Akane's mind went completely blank.

Her mouth opened and closed silently as the implications crashed over her in waves that made her previous emotional turmoil seem like gentle raindrops.

She wanted to argue, to dismiss such a vulgar claim as impossible nonsense. But the pieces were falling into place with horrifying logic.

An emperor who had achieved such unprecedented heights of power at impossible speed, yet instead of ascending to higher realms as cultivation demanded, had chosen to remain in the lower dimension. Marrying multiple women, gathering them around him like trophies.

It only made sense if his words were true. If his cultivation method required exactly what he was describing.

She watched in stunned silence as Tianlong supported Yu Xiang toward the door, their figures growing smaller with each step that carried them away from her.

And as they disappeared from view, Akane remained standing there, blinking rapidly as her mind struggled to process the truth that had just been laid bare before her.

Everything became clear in that moment of terrible understanding. Yu Xiang's desperate possessiveness, her willingness to endure torture rather than let go of him, the calculating way she had maneuvered every conversation toward securing her position at his side.

The human woman wasn't just trying to use the Emperor. She was fighting for access to power that could transform her from a mere Core Formation cultivator into something approaching godhood.

Akane placed her palm against her forehead, trying to think calmly through the chaos of revelation and growing horror.

Everything was too strange, too perfectly arranged to be coincidence. It hadn't been more than a few days since she had sent Yuki away to investigate the Emperor's growing influence. Now here he was, in her territory, claiming to be possessed by her husband's soul.

Which she found herself believing and doubting in equal measure.

He clearly wasn't interested in her the way a fake scammer should be—if he wanted to impress her he would never have spoken to her with such casual dismissal or revealed such vulgar details about his cultivation method.

Yet he seemed to possess fragments of memories that only her husband should have known. The contradiction made her head throb with confusion.

But the revelation about dual cultivation abilities gave her a clear answer about how the Emperor had managed to become so strong so quickly. That was indirectly making her feel strange as a more disturbing thought crept into her mind.

"No, my husband would not do that," she whispered to herself, her voice barely audible in the empty hut.

Because even if such dual cultivation abilities existed, her husband—who had never even allowed her to be too intimate in public settings—would never have permitted another woman to touch him. Would never have embraced the kind of vulgar cultivation method that required intimate congress with multiple partners.

But then she blinked, recalling the fundamental truth about soul transference between realms. It was natural for souls that fell into lower realms to fragment, to lose pieces of themselves in the crossing between dimensions.

Evidence of this was clear in how this man—this fragment—did not remember her clearly.

So what if the fragment that had found its way into the Emperor's body was only her husband's desire for revenge?

What if, in his desperate need to grow strong enough to challenge his brother, he had fallen into vulgarity?

Abandoned the principles and dignity that had once defined him?

The thought made her skin crawl with revulsion and heartbreak.

She pressed her palm harder against her forehead, trying to block out the images her mind was conjuring. Where would he even stop now?

She could trap him, bind him to this place through superior power. He was weak compared to her, vulnerable in ways that would make such control trivially easy.

But what if he chose death over captivity? What if, in her attempts to restrain him, she accidentally killed the very soul fragment she was trying to protect?

There were too many variables, too many ways for her intervention to destroy the thing she most wanted to preserve.

Her body trembled as these thoughts overwhelmed her analytical mind, each possibility more devastating than the last. She had found him only to lose him again. And this time, it might be forever.

"I-I need to find him first..." And finally she reached the decision about what she needed to do. With just a finger snap her body vanished.

'Hm, they still haven't gone far away.' Akane hovered high above the village, her golden eyes narrowed to slits as she watched the path below where two familiar forms were making their way toward the waterfall.

Normally she thought due to his powers he would naturally be much faster and would have left a certain distance.

The wind whipped through her silken robes as she drifted silently through the air, maintaining just enough distance to avoid detection while keeping them in sight.

The waterfall came into view ahead, the sound of rushing water filled the air, peaceful and serene.

But what Akane saw when she descended closer shattered any remaining illusions she might have harbored about the man she thought she knew. Everything seemed to be twisted—

'Here comes the audience.'

Tianlong's inward smirk widened as his enhanced senses picked up the familiar spiritual signature approaching through the forest canopy. The timing was perfect—almost too perfect.

His eyes remained focused on Yu Xiang as he threw her beneath him on the grass, her back pressed against the soft earth at the waterfall's edge, but part of his attention tracked the nine-tailed fox matriarch hovering invisibly above them.

The water from the cascading falls had soaked them both completely, turning the silk of Yu Xiang's robes translucent against her trembling form.

The drops were falling on her erect nipple and breast in splashes as they rose and fell rapidly while throwing the water on his face as if not just her but even those two things seemed to tease him.

Her violet eyes were wide with a mixture of panic and arousal as she stared up at him.

"I... I shouldn't have done that," she whispered, her voice trembling as she recalled how she had let her ambitions override her dignity. "Please, I made a mistake—"

But Tianlong's response was swift and merciless.

"Mmphh—!?" His mouth crashed down on hers, sealing her protests in a deep, consuming kiss that made her entire body arch beneath him.

His tongue invaded her mouth with practiced dominance trained through his wives, swallowing her muffled cries as his hands roamed her body with possessive intent.

Her body no matter how many times felt was different and something meant to be possessed.

"Mmph... no... wait..." she tried to speak between his assaults on her lips, but he gave her no quarter, no chance to retreat from the path she had chosen.

"Now you want to back down?" Tianlong's voice was a growl against her neck as he pulled away from her lips, leaving her gasping. "After you told me to get that woman? After you called me yours?"

His large hands cupped her breasts, fingers squeezing the soft flesh with enough pressure to make her cry out. "Ahh... please... someone might see..."

"Let them see," he replied with dark satisfaction, knowing exactly who was watching from above.

His thumbs found her sensitive nipples, pinching and rolling them between his fingers until she writhed beneath him.

"Stop... it hurts..." Yu Xiang whimpered, but even as the words left her lips, her body betrayed her. Her back arched, pressing her breasts more firmly into his hands, her legs spreading unconsciously to accommodate his weight between them.

From her position high above, Akane's golden eyes widened in shock at the scene unfolding below.

This was different from what she had witnessed before—this was raw, almost violent in its intensity. The man she believed to be her beloved prince was taking this woman with a roughness that made her nine tails bristle with conflicting emotions.

Tianlong's mouth descended to Yu Xiang's exposed breast, his lips sealing around her nipple with bruising intensity. He sucked hard, his teeth grazing the sensitive flesh as she cried out beneath him.

"Aahhh... no... they will be torn..." Her hands fisted in his dark hair, unsure whether to push him away or pull him closer as waves of sensation crashed through her body.

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