The aftermath of the resonance was thick and intoxicating. The air in the granary shimmered with the remnants of our combined Qi and the musky, sweet scent of our union.
Min-Ah was still trembling, her fingers clutching the torn fabric of her robes over her chest. But she wasn't the dying woman I'd found ten minutes ago. Her skin, once ash-pale and mapped with poison, now glowed with a healthy, pearlescent luster.
[Status Update: Lady Min-Ah]
[Affinity: 45% (Grateful/Confused)]
[Cultivation: Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment (Restored & Enhanced)]
[Note: The 'Icy Lotus' has been tempered by 'Emperor's Fire'. She can now channel Qi 30% faster.]
She looked at the bifurcated corpses of the Sun-Zhen scouts, then back at me. Her gaze lingered on my bare chest, tracing the faint golden lines that were still fading back into my skin.
There was a raw, primal heat in her eyes that she was trying, and failing, to suppress with her usual noble dignity.
"What did you do to me, Kang-Dae?" she whispered, her voice vibrating with a power she clearly didn't know how to handle yet.
"I saved us," I said, my voice sounding deeper, more resonant.
I grabbed a discarded Sun-Zhen cloak from the floor and tossed it to her. "The System... I mean my lineage... it requires a catalyst. You were the catalyst, Min-Ah. And right now, you're the strongest cultivator left in this sector."
She stood up, the movement fluid and predatory. She looked down at her hands, then slammed a palm toward a heavy wooden support beam. A blast of frost-qi, infused with a strange, golden heat, shattered the wood into splinters.
"I feel... indestructible," she breathed, her cheeks flushing.
The Dual Cultivation hadn't just healed her, it had left her in a state of high-arousal 'Qi-Drunkness.' She stepped toward me, the cloak slipping slightly to reveal the curve of her shoulder. "The way it felt when you... when we..."
[Notice: Subject is experiencing 'Post-Resonance Surge'. Yin Energy is peaking. Recommendation: A secondary 'Stabilization' act would result in a 15% Stat Boost for the upcoming battle.]
The System was a damn leech, but it wasn't wrong. My own blood was roaring. The 'Heaven-Splitting Slash' had used a lot of juice, and I could feel my dantian itching for more of her silver-tinged energy.
I stepped into her space, my hand sliding behind her neck, pulling her close until our chests brushed. The friction of her nipples against my bare skin sent a jolt straight to my cock.
"We don't have time for a full session," I rasped, my thumb tracing her lower lip. "But we need to stabilize your core before the next wave hits. You're overflowing, Min-Ah. If you don't vent that energy, you'll go into Qi-Deviation."
"Then vent it," she challenged, her pride finally snapping under the weight of the lust the System had ignited.
She didn't wait. She grabbed the back of my head and pulled me down into a bruising kiss, her tongue darting into my mouth as she hiked her ruined skirt up.
I backed her against the one remaining solid pillar, lifting her by the thighs. She was slick, her body already prepared for me, humming with the resonance we'd just forged. I guided myself back into her, a sharp, gasping entry that made her back arch and her toes curl.
"Ah! Kang... Dae!"
I didn't go for finesse this time. I drove into her with a rhythmic, punishing force, each thrust sending a shockwave of gold and silver light through the room. The System's interface blinked rapidly, recording the data of our 'Stabilization.'
[Resonance Stabilization: 80%... 85%...]
[Passive Skill Learned: 'Emperor's Grip' – Increases stamina and grip strength during combat and cultivation.]
She was louder now, her moans echoing off the high rafters of the granary. She wrapped her legs tighter around my waist, her heels digging into my glutes as she searched for that same shattering peak.
The danger outside, the screams of the city, the distant boom of the Void-Ship cannons only served to heighten the intensity. We were fucking at the edge of the world, and it felt like the only real thing left.
I felt the build-up in my gut, that white-hot pressure of War-Qi. I buried my face in the crook of her neck, inhaling the scent of lotus and sweat, and let out a low growl as I hit her deepest point.
She screamed, her entire body seizing as a frost-nova exploded from her, coating the nearby grain sacks in a layer of glittering ice.
I poured every drop of refined Qi back into her, sealing the connection.
[Stabilization Complete.]
[Bonus: +500 War-Qi Exp.]
[Level Up: 11.]
I let her slide down my body until her feet hit the floor. We were both breathing like we'd just run a marathon. She leaned her forehead against my chest, her breath hot against my skin.
"If that is what it takes to win this war," she whispered, her voice shaky but determined, "then I suppose the Blue Lotus Sect has a new doctrine."
"Get dressed," I said, stepping back and pulling my own tunic on.
My movements were faster now, my senses sharpened. I could hear the heartbeat of a soldier fifty yards away. "The Sun-Zhen are heading for the harbor. They're trying to sink the Tortoise Ships before they can launch."
"They won't," Min-Ah said, her eyes flashing with a new, dangerous light. She picked up her fallen sword, the blade glowing with a faint, golden-silver frost. "Not while I still have this fire in me."