Chapter 43

So, after the first hour, everyone who hadn’t gotten a taste yet decided that they’d waited long enough. The entire room was heating up, despite its size. The mist was thickening, lending an ethereal feel to the baths, only broken through by the soft sloshing of water, quiet conversations, and moans that dripped like honey over their sanity, impossibly sweet and tempting.

Quickly enough, small groups started to gather that she would fuck simultaneously. Everyone wanted a piece of her. The next five hours were a haze of being stuffed at all times, in all holes at once, mind focused on keeping her charming cultivation arts active while draining every drop of vital yang energy her Void Lotus arts could get their hands on. Roots on.

Two claps, each sound carrying qi, rippled through the mist-filled bathing area. Fu Yilan felt refreshed and fit, while the other cultivators grumbled when they were awoken. That quickly stopped when they saw who was standing at the door, sect uniform pristine, a plain look on their face. Mr. Flip pointed at her.

“Lady Fu, in my office. Ten minutes. And get cleaned up.” He turned and left, not further commenting on the scene he had walked in on.

Looking down at herself, cum was plastered on her body, not yet quite dried due to the high humidity. Looked like everyone had given it their all yesterday. So much so in fact that she’d managed to break through to the eighth stage of the earth realm. She let out a sigh that she’d had the presence of mind back then to hide the advancement before grinning. This stop in Splitgorge City had truly been worthwhile.

A quick rinse and scrub had her clean again. She got dressed and went up to Mr. Flip’s office. He sat on a cushion on the floor to the side, enjoying some fruit, and gestured to the seat opposite of his. A good sign. He hadn’t killed her yet.

“You might have heard, but we came here to find someone. Parts of what we expected to find is missing. You wouldn’t happen to know where those items went?” His gaze was intense, boring into her, looking for the slightest sign of guilt.

Fu Yilan brushed off all of it off. While her heart pounded, her face betrayed none of it. She simply cocked her head to the side slightly, a simple-minded, questioning look on her face.

“I don’t know what you mean. Do you– do you need my help looking?”

Mr. Flip kept staring at her for another few seconds before he chuckled slightly and shook his head.

“No, no, that’s quite alright.” His demeanor softened. “We had a deal, yet you went beyond what was expected of you. Your… efforts kept morale high and suppressed issues that usually follow when fifty of our sect are kept in one space like this. For that reason, I have decided you have earned yourself a small reward.” He handed over a box filled with spirit stones. “I understand you have a spatial pouch? Then I won’t need to give you one needlessly.”

“Yes. Yes, I do.” She nodded, entranced by the wealth about to be hers. Despite having seen the piles of spirit stones in the tomb, this was different. For one, she wasn’t in a place she wasn’t supposed to be, surrounded by enemies that would kill her either way, and allies that would capture and question her when they realized she wasn’t supposed to be there. This was hers, to do with as she pleased.

“Please, give me a moment as I fetch it!” Fu Yilan rushed down to her room and retrieved the pouch. Hurrying back up, she poured in all of the stones in the crate. Did this thing have a limit? If so, it hadn’t been reached. The stones in the box were a pretty good pile, which seemed very generous to her until she remembered the wealth they’d just gotten. Still, this was probably more than she deserved.

Stopping halfway, Fu Yilan tried pushing the remainder of them back. Not because she didn’t want them, but to keep up appearances. Her refusal was rejected though, and she added all of them to her pouch.

Walking back down to her room, the cultivators of the sect were already waiting for her, wide grins on their faces. They lined the hallway, everyone giving her pouch some spirit stones, as well as a final touch or grope.

“Great job taking all of us,” one said with a grin, and those that heard nodded in agreement.

When she was back in her room, she felt rich with the wealth that was contained in the small pouch, enough for four of the swords that had drained her funds previously. Fu Yilan’s eyes sparkled as she put her usual dress back on and tied the pouch to her waist. Putting the two manuals at the bottom of her pack, she got ready to leave. Excitement buzzed through her. She could barely wait to see what kind of cultivation manuals she’d gotten.

Walking through the gates of the Blazing Sun Emporium, Fu Yilan had a manic grin on her face. Having advanced by two stages, she’d gained so much from this stay. Should she just let herself be taken by a sect, offering herself up for the sake of growth? It was the life she’d run from, but she wasn’t the same person anymore.

Maybe after spending time with Qingzhao. 

Heart pounding in her chest, she endured the walk to the city gates before running in the direction of the next city. One that was larger than Splitgorge City. The city near the main branch of the Golden Fang Sect. One where she could spend all the spirit stones in the pouch on her hip.

She had to admit, growing in wealth was exciting. All of those spirit stones, as well as two cultivation manuals used by an ancient expert, easily sold for thousands. In part she’d earned it, in part she’d taken what others had worked for. Fu Yilan wasn’t quite sure if she preferred stealing over earning honestly. Taking from all the men that usually looked down on her left an especially sweet taste on her tongue though.

She licked her lips with a smile as her eighth-stage cultivation flared for a moment, scaring all animals for hundreds of meters in every direction. A clear and radiant laugh echoed across the mountains.

…

Fu Yilan found a small ledge overlooking the sunset and sat down in the lotus pose. Finally, she took out the two manuals from her pack and opened the first one. Vanished Treading Sky Art. Fu Yilan grinned wide as she opened the first page of the cultivation art a heavenly realm expert felt was good enough to join him in his tomb.

Vanish from the eyes of heaven. Neither heaven’s sight, nor its tears can touch you. And if heaven can’t see you, then how could mortals even dare to dream of such? A separate sky is born when you wish to open it above yourself. Vanish from the world as you decide who lays eyes on you. Others’ senses don’t perceive what they’re missing, instead flowing around you smoothly. Less like a ghost, rather a rumor, go where you wish, unhindered.

Fu Yilan suppressed the desire to jump up and down, screaming loudly. It was close. Instead, vibrating with excitement, she started reading the cultivation art she’d stolen. It was an umbrella art, meant for traveling without being noticed. Her cheeks started to hurt, so wide was her smile, as she read through the possible applications. Parts were only accessible and usable to heaven realm cultivators, but she didn’t mind. This would be incredible at this point already. Truly something worth keeping in one’s grave.

Drool was almost dribbling from her mouth when she opened the second manual. The satisfying crinkle of its paper made her squeal in delight. The first page was empty, so she quickly turned to the second page. On it stood… nothing? With speed that increased each page, Fu Yilan leafed through the entire manual without finding a single character.

She closed it and opened it again. Rubbed her eyes in disbelief. Let some blood drip on the surface. Nothing happened. She almost threw it down the mountain from frustration before rationality caught up with her. This was something a heavenly stage cultivator had in his tomb, alongside wealth and other powerful manuals. Something didn’t quite add up. The thought of selling it crept up, but how was she supposed to verify if the deal she’d gotten was even close to the content’s true value? Because she was sure that something was written there. She just needed to find out what it was.

Parts of the Vanished Treading Sky Art didn’t make sense to her yet, meant for heavenly realm cultivators. Maybe this was something similar. Calming down, she stowed the slim book back in her pack before returning her attention to the manual she could actually read. It was unlike anything she’d seen before. Complexity on a level that had her head spinning would be challenging her for weeks. Still, Fu Yilan couldn’t wait to get started.

Days bled by as she practiced, a combination of moving from village to village, as well as regular practice on her cultivation art. Both qi and intent required masterful shaping and sharpening to a degree that seemed almost impossible. Doubt lingered at the edge of her mind, but Fu Yilan persevered. Her travel speed was far slower than usual since she only moved when she needed to clear her head and take a break from the cultivation art so close to breaking her.

Two months in did she finally feel like something was happening when she raised her paper umbrella and channeled the art. She couldn’t quite tell by herself, so she went into a town with mortals. They had the lowest possible resistance to arts such as hers, so testing to see if it worked here seemed like a good idea.

Stepping into town beneath her umbrella, Fu Yilan could now feel every gaze that was directed at her, as well as feel them slide past. Not all did though. A woman carrying a basket filled with laundry squinted at where Fu Yilan stood, and she could tell that the woman’s gaze wasn’t moving past. When she’d broken through the veil, she stood there for a moment, blinking at the beautiful woman in their village she’d almost missed, before continuing along her path. Probably to hang up said laundry.

It was a learning experience for Fu Yilan that helped her understand and in part visualize how this cultivation art worked, and what its creator had intended. Literally having someone’s sight slip off your body was hard to grasp until one actually experienced it. The slippery nature of the imagined veil falling down the edge of the umbrella to wipe her from existence.  Everything helped her to push the art’s mastery higher. It wasn’t even close to ready yet, because if a mortal managed to peer through, then a cultivator would be able to do so easily.

Ten more days of grueling practice, Fu Yilan decided to increase her sensitivity once more. She had advanced by two stages, so pushing it a bit further should be acceptable. And it would surely help with the fine body control needed for the cultivation arts she was currently struggling with.

Still on the road, there was only the vibrating beetle that held the yang energy to make her body burn. It meant that she couldn’t safely test how much more sensitive her body had become when it came to sexual applications. The fighting improvements came quickly though. The Flowing Petal Sword struck swifter and with more elegance, alongside the remaining cultivation arts. Even the Vanished Treading Sky Art advanced, though not by as much as Fu Yilan had hoped.

Feeling when people were looking her way was a sense she’d still have to get used to. Fu Yilan wouldn’t be surprised if she’d had a head start compared to others due to always having a few gazes glued to a body that was meant to entice. Still, this was more intricate. And sensing those gazes was only a small part of the entire puzzle.

Massaging her temples, Fu Yilan slumped to the ground, leaning against a tree that grew towards the heavens, straight as an arrow. She should be close to the center of the Golden Fang Sect’s territory. Their Ringfort City would be the largest city she’d be visiting to date, especially since it had emerged around the main branch of the Golden Fang Sect. Fu Yilan could barely wait!