Chapter 28: Reaping the rewards of one’s work (02)

"Go ask my stepmother to remove your cultivation seal," Kael whispered, a crooked smile playing on his lips as he leaned over Seraphine and pressed a gentle kiss to the warm curve of her neck.

The sweet scent rising from her damp skin made Kael’s chest flutter for a brief moment, and he lingered there a second longer than he intended.

Seraphine merely grunted in response. A shiver ran down her spine and her shoulders hunched at his touch, the blush on her cheeks deepening.

Without a word, she left the bathroom in hurried steps, her voluptuous body wrapped in a white towel that clung to every generous curve.

Her wet hair dripped onto her bare shoulders, the drops running down her back and disappearing beneath the edge of the fabric.

Her wide hips swayed from side to side as she walked. Her full buttocks rose and fell beneath the tight towel in a heavy, alternating rhythm, one plump cheek lifting as the other dropped.

The hem climbed a little higher with each step, threatening to reveal the curve beneath.

In front, the fabric struggled desperately to contain the fullness of her breasts.

The tight knot across her chest squeezed her soft breasts together, forming a deep, shadowed valley. Below, the lower edge barely covered her groin, leaving the entire creamy length of her thighs exposed, the soft inner flesh brushing together as she moved.

Kael followed her in silence and settled down at the edge of the bed.

The mattress sank slightly under his weight as he watched Seraphine close her eyes and gather the tiny sliver of Qi she had managed to unlock, her brow furrowing with the effort of powering the spatial ring on her finger.

The ring flickered. In a soft flash, clothes appeared in her hands.

It was a white dress, beautiful and elegant, the light fabric falling in a cut far more modest than the one she had worn before. She held it against her chest for a moment, as if considering her choice, before nodding to herself.

Then she turned slightly to the side and began to dress, her fingers working carefully at the knot of the towel.

The fabric slid down her body with a soft whisper. For a few brief seconds, as the towel fell to the floor, Kael saw her heavy breasts spill free of its grip.

Released all at once, the two pale mounds dropped and bounced under their own weight, their skin still glistening with droplets from the bath. Her pink nipples stiffened in the cooler air of the room.

From the side, the line of her back swept down through the dip of her waist to a round, pert ass.

Still standing, she bent over to slip one of her delicate feet into a sheer stocking.

The silk crept up her calf little by little, stretching as she pulled it upward, until it cinched around her luscious thigh.

The elastic sank into her skin, carving a deep dimple at the top of her leg, and the soft flesh just above it bulged over the band into a plump, creamy mound.

She straightened, her breasts giving a lazy bounce at the movement, then bent again to repeat the motion with her other leg.

The dress came last. She raised her arms, her breasts lifting with the motion, and the white fabric slipped over her head and slid down her body. It brushed her stiff nipples on the way down, snagging for a moment on the curve of her bust before settling on her hips, the skirt falling until it hid her stockings.

Even with the more modest cut, her bust filled the top to the brim, the fabric pulled taut over the heavy swell of her breasts.

Adjusting the neckline with fingers that were still trembling, she cast one last, complicated glance at Kael. Her lips parted slightly, as if to say something, but no words came out.

The next moment, she turned on her heel and left, her hips swaying beneath the white skirt, leaving behind only the scent of her bath and the soft click of the door closing.

"Ah..." Kael sighed, shaking his head as he leaned back against the padded headboard and crossed his arms behind his neck. "System, is it possible for me to suppress the rewards for Seraphine?"

He had no problem whatsoever with one of his concubines being more powerful than he was.

The problem was the timing. In about six days, the Secret Realm of the Divine Mist would open.

Kael didn’t know much about that place yet, but he knew the basics: the cultivation limit for entry was the peak of the Golden Core Realm, and whether he liked it or not, he would have to participate as well.

As the Heir Disciple, and now with his cultivation awakened, that was his duty. There was no escaping it.

That secret realm opened only once every ten years. Among the treasures hidden within was the rare chance to receive a recruitment token from the Golden Alliance Sect—one of the continent’s largest sects and the overlord of the Fallen Sword Sect.

And it wasn’t just any token.

It guaranteed that the chosen disciple would become a direct student of an elder, while also granting the disciple’s home sect access to vastly greater resources.

Because of this, whenever the realm opened, it became a true sensation within the Fallen Sword Sect.

The Golden Alliance Sect even went so far as to send a disciple as a representative to closely monitor the trials.

And he, along with Seraphine, would have to plunge into that secret realm—a place where death was as common as breathing.

If she also received a share of the cultivation, she would advance straight to the Golden Core Realm, while he would only reach the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. The gap would be far too great.

Kael didn’t want to end up stabbed in the back for trusting that woman too much just because he had taken her purity.

With a soft grunt, Kael turned his gaze to the System’s response flashing before him.

[Yes. It is possible to accumulate up to ten theft cycles before releasing them to your wife. Do you wish to block the rewards provided to her?]

"Yes." Kael nodded without hesitation.

[Rewards for Seraphine have been temporarily blocked.]

Confirming the notification, he rose from the bed and left the room, walking with calm steps down the silent hallway of his stepmother’s pavilion.

He stopped in front of one of the three cultivation rooms and pushed open the door. The air inside was cool and still, carrying the faint scent of old incense.

Settling cross-legged in the center of the room, Kael took a deep breath, opened the System’s reward notification, and without further delay, clicked to accept.