The world had settled into a new, tense rhythm. A full year had passed since Tang San had been spirited away by his father, a year of silent, grinding progress on all fronts.
For Zhang Tian and his fiancées, their estate had become a self-contained universe of power, a forge where monsters were being made.
He stood in the center of the vast courtyard, his posture relaxed, a faint, indulgent smile on his face as he watched his two wives. The sun was warm, the air filled with the scent of blooming flowers and freshly cut grass.
"A little to the left, Rongrong," he called out, his voice calm and even. "Don't just look at the bee, anticipate its flight path."
A hundred meters away, Ning Rongrong stood with her eyes closed, a picture of serene concentration. She wasn't looking at anything. She was feeling. A single, tiny honeybee was buzzing erratically around her head.
With a flick of her wrist, a small, condensed sphere of nine-colored spirit power, no larger than a marble, shot from her fingertip. It didn't fly in a straight line. It curved, it looped, and it intercepted the bee in its flight, not striking it, but harmlessly caging it in a bubble of pure energy for a single, breathtaking instant before dissipating.
She had mastered the Swirling Sphere.
"Not bad," Zhang Tian praised. "Your control is becoming exquisite."
He then turned his attention to his other fiancée. "Zhuqing, the leaves are falling too slowly. Speed it up."
Zhu Zhuqing stood under a massive, ancient oak tree, her own eyes closed. She was not moving. But the air around her was a silent, deadly storm.
Dozens of the tree's broad, green leaves were being sliced from their branches by invisible forces. They fell, not in a gentle, random flutter, but in a controlled, chaotic barrage, each one as sharp and as deadly as a thrown shuriken.
They all flew towards a single point: a training dummy at the far end of the courtyard. The leaves struck with a series of soft, wet thuds, not bouncing off, but piercing the thick, leather hide, sinking deep into the straw stuffing.
It was her self-created skill, a terrifying application of her Darkness attribute. 'Shadow Reaping.' She was manipulating the very shadows of the leaves, hardening them, controlling them, turning a gentle autumn shower into a silent, deadly barrage.
The past year had been a period of monstrous growth.
Zhang Tian had broken through the final bottleneck of the Spirit Ancestor realm, his spirit power a deep, vast ocean that now rested at the solid wall of Level 50. He was a quasi-Spirit King, a single, final step away from a new realm of power.
Ning Rongrong, with her evolved pagoda, her Spirit Core, and his relentless, creative training, had soared to an astonishing Level 47.
Zhu Zhuqing, her body being a perfect vessel forged in the fires and ice of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, had reached an even more terrifying Level 48.
But Zhang Tian's own progress had not been limited to his spirit rank. His mind had become a different kind of weapon entirely.
His nightly cultivation of the Purple Demon Eye, fueled by the vast reservoir of purple qi he had stored in his ever-expanding network of Blood Silver Grass, had borne magnificent fruit. He had broken through the final barrier of the third stage, the Mustard Seed level, and had entered a realm that was the stuff of legends.
The Boundless Level.
At this level, it surpasses physical sight, unlocking the "mind's eye" to perceive surroundings over vast distances and enhancing spiritual power reserves to immense levels. Now…Zhang Tian at this stage can engage in spirit communication across great distances.
He had shared this gift, of course. He had used the vast, stored reserves of purple qi to assist his two fiancées in advancing their mental force. They had both, with his help, reached the Mustard Seed level. Their own perception of the world had been fundamentally, irrevocably changed.
The only frustration in their year of relentless progress had been the search for his fifth spirit ring.
"Still no luck, husband?" Ning Rongrong asked later that afternoon, as they lounged in their private garden. She was reading a letter from her father, a small frown on her beautiful face.
He shook his head, a flicker of annoyance in his blue eyes. "None. Your father's agents have searched every known habitat in the empire. The Thunder Hell Prison Vine is a ghost."
The beast he sought was a creature of myth, a plant that fed on lightning. It grew stronger with every thunderclap, its body a conduit for the raw, untamed power of the heavens. But that very power was its curse.
Most specimens, unable to contain the immense, destructive energy they absorbed, would simply explode long before they could reach the ten-thousand-year mark. Finding one that had survived, that had reached the age he required, was like searching for a single, perfect diamond in a mountain of coal.
"Don't worry," she said, setting the letter aside and snuggling closer to him. "My daddy will find one for you. He definitely will."
While his fiancées trained, Zhang Tian's own days had been a whirlwind of a different kind of creation. His laboratory had become a second home, a place where the secrets of two worlds were being fused into something new, something revolutionary.
The spirit tool technology he had unleashed upon Heaven Dou City had changed the very fabric of daily life.
The streets were now filled with the silent, gliding forms of his mechanical carriages. The nights were bathed in the soft, steady glow of his automatic street lamps.
And the air was filled with the faint, almost imperceptible hum of his new, voice-activated Pagers, a communication network that had made the slow, inefficient process of sending messengers obsolete.
He had even perfected a series of personal, flying-type spirit tools. They were complex, and somewhat difficult to produce, their secrets known only to him. He had created only five. One for himself, one for each of his two wives, one for Ah Yin and the final one for Qian Renxue.
In his private study, a quiet, intimate conversation was taking place.
"So, my little Emperor," Ah Yin's voice was a low, teasing purr in his mind as she served him a cup of fragrant, steaming tea. She wore her simple maid's uniform, her magnificent beauty a quiet, understated presence in the sunlit room. "Still no luck with your little lightning plant?"
He took the cup, his fingers "accidentally" brushing against hers. 'None,' he projected back, his mental voice a low, frustrated rumble. 'But it is a minor concern. What of your own progress, my Empress? And that of our clan?'
A slow, triumphant smile touched her beautiful lips. 'My own cultivation has been… fruitful,' she purred, her mental voice filled with a deep, satisfying pride. 'I have reached Level 88. The bottleneck of the ninetieth rank is within my grasp. Another few years of quiet cultivation, and I will be a Titled Douluo.'
He felt a surge of pride and affection for her. Four full levels in a single year, at her rank, was a monstrous, almost unbelievable achievement.
'And our clan,' she continued, her mental tone turning more serious, more strategic, 'is flourishing. The Sunset Forest is completely ours now. Every blade of Blue Silver Grass has been converted, their loyalty absolute. And our expansion into the Star Dou Great Forest is proceeding ahead of schedule. The entire outer region is now under our control.'
She paused, a flicker of something, a hint of a question, in her mental voice. 'I have followed your instructions, my love. I have not touched the mixed or the core regions. But… why? With the power of the King, and my own, we could convert the entire forest in a matter of months.'
'Because,' he replied, his own mental voice a low, cautious sound, 'the core of that forest is not a place we should disturb. Not yet. There are… things that sleep there. Ancient, powerful beings. It is better that they remain undisturbed, for now.'
He did not need to explain further. She trusted his judgment completely.
'The conversion of the cities is also proceeding well,' she reported. 'Our silent, invisible network now covers almost the entirety of the Heaven Dou Empire. But our progress into the Star Luo Empire, and into Spirit City itself, is slow. The distance is too great for me to travel regularly without arousing suspicion.'
'It is enough,' he assured her. 'Our surveillance network is already the most powerful in the world. And it is a secret that we alone possess. We can target the Star Luo Empire and Spirit City later.'
Their conversation then turned, as it often did, to more… personal matters.
'Your other little pet has been very patient,' Ah Yin purred, a teasing, possessive glint in her crimson eyes. 'I can feel her, you know. Her frustration. Her desire. She has been a very good girl, always eagerly waiting for her weekly feeding.'
Zhang Tian just chuckled, a low, dark sound. 'And how is she?'
'Stronger,' Ah Yin replied. 'As you already know, those flame attribute pills are truly a wonder for her. I believe she is close to the eighty-sixth rank.' She paused, a flicker of genuine, if slightly clinical, curiosity in her mental voice. 'You have turned her into a nice pet in this one year. When are you going to use her to give a blow to that arrogant theory grandmaster?'
'Soon,' he replied, a slow, predatory smile on his lips. 'Very soon.'
His thoughts then turned to his other, more complicated, and infinitely more dangerous, lover.
His relationship with Qian Renxue over the past year had blossomed into a strange, beautiful, and incredibly dangerous game of seduction and manipulation.
Their weekly "private tea" meetings which began to take place in her bedchambers had become a regular, and eagerly anticipated, part of his routine. It was a really comfortable, and far more intimate, dynamic.
He would arrive, and she would be waiting for him, in her true, beautiful female form. They would talk for hours, their conversation a brilliant, sparkling dance of two powerful, intelligent minds. He would tell her of his latest alchemical breakthroughs, of the new, miraculous pills he was developing. She, in turn, would share the secrets of the empire, the political intrigues of the court, the subtle, shifting alliances of the great clans.
And their physical intimacy… it had grown as well.
A casual hug was now a common greeting. A light, teasing kiss on the cheek was a normal farewell.
And sometimes, in the heat of a particularly intense debate, or in a moment of shared, triumphant laughter, their lips would meet in a deep, passionate kiss, a silent, unspoken acknowledgment of the powerful, dangerous attraction that crackled between them.
He knew he was playing with fire. He knew that beneath her beautiful, intelligent facade, there was a deep, obsessive, and almost religiously profound desire to possess him. But he also knew that he had her.
He had found the key to her heart, the one thing in the world she wanted more than anything else. A path to her mother's love. And he held that key in his hand, a beautiful, cruel, and incredibly effective leash.
It was this leash, this strange, symbiotic relationship, that had allowed the Seven Treasure Glaze Tile Sect to so openly, so brazenly, unleash his technological revolution upon the world.
He had known that such a move would be seen as a threat by the Spirit Hall, a challenge to their dominance.
He had gone to her, in one of their private meetings. He had laid out his plans, his designs for the new spirit tools. And he had asked for her help. For her protection.
She had, of course, agreed instantly. She had seen the immense, world-shaking potential of his creations. She had seen a way to strengthen her own faction, the Elder Hall, against the growing, unpredictable power of the Supreme Pontiff, Bibi Dong.
She had sent a message to her grandfather, to the great Qian Daoliu himself. She had told him of the new, miraculous technology.
She had told him that the Seven Treasure Glaze Tile Sect was now, for all intents and purposes, a subsidiary power of her own faction.
She had told him to ensure that Bibi Dong, and her followers in the Pope's Palace, did not interfere.
And the Grand Enshrinement, whose love for his granddaughter was absolute, had agreed. The word had gone out. The Seven Treasure Glaze Tile Sect was to be considered an ally. Untouchable.
And Qian Renxue's own progress, freed from the suffocating shackles of her princely disguise, had been breathtaking. She had thrown herself into her cultivation with a fierce, almost desperate, intensity.
She had recently absorbed her sixth spirit ring, a thirty five-thousand-year-old ring from a rare, light-attribute spirit beast, and had officially become a six-ringed Spirit Emperor.
The Emperor Team, under the new, and far more effective, leadership of Zhang Tian, had also flourished.
Dugu Yan, her spirit being a true Jade Phosphorus Dragon, had soared to Level 44. Yu Feng, with his Wind Chime Bird, was at Level 43.
The stoic Shi Mo was at Level 42.
And even the quiet, gentle Ye Lingling had reached Level 41. They were a force to be reckoned with, a team of monsters ready to be unleashed upon the world in the upcoming tournament.
Everything was perfect.
Meanwhile, at this particular moment, after having left his son to the questionable wisdom of Yu Xiaogang, Tang Hao did not linger. His purpose in Heaven Dou City was complete, for now.
His son was safe, surrounded by a team of budding geniuses and under the protection of a man whose loyalty, if not his intellect, was unquestionable.
The immediate threat of the Spirit Hall had been redirected by his own, bloody tour of their eastern branches.
He melted away from the Shrek Academy, his destination was a place of ancient power and crumbling pride. He was heading for the fortress of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
His mind, a cold, calculating machine now that the initial, blinding rage of his recent discoveries had cooled, was focused on a single, pressing problem: the new world order.
'The Seven Treasure Glaze Tile Sect…' the name was a bitter, resentful taste in his mind. He thought of the impossible rumors, the stories that had filtered out from Heaven Dou City even to the remote corners of the empire where he had been hiding.
The miraculous pills…Some could enhance the Spirit Power and talent while some could evolve Martial Spirits.
But it was the spirit tools that truly worried him. He had seen them himself on his brief journey back through the capital. The silent, gliding carriages. The automatic, glowing street lamps. The strange, handheld communication devices.
'This is not just a matter of wealth anymore,' he had concluded, his expression grim. 'This is a technological revolution. If they can create such complex, convenient tools for the common populace, what kind of weapons have they created for their own disciples? For their army? What of those weapons that hateful brat had provided to the sect?'
He pictured it with chilling clarity. An army of Seven Treasure Glaze Tile Sect disciples, each one armed with a weapon that could threaten a Spirit Elder, their own powers amplified by the legendary support of their pagodas. It was a terrifying, almost unbeatable combination.
'The balance of power has been shattered,' he thought, a cold, hard knot of fear and ambition forming in his gut. 'If they are allowed to continue this unchecked growth, they will become a threat far greater than even the Spirit Hall. Not just to my own Clear Sky Sect, but to all the other great powers.'
He needed allies. He needed to re-establish the old order. And there was only one clan with the power, and the pride, to stand with him.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
'Yu Yuanzhen will see the threat,' Tang Hao reasoned, his confidence growing with every powerful, ground-eating stride. 'He is a proud man, the leader of the most domineering beast spirit clan in the world. He will not stand by and watch as a support-type sect, rises to become the new, undisputed hegemon.'
He would use their fear. He would use their pride. He would forge an alliance, and together, the two great attack-type sects would put a stop to this arrogant sect that was merely a support type sect and destined to never reach the top. They would crush them. And then, once the old balance had been restored, he would finally have his revenge on the Spirit Hall. And on the boy who had broken his son. The plan was a good one. And it was the only one.
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A/N: Check out my other novels like "Harem Master: Seduction System" and the "Villain: Manipulating the Heroines into hating the Protagonist" and I hope you like this story and those stories as well.
Check out more chapters on my P.atreon. The P.atreon will have 20+ Chapters ahead for this story. I hope you like it.
The link of p.atreon is: bit.ly/evildragon