Xuan Ye continued his walk through the outer disciple quarters with his usual limping style, the damaged meridians in this vessel still protesting with dull throbs despite the recent feeding. The small gains from the servant's essence had repaired enough pathways for him to walk without agony but the body remained weak, far from the half-step immortal frame he had once possessed in his previous life.
The hunger in his soul sea had quieted to a low, persistent growl rather than a gnawing void. The Lust Rune I and the fresh Devour fragment pulsed steadily now but Xuan Ye knew better than to trust temporary stability. Runes starved without fresh, delay too long and they would turn inward.
He needed eyes closer to the inner court.
Keeping his head lowered like the worthless outer trash everyone believed him to be, Xuan Ye slipped toward the boundary between outer and inner sect areas. A narrow service path wound upward used mainly by servants carrying supplies, he carried a small bundle of inferior spirit grains, stolen earlier. No one questioned a crippled delivery boy.
The inner court residences stood on sturdier stone platforms, protected by faint glowing arrays that shimmered with preservative ice qi. Training grounds carved into the cliffs echoed with disciplined shouts and the sharp crack of techniques. Xuan Ye found a shadowed alcove behind a cluster of storage crates near the edge of the main training field and settled in to observe.
There she was again.
Mu Qinglan stood at the center of the largest platform, silver-white hair catching the faint glow of active runes like frozen moonlight. Nineteen years old, tall and slender, her pristine white and blue robes hugged a body sculpted by disciplined cultivation... elegant curves, pale skin untouched by hardship and an aura of icy aloofness that made even inner court elders speak to her with careful respect.
She demonstrated her ice preservation path with clinical precision. A single wave of her hand sent razor sharp frost constructs slicing through reinforced training dummies. The air itself seemed to freeze; shards of ice hung suspended for several heartbeats before shattering into glittering dust. Inner disciples watched with open admiration, murmuring praises that drifted down to Xuan Ye's hiding spot.
"Senior Sister Qinglan's control has improved again!"
"The family pride…"
Blah...blah...blahhh..
Mu Qinglan's expression remained cold and distant, as if the compliments were beneath her notice. She accepted them with the barest nod, her frost-colored eyes sharp and unyielding. There was deep pride there, pride in her bloodline, her genius, her unblemished dao of preservation. She believed her path could hold back the realm's inevitable collapse, that family alliances and righteous harmony still held meaning in a world already cracking apart.
Xuan Ye watched from the shadows, his face expressionless while his mind dissected her like a specimen on an altar.
""But it was all stupid really."" he thought. ""Three hundred years of cultivation condensed into that proud shell... But Oh well.""
He tested the limits of his control.
From this distance, nearly two hundred meters the Lust Rune I in his soul sea responded sluggishly, draining more qi than he liked in this body. Still, he sent a faint thread like pulse toward a female inner disciple standing at the edge of the crowd, a low Rank probably 2, attendant who hovered near Mu Qinglan with obvious envy.
The effect was subtle but immediate.
The attendant stiffened. Her cheeks flushed a deep pink as she shifted her weight pressing her thighs together as an unwelcome wave of heat flooded her core. Her breathing quickened, with one hand unconsciously drifted toward her abdomen before she caught herself and forced it back down. She glanced around nervously with confusion and embarrassment warring on her face.
Mu Qinglan didn't noticed anything, she rarely paid attention to anyone and continuing her demonstration.
Xuan Ye smiled.
""The range is limited and the cost high but it works. A stronger pulse during the assembly chaos will isolate Mu Qinglan perfectly. Her attendant's sudden fluster will create the small distraction I need.""
Xuan Ye withdrew the pulse before it grew any noticeable. The attendant exhaled shakily, fanning herself and muttering something about the training field being too warm. No one paid her any mind.
He remained in the alcove a while longer, committing every detail to memory, the exact rotation of guards near the ancestral altar platform, the layout of the wine preparation area visible from a side path and Mu Qinglan's private training grotto higher up the slope and less guarded during major gatherings.
A minor inner disciple, a dumb arrogant young man with a smug grin suddenly noticed Xuan Ye's presence. He strode over with two companions blocking the narrow path.
"What's this? A crippled outer rat sneaking around the inner court?" the disciple sneered, looking Xuan Ye up and down with contempt. "Here to beg for scraps before they sacrifice you in few days?"
His female companion, a slender Rank 2 cultivator with sharp jaw laughed softly, covering her mouth with delicate fingers.
Xuan Ye kept his expression meek and fearful, playing the part perfectly. Inside, his mind planned contingencies.
He sent another faint Lust pulse, this one directed solely at the woman.
She gasped softly. Her laughter cut off mid sound and her thighs clenched visibly. A damp heat bloomed between her legs so suddenly that she had to press them together to avoid leaking. Her cheeks burned red. She shifted uncomfortably, biting her lower lip as unwanted arousal flooded her body.
The male disciple noticed her strange behavior and frowned. "What's wrong with you?"
"N-nothing…" she stammered, voice strained. "It's just… suddenly so hot…"
Xuan Ye used the distraction to slip past them with a mumbled apology, limping away down the path as if terrified. Behind him, the woman's flustered state drew confused questions from her companion, creating exactly the small chaos he needed to disappear into the lower quarters.
""Their arrogance blinds them,"" Xuan Ye thought as he descended. ""One pulse and the woman's body betrays her in public. How much sweeter it will be when I reduce Mu Qinglan to the same state on the ancestral stones while her father and the entire family watch.""
"'ooohhh... This world will learn."
The hunger in his soul sea stirred again, sharper now after using the rune at range. He would need another feeding soon to stabilize it fully before the assembly.
By the time he returned to the outer disciple area again, the dim light had shifted once more. Distant rifts whispered with faint shadows. The Crimson Veil Sect continued its preparations for the grand assembly unaware of anything.