Chapter 84 – The Seven-Tone Mandala and the Empress's Hunger
The Agila hovered over the Supreme Pontiff's Palace like a golden omen, its metallic wings casting a vast shadow over Wuhun City. But while the citizens marveled at the engineering marvel, the real storm was brewing within the palace walls. Lakan had barely stepped off the gangplank when the air shifted.
A scent of purple peonies and cold, sharp authority filled the hallway. Bibi Dong was there.
"Follow me. No questions," Bibi Dong commanded. Her voice was steady, but Lakan's Eyes of the Origin God saw the tremor in her fingers and the unnatural flush beneath her porcelain skin. She had been connected to him through the glyphs for years, and his breakthrough into the Seven-Tone Lotus Flame had sent a surge of pure, unadulterated Yang energy through their link.
Lakan glanced back at Shui Bing'er and Zhu Zhuqing. "Wait in your rooms, my Queens. It seems the Empress has a 'state emergency' that only I can handle." He gave them a wink—one that promised they were next—before following the swaying hips of the Pontiff.
The moment the heavy doors of her private chamber clicked shut, the Supreme Pontiff vanished. Bibi Dong turned, her eyes flashing with a predatory, desperate hunger. She didn't speak; she lunged. Her lips met Lakan's in an explosion of five years of repressed longing.
Lakan didn't just receive the kiss, he dominated it. He caught her waist, pulling her flush against his Batong-Pilak chest, and surged his tongue into her mouth. They battled for dominance—a clash of two peak powerhouses—but Lakan's Seven-Tone resonance was overwhelming. Bibi Dong let out a muffled whimper, her knees buckling as the raw heat of his new Flame Core radiated into her.
"You... you insufferable brat," she gasped between feverish kisses, her hands tearing at his silk shirt. "You've been inside my head for days with that song... now finish what you started."
Lakan's smirk was lethal. He swept her off her feet and toward the massive, silk-draped bed. As their clothes became an afterthought, the room was bathed in the iridescent glow of the Seven-Tone Mandala.
Lakan initiated the Circuit of Infinite Return. As they joined, he didn't just feel her body, he felt the jagged, dark remnants of the Rakshasa's corruption still clinging to her soul. Using the Genesis Adarna Nirvana flames, he burned through the miasma. Every gasp from Bibi Dong was a purge of darkness, replaced by the humming, golden warmth of Lakan's Chaos Qi. It was a Dual Cultivation that pushed the boundaries of the mortal and the divine, leaving the Empress trembling, branded by his light, and finally, blissfully satisfied.
Hours later, Lakan emerged, his aura even more refined. He didn't rest. He moved to the private wing where his wives waited.
First was Shui Bing'er. The room was a palace of frost, but it melted the moment Lakan entered. Bing'er stood there, her translucent robes doing little to hide her anticipation. She had been his technical wife since childhood, but tonight, the contract was sealed in blood and spirit.
"I've waited long enough, Snowflake," Lakan whispered.
The union with Bing'er was poetic—a symphony of fire and ice. As the Mandala activated, Lakan drew her Absolute Zero intent into his heart, polished it with his Lotus Core, and returned it to her. Her Martial Soul, the Ice Phoenix, screamed in joy, evolving before her eyes. Twelve wings of crystalline, divine ice erupted from her back, and a permanent ᜊ (Ba) mark ignited on her lower abdomen, forever linking her life-force to his.
Then, the Shadow. Zhu Zhuqing didn't wait for words. She moved like a blur, her voluptuous, leather-clad form pressing against him with the feline grace that had only grown more lethal with age. Her body was a masterpiece of curves, and as Lakan claimed her, the Abyssal Void of her shadow was refined by his Solar Radiance.
Her Hell Cat didn't just grow; it transcended. It became a Void-Walking Genesis Panther, its fur shimmering with a dark, prismatic sheen. On her inner thigh, the Sovereign's brand flared to life—a mark of ownership and absolute protection.
By dawn, the spiritual feedback loop was complete.
Shui Bing'er: Rank 75. Her Ice Phoenix now possessed Nirvana Rebirth capabilities.
Zhu Zhuqing: Rank 74. She could now physically step into the shadow dimension for minutes at a time.
Bibi Dong: Her Rakshasa corruption was suppressed by another 30%, her cultivation becoming Clean for the first time in decades.
While Lakan was refining his inner circle, the Old World was making its move.
News reached Spirit City via the Ghost Douluo: Tang San had departed from the Heaven Dou coast. He wasn't alone. Under the protection of the Clear Sky Sect's Great Elder and a specialized fleet, the Shrek Seven (with Tian Long filling the void) were sailing toward the Sea God Island.
Interestingly, reports stated that during Lakan's breakthrough days prior, Ma Hongjun had suffered a Spiritual Seizure. His Evil-Fire Phoenix had cowered, the bird-type soul unable to withstand the Pressure of the King radiating from the Sunset Forest. Hongjun had spent three days in a coma, mumbling about a Seven-Colored Sun that wanted to eat him.
"So, the little rabbit finally decided to jump into the ocean," Lakan mused, standing on the balcony of the palace, his hair whipping in the wind. Behind him, Bing'er and Zhuqing stood, their auras vastly superior to any Spirit Sage on the continent.
"Shall we sink them now, Sovereign?" Zhuqing asked, her eyes cold.
"No," Lakan chuckled, his Genesis Heart(Seven Tone Lotus Flame) pulsing with a rhythmic, golden thrum. "Let the Sea God give Tang San his toys. Let him think he's catching up. It's more fun to pluck a Phoenix's feathers when it thinks it can finally fly."
He turned to the horizon, the Agila humming in the docks below. "Prepare the ship. We're not going to intercept them. We're going to Sea God Island to conduct an Official Calibration of their trials. I want to see the look on Poseidon's face when he realizes his chosen successor is just a warm-up act for me."