"Pant… pant… pant…"
Eve collapsed onto the bed, gasping heavily. Yet unlike an ordinary person, even her breathing carried an unmistakable seductive quality.
A succubus's sense of smell was exceptionally sharp. Even Eve, only half-human and half-Succubus, could still pick up the lewd scent clinging to Betsy.
Driven by a powerful sense of danger, and bolstered by the bit of Vital Energy she had replenished from Ye Ling, she forcibly activated a secret technique, barely managing to restore herself to her mature state.
If Betsy had delayed even a few more seconds, if she had walked a little slower, Eve's fragile bluff would have been exposed. And what would happen after that was something she didn't even dare imagine.
Luckily, Betsy both feared and respected her. No matter how bold she was, she didn't have the guts to truly test Eve. After taking a bit of advantage with her words, she immediately fled.
"She's finally… finally gone…"
Eve forced herself upright. In truth, she was exhausted to the extreme, but she had to hurry and write a letter to Ye Ling before she regressed into her childish state again.
This time, she had already used her last trump card.
Her regression would last for a long time. If Ye Ling refused to take her in, then she might really be finished. The best outcome would be getting dragged back by the Succubus clan.
Regression.
That was the negative side effect of the power Eve inherited from her father.
Unlike the Cultivation World, the Western Continent was made up of countless small nations, and within every one of those nations, a Hero would be born.
Some Heroes were strong enough to challenge Gods with a mortal body.
Others were so weak they couldn't even defeat the most insignificant trash-tier monsters.
But as long as one was a Hero, they would receive the protection of Heaven and Earth. These blessings came in countless forms and variations. They were a Hero's trump card, and the defining mark that set them apart from ordinary people.
Eve's father possessed an ability called "Accumulate Power."
As long as time passed, he would continue to grow stronger.
But the price of that power was equally cruel. Once all that accumulated strength was exhausted, Regression would begin.
Eve's Succubus mother had originally intended to kill the Hero. But the moment she saw that golden-haired little boy, she instantly got soaked—
As for what happened afterward… anyone who understands, understands. There was no need to dwell on it.
Regression wasn't simply a matter of the body becoming smaller.
More importantly, it affected the mind.
Even though the person still retained their memories, their behavior and judgment would revert to that of their childhood.
In a sense, aside from keeping her old memories, Eve was now truly a genuine little girl.
If one had to compare it to something Ye Ling would understand, it was like the Heroic Spirits he knew from those games. They all retained complete memories of their past lives, but depending on the era they were summoned from, their personality and behavior could differ.
That was why the Eve who had spoken to Ye Ling earlier had been her teenage self.
And the Eve who had just spoken with Betsy had been her mature self.
Both were still Eve, but their expressions, tone, and way of thinking were clearly different.
It wasn't a split personality.
It was simply the same person at different stages of life.
Before the rationality of her mature self was completely drained away, Eve finally managed to write everything down on paper in a more composed and adult tone.
And she pledged the next thousand years of her life as collateral, begging Ye Ling to take her in for a period of time.
After thinking it through again and again, her mature self concluded that staying with Ye Ling was the best choice.
The nature of the Succubus clan was indulgent and shameless, obsessed with pleasure. It was a racial trait carved into their DNA. Mere violent suppression could never truly change them.
Just from her conversation with Betsy, Eve already understood.
During the time she had been gone, Betsy and the others had definitely gone out to drain people again.
Still, Betsy hadn't lied. Even though Eve was no longer part of the Succubus clan, the fear she had instilled over so many years meant they still didn't dare to recklessly drain others.
If they had only drained a few evil people to death, Eve could barely tolerate it.
As Succubi, their most basic instinct was to toy with the desires of other races. When it came to distinguishing good from evil, they understood it even more clearly than the Devils of Infernal Realm or the Angels of the Holy Sanctuary.
But Eve didn't want trouble.
So while she allowed the Succubus clan to attack outsiders for food, she strictly forbade them from killing purely for enjoyment.
Yet it seemed the Succubus clan's DNA also carried the instincts of thrill-seeking troublemakers. She had only been gone a short time, and already they were starting to spiral out of control again.
If she left for another few years, or another decade, it was entirely possible the Succubus clan would revert completely to the way they had been before she ruled them.
All she could do was… hope the God would show mercy.
A bitter expression surfaced on Eve's young face. To be honest, she wasn't confident at all.
But now, her only chance was to rely on Ye Ling, the "God of Contracts."
If morality and brute force couldn't restrain the Succubus clan, then only binding contracts could.
And so, she had already decided to place everything on Ye Ling.
...
On the other side, outside the outskirts of Tianqiong City…
"Back already?"
Sensing Betsy's aura, Vicky spoke with her usual icy expression.
"You little bitches, your doomsday is here!"
But Betsy didn't even bother responding to Vicky. The moment she appeared, she snapped her fingers.
In an instant, countless thick, massive tentacles burst out of the void. A single glance was enough to shatter anyone's sanity. They coiled around the succubus squad before the girls even had time to comprehend what was happening.
"Mmmph… mmmph… mmm…"
"Mmm… ngh… mmmngh…"
"Mmm… mmm… mmmph…"
With even their mouths sealed shut, the outskirts quickly filled with waves of muffled, enticing whimpers.
"What's wrong with you?"
Vicky stared at Betsy in confusion. Deep in her eyes, a flicker of eager excitement surfaced.
"You want some too?"
Betsy shot her a glare and snapped her fingers again. The tentacles immediately tightened.
The Succubus squad's earlier moans of pleasure instantly turned into muffled cries of pain and desperate begging.
"!!!"
Yet Vicky only looked even more excited. She didn't even bother maintaining her cold persona anymore.
"Hmph!"
Betsy snorted, then glared at her again, clearly annoyed. For a shameless, repressed pervert like Vicky, she really didn't have any good way to deal with her.
Seeing Betsy loosen up a little, Vicky quickly lost interest and asked again, "So what did they do to you?"
"They… they fed me false information!"
Just mentioning it made Betsy furious, though she still eased the tentacles' strength a little.
Not because she was afraid the Succubus squad couldn't handle it, but because she couldn't stand the lewd state they were in.
Besides, punishing Succubi like this was ridiculous to begin with.
If anything, it just showed how soft-hearted Betsy was when it came to her own kind.
"Hm?"
Vicky let out a puzzled sound.
"I ran over there all excited, even risking getting detected by the city-protecting formation… and in the end, that little… Lady Eve was clearly in peak condition! I nearly got scared to death!"
As she said that, Betsy's face showed the lingering look of someone who had narrowly escaped disaster.
"Pfft—!"
Vicky, however, showed absolutely no restraint. She burst out laughing, practically on the verge of rolling on the ground.
"I-I told you… hahahaha… Lady Eve is never short on food… hahahaha… you didn't believe me… almost got yourself killed, huh?"
"Get lost!"
Betsy flicked her sleeve in annoyance. "Lady Eve is incredible this time. She's latched onto a God."
"???"
Vicky, who had been laughing a second ago, instantly froze. Her grin vanished, replaced with pure confusion.
There are Gods in the Cultivation World too?
How come I've never heard of that?
I may not be well-read, but don't try to fool me!
Seeing Vicky's stupid expression, Betsy spoke in a tone eerily similar to Eve's, full of pride.
"The Great Peng Clan's information was wrong. Our target this time is a God!"
Before Vicky could ask anything, Betsy continued, "And Lady Eve has clearly already taken down that God. I could smell that Deity's scent on her."
"!!!"
Vicky's eyes went wide. She stared at Betsy like she was insane.
"You're kidding, right? She's still a fledgling! And she managed to take down a man on her first try? A God, no less. One of those inhuman, cold-blooded, merciless Gods?"
Vicky had personally tried to lure Gods herself.
Even if they were only the lowest-ranked among them, even if she poured centuries into it and exhausted every technique she had, she still hadn't gotten any results.
So Eve's achievement was enough to shock her for a thousand years.
In the past, Eve had crushed the Succubus clan through sheer strength. Combined with her identity as their guardian deity, it was only natural that the Succubi respected and feared her.
But now things were completely different.
Seduction was the true core of the Succubus clan.
They didn't care whether an individual was strong or weak. What mattered was who could captivate men.
Even the weakest Succubus could earn admiration as long as she managed to win over a man that the others couldn't.
The most despised thing in the Succubus clan was relying on brute strength to forcibly drain a man. That was the most contemptible, most shameful act in their eyes.
So if Eve had relied purely on power to force herself on a God, she wouldn't gain any respect for it.
But from the way Betsy spoke, it sounded like Eve had used her charm to truly capture that God's "heart."
If that was true, then Eve's status within the clan would skyrocket.
"If you don't believe me, go see for yourself," Betsy said smugly, hands on her hips. She was clearly satisfied with Vicky's reaction.
"I wouldn't dare."
Vicky at least had some self-awareness. She feared Eve even more than Betsy did, and she didn't have the slightest courage to provoke her.
In fact, after confirming Eve's "achievement," her legs were already trembling.
Before, she had only been completely crushed by Eve in terms of strength.
But now, even in the Succubus clan's true calling, she was inferior.
A total, all-around defeat.
How could she possibly dare to go looking for trouble in front of Eve?
"Then let Lady Eve handle the task of getting close to that God," Betsy said.
After joking, her alluring face turned serious.
"Let's hurry back. We can't let those little bitches ruin Lady Eve's plans!"