Hello, dear readers! Here's chapter 112! I have to say, planning the outfits for the MC and FLs was a lot more fun than I previously thought. I'm even making them wear different outfits with different colors and patterns in future chapters. Anyway, you'll see what i mean when the free chapters will catch up to that part of the story.
This week: Well, it was a productive week! I finished writing my weekly patre0n chapter on thursday (4200+ words chapter) and I've even started writing chapter 123. I don't think I'll be able to finish it this week, but it's a good sign that I might be able to stock up a few more chapters on patre0n in the next few weeks.
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Bright Star City, Bright Star Island, Flowing Stars Archipelago, Earth
Demian's P.O.V.
Seeing the two women's new looks stunned him into speechlessness, his brain having difficulty registering the situation, leaving his body completely frozen for a while. Noticing his reaction, the two, whose seductive smiles were previously mixed with a tinge of nervousness, immediately turned triumphant, with Seraphine turning her head toward Adeliya and exclaiming. "See, Mom? Just a glance and he's already down. Too weak!" Naturally, she chose to selectively forget her previous reaction to Demian's own looks. With a light snort, the middle-aged beauty replied, her proud grin undermining her 'angry' words. "Serves him right! Trying to seduce us constantly as if we're easy women. Just because we stared at you a bit bef..." The last sentence was interrupted by Seraphine's embarrassed cough, prompting the middle-aged redhead to instantly close her small mouth as a small blush appeared on her fair cheeks. Their childish banter helped the young man regain 'consciousness', his thoughts now moving very quickly. 'Damn! As long as I get to see them dress like that, I think I can die happy... Wait! No! It'd be better to live forever with them by my side. That way, I can enjoy the view every day. Wouldn't that be perfect?' He exclaimed inwardly with amazement. While the two kept teasing him with their words and seductive postures, most of his attention was directed toward their outfits. On one side, there was Seraphine standing at around 1m90, her curves hidden by the short sleeves dark purple cheongsam [A/N: Qipao (Mandarin) = Cheongsam (Cantonese)] reaching right above her knees, its color matching her silky long hair. The dress had a short mandarin collar, which was a piece of fabric covering the whole neck, split in the middle of the throat, and held by a white-colored pankou, which was a floral-shaped knotted button. From the base of the collar, a rounded line, also held by similar pankous, reached right below her right armpit, following the curve of her right breast. The dress was sinfully figure-hugging, with slits on each side of her legs reaching mid-thighs, and displaying the smooth, dark skin hidden underneath the piece of cloth. Lined with white fabrics, the dress also had a great light-purple phoenix with red eyes flying among white clouds sewn on the front, its head set between her two shapely breasts, while its wings covered the bottom part of her bust as if to help prop those two mountains into the Heavens. The dress aside, she also wore some flat-bottomed dark purple shoes with white linings and a few white cloud patterns. As for the last piece of 'clothing', it was a precious hairpin representing a light purple phoenix with red eyes, its feathers and crown lined with gold. The exquisite accessory was holding her long hair in place, forming two top buns on each side and an intricate waterfall of purple 'silk' falling at the back of her head and reaching her shoulders. With an oval face that radiated youthfulness after having both transcended her Mortal body and awakened the Shadow Void Elf Bloodline, a matching hairstyle, and a dress that emphasized every single feminine asset she possessed, from her outrageous curves, to her smooth dark skin, along with her toned muscles, the result undoubtedly created a blood-boiling image capable of turning any weak-willed man into a mindless beast at the mercy of his desires. And that was just one of the two women...
Indeed, a slight movement to the side and there stood Adeliya with her 1m95 all in curves and softness. Although she also wore a cheongsam, both styles and colors were markedly different from her daughter's. Unlike the short version, this one had long sleeves, and the bottom reached the middle of her ankles. With a slightly higher mandarin collar covering almost her whole neck from top to bottom, one slit on each side of her legs, which, despite ending slightly lower than Seraphine's own, gave the illusion of showing more flesh, probably due to having them course from her ankle to almost mid thigh. The burgundy-colored silk dress had beautiful golden linings and golden pankous closing the large, round front, the latter following the impressive curvature of her right breast, ending below her right armpit. As if to match her daughter's dress, a massive golden phoenix with red eyes was sewn on the front, seemingly flying among the numerous white clouds present around it. Two pieces of clothing completed the set, with a delicate pair of burgundy flat-bottomed shoes with golden linings and an imposing golden phoenix with red eyes hairpin maintaining her current hairstyle, which consisted of two locks of hair framing her oval face, plump red lips, and beautiful blue eyes, along with an imposing top hairbun and a triangular-shaped plait that barely reached her shoulders. If her level of beauty when wearing normal clothes could already be considered high, then wearing that dress, that pair of shoes, and that precious hairpin, she almost became transcendent in her allure. Unlike Seraphine, who possessed more of a youthful and playful charm, Adeliya radiated mature seduction, hinting without showing, arousing even more through one's imagination. After all, men could be a bit obtuse when it came to understanding women's emotional struggles, but when it came to imagining one in the nude, especially one with such mind-boggling curves...
With the two 'country-toppling' beauties in front of his eyes, Demian suddenly had a random thought. 'And here I was being against taking Liya as a lover. When I think about what I would've missed...' Looking at the two, he knew that if one day, someone told him he had to choose only one of them, he would tell the person 'Only children make choices. Adults want them all!' which may not be a very mature response, but he did not care. After all, in this life, it was not as if he had ever minded other people's opinions on his romantic life. At least, not enough to completely stop him, the best proof being that his two lovers were both blood-related to him, something that would have horrified most Mortals in his previous world, whether due to deep-seated jealousy, an irrepressible need to impose one's way of life upon others, a compelling urge to follow the norm arbitrarily imposed on people to control them. Generalization was something relatively common back then, since it's easier to put people into boxes, making it easier to understand and control them. It was the same for 'Incest'. From a word that simply signified unchaste or impure, it became related to blood-related sexual relationships. However, could a relationship between consenting adults and an adult assaulting a child be considered the same thing? No, it could not. The former was a matter of differing tastes, while the latter was monstrous behavior, something that deserved a painful death for its perpetrators. Letting out a sigh, Demian thought. 'Who would have thought I'd be so concerned about that topic...' Having shared the viewpoint of 'no matter the circumstances, a blood-relation romantic/sexual relationship was bad' in his previous life, he did feel peculiar about the twist of fate. Ending up in a relationship, not only with one woman related to him, but two for now, and probably a third one in the near future. 'Speak of irony...' He pondered as all those thoughts traversed his Mind while admiring the captivating appearance of the two women. A few moments later, he suddenly noticed his body and thoughts becoming lighter as some of the previously buried reluctance vanished from his Heart. 'Seems like I still had some doubts, uh...?' He pondered in silence, his gaze becoming absent-minded.
Only after a few seconds did he awaken from his contemplation as the voices of both Seraphine and Adeliya reached his ears, their tone filled with curiosity. "Babe? What are you thinking about?" "Da... Darling? Are you okay?" Shaking his head to remove those random thoughts, leaving only conviction for his chosen path, he then focused his eyes on their faces, completely devoid of any cosmetics, but still capable of bewitching the most devoted monk, and replied in a gentle tone. "I'm fine, you two. I was just mesmerized by both of you. On normal days, you're already beautiful, but now you look..." Pausing for a second, he added. "It's hard to find a word to describe it, but if I had to, I'd use entrancing. Right, entrancing. With just one look, I fell into a trance." As the two women listened to him, their expression swiftly switched from proud confidence to bashful delight, proving that although one may be fiercely spirited when dealing with outsiders, a simple, genuine compliment coming from one's lover could leave one with blushing cheeks. While evading his gaze, Adeliya retorted, her voice barely above a whisper. "You're just saying that..." As for Seraphine, her ebony cheeks turned slightly purple while she did her best to control her growing smile, though she failed miserably, before she replied. "Ever the charmer, uh? But I can't say I don't like it..." Chuckling at their reactions, Demian questioned. "Since my two beautiful lovers are ready, shall we go?" With both sporting a captivating smile, the two women nodded their heads slightly and said in sync. ""Let's go."" Their subconscious simultaneous reaction brought a few chuckles from the young man, quickly followed by the two who looked at each other with mirth before the trio began to walk out of the room, while Adeliya and Seraphine naturally grabbed one of Demian's hands each.
Shaking his head while feeling amused, Demian nonetheless held his tongue and instead enjoyed the short 10 minutes walk to the entrance of the Estate where Brynhild along with the Sergei-Ling couple and a few men and women were waiting, the latter garbed in black huangfu with their back harboring a depiction of a deep blue river surrounded by white clouds, the easily recognizable Serene River Mansion's symbol. Most Cultivators on Bight Star Island knew it since King forces like them, even though merely at the bottom of that Tier, were still considered untouchable powerhouses to most people, and offending them could lead to unpleasant consequences. Undoubtedly, there were Laws protecting ordinary citizens, but the reality was that, between a Chi Gathering Rank with no profession and a Peak Core Formation with a Low King Tier (Tier 4) profession, the choice was relatively easy to make, even if the latter was the one in the wrong. In the end, strength was the only thing that truly mattered. As for fairness, justice, compassion, etc? If your enemy could crush you like an insect, would he bother discussing those matters with you? Some righteous ones may, but they were the exceptions, and even those people had limits. After all, everyone possessed some selfishness. Thus, the best bet for anyone to receive fair treatment had always been to improve one's Cultivation Base. In hindsight, his previous life was relatively similar, the only difference being its slightly more hidden nature, and even that may have been due to the lack of Cultivation. Not having a way to transcend beyond Mortal strength, those rich and influential people had to be more careful with abusing their powers. After all, a worldwide rebellion could easily wipe them out, and they would have no way out. However, in his current world, even a 'weak' Foundation Building could crush an entire neighborhood, let alone a Void Seed Cultivator who was multiple times stronger than an Atomic Bomb. Could Mortals do anything against those people? Clearly not.
'Aahh...Cultivation is truly the greatest miracle and the greatest curse of this world... Thankfully for me, it can be considered a miracle for me...' He pondered while observing the few masked guards, with most of them possessing Peak Foundation Building Strength, the exception being a man standing behind the older couple, straight as a pine, with his cold eyes constantly scanning the premises. Only when his gaze fell on Demian's group did it warm up briefly before moving on to resume his search. 'That's Miss Chen's twin brother, right? Chen Ling? Last time I couldn't tell, but now I can vaguely sense his Cultivation somewhere around the Low Core Formation Rank. Not bad!' Demian thought while grinning at the people looking at him. "You took your time, didn't you?" Exclaimed Bryn with some irritation, although the young man was not sure if it came from their tardiness or the fact that her mother and sister were both holding his hands with tender expressions plastered all over their faces. Was the latter done on purpose? Knowing too much could be detrimental at times, so he simply decided to ignore those two mischievous foxes and said. "Sorry about that, it took us a bit of time to put on these new outfits." Pausing his words for a second, he then added, his eyes falling on his Teacher's and Ling's faces. "Speaking of which, I have to thank you for the gifts, Teacher and Aunt Ling. The clothes look amazing." With a knowing grin, Ling retorted while wearing a playful smile. "What can I say? I do have great taste!" Sergei shook his head slightly and said. "It didn't delay much, don't mind it." Looking at the golden-skinned woman sulking on the side, Demian was not so sure about that statement, but decided to ignore her and let the other two Mikhailov women manage the situation.
Seeing that everyone was ready, Sergei declared. "Since everyone's here, we might as well leave now." Before he could do anything, however, Ling remarked. "Since those four never left the Estate, why don't we fly there instead of teleporting? It's pretty close, after all." With a thoughtful look on his face, Sergei replied. "That's a good idea." Then a wistful sigh left his lips as he added. "Habits can be truly scary. No matter. Let's just fly to the Upper Tribulation Plateau." As soon as those words left his lips, a small item appeared in front of him, catching most of the Mikhailovs' attention. An instant later, the object that was barely a few centimeters long started growing at a speed so quick that in barely a few moments, it transformed into a massive wooden vessel that even the most obtuse person would agree was a magical boat. Floating in front of the group was a massive vessel made with a mix of Spiritual Wood and Metal, forming the shape of a fantastical river boat with no mast or sail present on the deck, at least from what he could tell. Who knew what was reality and what was mere illusion with magical items? Whatever the case, the hull had a beautiful symbol that was somewhat similar to their Serene mansion, with the difference being the golden Sun overlooking the blue river below, with white clouds floating freely around the two, giving the image a dreamlike feeling. The impression was further amplified by the mesmerizing Chinese calligraphy painted on one side, depicting a name matching the previous symbol: Leaping Yang Serenity. Seeing the mesmerized looks on the faces of the four Mikhailovs, Sergei's smile turned amused before he instructed. "Let's get on the boat." Immediately, the couple flew to the deck, quickly followed by half of the guard team, leaving the rest to wait for the four Mikhailovs. With incredible speed and probably some slight childishness, Bryn took off immediately without asking the other two women if they needed her help. Shaking his head inwardly with amusement, Demian thought. 'I can't help but find her cute when she acts like that. Is it because she's always acted like a mature woman even when she was just a teenager back then? I guess that may be the reason why... Well, the fact that I'm beginning to see her in a different way probably plays a role too...'
Whatever the case, Seraphine and Adeliya could have simply jumped themselves, but with his recent breakthrough, there was truly no need to make it so 'taxing' for the two beauties. While sporting a proud grin, he commented out loud. "Ready yourself, my Loves, we're taking off." Before the two could reply something, a curtain of water so thin that it bordered on invisibility instantly covered most of their bodies and brought them upwards in a blink before gently letting them down on the deck, quickly followed by the rest of the guards. Despite the monstrous speed, not even a hair was displaced from their head, a phenomenon akin to teleportation, despite being 'simple' high-speed movement, which clearly demonstrated the young man's great Mastery over his own power. On the women's side, Seraphine's face only showed pride and delight, but no such thing as surprise, probably due to having already experienced it earlier. Adeliya, however, had her little mouth slightly open, her face sporting an adorable expression of shock. Well, to be fair, the older woman's perception was much lower than her daughter's due to her lower Cultivation Base, so Demian expected such a reaction from her. He may even have done it on purpose, but he would not admit it to anyone but himself. That being said, a bit of teasing would not hurt, would it? "Enjoyed the ride?" He asked, chuckling, eliciting a few giggles from Sera, which increased when she saw her mother's expression. As for Adeliya, she rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically. "Keep laughing, you two. Children these days..."
Shaking his head slightly at her words, Demian's attention moved to the deck, which seemed to be around 100 meters in length, emphasizing how few their group was to man a boat this size. 'Well, there's no sail or mast, so I guess numbers don't matter, right? That's magic for you.' He pondered as his gaze fell on the beautiful square cabin at the end of the deck, with opaque windows, their frame filled with golden flames, while the massive wooden door was meticulously crafted with fantastical scenery, a recurring theme all over the deck, although none with as many details as on the door. The last decoration on the door was located at its center and was the same symbol painted on the hull, giving the last touch of refinement to the fantastical vessel. The rest of the boat was relatively empty, with only a closed hatch at the front leading below to the hold. A few moments later, when everyone took in the surroundings, Sergei explained. "Welcome aboard the Leaping Yang Fish, my personal flying vessel. Magnificent, isn't she?"