As usual, before approaching, she had probed the surroundings with her sharp senses. As a ruler, it would be unacceptable, even humiliating, to be seen in a scene as vulgar as "bathing" in an isolated lake. Fortunately, there was no one around. Only then did she allow herself to relax.
She entered the water with the same ease as someone who had repeated that gesture countless times. It had been ten years since she discovered that icy lake capable of calming the Raging Flames of the Golden Crow that burned within her body.
As she closed her eyes and tried to control the flames, wisps of steam began to rise from beneath her feet, quickly intertwining into thick columns. In the blink of an eye, the entire surface of the lake was enveloped in vapor. At that moment, following a bubbling sound, a jet of water surged from the lake's surface. The jet seemed to ignite a wild fire as the entire lake surface trembled and churned while boiling…
No! It was the entire contents of the lake… it was actually boiling!!
Steam rose to the skies as the water in the lake churned violently. A wave of heat assaulted hundreds of meters around, and shockingly, all the water in the lake had turned into a pool of boiling water!
She remained fixed in place, not moving an inch as the boiling lake water soaked her body. And that body, covered with dewdrops, seemed to shimmer, making it even softer and more enchanting than before, stirring an uncontrollable desire within any observer…
However, the water droplets didn't linger on her body for long, as they quickly evaporated. Both her eyes remained closed, but her delicate and lovely face occasionally trembled… as if she were in some kind of pain.
Suddenly, a voice cut through the silence, pulling her out of her concentration:
"I know I'm handsome and all, but it's kind of rude to get naked and jump into a bath with me. Though now it feels like a hot spring thanks to your lovely flames, so… keep heating the water, please…"
The voice was warm, smooth, with an unpretentious confidence that seemed to caress the ears. It was like an immortal wine—dangerous and addictive, capable of intoxicating even the proudest soul.
Her heart raced, an involuntary reaction, as if her body betrayed her mind for the first time in years. Without thinking, she turned abruptly toward the voice, and what she saw made her pupils contract.
There, casually leaning against the edge of the pool, was a completely naked man, as if the lake were his own territory.
The world around her vanished the moment that beautiful man entered her field of vision. Her mind went blank, her breathing stopped entirely, and her heart began to pound rapidly, like a deer caught in headlights.
The man before her eyes wasn't simply handsome. No adjective, metaphor, or comparison could faithfully describe what his features embodied. It was like trying to trap the infinite within a single word.
His skin was a subtle shade of snow, emitting an inner glow, as if every cell were imbued with a serene, constant light. It wasn't the morbid pallor of the frail, but the natural luminosity of something that transcended the very definition of flesh. There were no imperfections, no traces of scars or marks from excessive training. It was as if the gods had sculpted his form at the absolute pinnacle of the concept of "human," and then, unsatisfied, bestowed upon him a touch of divinity, just to ensure no one like him would ever exist again.
Every muscle was molded to perfection. Not exaggerated, not understated. His broad shoulders supported a defined chest, but without ostentation, as if the strength stored there was silent, discreet, hidden beneath a veneer of absolute perfection. His abdomen was a map of surgically precise lines, as if each ridge were a masterpiece of symmetry, designed not to flaunt raw power but to hypnotize the eyes that dared to gaze upon it.
His long, straight black hair danced in the breeze like strands of immaculate silk, forming an almost poetic contrast with the whiteness of his skin. His dark, deep, abyssal eyes reflected her naked figure with an almost inhuman calm…
The moment their eyes met, the Little Demon Empress felt words catch in her throat, like a young maiden caught in her first mistake. The heat of the lake seemed to merge with the flush rising to her face, but she knew it wasn't caused by the Raging Flames of the Golden Crow.
The mere sight of that figure made her body burn in a different way…
It was the first time she had ever felt this way.
She was so shocked, so disoriented, that she didn't even notice she was completely naked before him. Even her attempts to suppress the Raging Flames of the Golden Crow ceased, and the lake, once boiling, slowly returned to its natural temperature, as if reflecting her momentary loss of control.
She desperately tried to grasp at something, anything… to dilute the haze beginning to cloud her mind. How had she not sensed him before? Even now, looking directly at him, she couldn't discern his cultivation level. She felt no fluctuations of profound energy emanating from his body…
How had he managed to sneak in here without her noticing…?
Anger and shame tried to surface, like instinctive reflexes, but they were immediately swallowed by the oppressive, disorienting sensation overwhelming her, especially when she noticed the sincere smile he gave her softly, which left her mind blank again. She felt an urge to claim him for herself at that moment… It was a desire so deep it seemed etched directly into her soul, ignoring reason, pride, or status…
And then, a flash of clarity cut through the fog in her mind.
She was completely naked.
The impact of that realization hit her like a lightning bolt. The heat that had previously felt diffuse and uncontrollable now concentrated brutally in her face, burning hotter than any flame she had ever conjured. Her body, previously rigid from shock, trembled with a start, as if awakening from a deep trance.
Instinctively, her hands moved to cover her chest and abdomen, her trembling fingers and ragged breathing betraying her complete loss of control.
It was at that moment that the stupor shattered completely.
As fast as light, she moved.
One moment, her naked body was there, vulnerable, exposed. The next, like an illusory flash, the afterimage of a young woman clad in a gray dress floated in the air above the lake, as if the naked version had never existed. It was the same dress she had worn before entering the lake. A cold, sinister gaze, like that of a God of Death, shot directly toward the man who seemed like an immortal walking the mortal world, while a chilling killing intent, as if composed of countless ice blades, instantly filled the night sky.
The man, however, didn't seem the least bit fazed by the murderous intent radiating from her. He merely furrowed his brow slightly, as if dealing with a trivial annoyance, and spoke calmly:
"Want to fight? Let me say this first… I was here before you arrived. So, I definitely didn't peek at you on purpose…" He raised a hand in a casual gesture, as if the logic were unquestionable: "Of course I looked. But that's because you undressed right in front of me. That has nothing to do with me. In fact, I'm the one who should be mad here, got it? You practically violated me with your eyes earlier… I'm a pure man, you know? You'll have to take responsibility for this, okay?"
The Little Demon Empress nearly leaped into the air, even while floating, overcome with such absurd fury that she didn't know whether to scream or reduce him to ashes.
"Who the hell is this guy?! 'Violated'? He's the one who saw me naked! Though I also… saw…" She gritted her teeth, her cheeks burning: "What a bastard! He appeared out of nowhere, like a ghost, and every word that comes out of that mouth is so shameless… And he even seems proud of it!"
If there were a competition to crown the most shameless bastard in the world, he'd surely be holding the crown, smiling as if it were a trophy…
She took a deep breath, her fists clenched, as her uneven breathing made her chest rise and fall in waves, fueled by both anger and humiliation. A wave of fury blossomed in her chest, burning, fierce, on the verge of overflowing.
He saw her completely naked?!
BOOM!
The sound of an explosion erupted, shaking the valley like thunder tearing through the skies. All the water in the lake was violently ripped from its surface, engulfing the girl's jade-like body in a liquid storm that shot toward the heavens.
When the water fell back, soaking the earth with a muffled roar, the Little Demon Empress had already vanished. In her place, only a trembling afterimage remained, dissipating like a visual echo.
She moved.
Like a bolt of lightning, she closed the distance between them, her killing intent condensed into a single, cruel, precise, lethal strike.
But when her hand sliced through the air, the man was no longer there.
He vanished.
Like a ghost, his figure disappeared from her field of vision, only to reappear calmly on a rock on the other side of the lake, now fully dressed. His long black hair danced in the wind, and a lazy smile played on his lips, as if the attempted attack were nothing more than a childish game.
"Hey, hey… I was starting to enjoy the sauna, you know? No need to be so aggressive." He tilted his head slightly, as if genuinely lamenting the interruption: "But it's fine. I get it. After all… you just 'abused' me, so you must be nervous…"
The playful tone, the unpretentious calm, everything about him was a direct affront to her pride, intensifying her killing intent even more!
Ren Zu looked at the Little Demon Empress with slight surprise. It was the first time in his life he had felt such a terrifying killing intent from another person, almost comparable to his own… To possess such killing intent, this girl must have killed countless people and must see life as mere grass. If she were to kill him, she would undoubtedly do so without batting an eyelid…
But he wasn't worried…
She slowly extended her delicate palm, a hand carved from snowy jade, pure and immaculate, and murmured, her voice trembling with contained fury:
"Un… for… givable!"
The world seemed to hold its breath.
Suddenly, the sky transformed into a scarlet sea. The night was consumed by the color of blood.
BOOOOM!
It was as if a volcano, dormant for millennia, had awakened in a single instant. The entire earth trembled, writhing as if trying to escape a power it couldn't withstand. The ground tore apart, and a column of blood-red flames shot straight up, covering a distance of over three kilometers, painting the night skies with an aurora of destruction.
The impact was so brutal that the world itself seemed to shudder.
Beneath the thick cloud of smoke and dust that rose to the heavens, a colossal crater was revealed. It was dozens of meters deep, as if a giant had punched the earth in fury. Within a three-kilometer radius, everything—absolutely everything—had been reduced to dust. Not a single blade of grass remained, not even a grain of gravel.
The air vibrated, distorted by the heat. Countless fires burned around the crater, devouring the world without haste, refusing to extinguish. Even the skies seemed ablaze, stained with a crimson light that made it impossible to distinguish where the earth ended and the heavens began.
And in the middle of that inferno of flames, dust, and absolute silence, the Little Demon Empress remained motionless in her original spot.
"That was dangerous, you know?"
The voice, warm and serene, sounded right beside her ear.
In the next instant, something firm and warm wrapped around her neck.
"…!?"
Time froze.
His arm, strong yet incredibly light, rested around her delicate neck as if that space had always been reserved for him. There wasn't enough force to harm her, but the presence… was overwhelming.
She, the Little Demon Empress, was being held like a stubborn cat that needed to be calmed.
Her body stiffened.
Impossible.
This was impossible.
She hadn't sensed him move.
No sound, no energy fluctuation, nothing. He had crossed her field of perception so easily…!
Her heart began to pound in her chest.
She could feel the warmth of his body through the thin fabric of her dress, could feel the warm breath brushing her ear. But what was killing her… was the scent.
It was an absurdly clean smell. Not sweet, not aggressive. It was as if the clear blue sky had been compressed into a fragrance. A refreshing scent, but with a masculine tone that seemed to cling to her nostrils and dissolve any remnant of rationality.
The man, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying the situation. He leaned in even closer, his lips almost brushing her sensitive ear, and whispered with a tone laced with cruel gentleness:
"You almost killed me just now… That was kind of rude, don't you think?"
Her skin prickled.
She tried to open her mouth to respond, but no sound came out.
"But it's okay. I forgive you. On one condition… You're buying me dinner. I'm hungry, you know?"
BAM!
The last barrier of rationality in her mind shattered.
She turned her head slowly, her eyes ablaze, ready to spew an ocean of insults and flames. But before she could say anything, the arm around her dissolved like an illusion.
When she realized, Ren Zu was already five steps away.
The silence grew tense.
"You… you insolent bastard! Immoral! Shameless! Arrogant to the core!" The Little Demon Empress exploded, her face completely flushed with vivid red, her words spat like frozen blades, each insult piercing the air with an almost palpable killing intent.
But she didn't stop at words.
BOOOOM!
The air around her imploded, collapsing under the pressure of a speed so absurd that space seemed to warp to accommodate her movement. In an instant, she vanished from common sight, leaving only a crimson blur in the air, and in the next moment, she was behind Ren Zu, her open palm covered in flames that seemed to burn the world.
The strike tore through space, creating a wave of destruction that carved a crater in a straight line for hundreds of meters. The flames, dense and heavy as magma, roared from her fingers, ready to reduce even a mountain to ashes.
But Ren Zu… was no longer there.
With a subtle step, as casual as a stroll, he tilted his body slightly to the side, letting the attack pass mere centimeters away, as if the world were in slow motion for him.
"That was dangerous, you know?" Ren Zu commented, his eyes half-closed in an expression of mock displeasure, as if dealing with a tantrum-throwing child. "To think someone with such a cute expression has this homicidal streak…"
Before she could retort, a whirlwind of fire and wind erupted beneath her feet. She reappeared above him, her fingers forming a seal, and the entire sky exploded into a storm of flaming spears. Each one carried enough force to pierce a mountain, but Ren Zu, with a simple raise of his eyebrows, leaped backward, landing on one of the spears as if it were a solid platform.
The Little Demon Empress gave him no respite.
She appeared in front of him again, in a movement so abrupt that the air seemed to shatter into invisible shards of glass. Her fists, covered in a mix of crimson fire and golden lightning, shot forward like incarnated thunder, aiming directly at the face of that detestable man.
Ren Zu, however, dodged with movements so smooth they bordered on insulting.
A slight tilt of the head. A step to the side. A twist of the wrist to deflect an attack with the tips of his fingers.
It was as if he were dancing through a minefield, each dodge more infuriating than the last.
"You really want to kiss me, don't you? I get it." He said, after dodging a kick that sliced a boulder in half: "But if you're going to throw me to the ground, at least buy a mattress first, okay? This ground is uncomfortable."
"SHUT UP!" She roared, her patience reduced to dust.
Ren Zu gently twirled his wrist.
From his hand, a simple, austere sword materialized. No ornaments, no gems, no engravings; it was a pure blade, made of a metal that seemed to devour light itself. The moment he held it, the entire sky seemed to freeze.
KRRRRRHHHHH—!!!
The sound was like giant bones shattering. In the sky above him, swords began to fall.
No, they weren't "falling."
They were appearing, filling the sky with layer upon layer of blades. Each one enveloped in a bloody aura so dense it seemed to turn the air into a suffocating, oppressive crimson tide.
The Little Demon Empress held her breath.
"This is…" She bit her lips, surprised.
She could feel it.
Many of the swords carried the aura of Heaven Profound Weapons… but there were others that made her shudder. Swords that emitted a pressure comparable to Sovereign Profound Weapons, as if a single blade could destroy cities, cleave mountains, and part seas.
And yet, Ren Zu wielded them as if they were mere toys.
The atmosphere grew heavy, and the temperature, previously dominated by the heat of the Golden Crow's flames, dropped abruptly.
The Little Demon Empress advanced, forming a seal with her hands. In an instant, golden flames erupted around her, taking the shape of a golden bird made of fire.
The sky, once dominated by the swords, was engulfed by a scorching wave of heat and light.
This was a strike that not even an advanced-level Monarch could face head-on without paying a price.
But Ren Zu didn't retreat.
He raised his sword with a casual gesture, and the countless blades in the sky began to spin. Layer upon layer stacked, forming an impenetrable wall of steel and bloody aura.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The impact was like the collision of two primordial forces. The flaming bird crashed against the shield of swords, and for a moment, the entire world seemed to stop.
The sky erupted into a storm of flames and steel. Devastating shockwaves swept through the valley, uprooting trees and bending the earth. Rocks shattered like glass, and mountains crumbled into rubble.
But in the middle of that apocalypse, Ren Zu stood motionless. His clothes fluttered under the pressure, and his black hair danced like living shadows, but his expression was one of unshakable calm.
Though he appeared casual in defending that attack, it was clear he was taking the fight seriously, to the point of employing his sword art to its fullest capacity. If it weren't for the advantages he possessed—a body that, in this low-level world, was practically divine, high-level Profound Arts, vast combat experience, absolute mastery over space through the [Ancestral Spatial Symbol], and unique Profound Veins—he would have died the moment she attacked him the first time…
But what he was doing was utterly absurd! How could someone in the Earth Profound Realm fight against a Monarch?!
Well, thanks to his extreme physical training, he had elevated his strength to an absurd level, and along with it, his agility, endurance, and all his physical attributes had reached a similar tier. His reaction speed, in particular, had been refined not only through training but through countless battles, to the point of being able to anticipate his opponents' attacks with ease. It was this combination that allowed him to dodge the Little Demon Empress's attacks, and through his mastery of [Space], he could teleport to evade even further…
Basically, his profound energy was of little use in this fight.
But it served to help him execute his [Limitless Sword Art], which, due to his control over profound energy, consumed very little…
The shield of swords successfully withstood.
The Little Demon Empress gritted her teeth.
With a simple snap of his fingers, the tens of thousands of swords in the sky began to spin in a complex, hypnotic formation, each one moving as if it were an extension of his own body.
The swords descended.
Like a rain of shooting stars, they tore through the sky, not aimed at killing her but at pressuring her, cutting off her escape routes, forcing her to dance as he wanted. With every move she made, more swords appeared at impossible angles, like predators testing their prey's limits.
The Little Demon Empress moved with mastery, dodging in elegant arcs, firing bursts of golden flames to deflect some blades, destroying others with her fiery fists. But every sword destroyed seemed to multiply into ten more.
She growled, launching a fist charged with golden flames that obliterated a dozen swords in a blinding flash.
In the next instant, he vanished.
She only had time to turn her head when she felt a devastating pressure forming behind her. Ren Zu appeared, leaping from a sword mid-air, spinning in a slashing motion with his leg extended.
His leg, covered in a red aura, sliced through the air like a living blade. In hand-to-hand combat, he could easily kill someone at the Little Demon Empress's level, but since he didn't want that to happen, he held back…
She raised her arms in a cross to block, but at the moment of impact, it was as if a thunderbolt had exploded inside her body.
"Urgh…!"
She was thrown like a doll, crashing into one of the mountains surrounding the lake, the rock shattering around her.
But before she could react, the swords were already there. Like hungry serpents, they surrounded her in a vortex of blades, slicing the air with a deafening hum.
She let out a muffled scream, releasing a torrent of flames that exploded around her, burning and repelling the nearest blades. However, one sword, faster and quieter than the others, tore through the sleeve of her dress, leaving a thin, bloody cut on her shoulder.
She gasped, more from anger than pain.
"Damn you…!" She shot forward again, like a flaming arrow, straight toward the man who was already waiting for her with a provocative smile.
Ren Zu leaped from the sword he was on, meeting her in the air.
The clash of their fists was like a collision of stars. The shockwave distorted the sky, creating a vacuum of silence before the sound reached mortal ears.
In the midst of the whirlwind of blows, Ren Zu moved his hand with control, and one of the swords positioned itself as a foothold beneath his feet. He used it as leverage to spin, dodging her fist and, with an open palm, struck the Little Demon Empress's stomach with precision.
She gasped.
It wasn't a lethal blow, but the force was enough to send her body crashing to the ground like a meteor. She collided with the earth with a boom that reverberated for kilometers, raising a colossal cloud of dust and flames.
Ren Zu descended shortly after, floating slowly above the newly formed crater on a sword, the blades lazily spinning around him like silent guardians, sweat beginning to trickle down his back…
"You're slowing down. Tired?" His voice carried a tone of fake concern that almost made her want to kill him again.
"Shut. Up." The Little Demon Empress rose from the midst of the dust.
In the next instant, both vanished from the ground.
The sound of their clashing blows echoed like relentless thunder, reverberating through the heart of the mountains.
Ren Zu, controlling each sword around him like a conductor's fingers, began to engage her in hand-to-hand combat, using the blades not to kill her but to restrict her movements, forcing her to keep a frenetic pace. Each of his strikes was accompanied by a blade that appeared to complement, interrupt, or guide her dance.
And in the midst of that battle, where golden flames collided with bloody steel, one fact became clear to the Little Demon Empress:
He was holding back.
The bastard was having fun with her.
The heat around her intensified to an unbearable point. The lake, the mountains, the very sky trembled under the pressure of the golden flames surrounding her.
She raised both hands to the sky.
The sky turned golden, and a colossal shadow took shape behind her. It was a firebird of titanic proportions, with wings spanning kilometers and eyes that seemed to embody the very essence of the sun. Each flap of its wings made the space groan, bending under a heat that made the mountains sweat.
The bird's wings descended.
The world was split.
A single flap of that flaming bird would be enough to turn oceans into deserts, and yet, the man she was trying to crush… just smiled.
Ren Zu extended his arm forward, and the sky, previously golden with the Little Demon Empress's flames, turned scarlet, as if bleeding. Aware that he couldn't sustain the fight much longer due to the difference in cultivation levels, he concentrated all his Profound Energy into a final attack. There was no room for hesitation. Knowing this, he activated the Nine Star Thunder King — First Stage: Fist of the World-Collapsing Star Thunder King!
The air trembled.
From the sky descended a colossal projection of a fist. But this was no mere attack—red lightning crackled like maddened dragons. The pressure was so absurd that even the laws of space began to shatter.
The fist was larger than mountains.
When the Fist of the Thunder King collided with the wings of the Firebird, the impact was so devastating that the world lost sound for a moment.
The sky was torn apart.
The Firebird screeched, its flaming body torn apart by the lightning.
The last thing she saw was the lightning fist descending upon her, the red light dominating her entire field of vision.
The world went dark.
Everything faded to black.
…
When she opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was a warm, steady breath against her neck.
She was… in his arms.
Ren Zu held her with an expression that didn't match the shameless man from before. His eyes were half-closed, watching her with genuine concern, as if she were something too precious to break.
"Hey, you overdid it…" He murmured, a slight reproach in his voice, though his tone was surprisingly gentle: "If you're going to try to kill me, at least do it without destroying yourself in the process, got it?"
The Little Demon Empress tried to protest, but her body wouldn't obey. Her consciousness floated on the edge of fainting.
The last thing she saw before her vision darkened was that infuriating face smiling softly at her…
_________
Dear Readers,
Today I'm not writing to tell a story or share an idea, but to open my heart. It's difficult for me to put these words on paper, but I feel the need to be honest and transparent.
Life has curious ways of teaching us about value and fragility. For many, sound is just part of daily life: a child's laughter, the melody of a song, the simple "good morning" from a friend. But for those who live with hearing loss, these little treasures become memories—echoes that seem to fade away a little more each day.
I know exactly what that feels like.
In recent years, I have lost much more than just the ability to hear. I've lost moments, conversations, laughter, and even part of my independence. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a world where silence is not a choice, but an imposition? Where you struggle to read lips, interpret gestures, and still feel like you're always one step behind everyone else? That is my everyday life.
A hearing aid could change my life. It's not just about hearing sounds again; it's about regaining dignity, about being part of conversations again, about no longer feeling isolated in a group. It's about hearing the voices of the people I love. It's about feeling that I belong to the world around me.
The problem is that, in my country, this device costs USD 4,000. For some, that number might not seem so distant, but for me it is almost unreachable. It is a huge wall between me and the chance to live fully again. I work hard, I do what I can, but that amount is far beyond my reality.
And this is where I step into delicate territory: asking for help. It's not easy for me. I've always tried to solve things on my own, but I've learned that sometimes we need the kindness of others to move forward. That's why I write this message with all the sincerity of my soul: I need your help.
You may not know me personally. Perhaps you stumbled across this text by chance. But if my words have reached you, please know that every contribution—small or large—will be like a breath of hope. I'm not just raising money. I'm trying to reclaim the right to hear life itself.
Think of everything sound means to you. The unexpected laughter of a friend. The song that comforts you on hard days. The birdsong at dawn. Now imagine losing that. That is how I live, and that is what I want to recover.
I believe in the power of empathy. I know the world can be cold and harsh at times, but I also know there are incredible people who extend their hand even to those they've never met. People who understand that generosity is an act that transforms not only the life of the one who receives, but also the one who gives.
If you can help me in any way, you will be giving me back something priceless: the chance to hear again.
Maybe you're thinking: "But I can only give a little, does it really make a difference?" Yes, it does. Every cent is one less brick in the wall that separates me from the world of sound. Every bit of help is one more step toward freedom. And even if you cannot donate, simply sharing my story is already an enormous form of support.
That's why I ask you to consider subscribing to my Patreon. There, you can contribute monthly with small amounts and, in return, follow my journey more closely. This recurring support is a way to give me stability and security for the future—not only for the hearing aid, but for all the care and adjustments my condition requires.
My Patreon: patreon.com/Adam_Kadmon
I don't know if I will reach this goal, but I know I have to try. And if you give me this chance, I promise your kindness will never be forgotten. I promise that on the day I put on this device, every laugh, every word, and every melody I hear again will also be a victory of yours.
Today, silence dominates my world. But with your help, this silence can be transformed into music, into life, into love.
With an open heart, I ask: help me hear again.
Thank you for reading this far, thank you for dedicating a moment of your life to think of mine. If you can reach out, know that you will be changing my life forever.
With gratitude, Adam_Kadmon...