I left Sanlu Town before dawn, slipping away while mist still clung to the rooftops and the eastern sky barely lightened. With the map hidden in my robe and yesterday's gains steadying my mind, I headed toward the forest and mountain range marked at its edge.
The forest closed around me quickly. Sunlight filtered through dense leaves as my Perception Eyes awakened, revealing faint traces of spiritual essence where others would see only weeds and moss.
I gathered methodically, spirit grass beneath fallen branches, bone-root vines around old trees, and low-grade medicinal herbs near damp soil, nothing rare alone, but valuable in quantity.
By midday I reached the mountain paths, where thinner air carried denser spiritual energy. There I found flame-leaf herbs on sun-warmed rocks, frost-vein flowers in shaded cracks, and remnants of old beast hunts.
On my descent, a strange metallic glint caught my eye, an unfamiliar, warm dark mineral lodged in stone. I couldn't identify it, but instinct told me it was valuable, perhaps useful for refining tools or furnaces.
I stored it away without hesitation. As the sun dipped toward the horizon, I descended the mountain and returned to Sanlu Town, heading straight for a nearby materials shop.
I laid out part of my harvest, and the shopkeeper examined each item carefully before offering a fair price. The small stack of spirit stones he slid across the counter felt surprisingly heavy, my first real earnings in this world.
I spent part of it on basic alchemy tools: a simple refining pot, measuring spoons, fire-starting talismans, and several storage jars. Just as I turned to leave, I paused, then took out the dark, irregular mineral and set it on the counter as well.
"Do you recognize this?" I asked.
The shopkeeper's expression changed the moment he saw it. He turned the piece slowly, tapping it with a knuckle, then shaking his head. "I can't name it," he admitted, "but it's definitely not common ore. There's depth to it."
After a pause, he looked up at me and added, "If you truly want answers, you should go to Xuanlian City, in Bailin Province. That's a big city, refiners, alchemists, and artifact masters gather there. Someone there will know its use, and its true value."
I nodded and asked how long it would take to reach Xuanlian City. After a brief thought, the shopkeeper replied that traveling on foot would take about twenty days, depending on roads and weather. The distance was enough to make me pause, rushing there unprepared would be foolish, so I kept the dark stone and set the matter aside.
As evening descended, I returned to the inn and shut myself in. I laid out my newly purchased alchemy tools, steadied my breathing, and ignited the furnace. Relying on the knowledge I had gained, I began refining pills in earnest, carefully controlling the flame and adding each ingredient at the precise moment.
By the time the furnace cooled, several jade bottles sat before me. I had successfully refined Qi Gathering Pills and Body Tempering Pills, most of them of high grade, with even a couple reaching peak grade, far better than I had expected for my first attempt. In the process, I deliberately refined two special formulas, Aphrodisiac Pills designed for women and Vitality-enhancing Pills tailored for men.
With the pills secured in my storage pouch, I headed to a cultivator-specialized shop rather than the usual material stalls. The owner's eyes widened as he inspected my goods. In the end, I sold most of the high-grade Qi Gathering and Body Tempering Pills, along with the few peak-grade of the same kind. I kept a couple peak-grade pills for myself, tucking them away carefully.
The spirit stones I received were far beyond what I had expected, enough to ease my worries for the foreseeable future.
With night deepening and curiosity pulling at me, I made my way to the Velvet Bamboo Tower, a place where mortals and low-level cultivators came seeking both entertainment and pleasures.
The hall was alive, bright, yet softened by countless dimmed alcoves, each promising privacy. Women moved gracefully among the patrons, attending to customers with practiced smiles, while music never ceased, filling the space with rhythm and allure.
Dancers swayed in sheer, translucent garments, their movements teasing and intoxicating, the air thick with lust and excitement, saturating every corner.
As I stepped further inside the Velvet Bamboo Tower, my eyes swept over the vast expanse of the hall.
The first floor buzzed with movement, but above, countless rooms lined the balconies of the second floor and beyond, I counted at least seven levels, each one promising seclusion and indulgence.
The dim light and the occasional laughter spilling from the private chambers hinted at the pleasures being enjoyed within.
I wove through the crowd, careful not to draw attention, and found an empty seat near the edge of the hall. Sitting down, I allowed myself a moment to observe.
The dancers continued their teasing sways, the attendants flitted from table to table, and the air itself seemed charged with the mingling of desire and energy. Perfect, I thought, for testing the potency of my pills.
Suddenly, my Perception Eyes flared to life, countless women appeared in my senses as potential candidates for dual cultivation. The sheer flood of energy was dizzying, almost overwhelming, but through it all, two presences shone unmistakably, serene and startlingly pure, their clarity cutting through the chaos like a beacon.
I called over the Mistress of the Velvet Bamboo and asked about them.
She didn't seem surprised. Lowering her voice, she explained that both were sisters in their twenties.
The elder was named Xueyin, the younger Xueyang. Their parents had long since passed, and their relatives, unable or unwilling to support them, had sold them here. Unlike the others, the sisters had never taken clients. They were still virgins, holding firmly to a single condition: they would only leave with a suitable candidate.
I looked at both Xueyin and Xueyan again, and my gaze lingered, slow and unguarded. Their beauty was impossible to ignore.
Xueyin stood with a quiet, captivating allure, her presence both gentle and impossible to overlook. The soft glow of her fair skin traced the graceful curve of her figure, her slender waist flowing naturally into subtle, feminine fullness that invited the eye to linger. Each measured breath caused a faint rise and fall, slow and hypnotic, hinting at restrained vitality beneath her composed exterior. Her eyes, sharp yet inviting, shimmered with an unspoken promise, calm on the surface, but rich with warmth and depth, making her beauty not merely seen, but felt.
Xueyan, standing close at her side, possessed a softer yet equally captivating charm. Her features carried a delicate refinement, gentle and luminous, lending her a youthful elegance that drew the eye again and again. The graceful curves of her figure flowed naturally, full yet tasteful, balanced and pleasing, while her smoothly contoured hips and subtle femininity gave her an air of quiet allure. There was warmth in the way she stood, a natural sensuality that felt sincere rather than performed. Together, the sisters formed a striking sight, poised, graceful, and undeniably alluring, their combined beauty pressing softly against my senses, making it difficult to look away.
The Mistress smiled meaningfully and continued. If I could solve three problems the sisters had set, I would be allowed to take both of them with me, paying only a small sum to redeem their contracts.
Hearing this, my interest surged to its peak.
The Mistress went on to warn me that I wasn't the first to show interest. Many people, cultivators included had tried to solve the sisters' problems before, and every single one had failed.
She added one final condition, her tone turning serious: each person was allowed only one attempt in a lifetime. Fail, and they would never be given the chance again.
That only sharpened my focus.
I nodded calmly. "Then call them," I said. "Let them present the problems to me directly."
The Mistress studied my expression for a brief moment, as if trying to see whether my confidence was real or merely bravado.
At last, she gave a small smile and turned away to summon them, leaving me standing there, mind clear and senses alert, fully aware that whatever was about to come would not be simple, and that this single chance could alter my path in ways I had yet to foresee.
Not long after, the two sisters were brought before me.
Xueyin and Xueyang bowed gracefully, their movements calm and restrained. We exchanged only a few words before the first problem was presented.
It was a strange object, a twelve-faced rotating cube, each face covered in bright, striking colors arranged in chaotic patterns. The vivid hues clashed and intertwined, making the puzzle look complex at first glance.
Yet the moment my eyes fell upon it, understanding stirred within me. A spark of familiarity rose from deep in my memories. In my previous life, I had played with countless rotating puzzles during my youth, even spending long hours watching tutorials out of sheer interest, until such patterns had become almost instinctive to me.
Confidence settled in my chest.
I took the cube into my hands and began turning the pieces slowly, feeling out its structure. Step by step, layer by layer, I worked through the chaos, guiding each section into place.
As I continued, the scattered colors gradually began to align, disorder giving way to harmony. After about thirty minutes, I made the final rotation. The cube settled with a soft click, all twelve faces perfectly solved, each side displaying its own clear, representative color.
I held it up for them to see.
Before I could say a word, both sisters suddenly knelt.
"Husband," they said in unison.
I froze, utterly confused. "Wait, aren't there two more problems?"
They shook their heads gently. Xueyin spoke, her voice steady. She explained that there were never a second or third problem. Their father had left behind a message: anyone who could solve the cube would be worthy of them both. Such a man could take them away, marry them, and care for them for life. No one before me had ever passed the first test.
Only now did I understand.
What I had thought was merely a puzzle… was a gate meant for destiny itself.
As people began to gather and murmurs spread, the two sisters wasted no time. They each took one of my arms and quickly led me away to their private room.
Behind us, the Mistress merely smiled and gave a small nod, allowing the commotion to fade on its own.
Inside the quiet room, I spoke calmly, handing each of them a pill. I told them it was a Qi-enhancing pills meant to aid their cultivation but its actually the Aphrodisiac pills, while I swallowed the Vitality-enhancing pills myself.[1]
Not long after, warmth surged through my body, energy pooling and circulating with unusual intensity as my Thick Dao Tool rise up, ready to be inserted into the both of them.
At the same time, both sisters began to feel the effects. Heat slowly rose within them, their breathing growing uneven as their auras drifted closer, weaving naturally with mine.
Drawn by that resonance, they moved nearer, loosening their outer robes and closing the distance between us. Their soft, quickened breaths filled the room, carrying a sensual tension as our energies continued to intertwine.
Without hesitation, I hauled them into me, crushing the last inch of space until their heat bled into my skin.
I claimed Xueyin first, my mouth devouring hers, lips bruising, tongues colliding as I kissed her hard and deep, tasting her breath, her softness, her hunger as it shuddered against me.
She melted into it, gasping, clinging, and I broke away only to turn on Xueyang, taking her lips just as fiercely, drinking her in, savoring the same sweet, yielding warmth as I ravaged her mouth.
Back and forth, their flavors blurred, their sighs tangled with mine, breaths mixing, pulses racing, until nothing existed beyond the press of bodies, the heat between us, and the slow, relentless rise and fall that bound us together.
Guided by instinct and long-honed cultivation sense, we entered dual cultivation, our energies sliding together like flowing water. Yin and yang entwined, warmth spreading through meridians as essence circulated again and again.
Skin met skin, chest to chest, our warmth pooling as yin and yang aligned, breath slowing until it merged into a single rhythm. Heat built softly, sweat beading as our energies intertwined, essence flowing through open meridians again and again without force, only trust.
When I inserted my Thick Dao Tool into them, the response was immediate, auras brightening, cultivation surging in harmonious waves that echoed back into me. Our movements were unhurried, flowing together in quiet rhythm.
We shifted position. I lay back, surrendering the lead, as both sisters settled over me, their warmth pinning me in place while we began to circulate our qi anew. Time seemed to stretch and thin, each breath drawn out, each heartbeat echoing longer than the last.
My hands traced slow, deliberate paths along their bodies, guiding the flow of energy with careful precision, smoothing turbulence, deepening the resonance between us.
Heat gathered, sweat slicking skin where we touched, our breaths blending until it was impossible to tell where one ended and the others began. When the moment ripened, my Milky Dao Seeds burst inside both of them from my Thick Dao Tool one at a time, and their auras answered in kind, blooming, surging, pulling me back into their current.
However, the lingering potency of the pills still refused to settle, the restless current humming beneath our calm. We shifted positions again, choosing balance over force.
I guided the circulation of qi from outside their bodies, naked, hands ready and controlled, while they answered in kind, their hands mirroring the motion along my own meridians. Energy flowed between the three of us in a careful exchange, threads weaving together in widening circles.
Hoping this cycle would finally bring harmony, I leaned in and pressed gentle kisses to them once more, moving from Xueyin to Xueyang and back again, never breaking the rhythm of our circulation.
Our breaths aligned, our auras overlapped, until the three of us felt like a single, unified flow. Again, I inserted my Thick Dao Tool into both of them, Xueyin then Xueyang, keep going in and out, one after the other.
The response was immediate and overwhelming. Qi surged in lush, rolling waves as both girls gasped for breath, their chests rising and falling rapidly, skin slick with sweat that gathered and dripped without pause.
Heat poured from their bodies in shimmering pulses, wrapping around us as we continued to move together in slow, deliberate rhythm, guiding the flow with intimate precision. Each gentle motion deepened the resonance, drawing out soft tremors as their energy opened and yielded.
At the peak of that shared intensity, when their breathing finally synchronized and the chaotic currents melted into needful stillness, my Thick Dao Tools release Milky Dao Seeds into them, one after the other.
The moment it took root, the surging heat settled into a deep, lingering warmth, sealing the process in a way that felt complete, possessive, and profoundly binding.
Exhaustion finally claimed us.
Both sisters slept while holding me close, Xueyin curled against my right side, Xueyang resting on my left, their faces near mine, breaths faint and uneven as the last traces of strain faded from their bodies.
A thin robe lay loosely over us, barely enough to ward off the cooling air, their skin still warm, a faint sheen of sweat catching the dim light.
I tightened my arms around them just a little, instinctively, careful not to wake them. Their breathing gradually evened out, the room settling into quiet at last.
With that gentle weight anchoring me, I let my own breath slow, closed my eyes, and drifted into sleep alongside them, the night's turmoil finally giving way to peace.
[1] MC is curious about the potency of the Aphrodisiac pills and the Vitality-enhancement pills. What is way better than to test it inside a pleasure house, where lust and joy are everywhere.