[DING!]

The system notifications flashed across my vision as I held Ying Jia in my arms, ignoring Yue's baseless accusations.

[System Notification: New Harem Member Analysis Complete]

[Target: Zhao Meilian (True Identity: Ying Jia - Divine Soul Fragment)]

[Bonding Process: Initiated through Life Force Transfer]

[Current Bond Rating: 15% (Grateful Recognition)]

[Harem Integration Status: Preliminary - Requires stabilization]

[Dual Cultivation Possible]

[Recommendation: Immediate medical intervention and spiritual rehabilitation required to make body fit enough to copulate.]

'Added as a harem member...' I checked, the analysis completed and her added as a harem member.

"Kinky pervert?" Then raised an eyebrow at Yue, my lips curving into that same wicked grin that always made her cheeks flush despite her warrior's composure. "My dear wife, you wound me. I'm simply being a caring family member."

Yue's green eyes narrowed dangerously, her grip tightening on her bow. "Family member? You were practically nose-to-nose with her, whispering sweet nothings like some lovesick teenager!"

In my arms, Ying Jia's silver eyes darted between us, confusion and shock at my words flickering across her gaunt features.

Even in her weakened state, she seemed to be cataloging every detail of our interaction with the sharp intelligence I was beginning to recognize as her true nature.

"Yue," I said, my voice carrying just enough authority to cut through her indignation, "summon the medical elders. All of them. And prepare the eastern healing chambers—the ones with the advanced spirit-gathering formations."

Her expression shifted from irritation to concern as she took in Ying Jia's condition more carefully.

The warrior in her recognized suffering when she saw it, and despite her jealousy, Yue had never been one to ignore someone in genuine need—or at least that's what I thought, given the first time, even without much interaction, how she cared about me being rough on Mei for her first time.

"How bad is it?" she asked quietly, her anger evaporating as professional assessment took over.

"Worse than you can see," I replied, adjusting my hold on Ying Jia as she seemed to grow heavier in my arms—not from weight, but from the sheer exhaustion that radiated from her fragile form. "But not beyond help."

Yue nodded sharply and vanished in a blur of movement, her qi signature racing toward the palace interior to carry out my orders.

That left me alone with Ying Jia in the courtyard, surrounded by the curious gazes of servants and guards who maintained respectful distances but couldn't hide their fascination with the mysterious woman their emperor had brought home.

"The eastern healing chambers," I murmured, more to myself than to her, but her silver eyes tracked to my face with surprising focus. "Hm, would it be better to keep you in my Pleasure Palace?"

Her cracked lips moved, and I had to lean closer to hear her whispered words.

"Why... are you helping me?"

The question was so simple, yet it cut straight to the heart of everything complicated about this situation.

Why was I helping her? Because the system had identified her as potential harem material? Because I wanted to hurt Zhao Chen by stealing away his mother? Because some part of me recognized a kindred spirit in her stubborn refusal to surrender to heaven's nonsense will?

All of those reasons were true, but I was going to be honest for this one.

"Because," I said finally, meeting her gaze directly as I told her with a straight face, "I want to fuck you."

'!'

Naturally, the widening of her eyes just showed she didn't expect it. She definitely didn't expect me to say something so unnatural, crude, when this should have been some kind of genuine empathy or sympathy.

Ah, hell man. I just wanted to fulfill my fantasy a bit here by being genuine.

To be honest, after reading so many webnovels, initially I had thought to fulfill the fantasy of becoming the father of the Son of Heaven by screwing his mother. But after seeing this woman it felt strange—as if I could screw her but I could also keep her for myself.

Of course, she needed some renovations and repairs, but that's fine. I bet she would be good to ride.

"Wh-what?" Before she could respond, the sound of approaching footsteps announced the arrival of the medical team Yue had summoned.

Four elderly cultivators in pristine white robes hurried across the courtyard, their expressions shifting from professional curiosity to barely concealed horror as they took in Ying Jia's condition.

"Your Majesty," Elder Chen Wushen, the lead physician, bowed deeply while trying to maintain a respectful distance. "We understand you require our services, but this woman appears to be suffering from some form of spiritual plague. The risk of contamination—"

"Is nonexistent," I interrupted, my voice carrying enough authority to make all four elders straighten involuntarily. "What you're seeing isn't a disease. It's the result of systematic spiritual parasitism... have you all heard of this name before?"

The seals binding Ying Jia were beyond my current ability to break. Her memories of her divine origin were locked away behind barriers that would require either cosmic-level authority or the death of their anchor point—Zhao Chen—to dissolve.

But given her reaction to his name or the way she acted, she might have recovered some part of those memories. But again, what was needed was power, and I could see she didn't have any.

Her condition was the same as a college professor knowing that he is a professor but being unable to recall all the teachings.

As for her physical restoration, even my considerable vitality reserves had limits.

I could extend her life, perhaps indefinitely if I was willing to constantly feed her energy, but true healing would require her to rebuild herself from within.

The parasitic connection was the easiest thing for me to deal with, and I was more than willing to do it.

But I could kill Chen and sever the link instantly, though that would create massive complications with Heaven's Will and the plot armors he had.

The alternative was to accumulate enough power to override divine authority directly—a goal that might take decades to achieve.

For now, I could do exactly two things: keep her alive through vitality transfusions, and work toward eliminating the source of her suffering.

Everything else would depend on her own strength, her own will to rebuild what had been stolen from her.

And the reason I called the elders to diagnose her in the first place was simply to know if there was something they knew about this particular disease, as it might give me a clue about how to loosen her seals.

Elder Chen Wushen's weathered face went pale as he processed my words, his hands trembling slightly as he adjusted his wire-rimmed spectacles.

"Spiritual parasitism..." he repeated, the words falling from his lips like a death sentence. "Your Majesty, such a condition is beyond our capabilities. I have just heard its name once... it would require knowledge that has been lost for centuries."

Elder Liu Tianmeng stepped forward, his expression grave as he studied Ying Jia's withered form with the clinical detachment of someone who had witnessed countless tragedies.

"There was... there was once someone who might have understood such afflictions," he said carefully, his voice carrying the weight of old memories. "The Divine Doctor. Her knowledge of spiritual anatomy was unparalleled, her understanding of soul-level injuries beyond mortal comprehension."

The name hit me like the shock one feels when suddenly waking up from a fall from the bed, memories from the original novel flooding back with crystal clarity.

The Divine Doctor—a legendary figure who was mentioned typically in every cultivation novel, possessing extraordinary medical skills.

She had been mentioned in passing as one of the great figures of the previous era, someone whose techniques could have changed the course of entire conflicts.

But there was a problem. A massive, insurmountable problem.

"She's dead," I said flatly, watching as the elders' faces fell with the weight of that simple truth.

According to the story, the Divine Doctor was already dead when the story even started, given how she needed to be or else the sequence of the emperor's coup, the old emperor's death, wouldn't have had much effect if someone could diagnose with just a look.

The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by Ying Jia's labored breathing and the distant sounds of palace activity.

I closed my eyes, feeling the familiar frustration that came with encountering problems that couldn't be solved through sheer power or system abilities.

But then... a thought struck me.

A dangerous, possibly insane thought that would have been impossible in my past life but in this world of cultivation powers where every moment a new plot was forming...

I couldn't just resurrect someone. Could I?

My eyes snapped open, and I found myself staring down at Ying Jia's pale face, her silver eyes watching me with that sharp intelligence that seemed to pierce straight through to my thoughts.

'Wait.'

The idea was so audacious, so recklessly ambitious, that it made my pulse quicken with equal parts excitement and terror.

The Realm of the Frost Wyrm Empress.

Indeed, that woman was siphoning the souls from the upper realms and merging them into the bodies of the beasts of her world. And for a Divine Doctor whose soul would be so precious, it was impossible for that woman to let her reincarnate in other realms.

But the question was...

"It's fine," Jia said, her silver eyes reflecting resignation with that blank look. "You don't have to push yourself. Some things... some things are simply impossible."

'Impossible... huh?'

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