At the instant he was least on guard, he’d suddenly faced a deadly threat from his own wife.

It was only then that he remembered that mantids were quite notorious for biting off the heads of their mates. After the male had served its purpose, the larger female would kill them and use them as food to make it easier to grow their eggs. It wasn’t universal, but it happened enough to be quite common and it was only at that instant that Sage realized the trouble he’d gotten into. The Human Seal was not quite strong enough to completely suppress this innate quality of the species they’d all taken as their true form. Thankfully, he’d realized what was happening and recovered from an almost innate paralysis just in time to keep from losing his life.

After a few minutes of recovery, the most dangerous time had passed. A few of the Purple Mist Sect members had already gathered around, wary of an attack taking place. They saw the state of the bedroom and worried about assassins, but he reassured them that in this world he was supreme. He sent them away and then went back towards the devastated remnants of their bedroom. As he got close he felt a vicious intent lock onto him and then saw Jiao peering up at him from the pile of rubble. Surprisingly, the whole room came down around her, but the space that the destroyed bed had taken was free of the falling debris. The bed had been blasted apart by Sage’s escape, but she was still lying calmly in the pile of sheets and pillows. Sage’s eyes widened as he saw her strange situation. He waved at her and the mess around her, and then the predatory gleam in her eye faded and against all odds a blush blossomed upon her cheeks.

“Sorry! I don’t know what came over me.”

She looked embarrassed, like she’d just accidentally knocked over a vase, or let out a fart in the middle of a conversation. Which to him, seemed a lot less innocuous than an attempt upon her husband’s life. The look on his face conveyed this message and she turned a darker shade of red, “What is going on? Why did I only feel embarrassed and not horrified?”

Sage could only shake his head, “It seems the instincts of our true bodies are far stronger than we imagined.”

He could only chalk things up to his own lack of foresight and they moved over into a new bedroom. Despite the near death experience, he also succumbed to baser instincts and it wasn’t long before he was put into danger again. Thankfully, since he knew what was coming this time, he was able to block her attack and restrain her.

Does this mean that every relationship in the Lang Clan is destined to involve restraints and violence? What have I done?

Suffice it to say, the same problem occurred with Ling, and Sage could only lament about the fate of their future generations of men. If someone wanted to court a Lang Clan woman, he had to be stronger than her, or he wouldn’t survive long enough to see his children. This was certainly not something he was intending to happen, but at the same time he didn’t see it as bad enough to ruin their plans. The three of them had already imagined such a glorious future for the clan, it was only natural they would run into some setbacks. In fact, when he thought of his daughters, and the wolf-ishness of men, he almost felt it was a benefit.

If anyone dares to try and take advantage of our girls they’ll get their head bitten off.

After coming to terms with the danger he’d face in the bedroom on a regular basis, he also stumbled upon a few rules of how to deal with it. Such things were better kept between couples, but with experience he was no longer worried for his life. Once he’d figured out the rules, as long as he followed them he could somewhat relax. Or at least, that’s how things were until his two wives’ hormones started running wild. As their bellies grew, their emotions went wild and all the rules he’d determined were thrown out the window. He was at all times concerned for their well being and also his own. One minute he’d be bringing them the carefully prepared food they’d requested and then a moment later he’d have to duck a sharp point of energy thrust toward his eye.

Well, on the plus side I feel like I’ve developed a danger-sense without having to rely on the Timeless Eyes all the time.

Turns out, having the loved one you were taking care of randomly assault you was a very good way to train one’s sense of danger. With months of such training, he became very good at dodging violent attacks without letting it interrupt his other activities. He’d be carrying in a large dish full of chilled confectionary treats and then he’d have to bend over sideways to avoid a flying dagger. Such attacks had become so commonplace to him at this point that he didn’t even drop the tray. In the past he would have had to use Foresight to so aptly judge the trajectory and presence of incoming attacks, but these nine months had served as a rapid training program for him. On the plus side, the degree of violence was a lot lower on a daily basis than it had been on the day of conception. There was a lot less lethal intent during the pregnancy, so he was mainly just having to deal with avoiding getting himself maimed.

Once their labor started he suffered the most fierce attacks, but once he’d weathered those they got surprisingly docile as they focused more on the difficulty of birth and not injuring him. It was actually quite surprising to him how childbirth could bring even a mighty cultivator down to the level of a mortal. He could only guess that it was related to the strength of the child. A cultivator’s child would be more gifted at birth than a normal mortal. So, the greater child took a greater toll upon the cultivator than a normal child to the point they suffered similar troubles. It also helped to highlight how hard it was for those from normal mortal families to advance in the world. The child of two cultivators was much stronger than that of a pair of mortals.

Sage asked a few of the Mount Song Sword Sect Elders and they told him a truth that helped him somewhat. While the child of two cultivators had a much stronger body and a higher average talent, it was still not guaranteed. A human’s talent was highly variable and the most supremely talented geniuses were just as likely to be the child of a cultivator as they were to be the child of poor mortal farmers. The difference was their access to resources and training. Even the most modestly talented child of two cultivators could become a powerful cultivator with so many resources and training available, while the talented mortal had to claw their way up from nothing, competing with others for a spot in a sect. Their great talent was an advantage on their side, but it wasn’t a solution to the troubles of the cultivator.

The issues of a difficult childbirth seemed to be compounded by the fact that they were not true humans anymore. In fact, Sage was actually worried that his wives were going to lay an egg, but thankfully the Human Seal was far more comprehensive than he’d imagined. He was pleasantly surprised to see the beautiful faces of his two sons. Faces that were completely human and a miracle to his eyes. Surprisingly, they stayed fully human for the first few months of struggle. Thankfully, the war with his wives came to an end at this point. With childbirth passed, they could take healing pills to restore their strength rapidly. With their strong bodies it was a lot easier to handle the demands of a newborn. They could handle a high intensity battle for days on end, so skipping sleep for a week was pretty simple.