Xiao Yue didn’t dare hide anything. She recounted in full detail the encounters with the Demonic Fox, the Demonic Beast Tide, and the shocking event at the end within the Secret Realm.
But after listening, Wu Zhaohua’s figure trembled almost imperceptibly.
The blood drained from her exquisitely beautiful face, and for a fleeting moment, her eyes glazed over with emptiness and daze.
How could this be? How could it end like this?
She abruptly turned around, her voice icy cold:
“Come with me. We’re going to find Qin Qingyue!”
I should have known following this Evil Dragon would lead to no good! If I had gone with her from the start, I would never have let Jiang Huai enter such a Secret Realm.
Qin Qingyue was equally restless.
The Secret Realm had closed, yet Jiang Huai’s figure still hadn’t appeared.
“It’s just a trial. He should be able to come out,” she muttered, her dragon tail anxiously slapping the ground.
With a Yin-Yang body, Spirit Sword Pattern, and Black Dragon Mark, how could he not escape?
At that moment, Wu Zhaohua arrived straightaway with Xiao Yue.
“Qin Qingyue!” Wu Zhaohua’s voice was sharp and cold.
Xiao Yue took a deep breath and handed the Immortal Materials to Zhuxin, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, then proceeded to recount everything that had happened inside the Secret Realm once more.
Zhuxin, upon hearing it all, felt as if the sky had fallen and the earth had shattered, staring at the Immortal Materials in her hands for a long time without regaining her composure.
Daughter… Husband Lord…
After hearing the whole sequence of events, Qin Qingyue froze in place. Her dragon eyes, which usually held arrogance or teasing, now showed a stunned disbelief for the first time.
She slowly clenched her fists, knuckles whitening from the force, her aura fluctuating wildly, revealing the storm raging inside her.
She closed her eyes, desperately sensing that life-bound aura connected to her own.
Wu Zhaohua’s cold voice interrupted her attempt:
“I sensed through the Spirit Sword Pattern that he is still alive, but he’s very far away — so far there’s no direction.”
“But he’s definitely alive.”
Qin Qingyue’s face brightened with hope. She hurriedly asked, “Then what?”
Wu Zhaohua turned and left, saying only:
“Come with me to find Chi Hong and White Dew.”
“As long as he’s alive, I will find him!”
In the Extreme Matriarchal World, on the mountain path leading to the Sect’s grand Mountain Gate.
“What is the relationship between you two?”
Just before stepping through the magnificent Mountain Gate of the Female Cultivation Sect, the Sect Master Tang Zhaoxue suddenly stopped, turned sideways, and asked the pair.
Jiang Huai was about to fabricate a brother-sister or sibling relationship to conceal the truth, but unexpectedly, Zhu Siyao cut in first.
“We are husband and wife,” Zhu Siyao said calmly and clearly, expression unchanged.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Huai abruptly turned to look at her, eyes full of shock and confusion, utterly unable to understand why she would say such a thing.
No, this messes up the generational hierarchy, doesn’t it?
A super generation-jump!
But Zhu Siyao didn’t look at him, only calmly returning her gaze to Tang Zhaoxue.
This was all for her mother. Pretending like this wouldn’t hurt anyone.
She had her own calculations.
If this world really was as the legend from Cang Ling said — an extreme matriarchal society where women valued male chastity and status above all else — then a man with a wife would most effectively dispel any lascivious thoughts this Sect Master might harbor, serving as a temporary shield.
“Oh?”
Tang Zhaoxue raised her heroic brows slightly, a faint inscrutable smile tugging at her lips, but didn’t press further.
She turned around and gestured for them to follow.
“Come with me.”
But no sooner had they entered the mountain than Jiang Huai saw something he could not hold back a reaction to.
A not-so-small “abalone” statue stood proudly beside the mountain path.
Not only abalone—there were also statues of Snow Peak and other figures.
Some were extremely explicit, even blatant, sculptures symbolizing female physiological features.
They stood there unashamed and uncovered by the roadside, strikingly realistic and of considerable scale, glaringly conspicuous amidst the solemn and majestic Mountain Gate.
Jiang Huai felt his eyelids twitch and hurriedly looked away.
But in his peripheral vision, there was more than one kind — an endless stream of stone totems symbolizing female bodies and fertility worship.
Zhu Siyao clearly saw them too. Though she tried to appear calm, a faint flush at her ears betrayed her inner turmoil.
This world was so extreme it openly displayed such worship in broad daylight?
What unsettled them even more was that the passing Sect disciples and stewards seemed utterly accustomed to it, treating it as if these sculptures were no different from ordinary rocks by the road.
When they arrived in front of a relatively secluded hall inside the Mountain Gate, Tang Zhaoxue stopped again.
She turned, her gaze sweeping between Jiang Huai and Zhu Siyao, voice calm but firm:
“Once inside my Sect, you must follow its rules.”
“There is a distinction between men and women, an order between inner and outer. Take him to the Pure Abode and settle him there,” she pointed at Jiang Huai, then gestured to the disciples beside her.
“As for this young lady, take her to the Guest Quarters and see to her well.”
This was clearly an attempt to forcibly separate the two.
“No!” Zhu Siyao immediately stepped forward and stood in front of Jiang Huai, her expression resolute.
“My Husband Lord and I must stay together!”
Why was this woman so shameless? Didn’t she already say Jiang Huai had a wife? Why was she still clinging like this?
Why did both the woman who met Cang Ling and the one who met Tang Zhaoxue behave so shamelessly?
Tang Zhaoxue’s eyes suddenly turned cold. The pressure of a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator crashed down on Zhu Siyao like an invisible mountain:
“When was it ever your place to make decisions here?”
In her eyes, these two Foundation Establishment disciples were like ants. If she weren’t interested in that man, she wouldn’t even bother wasting words. But with a casual wave, she ordered:
“Take her down!”
Several Blue-Robed Female Disciples immediately stepped forward and forcibly subdued the struggling Zhu Siyao.
“Let her go!” Jiang Huai shouted urgently, trying to stop them.
No matter what, Zhu Siyao must not be harmed. Otherwise, how could he explain it to Zhuxin?
By generational standards, she was still his…
Tang Zhaoxue laughed, her gaze full of interest as it landed on Jiang Huai’s anxious face. She slowly approached him, fingertips almost brushing his jaw:
“If you want our Sect to treat her better, it depends on your sincerity.”
Her voice dropped, carrying a hint of playfulness and all-consuming arrogance:
“Or rather, how much are you willing to pay for your little wife?”
At this moment, she almost regarded Jiang Huai as her possession.
In this Sect, she was heaven.
Refusing to allow further resistance, Tang Zhaoxue led Jiang Huai directly into a secret chamber.
Inside, flickering candlelight illuminated bold and even more explicit reliefs on the walls — all depicting women.
Tang Zhaoxue naturally removed her outer robe and shoes, sitting lazily with bare, pale feet on a wide chair draped with soft beast fur, quietly studying Jiang Huai’s tense expression.
“Now, tell me,” she smiled, but her tone was commanding.
“Where do you come from?”
Jiang Huai’s mind raced. He said in a low voice:
“We are just scattered cultivators in hiding.”
“Lies,” Tang Zhaoxue interrupted softly, shaking her head, her tone confident with a trace of mockery.
“Men in this world cannot cultivate at all.”
“Where did you get your Foundation Establishment cultivation from?” She appraised Jiang Huai from head to toe, as if inspecting an interesting artifact.
“You’re very disobedient.”
Before he could react, she flicked her fingers, sending a sharp gust slicing through the air!
Rip!
Jiang Huai’s upper garment was instantly torn to shreds, drifting down in fragments, exposing the vivid Black Dragon Mark coiled across his chest and abdomen.
Tang Zhaoxue’s eyes were immediately drawn to the Black Dragon Mark, a flash of astonishment and amusement sparkling within them as she lightly chuckled:
“Hmph, your little wife sure knows how to play — leaving you with such a mark. A declaration of ownership, perhaps?”
She obviously misunderstood the Black Dragon Mark as some sort of intimate bridal token, completely unaware of the terrifying meaning it might conceal.
“From now on,” Tang Zhaoxue shifted into a more comfortable sitting posture, toes lightly tapping the floor as she announced the rules of her game.
“For every lie you tell me, I will strip off one piece of your clothing. Until you have nothing left.”
Jiang Huai took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm, and countered:
“What if I have nothing left to take off?”
Tang Zhaoxue’s smile deepened, filled with undisguised desire and malice:
“Then, naturally… I’ll have my way with you.”
She leaned forward slightly, eyes burning as she added:
“Perhaps even in front of your little wife.”
“Let her see clearly how her little Husband Lord enjoys himself beneath another woman’s touch.”
“Think carefully.”
Jiang Huai knew he had no chance in a head-on fight and tried to intimidate her:
“You may be a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, but if I have a Great Ascension Stage cultivator backing me, how will you explain your actions today in the future?”
He attempted to invoke the names and cultivation levels of Qin Qingyue and Zhuxin.
However, upon hearing this, Tang Zhaoxue’s face showed genuine, unfeigned confusion.
She tilted her head slightly and asked with bewilderment:
“Great Ascension Stage? What is that?”
Isn’t Nascent Soul Stage the highest realm in this world?