While Luo Zhen remained sequestered in his chamber, refining the lethal intricacies of the Punishment Astral Saber Decision, a different kind of drama was unfolding on the slopes of Juyang Peak.
A solitary figure stood before the imposing stone gate of a high-ranking cave abode. It was Hong Yue.
He was a shadow of his former self. His wounds had been cauterized and sealed, but the empty sleeve flapping in the mountain wind was a stark, permanent reminder of his recent failures. He was now a one-armed man, a cripple in a world that respected only physical perfection and martial might.
The cave belonged to Cai Xu, the second-ranked expert of the Outer Sect.
Hong Yue stared at the heavy stone doors, his expression a turbulent mix of resentment and resignation. Not long ago, he and Cai Xu had been peers—rivals, certainly, with Cai Xu holding the slight edge, but equals in status. They were the elite of Juyang Peak. Now, Cai Xu remained perched on his high pedestal, looking down on the disciples below, while Hong Yue had been cast down into the mud.
But desperation had a flavor like bile, and Hong Yue had swallowed enough of it to make this trip necessary. He needed help. He needed revenge. And seeking Cai Xu meant bending the knee.
"Hong Yue? What are you doing lurking around my doorstep?"
Cai Xu's voice drifted from the depths of the cave, dripping with casual disdain. "This is Juyang Peak. It is a sanctuary for the strong. You no longer belong here. Get off my mountain."
Hong Yue's face cycled through shades of pale and green. It was a naked humiliation, a kick to a dog that was already down. But Hong Yue forced himself to breathe. The era where he could retort with pride was over; the circumstances were now stronger than the man.
Suppressing the inferno in his chest, Hong Yue called out, "I have come to ask a favor."
"Oh? A favor? You?"
"I beg Senior Brother Cai to take action," Hong Yue said, his voice trembling with suppressed rage. "I want you to defeat Luo Zhen. If you help me destroy him, I am willing to pay any price."
A scoff echoed from the cave. "Why should I waste my energy on Luo Zhen? I do not quarrel with him. Why would I act as your hired thug?"
"I said any price," Hong Yue gritted out through clenched teeth. "I only ask that you act."
There was a heavy silence, followed by the grinding sound of stone against stone. The gate opened.
A young man of about twenty-seven stepped out. He had a sinister, pinched face that seemed permanently etched with a sneer. This was Cai Xu. He looked Hong Yue up and down, his eyes lingering mockingly on the empty sleeve.
"Tsk, tsk. Any price?" Cai Xu's tone was frivolous, dancing on the edge of insult. "You really do hate this Luo Zhen to the bone, don't you?"
Hong Yue remained silent, his eyes fixed on the ground.
"You said you'd pay anything. Is that true?" Cai Xu asked, his voice losing its playful lilt and becoming cold.
"It is true."
"Alright then. Kneel." Cai Xu laughed, a harsh, barking sound. "Get on your knees. If my heart softens enough seeing you beg, maybe I'll agree to exact your revenge."
Hong Yue's entire body went rigid. He had expected extortion, perhaps the loss of a magical artifact, but not this.
To kneel was the ultimate surrender. In this world, a man's knees were gold. A true man knelt only to the Heavens, the Earth, and his parents. Even a common mortal facing death would hesitate to kneel. For a cultivator—someone who defied the natural order to gain power—it was a spiritual castration.
Hong Yue was not just a cultivator; he was a former powerhouse. He had once looked Cai Xu in the eye as an equal.
"What? Reluctant?" Cai Xu sneered, turning his back. "Didn't you just claim you'd do anything? Or have you already forgotten your own resolve?"
He made a show of walking back inside.
"Wait!"
The word tore out of Hong Yue's throat.
With a heavy thud, Hong Yue dropped to the ground. His knees hit the stone, the sound echoing louder than a thunderclap in the quiet mountain air.
Cai Xu stopped. He turned back, genuine surprise flickering in his eyes before being replaced by sadistic glee.
"You actually did it," Cai Xu marveled. "Interesting. Truly interesting! Look at you, Hong Yue. The man who used to clamor about kicking me off the second rank. Look at what you've become. A dog. A pathetic, one-armed dog."
Cai Xu's laughter rang out, unbridled and cruel. Hong Yue's face was the color of ash, his head bowed, his remaining hand clawing into the dirt.
After a long minute, Hong Yue spoke, his voice hollow. "I have knelt. When will you help me?"
"Kneel for ten days," Cai Xu said with a dismissive wave. "Maybe half a month. If I'm moved by your dedication, I might consider it."
"Ten days? Based on your mood?"
Hong Yue exploded up from the ground, his eyes bloodshot. "Surname Cai, don't push me too far! If Eldest Senior Brother Xiao Yi wasn't in secluded death-meditation, refusing all visitors, do you think I would ever come begging to trash like you?"
"Then go find Xiao Yi," Cai Xu shrugged, unimpressed. "See if he cares enough to break his cultivation for a cripple."
The fight drained out of Hong Yue instantly. He knew Cai Xu was right. He had no other cards to play.
"If you agree," Hong Yue whispered, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial hush, "I am willing to offer you a treasure beyond price."
"A treasure?" Cai Xu raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."
"You've heard of the Mystic Maiden Physique, haven't you?"
Cai Xu froze. The casual arrogance vanished, replaced by a shark-like intensity. "You mean... the legendary constitution that aids in Dual Cultivation? The one that acts as a living catalyst for spiritual energy?"
"The very same," Hong Yue confirmed. "It is a natural super-spirit body, comparable to a Saint Body. Its primary function is to share essence. Through the art of Dual Cultivation, the partner receives a massive boost in cultivation speed and bottleneck breakthroughs. Why do you think I advanced so quickly? Why do you think I was so strong?"
Cai Xu's eyes were practically bulging. In the cultivation world, a woman with a Mystic Maiden Physique was rarer than a phoenix feather. It was a shortcut to divinity.
"You have access to such a treasure?" Cai Xu licked his lips, greed radiating off him in waves. "I've heard that women with this physique are unparalleled beauties, blessed by the heavens with perfect forms. You've been hiding a jade beauty all this time, haven't you, Hong Yue?"
Hong Yue's face twitched. A strange, unnatural expression flitted across his features.
Cai Xu was too lost in his fantasy to notice. "Bring her to me. If you deliver a beauty with the Mystic Maiden Physique to my bed, I promise you—I will not just defeat Luo Zhen. I will cripple him. I will turn him into waste."
"He... isn't a beauty," Hong Yue mumbled.
"Not a beauty? Hmph. No matter." Cai Xu waved his hand dismissively. "Turn off the lights, and everyone feels the same. I just need the cultivation boost. Where is this girl?"
"He isn't a beauty, and he isn't... strictly speaking... a woman," Hong Yue said, bracing himself as if anticipating a physical blow. "The one who possesses the Mystic Maiden Physique is Wang Lili."
Cai Xu froze. His brain short-circuited.
"What?" Cai Xu screeched, his voice cracking. "Wang Lili? That sassy giant? The one with the beard thicker than a pristine forest?!"
"Yes," Hong Yue nodded gravely.
The silence that descended on Juyang Peak was absolute. It was a heavy, suffocating silence. Even the wind seemed to stop out of awkwardness.
"Wang Lili," Cai Xu whispered, horror dawning on him. "The bearded man. You... you were engaging in Dual Cultivation with him? To speed up your training?"
"There were practical reasons," Hong Yue defended weakly, looking away. "But... it wasn't just that. Lili and I... we have feelings."
"Urgh." Cai Xu retched, clutching his stomach. "I think I'm going to be sick."
"Don't insult us!" Hong Yue snapped, regaining a shred of dignity. "Giving Lili up to you is agonizing for me! Do you know the sacrifice I am making?"
"Sacrifice?!" Cai Xu wiped his mouth, furious. "You call this a treasure? You want me to sleep with a bearded man who wears lipstick? Do you think I swing that way?"
Hong Yue stared him down and played his trump card. "Lili's physique will allow you to break through to the Emperor Rank. Zero obstruction. Guaranteed."
Cai Xu stopped shouting. The word 'Emperor' hung in the air like a spell.
"Think about it," Hong Yue pressed, seeing the hesitation. "Even geniuses like us hit walls. You've been stuck at the peak of the King Rank for five years. Xiao Yi has been stuck for six. How long until you break through naturally? Another five years? Ten? Twenty?"
"Shut up," Cai Xu muttered, but the fire had left his voice.
"If it takes you twenty years, are you still a genius? Or just another old man?" Hong Yue's voice was seductive poison. "Sure, Dual Cultivation with Wang Lili is... aesthetically challenging for a straight man. But the returns? Infinite."
Hong Yue stepped closer. "In the mortal world, men marry eighty-year-old women for money. They humiliate themselves for scraps of gold. Why? Because everything has a price. If the reward is high enough, dignity is just a currency to be spent."
"Emperor Rank, Cai Xu. Inner Sect disciple status. Limitless resources. Is that not worth closing your eyes for a few nights?"
Cai Xu stood trembling. He was warring with himself—his libido against his ambition.
"It's... " It's too hard to accept," Cai Xu groaned.
"Think it over. When you're ready to ascend, come find me."
Hong Yue turned and walked away, leaving Cai Xu staring into the abyss of his own ambition.
Ten days later, ambition won.
Cai Xu found Hong Yue, his eyes bloodshot and manic. "I'll do it. But if you lied about the physique—if I debase myself for nothing—I will flay you alive."
"I never lie about cultivation," Hong Yue said solemnly.
And so, a very reluctant, tearful Wang Lili was escorted into Cai Xu's cave. The stone door slammed shut, sealing their fate.
Five days later, Hong Yue returned.
He found Cai Xu in the living room. The man looked haunted, yet strangely energized. His aura was vibrating, unstable but undeniably stronger. Standing behind him, blushing behind a fan of fingers, was the burly, bearded Wang Lili.
"Well?" Hong Yue asked.
Cai Xu took a deep breath, looking at Wang Lili with a complex expression of trauma and gratitude. "You were right. I can feel the bottleneck crumbling. One more month... just one more month, and I will be an Emperor."
"Then it's time to pay up," Hong Yue said. "Beat Luo Zhen."
"I will. Once I am an Emperor."
"No." Hong Yue stepped forward. "Once you are an Emperor, Lili and I are useless to you. If you want to keep... using Lili... you go now. Teach Luo Zhen a lesson."
Cai Xu gritted his teeth. He looked at the bearded man, then at the door. "Fine! I'll go crush him right now!"
While the political machinations of the desperate played out outside, the interior of Luo Zhen's cave was a sanctuary of calm progress.
Half a month of rest had restored his body to peak condition. However, his physical strength was still insufficient to progress further with the Punishment Astral Saber Decision. He needed to pivot.
Luo Zhen sat cross-legged, the manuals for Hundred Shadow Wild Slash and Slash Moon resting before him. He scanned them, letting the System take over.
"Do you wish to pay 30,000 Experience Points to learn Hundred Shadow Wild Slash?"
"Yes."
"Learning is successful."
It wasn't just a notification. It was a download. A rush of phantom memories flooded Luo Zhen's neural pathways. He could feel the weight of a saber he hadn't swung, the muscle memory of a thousand practice sessions compressing into a single second.
He repeated the process for Slash Moon. Another 30,000 points vanished, replaced by a profound understanding of focused, singular destruction.
Luo Zhen opened his eyes, feeling the new instincts settle in his marrow. "System," he queried mentally, "Both of these are Emperor Level beginner skills. If I fuse them, can I create something stronger?"
"I advise against it," the System replied, its tone cool and objective. "Hundred Shadow is for crowd control. Slash Moon is for single-target execution. They serve different tactical purposes. Merging them might dilute their utility."
The System paused, then adopted a stricter tone. "Furthermore, Host, you are losing focus. Skills are tools. The Realm is the foundation. A child with a legendary sword is still a child; he will be slaughtered by a master with a wooden stick. The difference is the Realm. Do not put the cart before the horse."
Luo Zhen nodded, accepting the rebuke. It was the fundamental truth of this world. Realm was the container; skills were merely the water filling it. If the container was small, it didn't matter how premium the water was.
He turned his attention to the body refinement manuals: Blood Moon Shattered Jade Art and Steel Bone Iron Body Art.
He paid the experience points. The knowledge flooded in. Since these techniques were functionally identical, synthesis was the logical next step.
"System, fuse them."
"Fusing... Success. You have obtained: Bone Jade Body (Emperor Level, 1st Layer)."
A wave of heat washed over Luo Zhen's skeleton. He could feel his bones densifying, his marrow humming with a new, resilient energy.
"Can I merge this with my Green Jade Spirit Body?"
"Negative. The Bone Jade Body is Tier 1. The Green Jade Spirit Body is Tier 2. You must upgrade the Bone Jade Body to match levels before synthesis is possible."
"Understood."
Luo Zhen exhaled a breath of turbid air and pulled up his status interface. The glowing blue text hovered in the air before him, a testament to his rising power.
[Host: Luo Zhen]
[Species: Double-headed Green Scaled Wyrm (Tier 2 Sacred Beast)]
[Realm: Demon King (Late Stage)]
[Body Refinement: Green Jade Spirit Body, Bone Jade Body]
[Skills: Hundred Shadow Wild Slash, Slash Moon, Thunder Wyrm Break...]
[Experience: 753,400 / 1,500,000]
He was close. While others outside debased themselves for a sliver of power, Luo Zhen was climbing the mountain the hard way—one point of experience at a time. And he was ready for whatever came knocking at his door.