by Jace Kang
How Ryu would like to kick her brother’s ass. He studied her. “You aren’t really a science envoy, are you?”
“I guess you won’t be able to tell anyone… I am attached to the Elestrae Federation’s elite commando team. However, I am also a science envoy, assigned to Earth to see if I could re-enter the World of Rivers and Lakes.”
Though Ryu thought he knew the answer, he still asked… “Why?”
“To find an alternative energy to istrium. It’s the source of intergalactic conflict.” She searched his eyes. “So you can imagine my excitement when you appeared.”
Noble intentions, but apparently the Elestrae hadn’t considered the repercussions. Would she really help him now, if that meant closing the portals?
Could she be trusted? Something didn’t sit right. “If you’d visited the World of Rivers and Lakes before, how come you asked me about Cultivation the morning you introduced yourself?”
“It was my way of knowing you were an authentic Cultivator. When you answered all my questions, I knew you were.”
“All right,” he said. “I am going to do the secret form. You’ll need to connect to the meridians of the world, but also stay out of the way.”
“I will.”
Hopefully it would work. With a deep breath, Ryu raised his arms into an arc and then pushed them down in front of his torso. His Qi energized within his belly. Setting his hands over his Core, he took a step to the right while sweeping his arms out. He started stepping in a clockwise semicircle, then shifted his weight, sweeping his hands, and turned to walk in a counterclockwise semicircle.
For her part, Siena did more than just avoid him. She raised her voice in a song so beautiful his heart ached. Her circle walking complemented his, turning clockwise when he shifted clockwise, hands raised when his sank. Each of her movements drew the Qi of the world into this space.
How easy this was! He hadn’t needed the Impurities Scouring Pill, nor the Infinite Energy Pill; just an Elestrae who could match him. The Qi of the world surged through him as his meridians linked up with the Earth.
Just a few more cycles of the footwork…
A nearby portal opened, breaking the flow of Qi. It yanked on his Core, making his next step wavered. Another portal opened, and the draw on his energy nearly sent him into a collapse.
“Faster,” Siena said, panting. “You need to execute the movements faster.”
With his energy flagging, he was just moving more slowly. He sank to his knees, hands on the ground, heaving for breath.
Siena broke off her song and knelt down beside him. She placed a hand on his back.
“I…I can’t,” he said, fighting for breath. “Without the pill of Infinite Perpetual Energy, I need to advance a rank. That could take days or weeks of eating the right food…none of which I can find here. And even then, it might not work.”
“You said my power is greater than yours. What if I did the form, and—”
He shook his head. “I don’t have the Core to establish the link to the Earth’s meridians like you can.” And every moment they wasted, more yokai would enter this world, wreaking havoc.
Her pretty brow furrowed. “Infinite, perpetual energy. That’s what you need, right?”
Where was she going with this? He gave a tentative nod.
“Many legends speak of male and female deities uniting to create the universe.”
“And?” He raised an eyebrow.
“You said the first time we Cultivated together, the Conception and Governing vessels of two people coupling become the symbol for infinity.” Siena traced her finger in the air, forming a figure eight. “Yin and Yang energies, swirling about each other.”
Understanding bloomed on his face. “Your Core is First-Ranked, and already vaster than mine. Still, I think you would need to Advance.”
She nodded. “You also said that men’s seed gained more Essence the longer they went without spilling it. How long has it been for you?”
“Nearly seven hundred years.”
“Quite potent, then.” She winked.
“Enough for a First Rank to Advance to Second Rank. But you weren’t paying attention to how to—”
She giggled. “Do you really think I wasn’t paying attention? When I , you can draw more from my Core and Advance yourself.”
Heat flared in his cheeks. He’d underestimated her. “It’s worth a try.”
“At the very least, we can enjoy ourselves during the end of the world.”
Ryu pulled Siena to him, and she let out a squeal of surprise. He nuzzled her smooth neck as he worked her lacy dress off. Maybe the bottom of a well wasn’t the most romantic place to save two worlds, but it would have to do.
She pulled back, not the least abashed by her nakedness. “Does my logic make sense? Do you think this will work?”
His manhood saluted her perfect body. He grinned. “As you said: if not, we will still enjoy it.”
With a wave of her hand and the uttering of a syllable, a thick carpet of plush vegetation sprouted and spread along the bottom of the well.
She chuckled. “I kind of hope it does fail, so that I can continue to experience this sensation of channeling with my inner reserves instead of istrium.” She pushed him to the soft ground.
He pulled her down onto him as he fell back, and she slid up and straddled him.
“What did Teppin call this?” she asked. “Turtle Suns on Log?”
“I don’t remember. But in Cultivation, we call it the Swan.” In the several times they’d joined, they’d never used this position. His erection stretched so hard it ached.
“Such a graceful name.” Taking him in a hand, she guided him into her.
Her hot slipperiness lit up his every nerve. Trying to concentrate, he slipped one of the green pills into her mouth, and then popped the last into his. “If this works and you Advance, swallow it.”
Whether she heard or not, he couldn’t tell. Her eyes remained closed as she rocked back and forth on him. The small motions heated the base of his shaft.
With one hand, he cupped her perfect breast; the other grasped her round bottom. Once she settled into a rhythm, she leaned down onto him. Her chest pressed into his, her pert nipples rubbing against him.
Her pants came slow at first, then increased in depth. Unlike the previous times, she inhaled as she took him deeper, and exhaled as she drew him out to the tip, leaving his entire length sweltering and slick.
He coordinated his breath, exhaling with each thrust, inhaling with each withdrawal. Unlike before, she connected to his Core. Their Governing and Conception vessels linked, their Qi swirling between them, building up speed as the rhythm increased. Her Core, already vast and dense in their previous lovemaking, had expanded tenfold since the last time, so that even though she was only First Rank, her Essence now far surpassed his own.
Ignoring the pleasurable sensations, he drew her Essence out through the Microcosmic Orbit, guiding it up his spine and down into his Core. It expanded after several dozen exchanges, Advancing him to Fifth Rank. The sudden enlargement of his Core brought him to climax.
He spilled his seed inside of her. Seven hundred years of concentrated Yang energy filled her, and she bucked, drawing the vitality up her spine then down her front and into her Core. Its expansion felt like waves flooding back into him, Advancing him to Sixth Rank. He swallowed the green pill, and the throb of her throat indicated she had done the same.
His senses expanded, his consciousness intertwined with hers as they stretched through the veins of energy coursing through the Earth. All the portals between the worlds closed with the torrent of Qi and Essence. In that moment, he knew everything that had transpired and would transpire in every plane.
It’s beautiful, she said, though not with a voice that he could hear, but rather one that he could feel and know.
Let’s explore it together, he responded.
Though he’d always keep an eye on Kentaro and Aya.
Epilogue<
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A ya saw the flash of light and felt the pulse emanating out from the well of Honnoji. Deep in every fiber of her being, she knew that if she looked down into the well, Ryusuke and Siena wouldn’t be there…at least not in the forms she would recognize.
She turned to Kentaro to find tears glittering in his eyes.
“Will you be all right?” she asked.
“Eventually.”
“Where will you go now?”
“Shirahige Shrine, where I will Cultivate and Advance. Will you come with me?” His eyes searched hers.
That pleasant sensation fluttered in her belly. She could get used to that.
She jacked in to her EtherSpace.
“Ai.”
The nine-tailed fox appeared and bowed.
“I just wanted to say goodbye.”
Before she could change her mind, she jacked out, popped the purple pill into her mouth, and swallowed.
The End
