Next morning,
The scent of incense still lingered faintly in the room, mixed with the musk of what had transpired just hours ago.
Li Feng stirred, slowly opening his eyes to the faint golden hue of morning creeping through the window slats. The warmth against his body was gone, and as his senses returned, he saw Yue Lan standing quietly by the wardrobe, slipping her arms into a fresh silver robe. Her long hair cascaded down her back like a black waterfall, and the morning light kissed the curve of her exposed shoulder.
He blinked, dazed for a moment—was it a dream?
No. The soreness in his bones, the faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips, and the lingering taste of soft jade told him otherwise.
"Senior Sister," he said hoarsely, rubbing his eyes, "shall I help you dress?"
Yue Lan didn't respond, but she also didn't reject him. She merely glanced at him once and turned slightly, exposing her back.
He stepped forward like a servant offering loyalty to a queen, yet every motion betrayed his wandering thoughts. As he pulled the robe over her smooth skin, his fingers brushed across her shoulders and traced the curves of her waist. The cool texture of her skin beneath his touch made his breath catch. She was like living jade, flawless and cold.
The robe slipped around her chest, and he lingered for just a second too long before tying the sash. His fingers brushed against her soft jade peaks, through the fabric, of course but the memory of last night still clung to them like a drug.
She said nothing.
He guided her to sit in front of a bronze mirror, her beautiful dark hair cascading down her back like a waterfall of starlight.
Picking up a comb, he began brushing her hair with surprising tenderness.
"If anyone walked in now, they might think this was a painting of an immortal couple ,an aloof fairy and her dao companion ..."
His reflection, however, was anything but poetic. A middle-aged man with a shady smile, eyes glinting like a wolf that had snuck into the sacred place.
Yue Lan remained still, her face unreadable.
Li Feng, brushing slowly, finally broke the silence. "Senior Sister... is there anything you need for your cultivation? I'd like to help.
Yue Lan glanced at him through the mirror. "There is a Peak Rank 1 pill call the Clear Meridian Pill. , it can cleanse hidden impurities in my meridians. It'll help me stabilize my foundation."
He gave a sincere nod. "I'll refine it for you. Flawless, of course."
"You're confident?" Her voice remained calm.
"Didn't I show you the Qi Convergence Pills?" he chuckled.
Yue Lan gave a slight nod, her tone softening just a trace. "If you succeed, it will save me months of cultivation. "
As she spoke, the comb continued gliding through her hair. To Li Feng, the strands felt like flowing silk, smooth and cool, slipping between his fingers like water from a mountain spring.
His eyes, however, wandered downward, following the strands of hair past her shoulder, where her robe dipped slightly and exposed the top of a familiar valley.
He couldn't resist.
One hand reached down—slowly, shamelessly—fingertips slipping gently between the robe's open collar. He cupped the warm flesh hidden beneath, savoring the contrast between soft skin and cool fabric.
' I never get bored of these' Li Feng sigh in his heart.
Yue Lan glanced down briefly, seeing his hand inside her robe, kneading her chest with the same roughness as before but she didn't say anything.
Instead, she continued talking. "You should prepare ingredients for three attempts. If your success rate is as you claimed, one should suffice."
"Understood," Li Feng replied cheerfully, fingers lingering longer than necessary.
He eventually drew his hand back, wiped his grin, and stepped away.
From a spatial pouch, he pulled out a small pouch of spirit stones and another pill box. "These are for you. Five flawless Qi Convergence Pills. And... 100 spirit stones. Consider it investment."
Yue Lan raised an eyebrow. "You're being generous."
He smiled again. "Just helping you walk the Dao further."
Before she could respond, he moved close one last time and boldly squeezed her soft jade with one hand through the robe and another hand on her peach, savoring the softness and kiss her neck.
" Just making sure to remember this ... ," he murmured.
Yue Lan gave a sidelong glance but didn't resist.
Then Li Feng reluctantly separated from her soft body, turned around, and stepped out of her residence , the door clicking shut behind him
---
The sun had climbed higher when he arrived at the outer sect alchemy hall.
Ding!
[You have gained 10 Favor Points]
[Favor Target: Yue Lan's internal karmic entanglement with you has deepened.]
He grinned.
"Not only did I sleep with a cold fairy, but I earned double the resources back, and she still thinks she owes me?" he chuckled to himself. "Heaven must really love shameless men."
At the alchemy hall, he met an elder there again.
Li Feng took out a single pill box. "Senior, I have a flawless Qi Convergence Pill. I'd like to sell it."
The elder raised a brow, opened the box, and paused. "Flawless quality??"
Li Feng scratched his head. "Lucky refinement."
The elder have an surprised expression but doesn't seem to care much too and gave a grunt. "Beginner's luck. 200 spirit stones."
"Deal."
With that, Li Feng now had 500 stones in total.
He bought materials for the Clear Meridian Pill, enough for three batches, then stepped outside, sunlight warming his smug face.
That's when he paused.
Ah, the sword. The one from the Gacha. He'd meant to gift it to Yue Lan… but he too excited again last night and completely forgot about it . No rush, he will just save it for now. Who knows, maybe giving this sword before the tournament start , might yield him more favor from senior sister. Li Feng smile lewdly again thinking about what kind of play he should do next.
Just then, he froze again
A crowd of outer sect disciples both male and female were following a tall, stunning girl like bees to a flower.
She stood out like a rose among weeds.
She walked with head held high, her dark hair shimmered with golden tints, eyes red as phoenix fire, and her smile, haughty, and proud. Her robe, clung to her body like it had been tailored for temptation. Her chest and peach swayed with every arrogant step, looking like they might tear the fabric at any moment.
Long legs, wide hips, a chest so grand it seemed to rebel against her outer sect robe. Another one of the top outer sect disciple.
Feng Ziyan.
Li Feng's eyes glued to the sway of her body. "Holy shit... that jiggle..."
Unfortunately, he was in her path.
She narrowed her crimson eyes and with her clear and beautiful voice "You. Move."
One of her followers chimed in, "Can't you see Senior Sister Fen is passing? Get out of the way, old man."
Li Feng stepped aside, smirking and doesn't mind the commanding tone 'I've already ravage someone not worst than you last night.'
[Ding: The system has detected that Feng Ziyan has fulfilled the designated requirements to become the designated target. Do you want to choose her?]
Li Feng blinked. "Wait… her?"
He accepted instantly.
[10 Favor Points required for detailed profile and hint. Proceed?]
He twitched. "You greedy system..."
But he paid anyway as he know that this is an investment.
---
[Target: Feng Ziyan]
Cultivation: Qi Refining 8th Layer
Status: Youngest Princess of the Fen Dynasty
Special Physique: Crimson Phoenix Body (Dormant)
Notes: She is unaware of her physique. Her current cultivation bottleneck requires a fire-based pill or resource to break through. Born with a golden spoon and praised since childhood, she now secretly fears losing all that admiration and glory. Although she appears calm and composed on the outside, she is deeply worried within, especially with the date of the upcoming tournament fast approaching.
Li Feng's eyes gleamed.
"She doesn't even know she needs fire attributes resource to advance ..."
Plan start to form inside his head on how to entice this high and mighty senior sister.
He grinned wider.
"All I need is a flawless fire-based pill. But for now let her suffer a bit more, grow desperate... Then I'll appear like a heavenly savior."
And he thought, 'Yue Lan comes first. I'll feed her pills, gain favor, and fatten my purse.'
The perverted glint returned to his eyes as he plan to take to the next level with Yue Lan tonight.
As Li Feng walked away from the growing crowd around Feng Ziyan, his mood still felt bright. One senior sister warmed his bed, another would one day be begging for his pills ,he could almost see a future paved in soft jade and spirit stones.
But then, something clicked in his mind.
"Wait a second... didn't I get a Puppet Path Talent from the gacha?"
He stopped mid-step, smacking his forehead lightly. "Damn! I almost forgot."
Rank 1 Puppet Talent.
It wasn't glamorous like swordsmanship or profound like alchemy, but it was rare, very rare. In most sects, only eccentrics or those born into clans with puppet legacies even touched that path. Why? Because the puppet path was notoriously difficult to cultivate and required mountains of resources just to build a single combat puppet ,never mind refining or powering it.
Even alchemists had a way to progress their realm with pills, spirit herbs, and medicinal insight. But puppet cultivators?
It was a money-burning path through and through, one that had little to do with personal cultivation speed and more to do with throwing spirit stones into a bottomless pit in exchange for mechanical strength.
And in Azure Moon Sect, a righteous sect that prided itself on sword arts, spirit talismans, and orthodox cultivation methods,but puppet cultivation was all but forgotten. There was no Puppet Hall, no elder in charge of the path, and definitely no disciples proudly calling themselves "puppet masters."
The only place that might carry anything remotely related... was the General Hall.
A glorified junkyard.
That was where discarded manuals, strange tools, defective talismans, beast remains, broken artifacts, and all manner of oddities ended up, items that didn't belong to any formal cultivation path.
Still, that was the best shot he had.
"If I'm going to make use of this puppet talent, I need to start somewhere. Even trash has value in the right hands," he murmured.
With that, Li Feng changed direction and made his way toward the General Hall