A Cunning Pervert in the Cultivation World Chapter 322: Checkmate.

Fen Ziyan's eyebrows gradually knitted together.

'...What is this place?'

She raised her eyes, and for an instant, her breath hitched.

...An unfamiliar night sky extended overhead, one she'd never witnessed before.

Myriad stars twinkled amid the boundless void, strewn like shards of radiance across the firmament.

...It looked stunning, tranquil, and nearly illusory.

'...Am I dreaming?'

The notion arose instinctively, since the vista seemed too implausible to be reality.

With a soft sigh, she started stepping ahead.

Every footfall created subtle waves on the dark sea underfoot, the water yielding gently then settling back to calm.

The realm stayed hushed and serene, almost... oddly soothing.

Rarely did Fen Ziyan's typically fierce look ease up.

Her strides became buoyant, nearly frolicsome, while she softly hummed to herself amid the vast gloom and stellar glow.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up.

Far off, she spotted... a silhouette, one seemingly in a kneeling posture.

'...Hmm?'

Her speed eased as focus sharpened, intrigue overtaking her prior peace.

From a distance, flowing white locks tumbled over his shoulders like satin, dipping into the ebony depths below.

The hair veiled his features partly, concealing his face with his head bowed low.

Yet despite the obscurity, even from afar...

Something about that form...

...Felt recognizable.

Intrigued by the sensation, Fen Ziyan blinked and advanced.

Up close, she grasped the figure's immense scale.

Kneeling still, he loomed vastly above her.

To view him fully, she tilted her head upward, sensing her reach would scarcely hit his waist if he rose.

Gradually, her gaze roamed his shape.

Silverish fissures crisscrossed his frame like shattered crystal, interlaced with threads of celestial light.

Tiny stellar vessels throbbed inside those fissures, softly glowing against the surrounding shadows.

A sense of... grandeur emanated from him.

An aura of antiquity.

A presence transcending her comprehension.

Nevertheless... he knelt there.

As though ensnared... and powerless.

A subtle reverence stirred in Fen Ziyan as she beheld the entity.

She puzzled over why such a grand being manifested here in this vulnerable form.

With curiosity, she extended a hand to contact him.

'...Um... hello?'

Yet her fingers slipped right through.

Just as bewilderment grew over this odd dream—

The obsidian sea below churned, signaling an approach from the depths.

'W-What...?'

Though convinced it was merely a dream, Fen Ziyan felt alarm.

The shift struck with vivid realism.

Instinctively then... she turned her head.

The sight froze her breath.

There....

A colossal dark surge reared afar, eclipsing the skies themselves.

It reared skyward, engulfing the stars as if to consume them utterly.

Beyond mere size,... it evoked the crumble of the cosmos.

"...!"

Fen Ziyan's pupils contracted as the immense breaker descended, its crushing might plummeting toward her.

Or more precisely...

...Toward the kneeling form nearby.

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Within the Azure Moon Sect,

At Li Feng’s modest dwelling...

"Ahh!"

Fen Ziyan jolted awake from meditation with a sharp cry, gasping deeply.

"...A dream?" she whispered, hand to brow, mind swirling with queries about the bizarre vision.

A week had passed since Li Feng ventured into the secret realm, and she'd honed both body and spirit solo these recent days.

"..."

Her scarlet eyes scanned the vacant chamber before her face gentled, a hint of solitude emerging.

Slowly, she drew the blanket from Li Feng's sleeping spot, clutching it close while curling up like an abandoned child.

"...Li Feng."

An odd void gnawed at her heart, for the sole soul who wouldn't forsake her had departed.

But she clenched her jaw and shook off the feeling.

"No! I won't act this way!"

Resolve blazed in her gaze as fists tightened, propelling her back to the training area.

Not solely for greater power... she yearned to best Li Feng in their duel upon his return.

...And practice warded off the isolation, however slightly.

Shifting to optimism, she reflected.

"It’s been a week... he should return shortly..."

Fen Ziyan muttered, having reviewed prior secret realm expedition logs.

Most participants emerged within about a week.

To her, merely seven days elapsed, yet for Li Feng and companions, likely a month or longer inside, given the divergent time flow.

Rising from the bed, she stretched out her elegant figure.

"Uhh~"

Gazing down at her full bosom, Fen Ziyan couldn’t resist... sensing that a phantom hand from a particular brazen junior was already boldly seizing and fondling them at the break of dawn.

A faint wry smile appeared on her lips as she moved toward the door.

Yet the instant she swung the door open, Fen Ziyan went rigid.

For right there outside stood Mu Qingyao along with her typical followers, all fixing her with frosty smirks.

Male disciples nearby who glimpsed the spectacle from afar wondered curiously why such a cluster of lovely female disciples gathered so early at dawn.

Fen Ziyan creased her brow, pondering what scheme these wenches pursued this early.

Abruptly, the recollection of the recording stone she had viewed with Li Feng surged through her mind.

A taunting grin gradually crept across her face.

She scoffed inwardly at these women who had whimpered and pleaded for Li Feng’s mercy while sprawled beneath him.

Chest thrust forward with haughty pride shining on her countenance, Fen Ziyan advanced directly toward them, striding past the bunch like mere lowly peasants.

Right then, Mu Qingyao’s voice pierced the air.

"Wait, Fen Ziyan."

Fen Ziyan halted in mid-stride and whirled around to face the refined woman who had rivaled her since childhood.

At that instant, Mu Qingyao’s look mirrored her own precisely... as if she had glimpsed Fen Ziyan’s most humiliating and lewd aspects too.

’Hmph! This disgraced princess is just a whore under a man, yet she struts so arrogantly.’

’Hmph! That wench’s face looks surprisingly enticing when she’s gasping like a defenseless slut beneath Li Feng.’

The pair of arrogant noble-born ladies kept smirking disdainfully while gazing down at one another.

....Yet both had lain beneath the same man, one by choice and the other for profit.

"What do you want?" Fen Ziyan demanded, shattering the odd quiet with a scoff while glaring icily at Mu Qingyao.

Mu Qingyao remained unperturbed by the biting tone, merely offering a gentle smile in return.

"Oh, it’s nothing... I just wanted to check on your face once in a while to make sure it hasn’t rotted."

Fen Ziyan sneered at those words.

This woman had clearly shown up solely to relive those recording stone scenes while eyeing her visage.

"Is that so? Then I won’t thank you for your useless worry. As you see, I’m still as stunning and poised as ever."

With a sharp huff, Fen Ziyan tossed her flowing hair and turned away, starting to depart.

She intended to proceed to the training grounds for more body tempering.

But Mu Qingyao’s voice called out from behind again.

"Wait. Where do you think you’re going?"

Fen Ziyan disregarded her and continued onward, declining to indulge those wenches further.

However, Mu Qingyao’s following remark caused her to stop.

"Ahh... I wanted to give you a letter from Concubine Zi, but it seems the daughter doesn’t wish to see it."

Mu Qingyao released a light sigh while lifting a sealed envelope.

"I even go out of my way to deliver so earl—"

But suddenly—

In a flash of speed, Fen Ziyan yanked the envelope from her grasp and dashed back inside Li Feng’s residence.

The door crashed shut with a resounding bang.

Witnessing this, Mu Qingyao’s attendants grew furious.

"Hmph! She still acts all high and mighty even though she’s no longer a princess."

"Yes! She really needs to learn her place!"

Yet Mu Qingyao merely lifted her hand, quieting them.

"I have delivered the letter. Let’s head back."

The other women stared in bewilderment, questioning if they had truly assembled in such numbers merely to hand over one letter.

Noticing their confused expressions, Mu Qingyao offered a subtle smile and turned to leave.

One attendant, a poised beauty with alluring hips who ranked among Li Feng’s top picks in the group, kept pace beside Mu Qingyao.

She inquired with curiosity,

"What’s in that letter, Young Miss?"

"Oh? I don’t know either," Mu Qingyao answered.

Her response startled the attendant, but then Mu Qingyao flashed a knowing grin.

"...But my uncle told me it will be great news for us."

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Within Li Feng’s residence,

Fen Ziyan delicately unsealed the envelope, her gaze following the elegant, familiar script.

As she scanned the contents... her face gradually shifted.

Upon finishing, her fingers clenched the sheet tightly.

"...Mother."

She whispered tenderly, her tone infused with concern.