Ni Ni Layan had managed to miraculously evade the Divine Senses of the family's top fighters. The explosion of energy she felt radiating from them was incredibly dense—thick enough to crush anyone. But the good news was that she had escaped. Moreover, since she had altered her physical form, it was logically impossible for them to trace her identity.
However, since her unique flame had been witnessed, showing it again would be a death sentence. She returned to Morse's room, only to find herself unable to open the door. Now, a manhunt was underway, she was starving, and she couldn't even enter her sanctuary.
She cursed Morse in her heart for his absence. "He's left me with no choice."
She considered blowing the lock off the door... but then she paused. How would she lock it again afterward?
"Oh... how on earth am I going to fix it if I break it now?"
While the Phoenix was facing the consequences of her own decisions, Morse was dealing with a different kind of burden. He sat at a desk in the Spiritual Printing House, his head slumping forward until his forehead hit the edge of the table with a dull thud.
He was there to put the final touches on the latest volume of his adult magazine, How About Going to the Treehouse 3?
This time, instead of the pre-planned version, a new volume had been created. It was filled with blatant allegories and jabs at the Xuan family, exposing the sheer scale of their corruption. He mocked how they dared to claim the
"Path of Balance" while, in reality, they leaned toward extreme depravity and emotional repression—to the point of lusting after the Hero's women.
"Honestly, the audience views the Hero's women as their own... this is a fatal blow. But don't you think this is a bit too... explicit?"
Chen Ming whispered. Morse raised a finger, signaling him not to rush to judgment.
It was more than just explicit; it was a detailed insult, a breakdown of every individual's flaws—almost a manifesto of hate rather than Erotica.
"It doesn't matter anymore," Morse said. "These volumes mean nothing to me now. If I can tarnish their reputation even slightly, that's enough."
He wanted to tell his friend about the "Hell of Lust." Not its heaven, but its hell. He had lived through the hell of desire in the most tedious and painful way possible. He now viewed lust through a completely different lens.
"Don't tell me... have you given up your obsession with girls in training uniforms? What a disgrace! And here I was, calling you a man of mature taste."
Though Morse was in no mood for jokes, his friend had plenty to spare.
In truth, Morse didn't mind. Chen Ming would be returning to his sect soon; he had only taken a short leave to attend the "funeral."
Morse sighed in frustration. He had suffered so much while no one realized what he carried inside. While people were busy self-pleasuring to his drawings of women, he was carrying a weight far heavier than a mere magazine.
"Have you decided to put your real name on it instead of your pseudonym, The Winged Sardine? What if someone steals the rights to the name?"
In the end, he didn't want to use that pseudonym ever again. He wanted to discard his past. But he faced a bigger problem: doing this was a tacit confession that he was defaming the family's name. At that point, the Patriarch would have every legal right to disown him..
This wasn't how he had planned things at all. In the end, he had dreamed of nothing but revenge... after that, he could figure out what to do with his life.
"Don't worry," Morse said firmly. "I won't put my real name on it now. I'm not concerned about name theft or fake prints. This will be the last one, as I said."
His friend remained silent for a long moment, closing the pages of the volume and placing it on the table. "I'm with you, you know that. In whatever you desire."
When they finally stepped out, the printing workers were all cheering and excited, celebrating the final run. Morse joined their celebration briefly, then withdrew quietly, as if he were never there. He headed back alone under the setting sun, walking the paths in solitude. He felt a strange sensation... as if he missed someone's presence. A bizarre feeling, wasn't it?
When he reached the gates, the guards let him through with the usual looks of contempt. He was used to it. As he drew closer to his room, he heard a harsh, repulsive voice.
"This is the last time I'm saying it... get out now, or we will crush you!"
He saw a crowd of fighters lined up at his door. Standing before them all, completely alone, was Ni Ni Layan.
"Oh, really?" she countered. "And do you have a permit for that?" "Why am I even answering you? Men... teach her a lesson!"
One of the men approached her, laughing, and reached out to grab her shoulder. In an instant, she seized his hand with crushing force, snapping his fingers and forcing him to his knees in agony.
CRACK!
"My hand! My hand, please!" he shrieked.
WHOOSH!
She kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying like he was nothing. The fighters swarmed her immediately, but she drew her flaming blades, ready for a bloodbath.
"Enough!" Morse's voice cut through the air. "Bing Xuan, what gave you the audacity to come to my room? And worse, to try and harm my disciple?"
Bing Xuan let out a provocative laugh and gestured to his men. "Look who's here, boys... the disabled mama's boy. Do you think because you somehow regained your cultivation, you have the right to be bold? Morse Xuan, you are accused of attempting to rebel against the family!"
Morse couldn't stop a sarcastic laugh from escaping. He looked at him with sheer mockery. "You idiot, are you so devoid of ideas that you resort to this? You have no right to enter someone's private quarters without a court order."
Bing Xuan stepped closer, releasing his Foundation Establishment aura, a smug grin on his face.
"You know what? I am the law here. I am the only son and the heir. We are the law. You are a subject, and you will always be subject to me and my absolute authority. I suggest you step aside if you don't want to lose your cultivation all over again."
Shameless... truly shameless.
"Bing Xuan... for the last time... your inheritance is nothing but an illusion. To be here, you had to bring me down. But you will never succeed as long as you live. You know why? Because I am your endless nightmare. You will never get rid of me."
Suddenly, Bing moved to throw a punch—Foundation Establishment against Qi Condensation; surely, he would finish him in one blow.
CLANG! BOOM!
From thin air, two giant robots appeared, both at the Mid-Foundation Establishment stage. They caught Bing Xuan mid-strike and tossed him through the air toward his followers.
The followers charged at the robots and Morse.
CLANK! CLANK!
The robots, strange entities beyond their comprehension, deflected every move from the dozens of Foundation Establishment fighters. But a few strikes were about to slip through toward Morse.
BOOM!
Ni Ni appeared before him instantly, parrying the blows and launching her counterattacks. Blocking, stabbing, striking, and dodging... and most importantly, the total crushing of their pathetic numbers
The numbers clashed, and a massive battle erupted between the two sides. In the midst of the chaos, the Elders—at the Golden Core stage—intervened immediately, suppressing the conflict at once.
Once Morse and Ni Ni Layan had safely exited the family estate, they decided to find a hotel room to stay in.
There were certainly issues to deal with. As the two of them sat in the hotel room, Morse asked her a single question.
"Did you get hurt?"
Though he was dying to know what he had missed, he felt it would be rude not to check on her first. "Well, as you can see, no one can harm a Phoenix,"
she replied with her usual arrogance. Where does all this haughty pride come from? Morse wondered.
"Seriously, if they hurt you, I promise I'll avenge you."
Ni Ni Layan was taken aback by his words. Revenge for her?
"Oh, you sweet little thing... you're quite cute when you talk about seeking revenge for this Lady. Don't worry, this Lady is more than capable of taking what's hers."
Ni Ni Layan had returned to her stunningly beautiful young adult form. She reached out, pinching Morse's cheek and pulling it playfully.
He had already ordered dinner for her. Now that she had finished the entire meal, the Phoenix became utterly lazy and refused to tell him anything. Eventually, however, she succumbed to his pleading looks and recounted everything—from entering the Patriarch's house and slapping the Concubine, to opening the door to a scene she described as "revolting."
Morse hadn't realized that such depraved acts were happening within the family. But even if there was an intruder... how would they link it to him?
"Oh, I remember you left a set of Tattoo Seals on the table. I thought you'd forgotten them, so I took them with me... and accidentally dropped them there."
Upon hearing this, Morse exploded with joy. He lunged forward and hugged Ni Ni Layan tightly, lifting her off the ground in his excitement. In this way, he had planted seeds of absolute terror in their hearts. Now, the unexpected element was his winning card.
In his excitement, he didn't notice the Phoenix's face turning a deep crimson in his arms.
Dammit... why does a mere hug make me feel so shy