The growl echoed off the cave walls like rolling thunder, low and menacing, vibrating through my bones. Those glowing eyes—four of them, burning amber in the pitch black—multiplied as whatever the hell it was shifted in the shadows. Then it stepped forward, and my stomach dropped.
It was a cave lurker. Massive, easily the size of a bull elephant, with fur like tangled roots and claws that scraped sparks from the stone floor. Its body was a twisted mass of muscle and vine-like tentacles, eyes set in pairs on a broad, fang-filled head.
In the novel, these things were guardian beasts of ancient forests—drawn to qi disturbances like the one we'd just caused with our charging.
They didn't just kill; they absorbed your energy, turning you into a desiccated husk to feed the grove.
"Shit," I muttered, pushing myself up despite the lingering pain in my back. The vitality was healing me fast, but I was still nowhere near full strength. "Cave lurker. Don't let those tentacles touch you—they drain qi like a sponge."
Lin Yue was already nocking an arrow, her face pale but determined. "Great. First horny tree bitches, then demon rats, now this ugly fucker. What next?"
Mei Ling's hands glowed with qi, forming protective barriers around us. "Tianlong, can we fight it? It's huge!"
The lurker roared, shaking dust from the ceiling, and charged. The cave was narrow, which was both a blessing and a curse—no room for it to flank us, but no room to dodge either. Its tentacles whipped forward like living whips, aiming to wrap and drain.
"Move!" I shouted, grabbing both women and pulling them back. We scrambled deeper into the cave, the beast's bulk slamming against the walls as it pursued. Rocks tumbled, and the air grew thick with dust.
Lin Yue twisted in my grip and fired mid-run, her arrow sinking into one of the creature's eyes with a wet squelch. It bellowed in pain, black ichor spraying, but didn't slow. Mei Ling hurled a qi blast over her shoulder, scorching its fur and buying us a few seconds.
But the cave was narrowing, forcing us into a bottleneck. The lurker was gaining, its tentacles lashing out. One grazed Lin Yue's arm, and she cried out as a chunk of her qi vanished—her aura dimming visibly.
[Ally Damage Detected: Vitality Share Activated]
[Transfer 10 Vitality to Lin Yue]
I felt the energy flow from me to her through our budding bond, her color returning as she shook off the drain. "What was that? I feel... better."
"No time to explain!" I yelled. But inside, the system was buzzing. Close quarters, high stress—perfect for some "accidental" intimacy. As we ran, I "tripped," falling against Mei Ling and pressing her against the cave wall for a split second. My body pinned hers, cock grinding against her ass through our clothes, hands "steadying" on her hips.
She gasped, face flushing even in the panic. "T-Tianlong?!"
"Sorry—lost my footing!" I lied, but the contact sparked.
[Pressed Contact: Vitality +8]
[Harem Points +5]
The lurker's roar snapped us back. It was too close now, tentacles sweeping like scythes. Lin Yue fired another arrow, but the beast batted it away and lunged.
That's when I got stupid—or brilliant, depending on how you look at it. "Mei Ling, barrier! Lin, cover me!"
Mei Ling threw up a qi shield, buying a moment as the tentacles hammered against it. I charged forward—not with a weapon, but with my bare hands. The system had unlocked something new during the nymph escape: [Qi Siphon Touch]—a variant of Essence Absorption that could drain beasts too.
I dodged a tentacle by a hair, feeling it brush my gray beard, and slammed my palm against the lurker's hide. "Gotcha!"
Energy flooded into me like a dam breaking—raw, wild qi from the beast itself. It howled, staggering as its power weakened.
[Beast Drain Successful: Vitality +35]
[Temporary Boost: Enhanced Strength]
My old muscles bulged with borrowed power, and I grabbed a tentacle, yanking hard enough to rip it free. Black blood sprayed everywhere, and the lurker reeled back.
But it wasn't done. The beast swung its massive paw, claws raking toward my chest. I twisted, but it clipped me, sending me flying into the cave wall with bone-jarring force.
[Damage Taken: Vitality -20]
Pain exploded through my side, but the women were on it. Lin Yue peppered it with arrows, each one qi-infused to pierce its thick hide. Mei Ling channeled our dual cultivation link, blasting it with a focused beam that burned through its fur and into flesh.
The lurker thrashed, weakening, but one last tentacle whipped out and caught Mei Ling's leg, starting to drain her. She screamed, her qi flickering.
"No!" I pushed off the wall, ignoring the pain, and tackled the tentacle. My hands wrapped around it, siphoning more energy.
[Drain Intensified: Vitality +15]
The beast finally collapsed, its body convulsing as the last of its qi flowed into me. With a final, gurgling roar, it went still—dead.
We stood there panting, covered in ichor and blood. The cave was silent now, save for our heavy breathing.
[Mission Complete: Beast Slain]
[Rewards: Harem Points +40, New Skill: Beast Taming Aura]
[Vitality Restored to 120/100]
Lin Yue lowered her bow, staring at the corpse. "Holy fuck. We actually killed it."
Mei Ling slumped against the wall, rubbing her drained leg. "Tianlong... you saved me again."
I grinned through the pain, but my eyes were already scanning deeper into the cave. The fight had opened a crack in the back wall, revealing a hidden chamber glowing with faint light. "Looks like our furry friend was guarding something."
We pushed through the last bit of debris, limping into what looked like some hidden chamber deep in these ruins. I swung the creaky old door open, and bam—there it was.
A massive king-size bed smack in the middle, draped in silky red sheets that screamed "fuck palace."
Candles flickered all around, casting these weird shadows, and talismans hung from the walls like some mix of a cheap motel hookup spot and a royal sex den from those old emperor tales.
The air smelled heavy, like incense mixed with something... primal.
Mei Ling and Lin Yue stumbled in behind me, looking as beat-up as I felt. "What the hell is this place?" Mei Ling muttered, her eyes darting around.
Lin Yue frowned, stepping closer to one of the talismans. "It looks kinda like... like a—"
Before she could finish, this holographic woman popped up out of nowhere, all glowing and ethereal, like a ghost from some ancient scroll. She had this sultry smile, robes barely hanging on. "Welcome, inheritor. To claim the legacy of the Lust God, you must spread your seed and bind these vessels to your will."
A shockwave hit us like a truck—boom. The girls screamed behind me, high-pitched and terrified. I whipped around, and holy shit. Their clothes? Gone. Vanished into thin air.
Mei Ling's perky tits were out, nipples hard as rocks, her hands scrambling to cover them up while water—fuck, no, it was straight-up pussy juice—gushed down her thighs like she'd sprung a leak.
Lin Yue was the same, her curvy ass jiggling as she dropped to her knees, one hand clamped over her shaved mound, the other pawing at her heaving boobs.
They were scratching at their own skin, faces twisting like they were fighting something inside.
Then it got weirder. Saliva dribbled from their mouths, their cheeks flushed red, eyes glazing over with pure, animal lust.
They fell forward, gasping, "What's... what's happening to me? Tianlong, help!"
Their bodies were trembling, like an aphrodisiac had hit them full force—hell, the whole room reeked of it now.
But wait, aging? No, that wasn't right—it was like their bodies were heating up, skin glistening, curves looking even riper, but I could swear there was a faint glow, like time was messing with them, making 'em look... hungrier, more desperate.
From behind, the holographic bitch announced, "The trial begins. Seed these women, claim their essences, and inherit the power of the Horny God. Fail, and perish in eternal isolation."
I spun back, heart pounding, and fuck—my own clothes shredded away in an instant. There I stood, old and wrinkled as hell, skin sagging like the ancient cultivator I was, but my cock? Oh, it was raging.
Eight inches long, thick as a wrist, veiny and throbbing, standing firm like it hadn't in decades.
I looked down at it, then back at the girls, my whole body trembling with this forced urge.
They were crawling toward me on all fours now, Mei Ling's tits swaying, Lin Yue's ass up in the air, both of them moaning, "Please, Tianlong... do something. Fuck us. Make it stop!"
I swallowed hard, my dick twitching like it had a mind of its own.
The chamber doors sealed shut with a grinding thud, trapping us. The holographic woman laughed softly. "Bond... or die."
"Huh?" And there I found myself standing within the room, forced into this mess. Definitely something I would have appreciated—after all, why not—but not like this. Definitely not like this.
Those two were not the women I knew. In this journey I could feel they were different, not because someone was possessing them, but because they didn't have control over their bodies.
"Haah." I sighed, exhaling a breath before looking up and turning towards that king-sized bed. Moving forward, I grabbed the bedsheet from there and pulled it, just as I saw both of them walking towards me, trying to force something in that moment.
I threw the sheet over their bodies.
It fell on them—their eyes teary, tongues out, hands clutching their breasts, others rubbing their gushing pussies—and then the shadow of the sheet covered them.
I moved in, hugging both of them from above, and said:
"Control yourselves! You are not like this! Yue! Mei! I command you to break free now!"
In the end, they were not whores, but my women, so they better behave like that until I make them one.