Kaelan sits on the bed, eyes lowered to the naked woman resting in his arms.
She had walked into the Chen Kingdom's throne room, removed her robe, and offered herself—calm, steady, without fear.
Her name is Shen Yuelan.
Once, she was the wife of the former Crown Prince of the Chen Kingdom.
She and her sister-in-law fled before the battle between Chen Luzai and the Shadowwind Sect elder began. But on the road, they were ambushed. In the chaos, she and her son were separated from Chen Yuyan.
Alone, with a four-year-old child, she returned using a hidden passage into the capital.
She spent a week hiding inside a sealed courtyard, watching the city crumble and listening to rumors flow like blood in the streets.
When she learned he now ruled the throne—
—she made her decision.
If she could not protect her son herself, she would give the strongest man in the land a reason to protect him.
If Kaelan refused to take her as a woman, she believed at least he wouldn't harm a powerless mother and child.
But her gamble succeeded.
Because when Kaelan scanned her with his spiritual sense and found the truth of her body—
a Hidden Charm Spiritual Constitution—
his response changed.
Charm bodies evolve.
At first, they influence emotions and attraction among males and females of the same species.
Later, they extend across races.
At the peak, they can influence even the will of the world.
And most useful to him—
dual cultivation with a charm body refines the partner's energy, accelerating the materialisation of mana.
Kaelan strokes the smooth curve of her waist and chest—thoughtful, not tender.
He is already mid-stage Spiritual Wizard. His realm rises through refinement of the Holy Fetus and comprehension of heaven and earth laws. That path will continue—but slow.
There is a second path.
Materialisation.
Spirit power.
Mana.
Both must be condensed to advance into the Third Stage of Transcendence.
And this woman—this body—will speed the materialisation of mana.
His fingers trace her spine. His voice is calm:
"Where is your son?"
She breathes softly.
"In the hidden courtyard."
"How old?"
"Four."
Kaelan nods once.
"You may bring him here."
Shen Yuelan lifts her head, studies his expression, and then gently presses her lips to his.
A whisper touches his ear.
"…thank you."
She rises, bare and radiant like moonlight on black water. She dresses slowly—not with shame, but with certainty—and leaves the room.
Kaelan's gaze follows her only for a moment before fading inward.
What meditation method will properly awaken a Charm Spiritual Body?
He begins thinking, formulas forming in his mind like constellations.
Charm doesn't belong to any element.
It is a humanistic law, rooted in people, in perception.
But at its core, charm can be seen as attraction.
There is attraction in gravity, in electrons, in the pull between charged particles—but those are physical.
Charm is spiritual.
So… can he take the "attraction" mystery from physical laws and fuse it with the Law of Mind?
If he succeeds, he may one day create a meditation technique that directly develops the Charm Spiritual Body.
That will be one of his long-term goals.
For now, he needs something simpler.
A meditation technique to awaken her Charm Spiritual Body and let her step onto the Wizard path.
He goes through what he has.
The basic Water meditation technique of the Elemental Wizard path.
The basic Water meditation technique of the Body Refinement path.
And the basic Wood meditation technique.
He first thinks of choosing one.
Then rejects the idea.
Why not combine all three into a single Bronze-grade meditation method tailored for her?
But another thought surfaces.
The Medicine Meditation Technique.
That method refines the human body toward perfection.
For her, it is better.
It is already Gold-grade, and its goal is exactly what she needs: perfect the human body, and in the process not only awaken her Charm Spiritual Body, but also help it grow.
But before he gives it to her, he should finish it properly.
Right now, the meditation method is incomplete by design.
He deliberately left out the twelfth step.
The original martial arts version, Medicine Body Refining Technique, belonged to Chen Luzai. Luzai had cultivated it to the eleventh step and theorised the twelfth. Kaelan took that hypothesis and turned it into reality—but did not add it when transforming the art into a meditation method for Luzai.
Not because he feared Chen Luzai.
But because he feared what would happen if Luzai read the complete twelve-step meditation and, using his own technique as a reference, reconstructed the twelfth step in martial form and cultivated it.
If that happened, Luzai's body could step into the Second Stage of Transcendence and open a new martial realm beyond Ultimate Master.
That did not fit Kaelan's goals.
He wanted Chen Luzai to abandon martial arts and become a Wizard, so that he would devote himself fully to spreading the Wizard Way.
If Luzai stayed a martial artist and still gained a path forward, he might only half-heartedly support the Wizard Way—and become a future competitor.
So Kaelan removed the twelfth step.
For Shen Yuelan, however, it is different.
She will be a Wizard from the very beginning.
There is no need to hold back.
She can receive the complete Medicine Meditation Technique.
A knock sounds at the door.
Kaelan's spiritual sense brushes outward. A servant stands outside, bowing.
With a thought, his voice enters the servant's mind.
"What is it?"
The servant startles, then hastily composes himself.
"Lord, the former Crown Prince Consort has returned with her child."
"Send the woman and the child to their former quarters."
"Yes, Lord."
The servant withdraws.
Kaelan rises from the bed, dresses, and resumes his work.
He returns to deducing the Clone Technique.
This time, he focuses on separating his thoughts—splitting his mind into multiple stable threads, so he can handle different tasks at once even without an actual clone.
This separation of thought will be the foundation.
From it, the true Clone Technique will be born.
—Later, near noon—
Kaelan finally steps out of his cultivation chamber.
His spirit sense sweeps the palace and locates Yuelan. He walks toward her.
In the garden, she sits quietly on a bench while her child plays in the grass. Her expression is soft yet distant—full of guilt, ambition, and calculation.
She presses down the guilt of betraying her dead husband.
She tells herself she did what she must—what benefits her son.
Simply seeking shelter under Lord Kong might have protected them, yes…
But it wouldn't secure power.
It wouldn't secure a future.
Now, she is his woman.
Her son now has the status of being tied to a transcendent.
Even if Kong Wuya never cares deeply… their connection alone elevates her position beyond every noble in the Chen Kingdom. With time, influence, and the right moment—perhaps she could even place her son back upon the throne.
And if she bore Kong Wuya another child… her son's position would stabilize further.
Then she will have repaid the Chen bloodline.
She feels the atmosphere change—the maids straighten, bowing deeper, silent with newfound respect.
She turns.
Lord Kong is walking toward her.
She stands immediately and bows her head.
"Lord Kong."
Kaelan says nothing at first. He sits, then pulls her gently onto his lap—not out of affection—but to send a message:
She belongs to him.
No one is to touch her.
No one is to question her place.
He kisses her lightly.
A small fist suddenly strikes his leg.
Kaelan lifts his head.
A little boy stands before him—eyes red, tiny fists shaking—yet full of fearless rage.
"Let go of my mother!"
Yuelan freezes—horrified—her face paling.
"Chen Juan!" she snaps, voice trembling. "Kneel and apologize to Lord Kong!"
Kaelan strokes her arm, voice calm.
"It's fine. He's just a child."
"No, Lord Kong," she says quickly, kneeling slightly in panic. "He must learn to respect you."
She turns sharply to her son.
"Kneel."
Chen Juan's small jaw tightens, tears glistening—but he shouts back:
"No!"
The maids stiffen.
Yuelan's face turns cold.
"Punish him. Ten strikes. No meals until tomorrow."
One maid steps forward.
Kaelan raises his hand slightly—and everyone stops.
"He is only a child," Kaelan says calmly.
"But—" she tries to insist.
Kaelan lowers his head and whispers against her ear, quiet enough only she can hear:
"Then should I punish you instead?"
Her breath catches—her body stiffens.
A second later she nods shyly, submissively.
Kaelan stands and lifts her effortlessly.
"Mother!!" the boy cries, rushing forward.
The maids catch him, holding him gently but firmly as he thrashes and screams.
Kaelan walks away with the woman in his arms.
The child's cries echo behind them—raw heartbreak.
The door closes.
Silence.
---
Later—quiet settles.
Yuelan lies unconscious in his arms, breathing soft and steady.
Kaelan watches her, indifferent yet thoughtful.
She hadn't fainted from shame or fear—
But because he directly implanted the Medicine Meditation Technique into her mind.
The influx of information overwhelmed her spirit.
She stirs, brows knitting, eyelids fluttering open.
Her voice is soft, dazed:
"…What happened?"
"I transferred the Medicine
Meditation Technique to you," Kaelan replies. "From today onward, you will cultivate it."
She nods weakly, resting against him without resistance—accepting her path, her fate, and her future place beside him.
---
END.