The forest is dense, thick with mist and the crackle of hidden thunder. Lin Yu and Cai Liyun stand still beneath the canopy, eyes closed, both tracing the strange pull deep within their souls. The fate line has grown heavier, its knots tightening around their cores.
Lin Yu opens his eyes first, questions burning in his gaze as he turns toward Cai Liyun. She opens hers with a sharp frown, and in that moment, the line binding them shimmers into sight. From above it, a sword of pure force takes shape, descending with cold inevitability.
"Cut," Cai Liyun commands.
The blade falls. Its edge touches the thread, and both of them scream as raw agony rips through their souls. Lin Yu reels inside—so it can be severed.
But the sword and line vanish as quickly as they came. The bond remains. Lin Yu can still feel her troubled emotions gnawing at him, while Cai Liyun cannot escape the echo of his distrust.
Cai Liyun feels the weight of Lin Yu's distrust, and her voice turns cold. "Did you think the bond would remain after we leave the secret land? You are a slave of the Nine Nether Sect. I am an inner disciple. How could you think I would allow such a thing to stay?"
Lin Yu's heart twists. I should have known… her status, her cultivation. I am nothing compared to her. An ant. Her treating me favorably for a time made me forget this truth.
He lowers his eyes. "Then the fate line cannot be cut?"
"It can be cut," Cai Liyun replies. "But not now. We must leave the secret space first."
"Why did this happen?" Lin Yu presses.
"Very likely because of the double cultivation technique," she answers, her tone clipped. "We must stop using it."
Lin Yu frowns, the words striking deeper than he lets show. The technique benefits him the most—Cai Liyun's thunder comprehension, once nonexistent, has already risen to his level, while every session leaves his Nether energy purer and more condensed. Yet if she says no, he has no choice. The cards are always in her hand.
"Let's go," Cai Liyun orders.
Without another word, they press on through the forest, gathering resources as they steadily advance toward the mountain at the centre.
A day later, they bring down a shadow thunder snake, its coils wrapped protectively around a thunder spirit fruit tree. Just as Cai Liyun prepares to unleash the final strike, Lin Yu suddenly says, "Stop."
Her black fire and thunder fade above the serpent's brow, and she turns to him with questioning eyes.
"I want to take over this snake's body," Lin Yu explains.
Cai Liyun arches a brow. "You're forming another Nether Spirit? Controlling two will be difficult."
Lin Yu shakes his head. "The first, I anchored with anger. This one, I will anchor with lust."
A smile touches her lips, her eyes glinting with amusement. "Lust? Are you lusting after me?"
He meets her gaze steadily. "Is that really a question you should ask?"
She hums softly, as if entertained, and says no more.
Lin Yu closes his eyes, channelling the technique for forming a Nether Spirit, his soul force weaving tightly as the serpent trembles weakly on the ground.
A replica of his soul takes shape, and streams of nether energy flow from his body into it, moulding it into a new Nether Spirit.
Before the process completes, Lin Yu severs a fragment of his soul, slicing away the emotion of lust, and guides it into the forming spirit.
The moment the fragment anchors, the Nether Spirit stabilises, its aura twisting with both darkness and desire.
Cutting an emotion does not erase it—because Nether Spirits remain bound to their source soul, the emotion still exists within him. But by cutting it free, Lin Yu gains sharper control, able to direct and wield that emotion without it ruling him.
He presses his foot down on the serpent's head, pinning it firmly as the newly formed Nether Spirit detaches from his body and sinks into the serpent's vessel.
It dives straight into the sea of consciousness, latching onto the serpent's soul and devouring it bit by bit.
The serpent thrashes violently, its body convulsing, but the devouring continues until its true spirit is swallowed, transformed, and replaced entirely by Lin Yu's Nether Spirit.
A rush of foreign memories floods his mind—instincts, battles, and the serpent's knowledge of the Law of Shadow and the Law of Thunder, along with their fusion.
Lin Yu discards everything else, keeping only what he needs.
Opening his eyes, he summons the serpent into his inner world and immediately runs the shadow thunder technique.
Darkness coils in his palm, stretching into a whip of shadows that crackles with thunder, flaring with destructive power.
Cai Liyun watches with narrowed eyes before murmuring, "Interesting."
After a moment's thought, she adds, "Next, you will take over the body of a demon beast with both thunder and fire elements."
Lin Yu shakes his head. "I can't. My only emotions out of control were lust and anger. The rest I can control."
Cai Liyun replies, "Do not worry, not here. The sect should have a technique to separate emotions. I will bring it for you."
Lin Yu says, "For you to receive the comprehension, we would have to perform the double cultivation technique."
Cai Liyun answers, "That's why I am telling you—outside, not here. After I cut the fate line, then."
After picking the thunder spirit fruits, they begin their journey toward the centre of the mountains.
Suddenly, both sense violent fluctuations in the distance.
They fly toward the commotion, hoping to reap benefits while others are locked in battle.
From behind a tree, they watch as a white-haired beauty from the Five Element Palace clashes with her partner.
The woman suddenly chants a spell, unleashing a poisonous green mist that engulfs her partner.
As the man struggles within the toxic fog, she turns and escapes into the distance.
Cai Liyun's eyes flash. "Chase."
They follow the fleeing woman until she crashes to the ground, writhing.
Landing beside her, they see her skin flushed red, burning as if with fever—something impossible for a cultivator.
Lin Yu frowns. "Is she cursed?"
The woman begins tugging at her clothes.
Cai Liyun's gaze sharpens. "Wen Xinya… she has been fed an aphrodisiac."
Lin Yu asks, "What should we do?"
Cai Liyun answers coldly, "Not we. You."
Lin Yu stiffens. "Here?"
Cai Liyun flicks her fingers, a thunderbolt blasting into a nearby hill, opening a hole in its side. "Do it there. I will guard outside."
Lin Yu hesitates. "Is there no other way?"
Cai Liyun's eyes harden. "Why are you stalling? You are a slave, but still of the Nether Sect. Go."
Lin Yu picks up the woman, who clings to him desperately, tugging at his robes.
He carries her into the small cave, places a formation at its mouth, and, while coupling with her, he channels the double cultivation technique.
A strange new energy begins forming in his body, and he receives comprehension of wood and thunder, and how to fuse them together.
Unbeknownst to him, the fate line within his soul coils tighter, extending outward until it binds the woman's soul as well.
Outside, Cai Liyun stands guard, expression steady—until her body shudders.
She feels Lin Yu's pleasure, his satisfaction, seeping through the bond.
Then, shockingly, the sensations intensify—as if doubled, spilling from another source entirely.
Hours later, Lin Yu steps out of the cave.
Cai Liyun is watching him with a strange look in her eyes.
"You are not doing it with anyone before the fate line is cut," she says coldly.
At first, Lin Yu doesn't understand.
Then realisation strikes—she had received everything he felt while with Wen Xinya.
A few minutes later, Wen Xinya wakes and steps out of the cave, neatly dressed again.
She looks at Lin Yu and bows slightly. "Thank you."
Cai Liyun's eyes narrow. "No thanks to me?"
Wen Xinya meets her gaze coldly. "You didn't help."
Lin Yu, standing between them, feels his chest tighten with confusion. Enemy or friend? And why… why does he sense two streams of emotions flowing into him?
Cai Liyun's tone sharpens. "You know you just did it with a slave."
Wen Xinya lifts her chin. "With his talent and your backing, he won't remain a slave for long."
Cai Liyun's lips curl. "Still, you did it with a slave."
In response, Wen Xinya's hand rises, wooden thunder flaring alive around her. "Do you want to die?"
Nether thunder crackles from Cai Liyun's palm. "I don't think you can do it."
They rise into the sky, thunder crashing between them.
Moments later, Cai Liyun is forced down, defeated.
She pants, eyes wide. "How?"
Wen Xinya lifts her hand, and three thunders swirl together—wooden thunder, nether thunder, and shadow thunder.
Realisation strikes Cai Liyun, and she whirls toward Lin Yu, fury flashing. "You performed the double cultivation technique with her!"
Lin Yu doesn't answer. His gaze is fixed, steady. "Can you show me the fate line again?"
Wen Xinya arches a brow. "You connected him with a fate line? That's how you control a slave."
Cai Liyun snaps, "I was not the one betrayed by my partner."
Lin Yu's voice cuts through, sharp. "Show it—make the fate line visible!"
Cai Liyun hesitates, then runs the technique.
The glowing strands emerge—one tying her soul to Lin Yu's… and another binding Lin Yu to Wen Xinya.
All three freeze, staring wide-eyed at the truth.