swords instead, I’d have a bad time…’

She felt Yu Juan, who was sleeping behind her – on the right side of the tent, with Song Ming to her left and her own sleeping position in the middle – shift a little closer and also put her arms around her, though from the sound of her breathing, it seemed like she was asleep.

‘So I’m the only one wasting her time like this… I’m already rather tired, so it would be a good idea to sleep, but…’ Bianca sighed, “If only I wasn’t also really horny…”

All of the lustful thoughts that piled up over the days of their journey didn’t leave when the day began and they continued to travel onwards, so day after day, her desire only grew. Alongside it was the temptation to call upon the Demon’s Commanding- she was changing that name in her mind once she came up with something, she decided then. Regardless, she was tempted to conjure it and have fun with Song Ming once more, maybe involve Yu Juan since she seemed rather enthusiastic last time…

Frankly, she could probably involve everyone present at the moment. It wouldn’t be especially difficult, and then she could probably let out all of the pent up feelings with ease, but it would mean effectively betraying all of her attempts to keep those she cared about from being turned by whatever power she – or rather, the Demonic Tyrant – wielded.

‘Why couldn’t it be something so blatantly evil and repulsive that I would never want to use it? I’d be fine with… whatever this thing is, and yet it just has to be something that’s so fucking tempting… heh, fucking…’ Bianca sighed again, ‘Who would’ve thought a lesbian would be into cock like that… This world is fucked, honestly. It’s not even the kind of fucked that’s in some of those novels I’d seen, where everything is just pure chaos and destruction and suffering… It’s just skewed in the right way to make my life difficult.’

“You sure you’re not going to sleep?”

“H-Huh?” Bianca turned her head and found the kitsune staring at her, “W- When did you come here?”

“Just a little while ago, but you know me, looking and listening in on every-”

“If you’re not going to whisper, then let me get out first!” she glared at the careless kitsune, untangling herself from the mess of bodies and getting out of the tent as quietly as she was able to.

“It’s not like I was yelling,” Xue Yaling shrugged, following Bianca away from the campsite, “Besides, those two were sleeping tightly, so I wouldn’t wake them even if I tried. I imagine you could’ve done a bunch with them as well, and Song Ming definitely wouldn’t have-”

“Stop insinuating weird things about me, please. If I let you do this for long enough, everyone will think that I have every fetish under the sun.”

“Or the moon, right about now,” the kitsune smiled, getting ahead of her as she dashed to a small hill amidst the clearing, right beneath the full moon, “Don’t you think it looks fascinating? This distant thing that none of us will ever touch? I hear the Master of Yi City in the Western Continent once tried to visit it but couldn’t… wonder why, and why that person became so curious about it.”

“How would I know… Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Hm, you could say that… It’s not quite about the moon though. You see, people believe that there are other realities out there, other worlds wherein all kinds of things are possible. Some say that they would have fundamentally different properties and rules, and that there are those that, through their own abilities or that of others, are able to travel to this place.”

“What are you-”

“You know all the words, and yet you seem to lack some very basic knowledge. You claim to have amnesia, and yet you almost certainly remember quite a bit, judging by how you behaved back in the Dancer’s Abode. That place was awfully natural to you, despite it being somewhat of an oddity in comparison to other villages and towns around here. You seem to have a decent brain in that head of yours, and yet,” Xue Yaling turned around, the moon illuminating her back and dyeing her tail and ears in a vivid silver light, “Furthermore, those skills of yours… You don’t understand them in the slightest.”

“I…”

The kitsune grinned, “I saw it, as you might recall. A strange energy that I couldn’t perceive with my spiritual perception emerged, enveloped the manuals, and then you suddenly had a new ability. That makes no sense via the ordinary rules of our world… but if you’re someone from another one, then it would make quite a bit more sense. Of course I wouldn’t understand or be able to perceive your abilities…”

She spread her arms, her whole figure now enveloped in that silver glow.

“Tell me, am I right, otherworldly demon?”

“… H-How did you…”

“I’ll take that as a yes. It explains quite a bit more, frankly,” the kitsune shrugged, crossing her arms, “Bianca as a name always stood out to me. Why did it sound so… wrong?”

“… Because it’s in a different language.”

“Mhm. It seems like you still speak your own language, but everything you say is heard by everyone else as though you spoke our tongue… But names clearly don’t make it through perfectly. And your cultivation… it isn’t quite as unbelievable as what I’ve heard about other legends of our world, which may or may not have been otherworldly demons, but it is certainly more than a random amnesiac in Xi Village should’ve been able to accomplish.”

Bianca could hardly reply, as she had never imagined – no, fathomed – that someone could comprehend her true origin. It seemed so outrageous that any sane mind would’ve dismissed it the moment it first occurred to them, and yet… well, the kitsune’s mind wasn’t especially ordinary, so it made sense that it was her.

Still, she had never felt quite so exposed ever before. It was far worse than being naked in front of those she would’ve preferred to never look at her like that, far worse that other secrets coming out… this was the one thing she was sure would remain secret forever. And yet…

“How long… have you known?”

“Known? Not sure. Guessed? Quite a while, really. You were such an oddity from the very start that I knew I had to remain close to you and figure out the truth… and I’m glad I did. You want to live unharmed here, right? Be able to go about your day without everyone else harassing you over that power of yours? Well, I wish for the exact same thing. Together, we can accomplish that.”

“Together?” Bianca stared at her, lost for words.

“Yes, of course. I know you’ve had your doubts about me despite every attempt of mine to ingratiate myself with you, so let me put it as plainly as I can. We can be useful for one another. I’m amongst the most knowledgeable people in the whole continent, at least within my realm, and you’re amongst the strongest for your realm. Together, we could create a sect where we need not fear attacks or retaliation, where we could do… whatever we want. If you want to recreate aspects of your own world there, none could stop us but the heavens.”

“And what do you get out of it?”

“A place to call my own and the opportunity to acquire knowledge and power without reproach, of course. Surely that much should be obvious by now.”

“And sexually harass all of us in the process, I imagine.”

“Hmph, I merely attempt to encourage you. What, are you terrified of that corruption of yours?”

“… You knew?”

“I noticed, yes. Trust me, it’s far less significant than you think. You’re at the third realm right now, but all your uses of the dual cultivation technique were in the second, as was your sharing with Song Ming to help her acclimate to the Crusader’s Runes. In the second realm, it is nigh impossible for one to truly command one’s thoughts. At most, you’ll influence and empower their feelings, but you cannot spawn anything that isn’t already there.”

“Really?” Bianca asked, although she intended to doubt the kitsune no matter what her reply was, since it was obvious that she had kept knowledge about the corruption to herself even when she knew that Song Ming might be endangered by it.

Xue Yaling nodded readily, “Ask anyone with some understanding of mental techniques and skills. The mind isn’t such a fragile thing – usually, at least – that it could be tampered with by someone in the mere second realm. If Song Ming didn’t have an interest in you, she wouldn’t have had it enhanced by your so-called demonic corruption.”

“And what about the changes to her energy?”

“That is a little more complicated, but I can assure you that I’ve kept an eye on her the whole time. There are no hints of danger posed to her by the influence of your energy – if anything, it has helped her use her Crusader’s Runes earlier than she might otherwise have been able to. As for the aesthetic changes, we have to remember that this is the full extent of it. We cannot assume more until we have a good reason to do so.”

“Like with my energy and the killing intent it seems to release…” Bianca sighed, since the kitsune’s words did make sense, ‘I’m still not a fan of her, but this much has to be kept in mind. Whatever the truth is of my abilities, the rest aren’t inherently evil or cruel, but they can obviously used for such a thing…’

“So, will you accept our cooperation? We can be open and forward with one another, sharing our specific areas of knowledge, and then we’ll eventually reach a point where we are at the peak of the world, or of this particular region of it, and we will not need to fear anyone that doesn’t understand us.”

“… Hm. I suppose if you’ve figured it out anyway, then there’s no particular harm to sharing some stuff… though I think you’ll be a little disappointed. I don’t know where the Demonic Tyrant came from.”

“The…”

“It’s what I call the thing that I got my technique and skills from. I know you can’t see it, but for me, it’s this thin black, crimson and purple rectangle that shows up in front of me, and it has the technique in the middle, and the other five skills in a pentagon around it. Once those were filled up, I couldn’t learn any more skills, not using it at least,” Bianca explained, “And you know just how well I understand everything on my own.”

“Mhm. Knowing for sure that you aren’t from this world makes me a little less critical of your comprehension skills… though having seen and heard enough about your Demon Queen self, I know that you can be better regardless. Do try and improve some time, please.”

“Fuck you… Anyway, in my world, there’s no planar energy, no magic, nothing like that. It’s just… normal.”

“What’s normal for you is not normal for others,” Xue Yaling said.

“As if I hadn’t noticed yet… In my world, the closest thing we’ve got are fantasy novels and games and what not, but I’ve never been too interested in them prior to arriving here. Therefore, I don’t know what could’ve possibly given birth- no, let me rephrase that… I don’t know where the Demonic Tyrant appeared from, I don’t know why it works the way it works, I don’t know… much of anything.”

“You’d be awful at negotiations with an approach like that… but yes, I did tell you to be open and direct, so I won’t make you regret that fact. Hm, even if you don’t know how it works, there are still things you know that I simply cannot, and perhaps there will be things from your world that could still be used, such as various insights and practises that we do not have around here. What kind of state was your world in?”

“Well, it had a lot of technology that isn’t present here. There were vehicles that drove using internal combustion engines and electricity, devices that allowed anyone to communicate with anyone else regardless of distance, whether via messages or even voice and video – like, imagine if you were on that Western Continent, held up a small device in your hand, and I could see your face as though you were right in front of me. We had flying vehicles, underwater trains that could cross continents, rockets that were being sent into space, satellites that allow us to view the map of the whole world from images that were taken by them, and so on and so forth…”

“I… have no idea what most of those words mean, but they sound much like your name. I suppose that’s your true language coming through… But it sounds rather fascinating. Are you able to replicate any of those things, though?”

“… Come on, you have to know the answer already, don’t make me say it outright.”

“Shame… but the ideas alone might be able to drive something… interesting. Regardless, we’ve yet to finalize our agreement. Will you work with me, Bianca? Will we work together to achieve a glorious sect and stake our claim on a part of this world, no matter what else anyone else might say?”

“… Alright, let us do that. We’ll work together, but no matter what, be honest with us, or at least me, okay?”

“Of course, but you ought to do the same. If you uncover anything as a result of your special insights, then share it with me in return. We cannot afford to miss any opportunities just because we don’t share enough with one another… and also, I would highly suggest that you make greater use of your technique. You know the one.”

“I refuse to believe that this is anything more than you either wanting to see me with a cock, or you trying to experiment with it by using Song Ming as a test subject!”

“I did suggest you sleep with others, but you’re way too reluctant… except for when you got fucked by Han Rushu, I suppose,” the kitsune shrugged, “If you don’t have any experience of the effects of your so-called corruption, how can you possibly know what its exact effects are? You can’t just assume, or else one of these days you’ll endanger yourself or even your cute girlfriend, and then what will you do? It’ll likely cause an issue you can’t resolve just by slashing it to death.”

“I-”

“Besides, the third realm is also incapable of generating any mental influence that isn’t rooted in thoughts already present in the person, though perhaps the influence might be stronger now. We can’t know for sure until you try it.”

“And why should I risk Song Ming for that?”

“I didn’t say that. You’ve got two other women that are more than willing to get fucked by you – or fuck you, in Han Rushu’s case – so all you ought to do find some time alone with them and you’re set. If you want, I will even assist you to ensure that you’re uninterrupted for a while. Regardless of who you choose, I can find plenty of topics to distract the others with.”

“Right… and what good will that do? If we do figure out that the effects are positive overall, then what harm is there to Song Ming loving you a little more than she already does?”

‘I can tell that she’s trying to downplay all of this stuff, but… it has helped her so far, allowing her to endure the tribulation relatively easily with her Crusader’s Runes, so…’ Bianca sighed, “How do things always line up to make you sound so damn persuasive… what a bitch.”

“Thanks, I guess. Not the typical way I get praised – though I do hear that description often enough – but I’ll accept it,” Xue Yaling smirked.

“Shut up. I do have a question, though. Since I’ve broken through to the third realm, I’ve noticed that… How do I say this…” Bianca sighed, “My body hasn’t had to do certain things any more. Is that normal, or part of my body technique?”

“… Ah, I understand. It’s not normal, so it must be a part of your body technique… or it’s just constipation.”

Bianca wasn’t sure how, but she found the kitchen knife within her hand all of a sudden, and it was pointed rather temptingly at the kitsune.