The air in the chamber was thick and languid, permeated with a strange, intoxicating scent.
The clouds of passion gradually faded, and Yu Rumeng's bare form shimmered with a faint rosy hue as she lay against Yang Kai's broad chest like a little cat, her dark hair splayed in disarray. In a low voice, she murmured, "Stinking man, are you satisfied now?"
Yang Kai ran his hand over her round, shapely backside and grinned. "If I could have this once every day, then I'd truly be satisfied."
Yu Rumeng snapped her head up and glared at him with indignation, punching him in the chest. "Dream on! This was a one-time exception. Don't even think about touching me again."
"No way?" Yang Kai's eyes went wide, his hands freezing in place as he stared at her beautiful eyes with a pitiful expression. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It doesn't mean anything." Yu Rumeng nestled back down against him, a smile playing at the corner of her lips. "Wanting me isn't impossible. Just become the thirteenth Demon Saint of the Demon Realm, and I'll give you whatever you want."
Yang Kai drew in a sharp breath. "When would that ever happen?" After the transformation of his power, he was merely a high-rank Demon King at best. After that came Half-Saint, and only then Demon Saint… It might seem like only two steps away, but those two steps were the hardest to cross — harder than everything he'd gone through to reach high-rank Demon King.
Yu Rumeng said, "That all depends on how hard you work…"
"Don't be like this!" Yang Kai put on a shameless face, cupping her chin in both hands. "You're joking with me, right?"
Yu Rumeng's expression was utterly serious. "I'm not joking. Before we reached this point, I didn't care what you did — you were free to do as you pleased. But now that you're my man, you need to qualify for someone of my standing. I am a Demon Saint, and the only one worthy of me is a Demon Saint!"
Yang Kai fell silent. Though the words didn't sit particularly well, they were the truth — a Demon Saint's man with pitiful strength simply wouldn't do.
"Did killing Ming Yue hit you hard?" Yu Rumeng looked up at Yang Kai and asked.
"He was a Great Emperor, after all," Yang Kai frowned. "And I came from the Star Boundary."
Yu Rumeng replied, "Even if you hadn't killed him, someone else would have. The moment he fell into the Demon Realm, escape was no longer possible — death here was inevitable. Just as we Demon Saints would never lightly enter the Star Boundary. If we were truly surrounded by those Great Emperors, escape would be just as impossible!"
"I know that well enough," Yang Kai said with a slight nod.
"Oh, by the way — how did you fully fall into demonic deviation so suddenly?" Yu Rumeng asked curiously. Back in the Star Boundary, Yang Kai had experienced a partial Qi Deviation once and acquired a trace of demonic nature, but it hadn't been too severe — his power had still been Emperor Yuan. Yet when he had been exerting his strength earlier, what radiated from him was pure and refined Demonic Yuan, indistinguishable from that of a true demon.
"I was actually just about to ask you about that," Yang Kai said, his brow furrowed. "After I obtained the Great Emperor's fortune and was on the run, my qi was in turmoil and I had no choice but to return to Cloud Shadow to attempt a breakthrough. And during that process…"
He gave a brief account of the anomaly he had encountered. After listening, Yu Rumeng's expression shifted. "You're saying that during your breakthrough, a strange black shadow infiltrated your Spiritual Sea?"
"That's right. That shadow was incredibly peculiar — almost impossible to destroy. I don't even know when it had been lurking nearby. The moment I let my guard down, it slipped into my Spiritual Sea. And after I destroyed it, my entire Spiritual Sea became tainted with demonic nature. Only then could I absorb demonic energy, and my power underwent a complete transformation."
Yu Rumeng was puzzled. "If it was impossible to destroy, how did you manage to kill it?"
Yang Kai replied, "I once raised Soul-Devouring Insects within my Spiritual Sea. It was those insects that slowly wore it down and ground it to nothing."
"Soul-Devouring Insects!" Yu Rumeng exclaimed softly, astonished that Yang Kai had been breeding such creatures inside his own Spiritual Sea.
"What exactly was that black shadow?" Yang Kai asked.
"Hard to say," Yu Rumeng said slowly, shaking her head. "I have my guesses, but until I actually see it, there's no way to verify."
"What are your guesses?"
Yu Rumeng poked Yang Kai in the chest. "Stop asking so many questions. You'll learn in time." Before Yang Kai could press further, she shot him a reproachful glance and changed the subject. "You really are absurdly lucky — you obtained a Great Emperor's fortune, broke through your own bottleneck, and now your soul cultivation has skyrocketed as well?"
Yang Kai flashed a grin. "You already expected that?"
Yu Rumeng snorted. "Why do you think I kept stopping you before? It was because I was worried you wouldn't be able to handle the pressure of a sudden surge in soul power! If I hadn't taken pity on you this time, you never would have gotten your way!"
Taken pity on? Where did that come from? Yang Kai was somewhat speechless, but the benefits he had gained from Yu Rumeng were obvious enough, so he couldn't be bothered to argue the point.
After a moment of thought, he said, "I feel like my spiritual soul hasn't just grown stronger — it seems to have gained something else as well."
Yu Rumeng nodded gently. "What I've mastered is the art of charm — a natural divine ability of our Charm Demon clan. In the future, you'll have tremendous resistance against similar soul techniques. To put it plainly, even if those Demon Saints or Great Emperors tried to use charm-based soul arts against you, they would find it extremely difficult to succeed."