The evening air was becoming brisk as Shā Ying Yue walked toward the inn she was staying at. The Qing Province was a land of extremes. The days were scorching and the nights freezing. Many travelers found themselves succumbing to either one or the other, and not even cultivators were immune to such drastic variations in temperature.

Having grown up in this harsh environment, Shā Ying Yue was quite used to it, but even she would have preferred a more mild climate like the Shang Kingdom.

She waved her hand through the air three times, continued walking, then suddenly stopped. She looked around. No one seemed to be present. Residence of the desert knew better than to stay outside at night. Most of them would be bundled up inside of their homes.

“Are you going to follow me all the way to my inn? Come out now before I beat you senseless and drag you out here,” she said.

“Your senses are quite sharp. I expected nothing less from one as infamous as you,” someone said.

The person who had spoken stepped out from behind a building. It was Liao Hai, and he wasn’t alone. The three young women who always followed him were also present. They glared resentfully at Shā Ying Yue as though she had been dancing on their ancestors’ graves.

“You again? What do you want? I already told you I’m not interested in you,” she crossed her arms and glared at the pompous young man.

Liao Hai chuckled. “Yes, so you said, but I’m not one to give up so easily. That’s why I would like to offer you one last chance. All I’m asking is that you join me for a drink. I do not believe that’s too much to ask for, is it?”

Shā Ying Yue didn’t speak for several seconds, and the silence that stretched on caused Liao Hai to frown.

Finally…

“I really hate men like you,” Shā Ying Yue said at last. “You don’t know how to gracefully back down when you are rejected. Do you think I haven’t heard of you before? That I do not know of your reputation? I know that you used to be a nobody who couldn’t even join the weakest mercenary guild. You used to be the laughing stock of Shamo Meigui, but one day, you changed. Your cultivation skyrocketed after you supposedly seduced the Mercenary King’s youngest daughter. You would have been killed, but the woman herself was so enamored with you that she threatened to kill herself if even a hair on your head was harmed.”

“Doesn’t that just prove that I’m worth getting to know?” Liao Hai countered.

Shā Ying Yue scoffed. “As if. Other people might not be able to tell, but I can. I know the reason you were able to seduce that woman and those three around you is because you practice a dual-cultivation technique that releases powerful pheromones. Any woman who gets a whiff of it becomes enamored. It’s an invasive technique that robs the women of their free will and makes them happy to become your Cultivation Furnaces.”

Cultivation Furnace was a term used to describe men and women who had their chi stolen from them through an invasive Dual Cultivation technique.

Dual Cultivation, commonly referred to as “Paired Cultivation,” was the act of two people having sexual intercourse to increase their cultivation. This sort of cultivation technique only worked between a man and a woman. It would not work if two men tried it, nor if two women attempted it. In fact, if two members of the same sex tried to Dual Cultivate, it would result in a harsh backlash. More often than not, the people who tried to Dual Cultivate would have their own cultivation crippled.

This was because of the Yin-Yang composition of men and women. Barring some exceptions, men were typically composed primarily of Yang and women were Yin. Yin and Yang were opposites but deeply complementary and mutually supported each other. Dual cultivators saw this as an allegory for the relationship between men and women. If the intermingling of Yin and Yang was so beneficial, then surely the intermingling of men and women was also beneficial. That was how the idea of Dual Cultivating was born.

While it sounded romantic, the world of Dual Cultivation wasn’t necessarily pleasant. Some people practiced a predatory cultivation method referred to as Caibu, which could be translated as “plucking to nurture.” The idea behind this method was that a person could greatly increase their cultivation by plundering the vital energies of their partner during sex. Victims of this practice were dehumanized, seen as little more than objects.

There were many terms to describe these people: Human furnaces, cauldrons, cultivation vessels. It didn’t matter in the end. Whatever term was used, it all amounted to the same thing.

Men and women who were raped for the sake of another’s cultivation.

“I hate to break this to you, but I’m immune to your pheromones, and I won’t allow myself to be used by some scumbag who thinks of humans as little more than playthings and cauldrons to Dual Cultivate with,” Shā Ying Yue declared.

Liao Hai’s confident expression had become increasingly dark as Shā Ying Yue laid his crimes bare. She could practically feel his seething rage leaking out of him, but she didn’t seem to care. Her expression remained as cold now as it had when he first confronted her.

“I see. I never made it a secret that I’m a Dual Cultivator, but I did not realize there was someone who understood my method so thoroughly. Unfortunately for you, I cannot let someone who knows about my practice live unless they are enslaved to me. I will give you one more chance. Become mine or die,” Liao Hai said.

“You forgot the third option,” Shā Ying Yue said.

“Excuse me?”

“The third option, in which I kill you,” Shā Ying Yue repeated.

“Hah? Ha ha! Ah ha ha ha ha ha!” Liao Hai wiped the tears from his eyes as he laughed. “You think you can kill me? I admit, your cultivation is equal to my own. That was the whole reason I sought you out. But that doesn’t mean you’re my match, or did you forget that you’re outnumbered here?”

“Those women won’t be much use against me, especially since they’re already dead,” declared Shā Ying Yue.

Liao Hai looked confused. “What?”

He barely got that single word out before blood spurted from the three women. He looked in shock and horror as the three fell to the ground. He looked down at them. They were quite dead. Each corpse had a large gash in their necks, but there was nothing to indicate how they had received such wounds.

“Did you think you were the only person who received a fortunate encounter… though I suppose in my case, it could be called unfortunate.” Shā Ying Yue took a step forward, which made Liao Hai take a step back. “Why are you backing off? Didn’t you want to turn me into you’re Cultivation Furnace? Now is your chance. Come on. Let’s see if you have what it takes.”

“S-s-stay back! I’m telling you! Don’t come any closer!” Liao Hai screamed.

He tried to run away, but Shā Ying Yue twitched her finger, and suddenly, Liao Hai’s left leg went flying off in a spray of blood. He screamed in shock, pain, and fear. Grabbing the stump, he tried to stem the flow of blood. It was no use, however. He would have had to use a tourniquet to stop himself from bleeding out.

And he didn’t have the time to create one.

A shadow stood over him.

It was Shā Ying Yue, looking down at him like he was an insect that needed to be squashed.

“D-don’t kill me… I… I don’t want to die…”

“I’m sure the many victims of your insidious technique also didn’t want to die. Did you spare them?” The man whimpered. His victims probably didn’t mind once they were enthralled, but no one wanted to die. “It’s most fortunate that I can’t afford to increase my cultivation right now. I wouldn’t want to absorb your filthy blood.”

Shā Ying Yue made a slashing motion with her hand, and the desert sand was dyed crimson.

***

Wu Jian and Huǒ Shuchang woke up early the next morning and went down for breakfast.

The desert had its own cuisine, which vastly differed from both the Shang Kingdom and Ming Dynasty. Their breakfast consisted of a plate filled with ostrich eggs, figs, and sliced cactus. While he wouldn’t say the food was bland, it did lack flavor when compared to the richly seasoned foods of the Ming Dynasty.

During their travels through the desert, Wu Jian had been forced to forage for similar foods to eat. There were several types of foods that could be found, including figs, doum palm trees, date palm trees, magaria trees, gazelles, jack rabbits, and ostriches.

Each of these foods was considered common, though that was a misnomer if he’d ever heard one. They were only common in the fact that everyone in the desert ate these foods. The truth was all of these foods were quite rare. Almost all of these foods could only be found near oases and villages, which were coincidentally built around oases and river banks. There were a few rivers that flowed through the desert, though they were almost always dry except during monsoon season.

“Hey, man. Did you hear? Liao Hai’s corpse was found by someone this morning? Someone killed him and those three women he was with.”

Wu Jian perked up as someone from the table next to him started talking to their companion. They weren’t whispering, so it was easy to hear what was being said. Huǒ Shuchang also paid attention, though he looked more interested in his food.

“Really? Damn, that’s quite the waste. Those three were top-tier beauties.”

“It’s quite tragic, but perhaps it’s for the best. I heard Liao Hai brainwashed them into becoming his Cultivation Furnaces. They would have died eventually once he finished stealing their vitality from them.”

“I suppose so. It is pretty sad to see such beautiful women being used like that. I would have liked to save them if I could.”

“Hah. There’s no saving someone once they’ve been enslaved. Anyway, security is being increased now that there’s a killer on the loose.”

“Who do you think did it?”

“How should I know? He probably offended someone he shouldn’t have.”

“Hard to believe someone has already been killed,” Wu Jian mumbled. “And it’s one of the few people who many believed was going to win the tournament.”

Huǒ Shuchang swallowed his food and said, “It’s possible he was assassinated by someone because he was slated to win the tournament. I wouldn’t be surprised if a group of people got together and had him killed so he wouldn’t become a threat to their position later on.”

“Those who stand out the most get hammered down the hardest, is it?” said Wu Jian, paraphrasing an old quote he once read in a book.

“Something like that.”

Wu Jian made sure to feed Yōuměi since she was still hiding in his shadow. He would have liked to let her out, but Huǒ Shuchang had warned him against it. Magical beasts like her were highly sought after, either as pets or for their organs and monster core, which could be used in a variety of alchemy pills. Until they had reached the Deva Realm, at least, it was important for her to remain a secret if at all possible.

Once they finished eating, Wu Jian and Huǒ Shuchang left for the Colosseum. Quite a few people were already present. They meandered through the crowd and soon found themselves standing inside of the waiting room.

Wu Jian immediately noticed everyone giving Shā Ying Yue a wide berth. And who could blame them? The woman was radiating killing intent like a cauldron did fire. He wondered if something had happened to put her in a bad mood, but he wasn’t curious enough to go up and talk to her.

“Hey, Wu. I have to ask, but why are you still wearing that mask?” asked Huǒ Shuchang.

Wu Jian placed a hand against the mask nestled over his face. “No reason. I just want to remain anonymous.”

“I feel like that’s just going to make you stand out more.”

“I don’t mind so long as no one knows what I look like.”

“Ugh. Whatever. Weirdo.”

Wu Jian could only shrug at his friend’s words. He couldn’t tell him the truth. Wu Meiying had been specific in her instructions. No one who knew him could know that he was still alive, and while she hadn’t known him for long, there was someone within this crowd who had seen his face at least once.

He didn’t know what would happen if that person recognized him, but Wu Jian felt it was better to be safe than sorry.