Haicheng, a certain rented flat, living room.
Lu Zheng appeared suddenly, his left arm around Liu Qingyan, his right arm around Shen Ying, his right hand also holding Si Lingxi.
The three women only felt a blur before their eyes, and in an instant the world had changed.
The omnipresent pressure of the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Realm vanished abruptly, replaced by a strange room filled with strange objects.
A simply styled coffee table and dining table, a large soft long bench that seemed meant for sitting, a long and apparently impractical sideboard, and on the wall above the sideboard hung a painting of peculiar material that was pure black.
The room connected to several doors. One door faced them directly, and right in front stood a man-high white coffin, except it had three doors. Beside it were some metal boxes and other inexplicable items whose purpose was unknown.
The completely different style left the three women momentarily stunned.
Si Lingxi, with the highest cultivation, instantly spread her divine sense.
“This place is…”
Shen Ying and Liu Qingyan also sensed the outside world at the same moment and exclaimed together.
“This is not some grotto-heaven paradise.” Si Lingxi shook her head, staring at Lu Zheng with disbelief in her eyes. “This is another world entirely!”
Liu Qingyan and Shen Ying both turned to Lu Zheng in shock. All their previous questions now had answers.
Why Lu Zheng never spoke of his hometown.
Why, despite his extraordinary talent, he had appeared in Tonglin County in his twenties with no cultivation at all.
Why he would disappear from time to time.
Why he could produce all sorts of items they had never seen before.
Lu Zheng spread his hands. “Yes, this is my hometown. It is called Blue Star. It is not on the same planet as the Great Jing Dynasty, not the same world.”
Si Lingxi nodded. “A very small world.”
Lu Zheng, “…”
“But…” Si Lingxi blinked, a smile curving her lips. “It is quite a wondrous world.”
Lu Zheng shook his head with a soft laugh, then turned to Shen Ying and Liu Qingyan. “I am sorry about before…”
Liu Qingyan raised her jade-like hand and gently covered his mouth. “Lu Lang, do not say such things. A matter of this importance truly cannot be lightly revealed.”
Shen Ying, clinging to his other arm, nodded repeatedly. Now that they were safe, she felt immense curiosity about Lu Zheng’s hometown.
“We…”
“No rush.”
Si Lingxi suddenly spoke, taking hold of Lu Zheng’s hand. “First, help me dispel the desire from the demonic blood.”
Lu Zheng: ╭(°A°`)╮
Si Lingxi’s breathing grew heavy at once, her fair cheeks flushed crimson. “I used my phoenix origin earlier and deployed the Phoenix Heavenly Curtain, so the demonic desire divine blood inside me can no longer be fully suppressed.”
“I…”
“Do not worry. Your cultivation is insufficient, so I will be gentle.”
Lu Zheng: ⚆_⚆？
After nodding to Liu Qingyan and Shen Ying, Si Lingxi reached out, pulled Lu Zheng into the adjacent bedroom, and closed the door behind them.
That large bed, at least, she recognised.
…
Liu Qingyan and Shen Ying looked at each other.
Shen Ying suddenly giggled, nudging Liu Qingyan with her elbow and whispering with a smile, “Do you think what Sister Si said is true or false?”
Liu Qingyan could even hear the sound of clothes tearing in the bedroom. She lowered her eyes bashfully, cheeks burning. “Why are you already calling her sister?”
“If not sister, then what?” Shen Ying whispered, laughing softly. “Do you still want to compete with her for the position of principal wife?”
Liu Qingyan grew so flustered that bursts of red-pill fragrance rose from her body. “I do not, no, I never thought… sister!”
“Hehe!”
After teasing the easily embarrassed Liu Qingyan, Shen Ying approached the sofa curiously and tried sitting down. “Oh, what a comfortable chair!”
Liu Qingyan saw Shen Ying plop down and squash the sofa flat, hurriedly pulled her up, then watched the spot spring back to its original shape. “So much fun!”
…
In the bedroom, Lu Zheng and Si Lingxi finally became one.
The demonic desire divine blood was, of course, not an aphrodisiac, yet it stirred Si Lingxi’s desires. When she released those desires, it naturally eased the blood’s hold over her.
Moreover, Si Lingxi kept her word. Though the danger had passed, she still passed a strand of phoenix origin to Lu Zheng.
“This is…” Lu Zheng stared in astonishment.
Si Lingxi’s flawless jade arms wrapped around his neck, her red lips pressed to his, silencing him.
Yet the moment that strand of phoenix origin entered Lu Zheng’s body, the jade seal in his mind stirred gently.
Over a thousand strands of luck light vanished in an instant. The phoenix origin fused into his dantian, merging perfectly with his own origin until they were indistinguishable.
Then his true qi carried faint traces of phoenix power.
In the next instant, as though sensing homologous power being suppressed by a strange foreign force, Lu Zheng’s true qi instinctively surged into Si Lingxi’s body, helping to purge the influence of the demonic desire divine blood.
However, his cultivation was still too weak, so his true qi was soon exhausted.
“You do not need to…”
Si Lingxi parted from his lips and began to speak, only to discover that his true qi had instantly recovered and surged towards her again.
Since he had realised he could help her, Lu Zheng naturally did not spare the abundant luck light stored in the jade seal.
“Jade seal, consume it for me!”
Strands of luck light vanished one by one. The demonic desire divine blood within Si Lingxi was cleared strand by strand. The abundant phoenix power in her body and the weaker but unending phoenix power in Lu Zheng began instinctive dual cultivation.
Mutual benefit.
Thus, though more luck light was consumed, it was not wasted. It helped both Lu Zheng and Si Lingxi advance their cultivation and greatly reduced Lu Zheng’s recovery time.
Lu Zheng’s cultivation soared. Even Si Lingxi’s, beyond purging the demonic blood, progressed still further.
“Lu Lang~ I want~”
Seeing Si Lingxi’s eyes grow hazy, Lu Zheng hurriedly waved his hand, strengthening the sound-isolation barrier once more.
…
What Lu Zheng did not notice was that the moment he and Si Lingxi formally began dual cultivation, the collision and fusion of their phoenix powers stirred the heavens and caused a celestial phenomenon.
Above Haicheng, in the clear sky, a mass of fiery clouds suddenly appeared.
The clouds formed the shape of a phoenix, head to tail spanning dozens of li, almost covering half the city. Its wings spread wide, and a faint phoenix cry echoed between heaven and earth.
The phenomenon lasted a full five minutes. Only when their dual cultivation stabilised and the phoenix powers began to connect and fuse steadily did the fiery clouds gradually fade.
Ordinary people might take it for some curious natural event, as there had been similar red moons and purple clouds before.
But Lin Wan, who possessed cultivation, sensed the faint phoenix majesty within it.
After saying a word to Li Ying, Lin Wan immediately went downstairs, got in her car, drove back to the neighbourhood, found Lu Zheng absent from home, and headed straight to the rented flat they had once shared.
