The countdown had begun.
Only six short weeks remained until the grand, chaotic spectacle of the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Grand Tournament would kick off with its preliminary rounds. For the Emperor Team of the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, this was a period of calm before the storm. As a seeded team, they were exempt from the grueling initial matches, their path leading directly to the main stage in Spirit City.
For Zhang Tian and his two fiancées, this brief lull was a welcome, and much-needed, respite.
The bustling, vibrant streets of Heaven Dou City had become their new playground. Today was a day dedicated not to brutal training or political maneuvering, but to a far more important, and far more dangerous, pursuit: shopping.
"Ooh, this one!" Ning Rongrong's voice was a happy, excited squeal. She held up a dress of the finest, sky-blue silk, its fabric so light it seemed to float in the air. "Zhuqing, what do you think? The color would be perfect with your dark hair, don't you think?"
Zhu Zhuqing, who was examining a more practical, and far more revealing, set of black leather training gear, just gave a small, indulgent smile. "It's beautiful, Rongrong. You should get it for yourself. Blue is more your color."
They were in the most exclusive boutique on the Azure Phoenix Avenue, a place where a single dress cost more than most commoners earned in a year. Zhang Tian lounged on a plush, velvet sofa near the entrance, a picture of bored, masculine endurance. He was the designated bag-carrier, a role he had accepted with a long-suffering sigh and a great deal of internal amusement.
He watched them flit from rack to rack, their movements a beautiful, harmonious dance of feminine energy. Ning Rongrong was a whirlwind of color and excitement, her hands grabbing everything that caught her eye. Zhu Zhuqing was more deliberate, her gaze sharp and analytical as she assessed the cut, the fabric, the practicality of each garment.
They were a perfect team, even here.
As Zhu Zhuqing turned to look at another dress, her back momentarily to him, Zhang Tian saw his opening. He moved with a silent, predatory grace. His hand shot out and delivered a soft, yet firm, smack to her magnificent, curvaceous ass.
"Oof!" A surprised, strangled gasp escaped her lips, and she spun around, her dark eyes wide with a mixture of shock and a secret, thrilling pleasure.
He just grinned at her, a wicked, unrepentant light in his eyes, before returning to his seat as if nothing had happened.
A brilliant, crimson blush flooded Zhu Zhuqing's cheeks. She shot him a look that was a mixture of a furious glare and a silent, promising invitation. 'You rascal,' her eyes seemed to say. 'Just wait until tonight.'
Ning Rongrong, who had been completely absorbed in a rack of brightly colored skirts, had missed the entire, silent exchange. "What's wrong, Zhuqing?" she asked, her voice filled with a genuine, innocent concern. "Your face is all red."
"It's… it's nothing," Zhu Zhuqing stammered, quickly turning away. "Just a bit warm in here."
The shopping spree continued. While Zhang Tian was momentarily distracted by a particularly interesting display of antique spirit tools in the shop window, the two girls shared a secret, conspiratorial look.
With a silent nod, they split up. Ning Rongrong, with a determined look on her face, made her way to the lingerie section, a part of the boutique she had never dared to enter before. Zhu Zhuqing followed a few steps behind, a slow, knowing smile on her beautiful face. She was here to act as a guide, a teacher in the subtle, deadly art of seduction.
"Alright, Rongrong," Zhu Zhuqing began, her voice a low, intimate murmur. "The key is to find something that is both beautiful and… strategic. You want something that highlights your best assets, but also leaves a little to the imagination. It makes him want to… unwrap his present."
Ning Rongrong's face was a deep, beautiful shade of crimson as she looked at the delicate, lacy creations. "I… I don't know…" she stammered. "They're all so… so small."
"That's the point," Zhu Zhuqing purred. She picked up a set of deep, royal purple lace, the fabric so sheer it was almost transparent. "Something like this," she said, her voice a low, instructional murmur. "The color will be a beautiful contrast to your pale skin. And the cut… it will push your breasts up, make them look even fuller. He will not be able to keep his hands off you."
She then moved to another section, her own eyes gleaming with a predatory light. She selected a set for herself. It was not lace. It was a creation of the sheerest, blackest silk, held together by a series of thin, delicate straps. It was less an undergarment and more a suggestion of one, a masterpiece of strategic concealment and breathtaking revelation.
"And for me," she said, a wicked, triumphant smile on her lips, "something a little more… direct."
They made their purchases in secret, their hearts hammering against their ribs with a shared, conspiratorial excitement.
Later, as they sat in a quiet, elegant tea house, their bags of plunder piled on the chair beside them, Zhang Tian finally broke the comfortable, post-shopping silence.
"So," he began, his voice a casual, almost offhand sound as he took a sip of his fragrant, steaming tea. "The tournament is getting closer. Are you two excited?"
Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up. "Excited? I'm practically vibrating! Daddy told me all about it. He said the atmosphere is incredible. Tens of thousands of people, all screaming your name. And the fights… he said they're on a completely different level from the arena. The best of the best, from every corner of the continent. It's going to be amazing!"
Zhu Zhuqing's reaction was more subdued, but no less intense. She set her teacup down with a soft, precise click. "I am excited," she said, her voice a low, firm murmur. "But more than that… I am determined. I want to win, Zhang Tian. With you. With Rongrong. I want us to stand on that final stage, together, as the champions."
Zhang Tian chuckled, a low, warm sound. He reached out and playfully flicked her nose. "A bit ambitious, don't you think?" he teased. "For three little rookies who have never even participated before?" As he spoke, his hand, under the cover of the table, found her magnificent, plump thigh and gave it a firm, possessive squeeze.
She let out a small, almost inaudible gasp, her body tensing for a moment before relaxing into his touch. She met his teasing gaze with a slow, confident, and incredibly cheeky smile.
"Ambitious?" she purred, her voice a low, intimate sound that was meant only for him. "With our training? With our strength? My dear husband, the three of us alone could probably handle a team of six Spirit Kings without breaking a sweat."
Her confidence was not arrogance; it was a simple, factual assessment.
"And when you add in the rest of the Emperor Team," she continued, her voice regaining its more public, analytical tone, "with Dugu Yan's poison, Yu Feng's aerial control, Shi Mo's defense, and Ye Lingling's healing… our victory is not just a possibility. It is a certainty. And," she added, her dark eyes gleaming with a new, powerful light, "when you finally break through to the Spirit King realm yourself… no one, no team, no 'genius' from any corner of this continent, will be able to stand against us."
He just chuckled, his hand giving her thigh one last, appreciative squeeze before withdrawing. "Perhaps," he said. "But we must not become complacent. We will take every match seriously. We will use this tournament not just to win, but to learn. To grow."
He looked at them both, his expression turning more serious. "The preliminary rounds in Heaven Dou City will be a good opportunity for us to gather information. We can observe the other academies, analyze their fighting styles, their teamwork, their new abilities."
"A date!" Ning Rongrong chirped, her mind immediately latching onto the most romantic interpretation of his words. "We can go and watch the fights together! It will be so much fun!" She had no interest in analyzing opponents. 'That's what Daddy's spies are for,' she thought with a dismissive, internal huff.
Zhu Zhuqing, however, was intrigued. "That is a good idea," she said, her own mind already working, cataloguing the potential threats, the tactical possibilities.
She then fell silent for a moment, her expression turning serious, her earlier playful mood completely gone. She looked at Zhang Tian, her dark eyes burning with a fierce, unwavering intensity.
"Zhang Tian," she began, her voice a low, formal sound that immediately captured his full attention. "There is something I must ask of you. A promise."
She took a deep, steadying breath. "When we are in Spirit City, for the final rounds of the tournament… if our Emperor Team is matched against the team from the Star Luo Imperial Academy… I have a request."
She looked from him to Ning Rongrong, her gaze direct and unwavering. "I want the three of us, and only the three of us, to fight them. I want us to defeat their entire team, alone."
Her voice dropped, becoming a low, venomous hiss. "I want to destroy them. I want to shatter the face of the Star Luo Imperial Family, of my own Zhu Family. I want the entire world to see that the so-called 'unbeatable' Martial Spirit Fusion skill, the Hell White Tiger, is nothing more than a pathetic, overrated parlor trick."
Her final words were a vow, a declaration of war against her own past, her own fate. "And I," she said, her voice trembling with a raw, powerful emotion, "I want to be the one to break it."
Zhang Tian stared at her, at the beautiful, powerful, and so obviously wounded woman who sat before him. He saw the pain in her eyes, the years of fear and oppression that had been forged into a will of unbreakable iron. He did not hesitate.
He reached out and took her hand, his grip firm and reassuring. "I will leave the Hell White Tiger to you," he said, his voice a low, solemn promise. "But if I feel you are in danger, if I see that you need assistance… I will not hesitate to intervene. I will not let you be harmed. Ever."
She looked at him, and the fierce, burning fire in her eyes softened, replaced by a deep, profound, and utterly overwhelming gratitude. She gave a single, grateful nod, her throat too tight with emotion to speak.
It was in this moment of quiet, intense emotion that a new presence made itself known.
A figure was walking towards their table, moving with a graceful, almost ethereal confidence that seemed to set her apart from the bustling chaos of the tea house. She wore a simple, yet incredibly elegant, pale blue gown that seemed to capture and reflect the soft afternoon light. Her long, golden hair cascaded down her back, a river of pure, liquid sunlight.
It was Qian Renxue.
The moment she came into view, the comfortable, intimate atmosphere at their table shattered. A cold, hard tension descended, a silent, three-way standoff.
Ning Rongrong's happy, relaxed expression froze, her eyes narrowing into two sparkling, hostile slits. Zhu Zhuqing's serene composure vanished, replaced by the cold, wary stillness of a predator that has just sensed a rival in its territory.
Qian Renxue stopped before their table, a polite, unreadable smile on her perfect lips. She looked at Zhang Tian, her violet eyes holding a depth that was both beautiful and deeply unsettling.
"Zhang Tian," she said, her voice a clear, melodic chime. "I was hoping I might find you here."
Before he could even respond, two sharp, furious voices cut through the air.
"What are you doing here?" Ning Rongrong snapped, her voice a blade of pure, possessive ice.
"Was it not made clear that you are not to seek him out when he is with us?" Zhu Zhuqing's voice was even colder, a low, dangerous growl.
Qian Renxue just smiled, a slow, condescending expression that seemed to mock their childish, emotional outburst. She looked from one to the other, her gaze a mixture of pity and a deep, unshakeable confidence.
"My dear little sisters," she said, her voice a smooth, honeyed poison. "I would love to stay and play your little game of territorial jealousy. But I am afraid I am here on a matter of some… importance."
She turned her full, undivided attention back to Zhang Tian, her expression turning serious.
"I have found it," she said, her voice a low, promising murmur that was meant only for him. "The Thunder Hell Prison Vine. Thirty-three thousand years old. Exactly what you were looking for."
The words were a bombshell. Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing stared, their anger and jealousy completely forgotten, replaced by a wave of pure, unadulterated shock and a dawning, brilliant excitement.
For over a month, their sect, with its vast resources and peerless information network, had been searching for this mythical beast. They had found nothing. And now, this woman… she had just casually, effortlessly, succeeded where they had failed.
Qian Renxue watched their shock, a faint, triumphant smirk on her lips. She then looked at Zhang Tian, and her expression softened, a flicker of something, a hint of a question, in her violet eyes. "There is, however," she said, her voice dropping to a low, conspiratorial whisper, "a small… problem."
Zhang Tian met her gaze, his own expression unreadable. "And what problem might that be?"
She leaned in, her voice a barely audible murmur. "The place where it has been sighted… it is a valley known as the Dragoncry Thunder Canyon."
She paused, letting the name sink in. "And it is deep within the territory of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan."
Zhang Tian's calm expression did not change. But internally, a final, beautiful, and incredibly satisfying piece of the puzzle clicked into place.
'The Dragoncry Thunder Canyon,' his mind echoed. 'A place of pure, concentrated lightning energy. A place where no normal plant life can survive.' He finally understood. He finally knew why his own, vast, and seemingly omniscient network of Blood Silver Grass had found no trace of his target.
It was because there was no grass there for him to see through.
He looked at Qian Renxue, at the beautiful, dangerous, and incredibly useful woman who stood before him. A slow, genuine, and incredibly predatory smile spread across his face.
~~
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