Chapter 790: Calm After the Storm
While in the depths of the cosmos the echo of destruction still resonated, the imperial suite at the Celestial Peaks Pavilion remained shrouded in a deathly silence. The isolation arrays, reinforced by the lingering traces of Lord Amethyst’s aura, muffled any remnant of the spatial rift.
Upon the massive silk bed, the two bodies remained entwined, wrapped in a cocoon of golden and purple spiritual mist.
Ethan slowly opened his eyes. His pupils, tinged with a deep amethyst violet, returned to their usual hue as the trance of the transfusion dissipated. He felt a torrent of energy coursing through every one of his meridians; his dantian throbbed with density, having reached the peak of the Dao Manifestation Realm in a matter of hours.
Beneath him, Isabella breathed evenly. Her skin, previously marked by the dissonance of a superficial cultivation, glowed with translucent purity. The runic seal Crul had etched onto her brow dissolved into her skin, concealing any trace of her bloodline’s awakening.
[Congratulations, boss], Crul’s voice sounded weary yet relieved inside his mind. [You managed to stabilize the energy, and the purification was a success. Your cultivation skyrocketed, and hers has been restructured from the ground up. There is no longer trash left in her body.]
Ethan let out a sigh, running a hand through his damp hair before stroking the princess’s face.
"What was all that, Crul?" asked Ethan in his mind, recalling the vision and the ancestral entity’s intervention. "What is she?"
[It’s better if you don’t dwell on that for now], answered Crul, appearing on his shoulder in her spiritual form and shaking her wings. [The ancestor had to burn three drops of his reserve to seal the trace and destroy the link to the higher realms. For now, you are safe, but that girl is a ticking time bomb if her power overflows again.]
At that moment, Isabella emitted a soft groan, her eyelashes fluttering lightly before she opened her eyes. Her gaze, free of impurities, locked onto Ethan with devotion and clarity.
"Ethan...", whispered Isabella in a sweet, slightly raspy voice, wrapping her bare arms around his neck. "I feel as though I’ve been born anew..."
Ethan smirked, leaning down to plant a short kiss on her lips.
"We are just getting started, my queen," said Ethan. "We still have fourteen days left in this place, and I intend to make every second count."
By the fourth day of their retreat at the Imperial Suite, the morning sun streamed through the mystic glass windows, casting golden reflections across the spacious hall. Isabella rested naked against Ethan’s chest, tracing circles with her finger over his abdomen.
"I can’t remember the last time I slept like this," said Isabella, looking up to meet Ethan’s gaze. "At the Soaring Dragon palace there was always a guard, always eyes watching every step... it felt like a golden cage."
"No one is going to lock you up ever again," answered Ethan, stroking her hip at a leisurely pace.
Ethan’s hand moved down firmly, molding her against his groin. Feeling the rigidity pressing against her thigh, Isabella let out a sigh, spreading her legs over him and aligning the tip of his shaft directly against her wet entrance.
"Again?" whispered Isabella, gazing at him with eyes half-lidded from the rising heat. "I thought the hot spring this morning was enough."
"The spring was merely the appetizer," answered Ethan before grabbing her hips and burying himself inside her in one fluid, deep thrust.
"Ah, Ethan!" gasped Isabella, squeezing her thighs around his waist as Ethan drove into her in a rhythmic, wild cadence that made the frame of the massive bed creak.
By the ninth day, the couple decided to step out for a walk through the floating markets near the complex. They strolled hand in hand, enjoying mystic street food and buying trinkets.
Along one of the main avenues, a robust figure clad in royal robes stopped in his tracks upon spotting them: it was King Alaric. The old monarch recognized them instantly, but taking note of the intimacy and devotion in their eyes, he chose to turn right around discreetly and melt into the crowd with a knowing smirk so as not to interrupt their walk.
That very night, back on the suite’s terrace, dinner ended up scattered across the floor. Ethan hoisted her onto the marble table, spread her legs wide, and buried his shaft inside her without warning. Isabella let out a scream that echoed across the valley while her breasts bounced with every hard thrust he drove into her.
"You are shameless...", gasped Isabella, gripping the table’s edge as she felt Ethan’s shaft pounding against her cervix.
"And you are crazy about this shameless man," answered Ethan, picking up the pace until she squirted streams of slick fluid across the marble.
During the afternoon of the thirteenth day, both submerged themselves completely naked in the garden’s indoor jade pool. The water, saturated with mystic essences, hovered beneath a warm mist.
Ethan grabbed her thighs inside the water and pinned her against the stone rim, lifting her slightly to impale her once more. Isabella threw her head back, moaning loudly as the waves created by his thrusts splashed over the pool’s edge. He grabbed her breasts firmly, squeezing them as he fucked her hard until she came, her walls clamping down tight around his shaft.
"Ethan...", groaned Isabella, trembling as he came deep inside her. "What happens when the tournament ends?"
"We go wherever we want," answered Ethan, giving her a hungry kiss. "No one will stand in our way."
"Is that a promise?" asked Isabella.
"It’s a promise," confirmed Ethan, driving one last deep thrust into her beneath the water.
When the morning of the fifteenth day arrived, the atmosphere inside the suite felt composed and complete. Isabella finished adjusting an elegant blue silk robe with golden embroidery before the mirror, while Ethan tied his belt.
"We are ready," said Ethan, approaching from behind to kiss her neck softly.
Isabella smiled at her reflection in the glass, holding his hand upon her shoulder.
"Let the world try to stop us now," said Isabella in a firm voice.