Spring had warmed Bright Hua's capital, Shengjing, turning it from a snow-covered city to a lively bloom of life. The streets buzzed with renewal, the new year a fading memory spiced by tales of a mirage that fueled gossip.
But while some prospered, others mourned. The Demon Sect's costly attempt to open the Tomb of the Scattered Immortal had enriched righteous sects, leaving demonic factions bitter. Feng Wei thrived, securing artifact fragments and refining his alchemy.
His lovers, Suya Xiao, Lian Zhen, and Mira Rain, also prospered, despite tensions in the tomb. His bond with Marshal Jun deepened after extending Jun's life, earning Suya's devotion, her soft eyes following him.
Yet, Wu Xie's childish clinging annoyed him, stealing time with Suya. Lian tamed a near-pureblood dragon horse, its bloodline strong enough to one day become a dragon.
Feng felt uneasy about its odd, almost lustful gaze toward her, half-joking about gelding it, though its value as a stud made that impossible. Mira, touched by Feng's favor in the tomb, grew closer, but her elusive ways and strange, pitch-black companion, which she called a "beast artifact," worried him.
To Feng, it resembled dark-skinned slaves from Raksha, traded via Kunlun routes. Rumors of such slaves' scandalous affairs urged him to confront her, but his fling with her sect sister, Gu Sanniang of Golden Lotus Hall, left him hesitant, her mature charm lingering in his thoughts.
Qing haunted him. A misunderstanding in the tomb, where a slave attacked her, nearly killing her, strained their bond. Though Mira was to blame, Feng felt responsible.
Her cold departure filled him with regret, though Mira's later intimacy eased his guilt. The attack hadn't ended in tragedy; Elder Mu had protected Qing. Why, Feng wondered, was she so upset over an old eunuch? He admired her kind heart, seeing all beings as equal.
Her invitation to Pity Moon Residence surprised him. The palace's rear mountains buzzed with spring rituals, drawing eunuchs, maids, and sect disciples for ancestral rites at the Sky Altar.
Many sought Qing, hoping to glimpse her beauty, but her solitude rebuffed most. Her spiritual array hid her residence, accessible only to her parents, Ren Jiang and Mei Su.
"You're not dead?" Feng said, seeing Elder Mu alive, sweeping outside.
"Thanks to the princess," Mu grinned, his wrinkles folding into a peculiar pattern.
"Lead the way," Feng said, relieved. Qing's simple lifestyle, with no maids or guards, earned praise for humility.
Disciples envied Mu's proximity yet pitied his age and ugliness, seeing no threat. Some thought to befriend him to learn Qing's preferences. None, including Feng, saw him as a rival, a castrated eunuch was no man.
Yet, Qing saw Elder Mu differently, his massive cock and potent balls a secret known only to her. In the orchid pavilion, her serene beauty stole Feng's breath, her white robes flowing, her black hair cascading like a waterfall.
"Qing, it's been a while," he said, his voice soft.
"Long time no see, Feng," she replied, her polite smile distant, a blade of ice that unsettled him.
"Why did you invite me?" Feng asked, steadying himself, his heart pounding at her cold demeanor.
"Just a matter of troublesome emotions," Qing said, her voice calm but sharp, quickening his pulse.
That she spoke so openly of feelings stunned him. "Emotions?" he echoed, uncertain.
"Yes." Her gaze was steady, her smile unchanged. "If you truly care for Li, let go of your other lovers and commit to her. I'll support you."
"But if you can't part with Mira, Lian, or Suya, stay away from my sister. Don't ruin her." Her words, cold as winter snow, froze him. Despite the warm spring sun, he felt a chill, as if lost in an icy wasteland.
"I understand," he managed, his voice dry.
"There's more," Qing added, and a flicker of hope sparked in him.
But her sudden smile, mysterious and unreadable, unnerved him further. "Why are you smiling?" he asked, swallowing hard.
"Nothing," she said lightly. "I'm laughing at myself."
She'd expected some stir of emotion upon seeing him, perhaps a ripple of longing. But there was nothing, just calm, as if he were a stranger. Her only concern was for Li Jiang.
"I'm about to break through," she said.
Feng froze, struck as if by lightning. The Xian Sect's heirs faced trials of the heart to ascend, be it slaying demons, saving the world, or overcoming love.
Her breakthrough meant she'd resolved her trial. Whether she chose detachment or the mortal path, it meant she and Feng were done.
"Congratulations," he said, his voice bitter, barely audible.
"Detachment or the mortal path?" he asked.
"The mortal path," she replied.
"I see." He looked skyward, his eyes stinging as if sand had blown into them.
"I'll take my leave," he said.
"No need to see me out," she said.
He turned, tears streaming down his face, his heart aching. Why had it come to this? He wanted to beg for another chance, to ask if things could have been different.
But he didn't look back. There was no undoing the past, no second chances. He couldn't let go of Suya, Mira, Lian, or even Li.
With a bitter laugh, he realized Li was their last shred of dignity. At the threshold, he paused, his voice hoarse.
"Who is he?" he asked. Who had won her heart? How was Feng lacking?
Qing glanced at Elder Mu's hunched, sweeping figure outside, her voice soft. "He's crude, unrefined, old, and ugly, with weak cultivation and a lecherous nature."
"Enough!" Feng snapped, his composure breaking. "Why mock me?"
Her words felt like a taunt. If this man was so wretched, what did that make Feng, who couldn't compare?
"I'm just being honest," Qing said, puzzled by his outburst. Her cold demeanor hid her confusion, but seeing his trembling form, she softened.
"If he has one strength, it's something you lack," she said. She meant his cock. Feng's manhood, though solid at fifteen centimeters, paled beside Elder Mu's.
Even flaccid, Mu's was nearly twenty centimeters; erect, it stretched over thirty, twice Feng's length and far thicker. The volume and potency of Mu's semen dwarfed Feng's, a fact Qing had noticed when she saw Feng with Mira, his release weak in comparison.
Feng, unaware of her meaning, assumed she spoke of some noble quality. With a bitter smile, he bowed and left, his heart shattered.