Chapter 212: Alena’s Changes [5]
They sat together at the base of the tree for a long while.
Alena leaned against his chest, her breathing slow and even, her body still humming with the aftershocks of what had just happened.
Her robes lay discarded beside them, and she made no move to reach for them.
Damon held her close, his hand resting on her bare stomach.
"You asked how Ariel and the twins advanced so fast," he said.
She lifted her head to look at him.
"There’s a technique," he continued. "The Yin-Yang Harem Scripture. It’s how my women cultivate. It’s how they grow stronger."
Her eyes widened.
"A scripture that allows dual cultivation to accelerate growth?" she asked.
"That shouldn’t exist. The alchemy pavilion has records of every known cultivation method on the Eastern Continent. Nothing like that is documented."
"It exists," he said simply.
He pressed his lips to the top of her hair, and she felt the warmth of him radiate against her bare skin.
The forest breathed quietly around them, the wind stirring the canopy above into a soft, restless murmur.
"And if you want to be one of my women," he said, his voice low and unhurried, "you’ll learn it."
The words settled over her like the warmth of a spell taking hold.
She swallowed. Her forest-green eyes dropped for a moment before lifting back to his face.
"One of your women," she repeated slowly, as though testing the shape of the words on her tongue, measuring their weight against everything she had spent the last twenty-four years valuing about herself.
"You saw Ariel," he said.
"You saw Mio and Mia. You’ve seen what they were, and you’ve seen what they’ve become. Their cultivation, their bearing, the quality of their spiritual roots."
His golden eyes held hers without a flicker of doubt. "That wasn’t coincidence. That wasn’t fortune. That was this."
She was quiet for a long moment.
The trees stood still around them. Somewhere above, a bird called once, then fell silent, as if the forest itself was waiting alongside her.
"I saw," she admitted at last. Her voice was soft, stripped of its usual precise, scholarly composure.
"I couldn’t explain it. I ran every variable I could think of. I even considered their diets." A short, breathless sound escaped her, half a laugh and half a confession.
"I couldn’t explain it."
"Then you know this isn’t a trick."
She looked at him for a long moment — at the gold of his eyes, at the calm certainty in his face, at the hand still resting warm against her bare stomach.
She nodded slowly.
"Teach me."
He smiled and pressed two fingers to her forehead.
The knowledge flowed into her mind like a river breaking through a dam.
The scripture’s pathways, the circulation methods, the way yin and yang qi intertwined to create something greater than either alone.
Her breath caught as the information settled.
"This is..." she whispered.
"Real," he finished.
She looked at him with something new in her eyes.
"Take the pill I gave you," he said.
"Consume it now. Then activate the scripture."
She reached for the small bottle at her side, her fingers trembling slightly as she uncorked it.
The golden pill rolled into her palm.
She stared at it for a moment, then placed it on her tongue.
It dissolved instantly, flooding her meridians with warmth.
She closed her eyes and began to circulate her qi according to the Yin-Yang Harem Scripture.
Damon stood and watched her.
She sat there completely naked, her body bathed in the soft glow of spiritual energy as the pill’s power spread through her channels.
Her skin flushed, and her breathing deepened as she guided the energy through unfamiliar pathways.
He observed her progress through his Incubus Celestial Eyes.
The Heaven Spiritual Root Advancement Pill was doing its work, refining her Verdant Spiritual Roots from Earth Grade Peak toward something greater.
The Yin-Yang Harem Scripture was accelerating the process, drawing on the residual yang qi still lingering inside her from their union.
Hours passed.
The sun shifted across the sky, casting long shadows through the trees.
Alena remained motionless, her cultivation progressing steadily.
Damon didn’t move from his position.
He watched her breakthrough from Earth Spirit Realm Eighth Level to Ninth Level, then push past into Heavenly Spirit Realm First Level.
The energy around her stabilized.
Her eyes snapped open.
She looked at him with wild excitement, then launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"It worked," she said, her voice breathless. "It really worked. I broke through to Heavenly Spirit Realm. In hours. Hours, Damon."
He caught her easily, his hands settling on her waist.
"I told you it would."
She pulled back to look at him, her eyes bright.
"I’ve spent years grinding herbs and refining pills to advance a single level. Years. And you gave me a pill and a technique, and I did in hours what would have taken me months."
"Welcome to the family," he said.
She laughed, a sound of pure joy.
Then she noticed the breeze against her skin.
She looked down at her naked body, and her face turned a shade of crimson that rivaled the setting sun.
"I’m naked," she whispered.
"You are," he agreed.
She scrambled off him, grabbing for her robes.
"You could have said something," she muttered, pulling the fabric over her head.
"You seemed comfortable."
"I was cultivating. I didn’t notice."
"Exactly."
She shot him a glare, but there was no heat in it.
While she tied her robes, he opened her status window.
[Name: Alena Terra]
[Age: 24]
[Cultivation: Heavenly Spirit Realm - First Level]
[Relationship: In Love]
[Interest: 300/1000]
[Chastity: Claim by Damon Arcknight]
[Lust: 78/100]
[Affinities: Earth: 90, Nature: 95, Staff: 70]
[Spiritual Roots: Verdant Spiritual Roots] [Heaven Grade - Low]
[Bloodline: Blood of Verdant Alchemist] [Mortal Grade - Peak]
[Physique: Body of Verdant Alchemist] [Mortal Grade - Peak]
[Traits: Dedicated, Patient, Perfectionist, Obsessive over Recipes, Surprisingly Fierce, Herb Detector]
He closed the window as she finished dressing.
"Done?" he asked.
She turned to face him, her cheeks still pink.
"Done."
He walked to her and took her hand.
"Then let’s go find the others."
She looked at their joined hands, then up at his face.
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
She squeezed his hand.
"Okay."