The freezing gales of the northern skies howled a continuous, unforgiving dirge as a singular streak of brilliant crimson and crackling azure light tore through the heavy cloud cover. The sheer velocity of the descending figure created a violent tunnel of displaced air, scattering the falling snow into a chaotic blizzard. A full day had passed since the brief, completely one-sided skirmish in the skies above Snowfall Haven. Now, Zhang Tian's Blood Silver Mirage Clone had finally returned to the sprawling, impregnable heart of his domain, Crimson Zenith City.
Trailing behind the glowing figure, suspended in the air by thick, metallic vines of crimson flora, were the three unconscious forms of the invading Clear Sky Sect elders. Tang Jianxing, Tang Boqin, and Tang Hongyi hung limply in the freezing air, their massive, heavily muscled bodies rendered entirely inert by the precise, concentrated spikes of spirit energy that had securely sealed their internal meridians.
The clone did not steer his captives toward the opulent, towering spires of the central mansion, nor did he head toward the bustling military garrisons where standard prisoners of war might be processed. His trajectory angled sharply downward, aiming for the deepest, most heavily warded subterranean sector of the city's vast infrastructure. This was the deepest level of the penal colony, a place reserved not for simple thieves or political dissidents, but for individuals whose very existence offended the Lord of the North.
The descent into the earth was rapid. The howling winds of the surface faded, replaced by the damp, echoing silence of a massive underground cavern. The air here grew thick, stagnant, and sickeningly foul.
The clone moved through a labyrinth of dark, jagged stone corridors, the only illumination provided by the faint, eerie crimson glow of the vines dragging the captives along the rough floor. They reached the end of the darkest corridor, arriving before a heavy iron grate that was rusted and stained with unspeakable filth. With a dismissive flick of his wrist, the clone sent a surge of energy into the vines, violently hurling the three massive men through the open grate and into the cell beyond.
The three elders hit the stone floor with a heavy, sickening thud. The jarring impact, combined with the vile, suffocating stench of the environment, shocked their senses awake.
Tang Boqin groaned, his eyes fluttering open as he instinctively tried to summon his fiery hammer to illuminate his surroundings. Instead of the familiar, comforting surge of searing spirit power, he felt only a hollow, agonizing void within his dantian. The realization struck him like a physical blow to the chest. He was completely, irrevocably sealed. He possessed no more strength than an ordinary, aging mortal.
As his eyes slowly adjusted to the gloom, the true horror of their new reality began to settle in.
The cell they had been thrown into was not a standard dungeon. It was a sensory nightmare. The floor was covered in a thick, squelching layer of accumulated sludge, an abhorrent mixture of mud, stagnant water, and human excrement. The stone walls dripped with a foul, viscous slime, and the air was so dense with the smell of ammonia and rot that every breath burned the back of their throats. For these three men, who had spent their entire lives breathing the crisp, clean air of high mountain peaks, surrounded by the affluent luxuries and deep respect afforded to Titled Douluos of the supreme Clear Sky Sect, this environment was a humiliation worse than any physical torture.
"Brother," Tang Jianxing choked out, pushing himself up onto his hands and knees, his thick travel cloak instantly soaking up the vile filth of the floor. He retched violently, the stench overwhelming his senses. "Where... where are we? My spirit power... it's completely gone."
Tang Hongyi lay on his back in the muck, staring up at the dripping ceiling in sheer disbelief. "He sealed us. That monster actually sealed our cultivation. We are trapped in this cesspit."
Tang Boqin pulled himself into a sitting position, ignoring the sludge coating his hands. His heart hammered a frantic, desperate rhythm against his ribs. He looked at the thick iron bars of the grate, then down at his own trembling, powerless hands. The pride of the Clear Sky Sect, the dignity of a man who stood at the ninety-fourth level of spirit power, was being carelessly trampled into the feces-covered stone.
"We cannot allow this," Tang Boqin whispered, his voice trembling with a mixture of overwhelming shame and sudden, dark resolve. "To be kept as caged animals in this filth... to be used as leverage against our sect or interrogated for our secrets. It is a disgrace we cannot bear. The Clear Sky Sect does not surrender, and we do not break."
He looked at his sworn brothers, his eyes wide and manic in the gloom. "We must end it here. We must preserve our honor and the secrets of our lineage. We die today."
Tang Jianxing and Tang Hongyi stared at their eldest brother. The realization of what he was proposing settled heavily over them, but the suffocating stench of the cell and the crushing despair of their sealed power made the choice an easy one. They nodded slowly, a grim, silent consensus passing between the three fallen giants.
Tang Boqin did not hesitate. Drawing upon the last reserves of his raw, physical muscular strength, he pushed himself up from the sludge. He locked his gaze onto the jagged, uneven stone wall directly across from him. With a feral, desperate roar, he launched himself forward, throwing his entire body weight behind a reckless sprint, aiming to smash his skull directly into the unyielding rock.
He intended to end his life in a single, brutal impact.
His head collided with the stone wall with a sickening, audible crunch. The force of the blow split his forehead open, shattering the bone and sending a spray of dark blood across the grey stone. Tang Boqin's eyes rolled back in his head, and his massive body crumpled backward, collapsing limply into the filthy sludge.
"Brother!" Tang Hongyi yelled, a mixture of grief and resolve fueling his own intent to follow suit.
However, before Tang Boqin's consciousness could completely fade into the dark embrace of death, the very environment of the cell reacted.
From the cracks in the stone floor and the damp corners of the walls, dozens of thin, hair-like tendrils of Blood Silver Grass erupted with blinding speed. They did not attack; they swarmed over Tang Boqin's bleeding, ruined skull. The crimson vines pulsed with a vibrant, intense emerald light.
The Life Spirit Energy infused within the flora went to work instantly. Tang Jianxing and Tang Hongyi watched in pure, unadulterated horror as the jagged pieces of their brother's shattered skull were forcefully pulled back together. The torn skin stitched itself shut, the bleeding ceased immediately, and the severe, fatal trauma was completely, miraculously reversed in a matter of seconds.
Tang Boqin gasped loudly, his eyes snapping open. He sat up, his hands flying to his forehead, finding smooth, unbroken skin where a fatal wound had just been. He stared at his hands, his breath coming in ragged, panicked heaves.
Standing on the other side of the iron grate, the Blood Silver Mirage Clone looked down at the three miserable men, a cold, mocking smile playing on his handsome features.
"Did you truly believe that escaping through death would be so simple?" the clone asked, his voice echoing in the damp corridor. "In my city, your lives no longer belong to you. You do not have the privilege of dying until I permit it. You will sit in this filth, you will breathe this rot, and you will wait until I decide what use you serve."
The realization that they were completely denied even the basic right to end their own suffering crashed down upon the three elders. They were trapped in a living, breathing nightmare, their pride shattered, their bodies confined to a cesspit, and their very mortality held hostage by the monster of the north.
Having delivered his chilling decree, the clone did not linger to watch their despair. He turned away from the grate. The physical form of the clone began to shimmer, the edges of his dark robes dissolving into a flurry of brilliant crimson and silver light. The vast energy retracted inward, entirely dispersing its physical manifestation and sending the accumulated memories of the journey rushing back toward the main body.
Far above the subterranean depths, the atmosphere within the sprawling, opulent master wing of the crimson mansion was a stark, jarring contrast to the filth of the dungeons.
The massive master chamber was bathed in a warm, intimate glow provided by several ornate, crystal spirit-lamps. The air was heavily perfumed with the sweet scent of burning incense and the unmistakable, heady musk of intense female arousal.
Zhang Tian reclined comfortably upon a wide, plush velvet chaise lounge positioned near the center of the room. He wore only a loose pair of dark silk trousers, his heavily muscled, bare chest rising and falling in a slow, relaxed rhythm. He held a crystal goblet filled with deep red wine in his right hand, his icy blue eyes gleaming with dark, deeply entertained amusement as he observed the spectacular, erotic competition unfolding before him.
Spread across the thick, woven carpets of the master chamber were the three most beautiful, fiercely coveted women of the Star Luo Empire's noble lineage. His wife, Zhu Zhuqing, his mother-in-law, Zhu Wanyue, and his sister-in-law, Zhu Zhuyun, were currently engaged in a silent, intensely focused battle for his exclusive favor.
Zhang Tian had established a very specific, highly perverted rule for this evening's entertainment. The three women were strictly forbidden from speaking a single word to one another. They were not allowed to bicker, exchange insults, or coordinate their movements. Their entire, undivided focus had to remain solely upon him. They were tasked with utilizing their voluptuous bodies, their seductive movements, and their alluring grace to captivate his attention. The woman who performed the most enticing, arousing display would win the ultimate prize: the right to spend the rest of the night entirely alone with him, enjoying his undivided, aggressive attention and his thick cock without the involvement or presence of the other two.
To ensure the visual spectacle was truly breathtaking, Zhang Tian had demanded they wear highly specific, incredibly revealing clothing that he had synthesized from his botanical control.
Zhu Zhuyun had chosen a route of aggressive, dominating seduction. She was dressed in a skin-tight, black leather corset that squeezed her incredibly slender waist to an impossible degree, forcing the heavy, plush upper halves of her massive breasts to spill dangerously over the plunging neckline. The corset ended high on her hips, paired with a microscopic, sheer lace skirt that did absolutely nothing to hide the wide, bouncy flare of her curvy buttocks.
She was currently performing a slow, predatory catwalk across the plush carpet. With every deliberate, measured step, she heavily swayed her wide hips, emphasizing the dramatic, hourglass curve of her figure. Her dark, feline eyes remained locked onto Zhang Tian's face, maintaining an intense, sultry eye contact. As she walked, she slowly raised her hands, trailing her manicured fingers up the sides of her own waist, dragging them over her ribs until she cupped the underside of her own massive, overflowing breasts. She pushed the heavy globes together, deepening her cleavage significantly, silently offering her bountiful assets to his gaze.
Not to be outdone, Zhu Wanyue utilized the intoxicating, mature allure of a desperate mother. She wore a sheer, violet two-piece ensemble. The tiny halter top left her entire midriff exposed, drawing the eye directly to the glittering silver ring piercing her deep, sensual navel. The fabric covering her chest was so incredibly thin that the dark pink, stiff peaks of her areolas were completely visible. Her lower half was clad in tight, translucent silk pants that clung to her mature thighs like a second skin.
Zhu Wanyue had dropped to her hands and knees upon the carpet, adopting the posture of a feline in heat. She crawled slowly toward the chaise lounge, her movements fluid and heavily exaggerated. She deliberately arched her spine as she moved, pushing her plush, curvaceous buttocks high into the air to showcase their impressive, jiggling volume. She crawled until she was mere inches from Zhang Tian's boots. She stopped, leaning her upper body down until her heavy, massive breasts rested gently against his shins, tilting her head up to look at him with wide, pleading, and deeply slutty eyes, her lips parted in a silent invitation.
Zhu Zhuqing, secure in her status as the primary wife but fiercely competitive nonetheless, opted for a display of breathtaking physical flexibility and athletic grace. She wore a delicate, semi-transparent crimson silk wrap that clung tightly to her athletic curves, crossing over her chest to barely contain her own massive breasts while leaving her toned, flat stomach entirely bare.
She stood a few paces away, performing an intricate, rhythmic dance that highlighted her agility. She bent backward smoothly, her spine curving in a display of astonishing flexibility, pushing her toned midriff and her own delicate navel upward for his inspection. Her movements were as fluid as water, transitioning seamlessly from deep, sensual dips that showcased her thick, curvy thighs to slow, mesmerizing hip rolls. She didn't offer the desperate pleading of her mother or the aggressive dominance of her sister; she offered a silent, confident promise of athletic endurance and deep, romantic affection, her eyes shining with unwavering devotion.
Zhang Tian watched the three women, taking a slow sip of his wine. The visual feast of their bouncing breasts, swaying hips, and exposed, glowing skin was incredibly stimulating. He enjoyed watching these proud, noble women debase themselves and compete so fiercely simply for the chance to be heavily used by him.
Just as Zhu Zhuyun completed another turn in her catwalk, swaying her buttocks invitingly, Zhang Tian felt a sudden, sharp influx of energy entering his spiritual sea.
The memories, sensory data, and the quiet satisfaction of his returning clone flooded his mind in a seamless wave. He saw the dark, filthy dungeon. He witnessed the pathetic, failed suicide attempt of the Clear Sky elder. He felt the cold reality of their captivity settling into the city's depths.
The integration of the memories took only a fraction of a second, but it signaled a necessary shift in his immediate priorities.
Zhang Tian set his crystal goblet down on the small side table with a definitive clink. He leaned forward, breaking the silent spell of the competition.
He reached out his large hands. With his left hand, he delivered a heavy, stinging slap to the arched, presenting buttocks of Zhu Wanyue, who was still resting against his shins. With his right hand, he caught Zhu Zhuyun as she strutted past, delivering an equally firm, loud smack to her leather-clad backside.
"Ah!"
"Mmm!"
Both the mother and the elder sister let out soft, surprised gasps, their bodies shivering at the sudden, sharp contact.
Zhang Tian didn't stop there. He dragged his hands upward, forcefully grabbing a massive, heavy handful of each woman's exposed breasts. He kneaded the soft, overflowing flesh of his mother-in-law and sister-in-law simultaneously, his thumbs roughly brushing over their stiffening nipples, drawing breathy, eager moans from their lips.
He then released them and stood up, stepping over Zhu Wanyue. He walked directly toward his wife, Zhu Zhuqing, who had paused her fluid dance. He wrapped his arms around her incredibly slender waist, pulling her flush against his chest, and leaned down to capture her lips in a deep, highly passionate, and lingering kiss.
When he finally pulled back, Zhu Zhuqing looked up at him, her eyes slightly glazed with rising lust.
"You all performed exceptionally well tonight," Zhang Tian stated, his voice a low, commanding rumble that echoed in the quiet chamber. "You look incredibly beautiful, and your efforts are highly appreciated. However, we will have to pause this entertaining competition for the time being."
The three women looked at him, genuine disappointment flashing across their flushed faces.
"I have just received word of an important, highly sensitive task that requires my immediate, personal attention," Zhang Tian explained, stepping over to the chair to retrieve his dark outer robes. "I must head down to the lower levels of the city to deal with a few newly acquired guests. I will be gone for a short while."
He slipped his arms into the sleeves of his robes, adjusting the collar. "Rest here. Do not change out of those clothes. When I return, we will resume this game, and I promise the winner will be thoroughly, exhaustingly rewarded."
Zhu Zhuqing nodded obediently, her disappointment tempered by his promise. "We will wait for you, Husband. Do not take too long."
Zhu Wanyue and Zhu Zhuyun also nodded, settling onto the plush carpets to wait, their bodies still humming with the lingering heat of his touch.
Leaving the warmth of the master chamber behind, Zhang Tian navigated the quiet corridors of his mansion, eventually taking the concealed, heavily warded spiraling staircase that led deep into the subterranean infrastructure of Crimson Zenith City.
The air grew steadily colder and fouler as he descended. He moved with a purposeful stride until he reached the deepest, darkest sector of the penal colony. The heavy iron grate of the cell came into view.
He stopped before the bars, looking down at the three massive men sitting in the repulsive sludge. Tang Boqin was leaning against the dripping stone wall, his face pale, the skin on his forehead completely unblemished thanks to the healing vines, though his eyes burned with a mixture of hatred and profound despair. Tang Jianxing and Tang Hongyi sat nearby, their thick travel cloaks stained beyond recognition.
They glared at him, but none of them spoke. They knew that words were useless against the man who had effortlessly shattered their power and denied them even the release of death.
Zhang Tian did not offer them any mocking dialogue. He did not ask them questions or demand answers. He already knew exactly why they were here, and he knew exactly how to utilize their capture to his utmost advantage.
He reached into the folds of his robes and withdrew his sleek, polished Communication Spirit Tool. The jade slab glowed faintly in the dim light of the dungeon.
Zhang Tian held the device up, angling the embedded crystalline optical sensor toward the three captive elders. He ensured the lighting captured the full, horrific extent of their humiliation—the feces-covered floor, the stained clothing, the hollow, defeated expressions on the faces of the once-proud Titled Douluos.
With a soft tap on the glowing interface, he captured the image.
He looked at the digital portrait displayed on the screen, a cold, satisfied smirk touching his lips. It was a perfect, devastating piece of leverage.
He navigated through the heavily encrypted, overarching network directory that his engineering clones managed. While he didn't usually bother sifting through the millions of mundane communications flowing across the continent, finding a specific, high-priority contact was a simple matter of filtering the spiritual frequencies tied to the Star Luo capital. He quickly isolated the specific, unregistered contact string that he knew belonged to the intricate intelligence network managed by the Moon Pavilion.
He attached the humiliating photograph to a new message thread directed at that specific contact.
Beneath the image, his fingers tapped out a brief, chillingly polite sentence.
[A gift to the little spy of the Clear Sky Sect. Yours sincerely, Zhang Tian.]
He hit send, the jade slab emitting a soft, confirming chime. His task in the dungeon complete, Zhang Tian turned his back on the three seething elders and walked away, eager to return to the warm, welcoming embrace of his waiting women.
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, nestled securely within the elegant, high-society districts of the Star Luo Empire's capital, the Moon Pavilion stood as a beacon of serenity and refined culture.
Deep within the private, luxurious residential wing of the pavilion, Tang Yuehua had just finished a long, soothing soak in her heated marble bath. The mistress of etiquette stepped out of the steamy bathroom, her elegant, mature figure wrapped loosely in a sheer, highly alluring silk nightgown of deep silver.
The thin fabric clung desperately to her damp skin, highlighting the graceful curve of her waist, the flare of her hips, and the soft, heavy swell of her breasts. Droplets of warm water rolled slowly down her fair neck, catching the light of the glowing spirit-lamps scattered around her bedchamber. Despite her lack of formidable combat power, her innate beauty and noble poise were undeniable.
She walked over to her ornate vanity table, intending to brush her long, damp hair before retiring for the night. Resting beside her silver hairbrush was her personal Communication Spirit Tool. The small, glowing notification rune on the corner of the jade slab blinked steadily, indicating a backlog of unread messages.
Tang Yuehua let out a soft sigh, picking up the device. Running an extensive, covert intelligence network required constant vigilance. She unlocked the screen, scrolling casually through the incoming data.
Most of the messages were mundane, tedious chatter. There were updates from a group chat consisting of several high-ranking noble ladies she had recently befriended in the Star Luo Empire, discussing upcoming galas and court gossip. There were also encrypted, seemingly innocent messages from her established contacts still residing within the Noble Houses of the Heaven Dou Empire, reporting on the shifting trade tariffs and the movements of the new commoner administrators appointed by Emperor Xue Qinghe.
She swiped past them, looking for anything urgent. Her eyes paused.
There was a single, unread message from a completely unknown, unregistered contact string. It carried no identifying markers, no encrypted guild seals.
A faint frown creased her beautiful features. She tapped the message, opening the thread.
The image loaded onto the bright screen.
The silver hairbrush slipped from Tang Yuehua's hand, clattering loudly against the wooden vanity.
All the blood instantly, violently drained from her face. Her breath caught in her throat, a choked, strangled gasp escaping her lips. Her eyes widened to the point of pain, staring at the small, glowing screen in sheer, visceral horror.
The photograph was crystal clear. It showed the dark, miserable, and unimaginably filthy confines of a dungeon cell. And sitting in the center of that repulsive sludge, looking utterly broken, exhausted, and stripped of all their towering dignity, were the three men she had dispatched just days ago.
Tang Jianxing. Tang Boqin. Tang Hongyi.
Three Titled Douluos of the mighty Clear Sky Sect, reduced to caged animals wallowing in excrement.
Her trembling fingers nearly dropped the jade slab as her eyes darted downward to read the short, attached text beneath the image.
[A gift to the little spy of the Clear Sky Sect. Yours sincerely, Zhang Tian.]
The words struck her like a physical, suffocating blow to the chest. A wave of paralyzing, bone-chilling terror washed over her entire body.
He knew.
Zhang Tian actually possessed the direct, private contact information of her highly secured Communication Spirit Tool. He knew exactly who she was, and he knew with undeniable certainty that she was the information-gathering expert operating the intelligence network for the Clear Sky Sect. The fact that the Lord of the North could effortlessly pierce through her layers of encrypted anonymity and deliver this message directly into her hands was a realization that shattered her sense of security entirely.
Tang Yuehua stumbled backward, her knees hitting the edge of her plush bed. She collapsed onto the mattress, her chest heaving as she fought off a rising tide of panic.
She desperately forced herself to take deep, ragged breaths, trying to calm her racing heart. She needed her intellect now more than ever.
She closed her eyes, trying to think deeply and analytically through the rising terror. If Zhang Tian possessed her specific contact information and knew her role, then it meant that her explicit purpose for sending Brother Jianxing and the others had very likely been completely exposed. He must know they were sent to steal the secrets of the Artificial Spirit Bones. She had absolutely no idea how his surveillance had managed to detect their approach or uncover her identity so flawlessly, but she couldn't afford to waste time dwelling on the mechanics of his impossible intelligence gathering.
Her primary, overwhelming focus had to be on saving her brothers.
These three men were not just foot soldiers; they were esteemed, high-ranking elders of the Clear Sky Sect. They had been provided with immense amounts of the sect's dwindling resources over decades, and they were vital Titled Douluos who formed the defensive backbone of their remaining strength. Giving up on them, abandoning them to rot in that northern dungeon, was simply not an option she could ever entertain.
Her mind raced, analyzing the psychology of the enemy.
'He sent me the photograph,' Tang Yuehua reasoned, her hands shaking as she clutched the jade slab. 'If Zhang Tian merely wanted to eliminate the threat or kill them for trespassing, he would have done so immediately. He wouldn't have bothered taking a picture and sending this taunting message. The fact that they are alive, albeit humiliated, means he is holding them. He is fearing the backlash of openly killing three Titled Douluos and entirely antagonizing the Clear Sky Sect to the point of a death feud... or, more likely, he wants something in return for their lives. He is using them as leverage. He just humiliated them after beating them to show his dominance, which is a tactic I can work with.'
She clung to this logical deduction like a lifeline. She felt that as long as the situation could be negotiated, as long as there was a price to be paid, she could help get the three elders of her sect back safely. It would be worth any material or political cost.
With her resolve hardening, Tang Yuehua wiped a stray tear from her cheek. She looked down at the unknown contact number on the screen. She didn't hesitate. She pressed the rune to initiate a direct voice call to the sender.
The line rang for only a few short seconds.
The connection clicked open.
"I assumed it would take you at least a few days to swallow your fear and process the reality of your situation, Tang Yuehua," the smooth, incredibly calm, and darkly amused voice of Zhang Tian echoed from the jade receiver. "But to think you contacted me immediately... It seems you are quite anxious, and this specific bunch of trash is somewhat precious to your sect."
Tang Yuehua gritted her teeth, a surge of helpless anger warring with her fear. She hated the arrogant, mocking tone of his voice. She hated that he sounded so entirely unbothered, as if holding three Titled Douluos hostage was nothing more than a minor, entertaining diversion.
She drew upon her decades of training in noble etiquette, forcing her voice to remain as steady and regal as possible, despite the trembling of her hands.
"Lord Marquis," Tang Yuehua spoke, her tone formal and tight. "I am contacting you to ask directly: what is your price for freeing the elders of my sect?"
A soft, melodic chuckle drifted through the connection.
"Straight to business," Zhang Tian mused lazily. "I must say, I find the hypocrisy of your situation incredibly entertaining. For a woman whose entire existence revolves around teaching the highborn how to hold a teacup properly, curtsying in grand ballrooms, and maintaining the flawless illusion of noble etiquette... to secretly dispatch a squad of brutish thugs to aggressively kidnap common people from the streets of my province is quite the contradiction. Your actions lack a certain... refinement."
Tang Yuehua's face flushed with a mixture of deep shame and rising frustration. Her emotions, usually so perfectly guarded, were dipping precariously low as she listened to his amused chastisement. She realized with a sinking feeling that he was not in the least bit scared or intimidated by her sect.
"We can debate the morality of espionage at another time, Marquis," Tang Yuehua countered, trying to steer the conversation back to safe ground. "I acknowledge that our operatives crossed into your territory. However, holding three Titled Douluos in such degrading conditions is a severe escalation. What exactly do you want in exchange for their safe return? Are you truly not afraid of completely, irrevocably antagonizing the entirety of the Clear Sky Sect by treating our elders in such a manner? Even you and the Spirit Hall would suffer greatly in an all-out war."
"Antagonizing the Clear Sky Sect?" Zhang Tian laughed, the sound carrying a chilling, dismissive edge. "My dear, your sect is a fractured remnant hiding in the south. I am not holding them because I fear your retaliation. I am holding them because I find their misery amusing."
The line went silent for a moment before Zhang Tian's voice returned, dropping to a lower, much more dangerous register.
"It seems you have understood the meaning behind me sending that photograph," Zhang Tian stated smoothly. "You correctly assumed there is a price for their lives. And the price is quite simple, really."
Tang Yuehua held her breath, waiting for the demand for rare metals, territorial concessions, or highly classified intelligence regarding the Star Luo Empire's troop movements.
"The only thing of actual, tangible value that the ruined Clear Sky Sect can possibly offer me right now," Zhang Tian declared, his words laced with a dark, commanding intent, "is a great beauty who can try to use her personal charms to convince me to forgive their transgressions."
Tang Yuehua blinked, her mind stumbling over the words. "I... I do not understand."
"It is not a complicated concept," Zhang Tian clarified, his tone leaving no room for misunderstanding. "You must travel here to Crimson Zenith City. You will come entirely alone. You will wear a specific dress of my choosing upon your arrival. And you will utilize every ounce of your vaunted noble charm to beg for their release."
The color rapidly drained from Tang Yuehua's face once more. Her heart hammered against her ribs as the sheer, humiliating reality of his condition settled over her.
"And if I refuse this... this absurd demand?" Tang Yuehua managed to ask, her voice shaking with genuine outrage and fear.
"If you refuse, or if you attempt to delay," Zhang Tian replied, his voice turning as cold and hard as glacial ice, "then I will skip the negotiations entirely. I will begin the process of truly, physically torturing the elders of your sect. I will drag them into the public squares of my city. I will have feral, corrupted beasts rape them in the streets. I will meticulously record every single second of their agonizing violation using the very Communication Spirit Tools your sect relies upon, and I will broadcast the footage to every major city, tavern, and noble house across the entire Douluo Continent."
He paused, letting the horrific, graphic imagery sink into her mind.
"I will ensure the entire world watches the proud, untouchable elders of the Clear Sky Sect reduced to whimpering, violated meat," Zhang Tian promised casually. "And I will make sure everyone knows it happened simply because the foolish Clear Sky Sect thought they could brazenly enter my territory, attempt to kidnap a resident of my province, and expect to return in peace without paying the toll."
Tang Yuehua felt physically sick. Her stomach churned violently, and she had to grip the edge of her vanity table to keep from collapsing. The sheer, overwhelming depravity of his threat was staggering.
From his tone, she could detect without a shadow of a doubt that he was extremely, deadly serious. He was not joking in the slightest, and he truly wasn't scared of executing this horrific plan.
If he actually went through with this, it would not just destroy the personal reputation and dignity of Tang Jianxing, Tang Boqin, and Tang Hongyi to the point where they would entirely lose the will to live in this world. It would fundamentally, irreparably destroy the grand, historical reputation of the entire Clear Sky Sect. Their clan would become the laughingstock of the continent for generations. The shame would break the spirit of every disciple.
And Tang Yuehua knew, with a crushing sense of guilt, that she would be heavily, rightfully blamed by her elder brothers, Tang Hao and Tang Xiao, and especially by her strict grandfather, Tang Chen, if they ever came to know about this catastrophe. It was her intelligence, her urging, that had sent the elders into this trap to investigate the artificial bones. The responsibility rested squarely on her shoulders.
But Zhang Tian's condition was also incredibly terrifying and humiliating for her as a woman. She could already vividly imagine that him wanting her to travel to Crimson Zenith City alone might be a lethal trap designed to capture her as well, or perhaps to lure her elder brothers or her grandfather into an ambush if they tried to rescue her. And whatever specific dress he wanted her to wear definitely wouldn't be anything modest or respectable. The begging he demanded might entail something unspeakably degrading.
She opened her mouth, intending to desperately negotiate, to offer him vast sums of gold or secret information, or perhaps to weakly threaten him with the combined wrath of her powerful brothers.
But before she could utter a single word, Zhang Tian cut her off, predicting her thoughts flawlessly.
"Do not bother attempting to send a frantic message to your Elder Brothers or that Limit Douluo Grandfather of yours about this situation," Zhang Tian warned, his voice a chilling whisper that seemed to echo in the damp corners of her bathroom. "If I detect even a hint that you have reached out to them for rescue, I will not wait for your arrival. I will not hold out for your charming apology. I will simply go through with what I have promised, and the Clear Sky Sect can wait patiently to become the greatest joke of the entire continent for the next ten thousand years."
He then dropped a final, devastating hint that shattered the last remnants of her hope.
"Did you honestly think that, as the sole creator and distributor of these Communication Spirit Tools, I do not know exactly who possesses these devices, where they are located, and what specific messages or conversations are flowing through the network?" Zhang Tian asked mockingly. "I generally do not bother sifting through the mundane chatter of the world. But if I want to find out about a specific individual or monitor their device, I can accomplish that effortlessly."
He paused, delivering the killing blow to her morale. "I know exactly where your family is currently hiding. Do not think you can rely on the distant sanctuary of Sea God Island to save you from my reach."
This revelation terrified Tang Yuehua even more than the threat of torture. She gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth. He knew about Sea God Island! That was the absolute, most guarded secret of their entire alliance. Other than the core members of the Clear Sky Sect, only the Emperor and Empress of the Star Luo Imperial Family knew of their location.
The fact that Zhang Tian casually mentioned Sea God Island meant his surveillance was truly omniscient. It meant he would definitely be keeping a close, unblinking eye on her personal device and the communication spirit tools of everyone currently residing on Sea God Island. She couldn't pull any sneaky moves, she couldn't warn Tang Xiao to intercept her, or else the Clear Sky Sect's reputation would be entirely, brutally ruined. She was completely isolated.
"You have until exactly next week to arrive at the gates of Crimson Zenith City. Alone. Without pulling any foolish, sneaky maneuvers," Zhang Tian issued his final ultimatum. "If you do not appear, your Clear Sky Sect will be famous for the next tens of thousands of years without a doubt, and you will be the major contributor to their glorious infamy. But if you do come... I promise to release your brothers without a doubt. But you had better follow my commands closely and make a full, genuine effort to charm me. Or else... I might get angry."
The connection was abruptly cut off. The jade slab went dark, the silence returning to her bedchamber.
Tang Yuehua stared at the blank screen, her hands shaking so violently she dropped the device onto the vanity. Her legs finally gave out, and she sank onto the plush carpet, pulling her knees to her chest.
She started to cry.
Great, racking sobs tore through her chest, tears streaming down her pale face, soaking into the damp silk of her nightgown. The sheer, suffocating weight of the despair was unbearable. She felt entirely cornered, trapped in a flawlessly woven spider's web with absolutely no avenues of escape. She was terrified of what awaited her in the north, terrified of the humiliation and the unknown degradation she would have to endure at the hands of that monster.
But as the hours ticked by and her tears slowly dried, the deeply ingrained, unwavering loyalty she held for her family began to assert itself.
She slowly, painfully made up her mind. She managed to convince herself to go. She could not become the eternal sinner of the Clear Sky Sect. As a dedicated member of her clan, she must do her best to protect its honor. And since it was entirely her mistake, her flawed intelligence gathering that had sent her brothers into that trap, she must be the one to correct it.
If sacrificing her own dignity, or even her own body, was the required toll to save three vital Titled Douluos and preserve the legendary reputation of her ancestors... for the sect, it was a small, necessary price to pay.
Over the next few days, Tang Yuehua began her meticulous, silent preparations for this secret journey.
Given her prominent status as the master of the Moon Pavilion and a highly visible figure within the Star Luo capital, simply leaving the city and reaching the northern borders without alerting her own allies or the imperial spies was a somewhat difficult task. She made thorough, exhaustive preparations, donning heavy, nondescript merchant cloaks and utilizing various cosmetic disguises to conceal her elegant, recognizable identity, ensuring nothing went wrong during her departure.
Her journey across the sprawling continent was a tense, agonizingly quiet affair. When she finally reached the heavily fortified border outposts separating the two empires, her heart hammered in her chest, expecting immediate arrest or interrogation.
Instead, her crossing was surprisingly, jarringly smooth.
Certain high-ranking border commanders of the Heaven Dou Empire had clearly been informed in advance. They had received strict orders that a very valued, specific female guest from the Star Luo Empire would be arriving to meet Lord Zhang Tian. They did not know the true identity of the cloaked woman, but they naturally planned to follow the Lord Marquis's orders flawlessly. They treated her with profound respect, bypassing all customs checks, and immediately escorted her to a specialized launching platform.
They brought her aboard one of the latest, high-tier Flying Spirit Tools—a luxurious, enclosed aerial carriage designed for rapid, comfortable transit across the freezing province.
For five long, agonizing days, Tang Yuehua sat alone within the plush interior of the flying carriage as it soared over the vast, snow-draped expanses of the north. Her stomach churned with anxiety, her mind running through a thousand terrifying scenarios of what awaited her at the end of the line.
Finally, the carriage began its descent. However, she was not taken to the towering, imposing gates of the central mansion in Crimson Zenith City.
The carriage landed softly on a cleared stone pad situated within a stunningly beautiful, highly secluded private estate located on the quiet outskirts of the city. Zhang Tian had purchased this lavish, walled-off property specifically for the sole purpose of conducting this private meeting with her.
The military escorts offered a polite salute before the carriage lifted off again, returning to their posts and leaving her entirely alone in the snow.
Tang Yuehua stood shivering slightly in her heavy cloak. She looked toward the massive, wrought-iron gates of the estate.
As if sensing her presence, the heavy gates slowly, silently swung open by themselves, an invisible invitation into the spider's parlor.
She took a deep, shuddering breath, clutching the edges of her cloak tightly. She forced her legs to move, stepping onto the manicured stone path and entering the estate, feeling incredibly, profoundly scared of the unknown.
She walked through the quiet, snow-dusted gardens, her footsteps crunching softly, until she reached the main entrance of the elegant manor house. The grand double doors were already open.
She stepped over the threshold into a warm, lavishly decorated foyer. And there, leaning casually against a marble pillar, dressed in his dark, immaculate robes, was the man she feared most.
Tang Yuehua stopped, her breath catching in her throat as she came face-to-face with the chillingly handsome features of Zhang Tian. He stood there, watching her arrival, a dark, deeply amused smile playing upon his lips.
~~
A/N: Check out my other novels [Villain: Manipulating The Heroines Into Hating The Protagonist] and [Harem Master: Seduction System].
Also, check out 20 Chapters Ahead for this fanfic on my P.atreon. [Check Out Art Of Characters On My Patreon. It's Free To View btw.]
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