Two days later.
Li Ruowang was nurturing her draconic aura, diligently cultivating. Ever since she learned that above the Heavenly Realm lay the Divine Realm, she had set her plans in motion early. She knew all too well that with Ye Yu’s temperament, he would inevitably press ever upward. Naturally, she must stay close on his heels.
She had already arrived later than everyone else into the Heavenly Realm; this time, in the Divine Realm, she intended to be the first among her sisters. Better yet, she hoped to give birth to another dragon child and cement her standing within the Ye family. A dragon son and a phoenix daughter—who in the Ye clan could rival her? Just the thought made her heart race with excitement.
Because of this, Li Ruowang chose to leave Ye Yu each day at dawn to cultivate alone. There was another layer to her plan: monopolizing Ye Yu forever would be unrealistic. She needed to allow a brief window—so that others might vie for him—thus diverting their ambitions elsewhere. This was imperial mastery of humans!
But that window existed only by day. When night fell, Li Ruowang would reclaim Ye Yu’s side. Forever owning the night—that was her audacity. Anyone who dared resist would first have to get past Ye Niantong. After all, having a daughter allowed her such freedoms!
Time passed swiftly, and darkness crept in. Li Ruowang set aside her practice, slowly opening her eyes, ready to reclaim Ye Yu. To her surprise, the moment she stepped out of her room she saw Ye Yu and Yin Feijing flying hand in hand. Feijing, sensing her gaze, glanced Down and upturned her lips in a victor’s smile, then snuggled into Ye Yu’s embrace as if to stake her claim before Li Ruowang.
Li Ruowang’s face froze. That fox spirit—where was she taking Ye Yu? Didn’t she know that her husband’s nights belonged to Li Ruowang? With a thought, the golden baby dragon coiled around Li Ruowang’s wrist let out a roar, then expanded into its thousand-zhang form, bearing Li Ruowang forward on a rapid flight. In mere breaths they covered over five thousand li, intercepting Ye Yu and Feijing.
“Sister Yin, at this late hour, where are you taking my husband?” Li Ruowang asked.
“Why must you pretend ignorance, sister?” Feijing draped herself entirely over Ye Yu, her eyes brimming with seductive intent.
Li Ruowang frowned. Though it felt improper to seize him so openly, this was only compensation for lost time. She’d arrived late; surely she was owed this night. Once repaid, they could take turns again, right? Li Ruowang thought so, at least—but her domineering nature forbade speaking such weakness. Not now, anyway. Perhaps after all the sisters had gathered tomorrow...
She resolved to persuade Ye Yu, but noticed his smile looked brittle, somehow wrong. She stepped forward to inspect him—but the instant her foot crossed the threshold, she was drawn into a secret realm, vanishing from sight.
At once, Feijing and Ye Yu broke into delighted laughter and applauded.
“Success! I didn’t expect you to send her into the secret realm so smoothly. Your expertise is well earned!”
“Of course. I ascended to the Heavenly Realm months ago, and eight out of ten steps led me into secret realms. You think that was easy?”
Then “Ye Yu” glowed faintly—and in a flash was revealed to be Gan Zhizui in disguise. Indeed, everything that had transpired was Zhu Diezhen’s prearranged plan. Li Ruowang, with her Immortal Emperor cultivation, could not be overwhelmed by binding all the sisters together. Only by trickery could they contain her.
This particular secret realm was one of the most intricate Gan Zhizui had ever experienced—extremely difficult to escape, yet harmless. Really, the sisters wanted nothing more than to keep Li Ruowang occupied for a few days, giving everyone a peaceful respite. Quite reasonable!
Feijing and Gan Zhizui waited until the secret realm showed no variance, then returned to report success. When the sisters in the Wuwei Pagoda learned the plan had worked, they beamed with joy. Next came the most thrilling draw: to decide fairly who would be tonight’s lucky companion. Each sealed off her own Immortal power and left it to chance.
In the end, Tuoba Qiyue drew the first prize. Amid the others’ envious gazes, she made her way to Ye Yu’s chamber. The rest continued drawing for later slots—proof that luck is indeed part of one’s prowess.
Elsewhere, when a knock sounded on the door, Ye Yu turned to see Tuoba Qiyue entering. He was surprised.
“Hm? Tonight Li Ruowang has a conscience, so she sent you?”
“Maybe Sister Li finally felt guilty! But Brother Ye, after so long apart, shouldn’t you spend this time alone with me rather than mention her? Aren’t you afraid I’ll feel uneasy?” Qiyue pouted, expressing her displeasure.
Ye Yu waved a hand. In fact, Qiyue’s ascension was still recent, and with so many sisters in line, she’d barely had a chance. Tonight, theirs was the first true one-on-one time [N O V E L I G H T] in the Heavenly Realm. He resolved to indulge her.
“All right, all right. Tonight I won’t mention anyone else. Come, Senior Sister, sit. I’ve prepared some small gifts—sweet spiritual fruits of the Heavenly Realm. You can try them all!”
“Oh, no rush. I have a present for you, too. Ta-da!” Qiyue produced more than thirty books from her storage ring and set them before Ye Yu. Judging by their titles, they were all fantasy romance novels—bossy CEOs, grassroots ascensions, emotional tug-of-war, and more. Quite the variety!
Qiyue beamed. “I wrote these in the Mortal Realm. Please peruse them, and you must finish them by dawn tomorrow!”
Ye Yu stared at the stack, a meter high, utterly dumbfounded.
......
On the north side of the Wuwei Pagoda, Feng Yingzhi unusually didn’t sit at his workbench. Instead, he pressed Banxia into a chair.
“XiaXia, why can’t you face your own heart? Must you wait until happiness slips away? If you can’t say it yourself, I’ll help you speak. I’ve just developed something new—truly, it’s a masterpiece!”
