The world turned gold.
A dozen swords erupted from the ripples behind Kaelen. They weren't just weapons. They were streaks of divine judgment.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The air screamed as the steel tore through it.
Lin Feng didn't even have time to scream. The two disciples flanking him were pinned to the courtyard floor before they could blink. The blades went through their shoulders, anchoring them to the stone like insects in a display case.
Blood sprayed, hot and metallic.
"My... my legs!" one disciple shrieked.
Kaelen stepped off the porch. He moved with the predatory grace of a panther. His gaze remained fixed on Lin Feng, who had fallen backward, his face a mask of pale horror.
"You like to play with poison, don't you?" Kaelen's voice was a low, dangerous rumble.
"W-Wait! Kaelen! We are from the same alliance!" Lin Feng scrambled backward, his hands scraping against the gravel. "If you kill me, the Black Tiger Sect will level this mountain!"
Kaelen paused. He tilted his head, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. It was a smile that didn't reach his eyes—eyes that held the weight of five thousand years of slaughter.
"Let them come," Kaelen whispered. "I need more whetstones for my blades."
He raised a single finger.
Another ripple opened. This time, a heavy, jagged claymore emerged. It didn't fire. It hovered right above Lin Feng's groin.
"The 'Crippling Yin Poison' in your hand," Kaelen noted, gesturing to the vial Lin Feng was still clutching. "You intended it for my Senior Sister. You wanted to see her break. You wanted to hear her beg."
Lin Feng's breath came in ragged gasps. "It... it was just a joke! A misunderstanding!"
"A misunderstanding?" Kaelen's eyes flared. "Then let us have another one."
With a flick of his wrist, the claymore dropped.
Crunch.
"ARGHHHHHHHHH!"
The scream echoed through the silent peaks of the Heavenly Sword Sect. The heavy blade hadn't killed him. It had crushed his pelvis and pinned his thighs to the earth.
Kaelen didn't feel a shred of pity. He remembered the past life. He remembered Lin Qing's lifeless eyes as she hung from the rafters. He remembered the laughter of this very man.
[Ding!]
[Host has inflicted 'Absolute Despair' on a Minor Villain.]
[Reward: 500 Conquest Points.]
[New Ability: Soul Search (Level 1) unlocked.]
Kaelen felt a cold energy seep into his mind. He didn't wait. He reached out and grabbed Lin Feng by the hair, forcing his head back.
"Don't die yet," Kaelen murmured. "I want to see what's inside that rot you call a brain."
He activated the skill.
Images flashed. The Black Tiger Sect's secret alliance. A plan to betray the Heavenly Sword Sect from within. And most importantly, the location of a hidden 'Spirit Vein' that contained a fragment of a Multiverse Key.
Kaelen's heart thrummed. So soon? The Multiverse Key was his ticket to the other realms—the worlds of Ninja, Pirates, and Heroes. He needed that key to truly awaken his Primordial Void Body.
Slide.
The door behind him opened fully this time.
Su Leng stepped out. She had managed to find a new robe, a deep midnight blue that clung to her curves like a second skin. Her face was still flushed from their merging of souls, her eyes carrying a complex mix of lingering desire and newfound authority.
"Kaelen," she called out. Her voice was steady, but her pulse—visible at the base of her throat—was racing.
The disciples who were still conscious gasped. They had never seen the 'Ice Queen' look so... disheveled. So human.
Kaelen turned. He looked at her, his gaze softening only for a fraction of a second. "Master. You should be resting. The white release hasn't fully settled in your meridians yet."
Su Leng blushed furiously. She knew what he meant. Her hidden cave was still heavy with his warmth, a constant reminder of her "sin" and her salvation.
"The Sect Leader is coming," she whispered, stepping closer to him, ignoring the carnage in the courtyard. "The elders heard the commotion. You have to leave, or claim self-defense."
"I don't need to claim anything," Kaelen said, his hand finding her waist again. He pulled her close, asserting his dominance in front of the dying disciples.
Su Leng stiffened, then melted. She was the Master, yet she felt like a small boat moored in his vast ocean.
"Kaelen! Stop!"
Another voice. This one was younger. Higher.
A girl in yellow robes ran into the courtyard. Lin Qing. She stopped dead. Her eyes moved from the pinned disciples to the bloody mess that was Lin Feng, and finally to Kaelen, who was holding their cold Master by the waist.
"Brother Kaelen?" she stammered. "What... what happened to you?"
She was the girl he had died for once. In this life, she was still innocent. Her soft peaks were smaller than Su Leng's, but her beauty was like a morning lily.
Kaelen looked at her. He felt a pang of protectiveness, but also the cold calculation of the System.
[System Target Detected: Lin Qing (The Innocent Disciple Archetype).]
[Status: Heavily shocked. Affection level: 60 (Childhood crush).]
[Mission: Bind her to the Harem. Reward: 'Sharigan' (Three Tomoe) Fragment.]
Kaelen let go of Su Leng and walked toward Lin Qing.
The girl flinched. The boy she knew was gone. This man smelled of iron and the warmth of a conqueror.
"The nightmare is over, Qing'er," Kaelen said. He reached out, his thumb brushing a stray tear from her cheek. "From now on, no one touches what belongs to me."
"But... the Sect laws..."
"I am the law," Kaelen interrupted.
He leaned in, his shadow enveloping her. The scent of his pillar of strength and recent intimacy with Su Leng clung to him, a musk that made Lin Qing's head swim. She felt a strange heat building in her own delicate bud, a sensation she didn't understand.
Suddenly, a powerful aura descended from the sky.
An old man with a long white beard landed in the center of the courtyard. The Sect Leader.
"Kaelen! Su Leng! Explain this massacre!" the old man roared, his pressure causing the ground to crack.
Kaelen didn't move. He didn't even look up.
"Old man," Kaelen said, his voice flat. "If you want to keep your head, don't bark at me. I've just saved your sect from a rat's nest."
The air froze. The disciples held their breath. No one spoke to the Sect Leader like that.
But Kaelen wasn't finished. He looked at the golden ripples still shimmering in the air.
"I have a deal for you," Kaelen continued. "Give me the position of Core Disciple, and the keys to the Forbidden Library. In exchange, I won't turn this mountain into a graveyard."
The Sect Leader's eyes narrowed. He looked at Su Leng. "Su Leng! What has happened to your disciple? Is he possessed?"
Su Leng looked at Kaelen. She remembered the rhythm of love they had shared just minutes ago. She remembered how he had burned the poison out of her soul.
She took a step forward, standing beside Kaelen.
"He is not possessed, Sect Leader," she said, her voice echoing with a cold finality. "He is the new hope of the Heavenly Sword Sect. And anyone who opposes him... opposes me."
The shock was absolute. The Ice Queen had chosen her side.
The Sect Leader's pressure was a mountain.
To any other disciple, it would have been a death sentence. To Kaelen, it was a gentle breeze.
Kaelen stepped forward. The ground beneath his feet didn't just crack; it turned to dust. A deep, abyssal hum began to vibrate from his chest—the sound of the Primordial Void Body reacting to the challenge.
"You call this power?" Kaelen's voice was barely a whisper, yet it drowned out the Sect Leader's roar.
Behind him, the golden ripples of the Gate of Babylon intensified. A new silhouette emerged. It wasn't a sword. It was a spear—crimson, wrapped in barbed thorns, radiating an aura of absolute causality.
Gáe Bolg.
The Sect Leader's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "That... that weapon... it carries the laws of the world!"
"Keep your titles, Old Man," Kaelen said, his eyes glowing with an eerie, violet light. "I don't care about being a Core Disciple anymore. I am the master of this mountain now. Either you kneel, or you become part of the scenery."
Su Leng felt a shiver run down her spine. The boy she had raised was gone. In his place stood a monster—a beautiful, terrifying god. And she wanted nothing more than to be beneath him again.
The Sect Leader's aura wavered. He looked at the dying Lin Feng. He looked at Su Leng's defiant stance. Most importantly, he looked at that crimson spear.
He yielded.
The pressure vanished. The old man slumped, looking ten years older in an instant. "Fine. Everything you asked for... is yours. Just... don't bring the sect to ruin."
"Ruin?" Kaelen laughed, a sharp, cold sound. "I am going to make this sect the center of the Multiverse."
He turned his back on the leader of the sect. He didn't care about politics. He cared about power. And he cared about the two women standing in his courtyard.
"Qing'er," he said, looking at the trembling girl in yellow.
"Y-Yes, Brother Kaelen?"
"The poison from those rats has tainted the air. You've breathed it in."
Lin Qing's eyes widened. "I... I feel a bit dizzy."
It was a lie. The air was fine. But Kaelen needed her. He needed the Yin Essence of the Innocent Disciple to unlock the Sharingan fragment.
"Come," Kaelen commanded.
He didn't wait. He grabbed Lin Qing's hand and pulled her toward his chamber. Su Leng followed closely behind, her eyes burning with a mix of protectiveness and a dark, newly awakened jealousy.
The door to the chamber shut. The world outside was left in chaos, but inside, the air was still.
Kaelen sat on the edge of the large bed. The scent of Su Leng's previous merging of souls still lingered, a musky sweetness that made Lin Qing's face flush a deep crimson.
"Master, help her undress," Kaelen ordered.
Su Leng didn't hesitate. Her hands, soft and cool, moved to the sash of Lin Qing's yellow robes.
"Master Su? What are you doing?" Lin Qing stammered, her heart racing like a trapped bird.
"Kaelen is saving you, child," Su Leng whispered, her voice husky. "Don't resist. It is the only way to clear your meridians."
The yellow robes fell.
Lin Qing stood there, her snowy globes smaller but more perkier than Su Leng's. Her delicate bud was hidden behind a thin layer of silk, already showing signs of a nami (wetness) she couldn't explain. She was like a fresh lily, waiting to be plucked.
Kaelen's pillar of strength reacted instantly, a hardness like iron forming beneath his robe.
"Lie down," Kaelen said.
The girl obeyed, her body trembling with a mix of fear and an irresistible attraction. Kaelen moved over her, his warmest part pressing against her stomach.
"Su Leng, join us," Kaelen commanded without looking back.
The Ice Queen didn't need to be told twice. She shed her midnight blue robe, her vibrant curves glowing in the dim candlelight. She knelt behind Lin Qing, her soft peaks pressing against the girl's back, while Kaelen dominated the front.
"It will feel like a fire in your veins, Qing'er," Kaelen murmured, his lips grazing the girl's neck.
His hand found her hidden cave, finding it tight and virginal. He didn't rush. He used his fingers to explore the depths, his warm pressure making the girl arch her back and let out a high-pitched moan that echoed through the room.
"Ah! Brother... it's... it's too much!"
"It's just the beginning," Kaelen promised.
He moved to her gates of paradise, his pillar of strength finding the entrance. With a slow, relentless push, he claimed her.
The girl's scream was muffled by Kaelen's kiss. He drank her tears and her moans, his essence of life surging into her with every thrust. Beside them, Su Leng was paying homage, her lips finding Kaelen's skin, her own hands exploring her secret valley as she watched the rhythm of love unfold.
The room became a sanctuary of heavy breathing and merging souls.
[System Notification: Yin Essence Absorption (Innocent Type) at 100%.]
[Target Lin Qing has been 'Bound'.]
[Reward Unlocked: Sharingan (Three Tomoe) - Fully Awakened.]
Kaelen felt his eyes burn. A new world of perception opened to him. He could see the flow of energy in the air. He could see the fear in the distance. He could see the Multiverse Key fragment pulsating deep within the sect's Forbidden Library.
Finally, as the moon reached its zenith, Kaelen released his warm lava into Lin Qing's inner sanctuary, while his other hand reached back to pull Su Leng into the explosion.
The three of them lay in a tangle of limbs and silk, the white release marking their union.
"Kaelen..." Su Leng whispered, her head on his chest. "What happens now?"
Kaelen looked at the ceiling, his violet eyes swirling with the newly gained Sharingan patterns.
"Now," Kaelen said, his voice cold and ambitious. "We take what belongs to us. Starting with the Black Tiger Sect's treasury. And then... we open the door to the other worlds."
Suddenly, the System's voice chimed again, but this time it was different. It wasn't a reward. It was a warning.
[WARNING!]
[Multiverse Anomaly Detected.]
[A rift has opened in the Forbidden Library.]
[Entity identified: 'The Winter Soldier' (Marvel Universe) has entered the world.]
Kaelen's grip tightened on the girls. A cyborg assassin from another world was here.
The hunt had begun.