Chapter 88
“The Blossoming Flowers have a universal dual cultivator,” Hou Jian began by saying. “He is the son of the Sect Master Risless and he had committed the gravest sin under the heavens in procreating a child with his mother.”
Madam Etero upon hearing this narrowed her eyes at the news. There was always something happening in the world that she could not take her eyes off of. Despite the shocking news Madam Etero did not appear perturbed by the information, rather she seemed to take the information in stride.
“The effort to have Dong Chen kidnaped and Risless killed ended in failure,” Hou Jian said. “The Glowing Embers poisoned me, but Risless destroyed them after they put me in hibernation. In order to cure me, Dong Chen forced me to dual cultivate with him while I could not move my body. I could not return to you.”
“So the dual cultivator has tainted you and some of his essence remains within you?” Madam Etero questioned.
Hou Jian silently nodded.
“Come here, my child,” Madam Etero said. “Come and I will examine you and we will decide what we must do next. There are many mysteries to the Universal Dual Cultivator. There are many myths that had surrounded such an existence before, but every myth revolved around the Fate of Extreme Beauty. Such an existence is one that defies the heavens and threatens us all.”
Hou Jian came close as the Madam Etero, who was a giant in comparison being of the other races. Rumor had it she is an eternal, a race considered one step from godhood and above even the dragon race in racial advantages. If she were to fight against the continent, it would take a lot of effort to defeat her, even if the top experts and fighters all gathered together and combined their might against her.
“Hou Jian, I can feel the different yang energies flowing through your body.”
“It’s because he forced me into dual cultivation against my will,” Hou Jian said. “Madam Etero, I did not wish to be his.”
“I know… you will always belong to me,” Madam Etero said. “As you belong to me, your life is also mine.”
Madam Etero used her large hand and started forcing energy into Hou Jian to analyze her. If she could analyze how the energies intertwined, she could determine whether Dong Chen would indeed be a threat to her. The probing energy that now entered Hou Jian’s body tore her apart slowly, and she felt sharp pains.
“Madam Etero! Please stop! You’re going to rip me apart!” Hou Jian screamed. “You’ll destroy me… you’ll…”
“You are my property, so be quiet and accept your fate,” Madam Etero said.
“No, please! Please! I’m going to die!”
Pain punched through to every part of Hou Jian’s body. The feeling of her flesh being torn apart from the inside and the burning of her nerves as Madam Etero’s power coursed through her. The memories in her head seemed to slip away and every bit of energy was seen and analyzed.
Hou Jian could only ask herself why she was loyal to a being that was so willing to discard her for a bit of information. Her consciousness faded bit by bit, but her suffering continued because her body needed to remain alive until Madam Etero completed the analysis. Hou Jian continued to scream until she ran out of breath and her body was nothing more than a lifeless husk with burns all over her insides.
Madam Etero tossed the lifeless body to the ground.
“To think that boy fell in love with her after so few interactions, what a stupid boy,” Madam Etero said. “Still, he is dangerous to me.”
The assistant came in and dragged the corpse in the chamber away and then bowed in front of Madam Etero, waiting for her orders.
“Notify the other three Sects,” Madam Etero said. “It appears the Shi Clan only aided in helping to make the Universal Dual Cultivator a reality. Have them mobilized only leaders and soldiers and corner the Blossoming Flowers. Accuse them of incestuous relations and convict them to the death penalty. Destroy their entire Sect before it’s too late.”
“Too late?” The assistant asked. “Madam Etero, this lowly one does not understand.”
“Dong Chen is the enemy of all women, including myself,” Madam Etero said. “That is all you need to know.”
The assistant left and Madam Etero thought about it in silence. The fact was she knew the power of a Universal Dual Cultivator and the ability to order those of the opposite sex to do their bidding. She confirmed the essence within Hou Jian, and Dong Chen was now a threat to her because even she couldn’t go against the orders.
She had maintained control over three of the four great sects to eliminate the Blossoming Flowers Sect if this should ever happen, and she knew that the only way for one to form was for the son of someone with the fate of Extreme Beauty to impregnate her.
Even if Dong Chen had consummated his marriage, as long as he made a move on his mother and they had a child together, he would become a universal dual cultivator. Consummating the marriage only prevents the madness and nothing more. Now there was a threat that was beyond cultivation.
Madam Etero did not want this to happen as she had preferred that all six of them would be born and be locked in taking their turns hibernating throughout the rest of time, but she now understood that fate always does things their own way. It upset her that there was someone who attempted to kill Dong Chen before. The Glowing Embers Sect had supported the Shi clan behind the scenes.
“No one should have the power to control what others do without the sufficient strength to back it up,” Madam Etero said.
—
A few days later, the leaders of three of the Four Great Sects convened. They were Fablio of Space River, Sunder of Cloud Glacier and Yamato of Harsh Waves.
The sects were each within a light year of the center of the continent and had vast organizations within them. Despite the massive number of disciples and resources, most of the power based on these Sects were in the power of the cultivator, as each of them needed to be near the pinnacle.
Fablio of Space River was a man of dark skin. The largest sect of the continent was under him, and the cultivators practiced spatial techniques that let them move quickly and displace the attacks of others. He was the leader of the trio in which Sunder and Yamato of smaller Sects would bow to him in deference.
It could be said Fablio was the favorite of Madam Etero, the hidden expert who secretly pushed the continent in the direction she favored. They gathered in a clandestine location where they planned to have a discussion with each other over what they should do about the new threat that was given to them. Dong Chen was an unknown figure on the continent and could easily change the power structure with dual cultivation if left to himself. Not only that, but with his ability to order female cultivators to do his bidding, half of the cultivation world would always be on his side.
The average male cultivator was still greater than the female, but over time and with a few hundred more reaching the pinnacle, the balance could easily change.
Fablio sat at the table and looked at the other two. In his hands were orders given to him straight from Madam Etero, written by one of her help. He stared at the other two, who seemed perturbed at such an order as they would have preferred lazing around in their own Sect. Seclusion and cultivation was something they enjoyed as they wanted to push to a higher level.
“You two are servants of Madam Etero, as I am,” Fablio said. “As her servants, you are compelled to follow me as we move to dispose of this threat before it becomes too powerful.”
“Why are we interested in a dual cultivator?” Sunder asked. “If he can control women, then shouldn’t we instead be seeking to make him into our ally? If he did, then all the females would become subservient to us.”
“Silence!” Fablio shouted at him. “You do not know how much of a threat he poses to us. If he can compel female cultivators to do his bidding, as well as the ability to dual cultivate with every one of them, he can easily bring them to the pinnacle and cause problems for us. If every Sect headed by a female cultivator bows down to him, we wouldn’t be able to stop his momentum. If Madam Etero must obey him, then she may be ordered to kill us as well. Even as the last of her Eternal Race, she fears him. This is how dire the situation is!”
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