The wind ruffled my robes as I balanced on the upright pylon. It was ornate and had a wide enough surface for me to balance on one foot. While I balanced on the pylon, I held up two fingers in front of my face. Swirling in a condensed little sphere was my inner Qi. After some research in the sect library, I determined that while forming my golden core and increasing the supply of Qi in my dantien was important, the speed at which I absorbed ambient QI and converted it into inner QI needed to come first.

Currently, I was actively absorbing ambient QI, cycling it through my meridians, and then storing it in my dantien. The orb of my Inner QI was condensed and maintains by sending a constant flow of my inner QI into it. The Orb was the size of a marble at present, but with constant practice, it planned to get it to the size of a grapefruit or even bigger.

I kept it up for about another hour before I let the Qi disperse. I promised Liu Fang I wouldn't overdo it. She was such a worry wort. More than likely, her newfound carnal delights caused her worry. Not to sound conceited, but she wanted me all the time. I meant it the woman was insatiable. If not for the fact I wanted her just as much, I'd probably be trying to avoid her. Okay, so there were some days I avoided her. Don't judge. I'm only human I need to rest sometimes.

Halfway down the path from my isolation peak, I saw Liu Feng waiting for me. I smiled and wrapped an arm around her waist as she fell into step with me. Ever since I announced we were courting in front of her parents, she was more relaxed with me when we were in private. She was clingy, but I didn't mind. I secretly loved it.

I was coming to realize I loved her. It was a strange situation. When I thought about the women in my life, I found I loved them all. When I took the time to examine my feelings, I found I was prepared to die for all of them. I didn't have a favorite among them. I was glad about that. I didn't like the idea of having favorites.

While my current love life was new to me, I couldn't really say that I hated it. I mean, most men would give up their right arm to be in my position.

"How was your cultivation?" Liu Feng asked me.

"It's coming along. I like a challenge. How was yours?"

She beamed at me. "I've already reached Middle QI Gathering. To think I wasted so much time. The joining energies technique has improved my cultivation by leaps and bounds." She gave me a sultry look. "Speaking of. Will we be cultivating tonight?"

I chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "Only if you can restrain yourself. First-round must be about cultivation. We can enjoy each other after."

She smiled and nodded. "I can do that. I can be demanding. I missed out on so many years. Is it wrong to want to make up for time wasted?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. But we're cultivators. We have hundreds, if not thousands, of years to enjoy each other. Moderation isn't a bad thing either."

She gave me a sheepish smile. "You're right." She was quiet for a moment before she stopped me. "I think I'm in love with you."

She looked so vulnerable at that moment. I wrapped my arms around her waist. I ran a hand up and down her back comfortingly. "Then It's a good thing I'm certain I love you."

Her cheeks turned a light pink. I couldn't resist kissing her soft lips. She was so adorable and sweet in so many ways. I needed to take my girls out on a picnic soon. I wanted them all to know how much I loved them and how much they meant to me.

Later that night, I sat naked at my writing desk. Kinky, right? Liu Feng was sleeping soundly. She actually showed restraint tonight. We made love twice more after our initial session for cultivation. Most nights, she'd try to go for as many as humanly possible. Our personal record was ten. Sounds impressive, but the morning after was so painful I nearly cried like a little baby. I spent an hour soaking in a healing bath. Liu Feng admitted we overdid it and we agreed not to do it that many times again.

For the first time in months, I had enough energy left to do some reading before bed. I was currently reading about Dark Cultivation. In this world, cultivation didn't really fall into a good or evil category. Cultivation was like fire or water. Both were deadly and useful. Fire could turn forests and floods could wash villages away. But neither was truly good nor evil.

Having said that. Some cultivation techniques were dark, and others were outright evil. How you used cultivation is defined as good or evil. For example. The six trigrams technique was used to suck out the inner Qi and Jing from unwilling victims to increase another's cultivation and overall power.

There were other such techniques. Some were too gruesome to think about. I didn't want to know about them. But the information was power, and I needed to be as powerful as I can be. I had been reading for an hour when a soft voice caught my attention.

"Darling, come to bed." I looked up to see Liu Feng holding out a hand to me.

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I smiled and closed the book I was reading. I placed a bookmark to save my place and slid into bed next to her. She cuddled up next to me and I wrapped my arms around her with a contented sigh.

The following morning started off well. Liu Feng and I soaked in the bath before she accompanied me to the Assignment hall. We passed Li Mei, who was sparing with some new inner sect members. I owed the sect leader for that. She gave Li Mei an official job as a sparring partner for sect members.

Her skill and beauty quickly earned her popularity among the younger sect members. While the older sect members were slower to accept her, I was pleased to note that even they couldn't deny the proof of their eyes.

I waved to her in greeting. Not missing a beat, she waved back with one hand while her other blocked attacks. It was comical and inspiring at the same time. She was strong and deadly. But her almost childlike innocence distracted from that. The other day she showed up at the sparing ground naked. She'd forgotten to put on clothes. Her long list of suiters, both men and women, was ridiculous. Most were so enamored with her beauty that they forgot she was a Huli Jing. I couldn't help but noticed that most of her partners were young men and they looked far too happy being knocked about by her.

I shared a wry grin with Liu Feng as we passed them. "Want to bet one of them will try to propose to her?"

Liu Feng chuckled. "She gets at least two proposals a day. "

"Hmm, maybe she'll find an auspicious match."

She rolled her eyes at me. "I don't it. She's bonded to you, Darling. If she was to marry anyone, it would be you."

That was true. I sometimes forgot about our bond. Well, not so much as forgotten as I had gotten used to it. Her feelings felt as if they were my own. She was her own person. If she found someone else to be with, I wouldn't stand in her way.

When we reached the Assignment Hall, the usual bored male attendant was replaced with a beautiful female attendant. She placed her hand over her fist and bowed to us.

"How might I assist Master Ivory?" She asked in a friendly tone.

I smiled, pleased by the change of pace. Usually, I'd have to hold my patience while the attendant shuffled along. "Yes, I'm looking for an assignment. Anything new?"

She bowed her head and looked through a stack of papers. A moment later, she placed a paper in front of me. "This one just came in."

I picked up the paper and read over it.

Assignment

Governing request: Farah village was massacred by unknown means. Investigate the village and bring the culprit to justice.

Reward: 1500 spirit stones and 500 contribution points.

I nodded my head and placed the paper on the counter. "I'll take it."

She smiled and stamped the paper for me. "Good luck."

I smiled and nodded my thanks. I hoped she stuck around. I could get used to a pretty face and polite manners. Not to mention she didn't waste time.

I returned to my residence to saddle Lian. I kept her with me. Last time I left her behind to watch over the girls. But the valley was as secure as it could be. Not to mention I felt bad leaving her there. She liked my women, but she preferred to be out and about with me.

After she was saddled, Liu Feng and I mounted up. Another reason for having her was the speed at which she traveled. She ate up the miles faster than any car or horse. Journeys that would normally take days instead took only hours or minutes.

Farah village was at the other end of the mountains. It wasn't a filial village, but the assignment was a request from the governor. Requests from the emperor and his various court officials were given priority. As of late, most of the elders were away performing tasks for the emperor. Unrest was built in the empire. It had everyone in the sect on edge. This was just another in a long list of incidents.

There were no more Dragon attacks, thankfully, but there was a rise in demon beast attacks and mysterious massacres. Farah village was the third this month. The other two were unsolved as yet.

When Lian stopped at the little village in the center of a glade, there were imperial troops there waiting. The village was cordoned off by a barrier formation. The village was intact. It didn't look like there was a raid. The imperial soldiers were gold armor accented with blue spirit jade. One soldier walked towards us, hand on the hilt of his sword. The blue plume on his helmet identified him as the commander.

I quickly dismounted Lian and bowed respectfully to the commander.

He stopped a short distance away from us. "State your business. This village is restricted by order of the emperor."

I held up the assignment sheet and my sect seal. "I am cultivator Alastair Ivory here to investigate this village." Next, I held up the imperial seal I had gotten as a reward for getting rid of the Dragon. The commander's attitude changed when he saw I had an Imperial seal.

He returned my bow, hands clasped palm over fist. "Honored cultivator, the area has been maintained as it was found. We've awaited your arrival."

"Then I won't keep you and your men waiting any longer."

With a nod and a shouted order, the formation was broken, and we were led into the village. As we passed the houses, I noticed that not a single one had a scratch on them. Many wore timeworn, of course, but no signs of a struggle could be found.

When the commander showed us, the center of the village, I was utterly speechless. The entire population of the village lay dead on the ground. I took a moment to compose myself and then examined the scene. I was a chef, not an investigator, but I had seen a few crime shows. None of the bodies were injured. No puncture wounds, gashes, or bruising. No discoloration in their eyes or lips, so no poison or asphyxiation. All the bodies were gathered around a single open spot as if they were facing something or someone.

"Master Ivory over here." Liu Feng called to me. I rushed over and she pointed to a group of bodies. "There's something under them."

"Commander, order your men to clear these bodies," I ordered.

He ordered his men, who acted quickly. In moments, they cleared away the bodies, showing a formation cut into the earth.

"I've never seen a formation like that." The commander said.

"I have. This is the Six Trigram formation. I was reading about it last night. It's part of dark cultivation." I looked to the commander. "This is far more serious than we thought."

Liu Feng and I searched the village for clues till sunset. Whoever had come and drained the people of their Qi and life force left no clues behind. I had to return to the sect and inform the Jiutian Xuan that we had a murderous cultivator running loose.