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"In ancient times, people offered phallus-shaped statues as prayers for fertility and health."
"And your source for that?"
"You just made that up to tease Lady Dokgo, didn't you?"
How did they see through it so fast?
As if they'd mastered Mind Reading, the two women immediately pierced the backstory of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin Rod I'd crafted from the Ice White Divine Art and leftover yin energy.
"There's only one reason you'd shape it like that. Why model it exactly after your, ahem, lordly form—who exactly do you plan to insert it into?"
"Right. Now that I think about it, you did something similar to the Flame Demon, didn't you? So what's the plan—stick it inside the Ice Demon down below? Was that just a practice run?"
"......."
Utterly exposed. They boxed me in, each filling the gaps the other had missed.
If I stayed quiet here, I'd be branded the pervert who gifted Dokgo Yeon an ice crystal shaped like my own member.
"That is part of it, but holding it genuinely improves her condition. You can ask Dokgo Yeon yourselves."
"That's because every time we ask, she insists she's fine."
"Even if she isn't coughing up blood anymore, she might still be fighting to suppress the illness from within."
"...From what I can tell, Sagong Hee, Lee Si-a, it looks like the two of you have questions for me."
Just as they used their intuition to probe my inner thoughts, I also guessed what was on their minds.
"You're telling me to stop messing around when it comes to treating Dokgo Yeon, aren't you? But regrettably, it actually works. Dokgo Yeon can suppress her symptoms by grasping it."
"That's what doesn't make sense."
"It defies common sense."
Her coughing up blood stops just because she holds the Thousand-Hand Guanyin Rod?
Impossible.
"My lord, isn't it about time you told us? Lady Dokgo Yeon's symptoms. We'll help too. Aren't we already helping?"
"Right. It's not as if we're interfering. I don't think sharing the burden among three is a bad thing. Dokgo Yeon seems more than worthy enough."
"Is that so. Then very well. Allow me to explain, Ju-ji."
The Eighteen Yin Torment Severed Meridian.
Celestial Maidenification.
The Way of the Queen Mother of the West.
"The Grand Duke fed the Little Princess a poison that dooms one to die young at eighteen. But if it takes effect properly, 'dying young at eighteen' is correct. Ten years old plus eight years, and you simply become a Celestial Maiden and ascend to heaven."
I gave a detailed account of the Celestial Maidenification illness afflicting Dokgo Yeon.
"That was her original fate. But Dokgo Yeon possessed a powerful will to live. She forcibly suppressed the Celestial Maidenification energy. That's why she keeps coughing up blood and growing weaker."
The two of them listened to my explanation with grave expressions for a long moment before speaking up from different angles.
"Lady Dokgo is truly pitiful. To endure over ten years of agony because of the Grand Duke's schemes."
Sagong Hee mourned and sympathized with the fact that Dokgo Yeon had been trapped by her condition.
"My martial arts are currently beneath Lady Dokgo's, but I can take good care of her as a younger sister."
For Sagong Hee, who had been forced to live her life hiding her face behind a human skin mask because of her excessively beautiful appearance, Dokgo Yeon was a kindred spirit who shared the same pain.
"Just as Sister Jin Sa-wol did for me, I'll teach Lady Dokgo the ways of serving our lord."
"Thank you, Sagong Hee."
Sagong Hee decided to become Dokgo Yeon's instructor in the bedroom arts. The exceptionally talented Dokgo Yeon would undoubtedly pick things up quickly, but the experience Sagong Hee had forged solely through me was not something easily caught up to in a short time.
"Taking Dokgo Yeon as a second wife is fine with me, but I need to settle this matter firmly first."
And then Lee Si-a.
"The fact that he gave the Grand Duke such a thing without telling him what it was—that was deliberate. There's no way he'd feed it to him and call it a poison without even knowing its nature, cutting the sworn bond in the process. ...The only person who would do such a thing is Ma-hwa."
Lee Si-a speculated about the Grand Duke's suspicious actions and Ma-hwa's intentions in causing such chaos.
"Ma-hwa... was your night teacher, wasn't she, Shia? Does that mean she isn't actually your ally?"
"Rather than a night teacher, I merely watched and learned with my own eyes what Ma-hwa did with my father."
Shudder. Sagong Hee's expression stiffened. Even Sagong Hee felt disconcerted by the Tianshan Demonic Cult's anachronistic sex education.
"Ma-hwa is neither on my side nor the Grand Duke's side. If you had to pin it down, she's not even on the Tianshan Demonic Cult's side either."
"Then why is she in the Demonic Cult?"
"I don't know either. One thing is certain: the Heavenly Demon controls her with his manhood."
At my answer, both of their faces stiffened again.
"She's become addicted to the taste of the Heavenly Demon's member. Whenever the Heavenly Demon sleeps with another woman, that woman dies, so he ended up unable to embrace anyone but Ma-hwa to satisfy his urges."
"W-wait a moment. Then could my mother have also...?"
"......They said one day she suddenly fell into Complete Demonization and the Heavenly Demon had to kill her through his tears, didn't they? It's that sort of thing. The Heavenly Demon preserved his wife's honor by saying that."
"......."
Should this be called a noble death? At the very least, they would have died loving each other in their final moments, so I could only offer my condolences.
"Ha-ha, ha."
Having learned the truth of her mother's death, Lee Si-a was speechless for a while. Sagong Hee embraced her to comfort her.
"Sigh... I'm fine. I was expecting something like this anyway. I just have to make sure I don't follow in my predecessor's footsteps."
"What do you mean?"
"It means I just have to not die while being railed by my man."
As expected of the Young Heavenly Demon. Her determination to overcome her mother's tragic fate without repeating it made my lower half ache with tightness.
"Alright, I'm in for the operation to screw over the Grand Duke. Now tell us the plan."
"Thank you. But there isn't much of a plan to speak of... it's more like there's something I must ask your understanding for."
Murmur murmur.
At my proposal, the two women immediately pulled away from each other. They had been comrades only moments ago, but for this instant, they had to become rivals.
"To break down Dokgo Yeon's sexual barriers, we need to get her accustomed to that environment... so who wants to go first?"
"My lord, did you know I've also learned the technique of the Thousand Catty Hammer?"
"How about, um, one more round of the Heavenly Demon Nine Palaces Acupoint?"
The only way to ruin the Grand Duke's plan and stop Dokgo Yeon's Celestial Maidenification.
- The Acupuncture of Physician Mubung, beloved by both the Black-and-White First Flowers!
In order to make Dokgo Yeon willingly invite me into her bed, the two women decided to take turns, once a day each, performing Yin-Yang Union with me right in front of Dokgo Yeon.
* * *
The Two Phoenixes Decisive Battle had reached its middle stages before anyone knew it.
The eight finest female martial artists from each group began to reveal their outlines, and the one who stood indisputably supreme among them was Dokgo Yeon.
- Dokgo Yeon's Sword Qi is above the Peak level.
There was already so much talk that people wondered whether Dokgo Yeon should be elevated to the White Path's Number One Flower immediately, or if she should skip the Two Phoenixes Decisive Battle and duel the Taiji Flower instead.
So overwhelming was Dokgo Yeon's winning streak that one female warrior matched against her forfeited rather than stepping into the arena.
Alongside exclamations that the Alliance Leader had raised a monster, there were also quite a few voices grumbling that a towering tree had taken root where flowers should be blooming.
- We should be grateful Dokgo Yeon entered the Two Phoenixes Decisive Battle. Otherwise, she would have clashed with the Little Princess in Hubei and started an Orthodox-Demonic War, you know?
- The Taiji Flower hasn't lost yet!
- No matter how you look at it, doesn't she seem stronger than the Taiji Flower?
- Then could she be even stronger than the Little Princess?
As always, the people of the Martial World are masters at pitting others against one another, and they began buzzing about how to rank the three women's martial prowess.
Accordingly, one of the Two Phoenixes seats was practically already claimed by Dokgo Yeon.
If so, who would ascend to the remaining Phoenix seat? The buzz was less intense than the talk about Dokgo Yeon, but since the tournament was the Two Phoenixes Decisive Battle, it wasn't entirely ignored.
The first candidate: Namgung Yurin of the Namgung Clan.
She had mastered the Sky Palace Unhindered Sword Art to a level comparable to Exploding Dragon Namgung Pae and subdued her opponents with overwhelming Sword Qi.
Compared to Dokgo Yeon's single-strike domination, it fell far short, but at minimum, she was not outclassed by those currently holding the Four Phoenixes title.
The second candidate: Abbess Jeongjo of the Emei Sect.
Everyone had worried because of her advanced age, but unexpectedly, she performed remarkably well and confidently topped her group.
The grueling decisive match for first place against Ok Seon-ru, the master of the First Tears Victory Sect who was the same age, displayed a fighting spirit surpassing that of peak experts and sent chills down the spines of many male spectators.
And the surprising third candidate: Abbess Jeongja of the Emei Sect.
Expectations had dropped for her because she had been kidnapped during the Emperor Shaolie Twin Sword Uproar, but her skills were so outstanding that they doubled the previous anticipation.
In fact, using the kidnapping as a wake-up call, she had honed her skills with bitter resolve, leaping far past the mid-first-rate level. Rumors spread among the martial world's middle-aged generation that she reminded them of the Lust-Exorcising Abbess rampaging in her prime.
The Emei Sect—an unexpected strong showing!
Thanks to this, the Emei Sect Leader, the Lust-Exorcising Abbess, was walking around with her shoulders squared, beaming with smiles.
"Well, the Nine Sects and One Gang are putting on quite the show!"
"Ho ho. And how many of the Six Phoenixes are already from the Eight Great Families?"
...and so, the old men of the Murim Alliance launched into their power struggle over the Two Phoenixes Decisive Battle.
The Eight Great Families, represented by Dokgo Yeon, Namgung Yurin, Moyong Ran, and Jegal Seon.
The Nine Sects and One Gang, represented by Sagong Hee, Abbess Jeongjo, and Abbess Jeongja.
At a glance, the Eight Great Families' power seemed far more overwhelming, but the Taiji Flower was already a figure who had transcended the Six Phoenixes and was gaining a different level of fame.
So while they were even more feverishly debating the martial hierarchy between Dokgo Yeon and Sagong Hee, the other spot had effectively become a showdown between Namgung Yurin and the Emei Sect.
"Ho ho! The Emei Sect is truly fortunate! To produce a whole 'three' experts for the quarterfinals!"
"It is merely luck."
Indeed.
The Emei Sect currently had three disciples in the quarterfinals. In addition to Abbess Jeongjo and Abbess Jeongja, there was one more expert from Emei whom nobody had anticipated.
Yoo Seol-ra.
Having inherited the true transmission of the Exterminating Treasure Grandmaster who had vanished ten years ago, she brandished the Cold Soaring Jade Woman Sword and displayed her own invincible martial prowess.
- I wish to rise to the seat of the Two Phoenixes in this decisive battle and honor the name of my late master.
Though not a disciple of the Emei Sect, the appearance of a swordswoman better suited to Emei than anyone else!
There were private murmurings carefully gauging her martial level, saying they must compare her to Dokgo Yeon, but in the end, everything could only be known by the outcome.
The Two Phoenixes Decisive Battle, the Quarterfinals.
Everyone's eyes burned with fire at the quarterfinal tournament bracket that had blanketed the entirety of Xuchang.
* * *
"Yeon, how does the bracket look?"
"Ah... Sister Shia."
Dokgo Yeon, who had been staring at the tournament bracket, handed it to Lee Si-a as she approached without reservation.
"Let's look at it together."
Dokgo Yeon was flustered by Lee Si-a pressing her hips close and sitting right beside her on the bench, but she did not deliberately pull her body away.
"Oh my, it's a royal road. Congratulations on becoming a Two Phoenixes."
"I'm not quite there yet...."
The first-rate Plum Blossom Swordwoman from Mount Hua. The Gold Branch Jade Leaf of the Hwangbo Clan. And a swordswoman from the Zhongnan Sect.
All were martial artists at the first-rate level, women whom the oddsmakers had pegged as ranked sixth to eighth among the championship candidates.
The bracket luck was excellent.
Dokgo Yeon was slated to reach the finals meeting relatively easier opponents, making her seat among the Two Phoenixes a foregone conclusion.
"The bracket on the other side is... oh my. Could this have been deliberate?"
"It probably wasn't. It was determined by drawing lots."
If not for the lot-drawing, it wouldn't have been so unilaterally disadvantageous for a single sect.
Quarterfinal Match 1: Namgung Clan's Namgung Yurin and Emei Sect's (provisional) Yoo Seol-ra.
Quarterfinal Match 2: Emei Sect's Abbess Jeongjo and Emei Sect's Abbess Jeongja.
Even having two sister-disciples paired against each other was more than enough reason for the Emei Sect to protest, but piling three of Emei's experts into a single group was a blatant act of disregard toward them.
But what could be done? It was a bracket determined by drawing lots!
"I found it strange that the Emei Sect was so quiet about it."
"Well, about that...."
Lee Si-a whispered into Dokgo Yeon's ear with a mischievous smile.
"Wha—? I-is that true?"
"Of course it is. Isn't that right, Hee?"
"Yes. Just as Shia says, the Emei Sect is using this Two Phoenixes Decisive Battle as a foundation for growth. With the assistance of Physician Mubung."
"Th-then, you don't mean...."
Dokgo Yeon's face flushed as if it might burst.
"Even with the Emei Sect's disciples...?"
"Do you think it's only the disciples?"
"Right now, Physician Mubung is probably meeting with the Emei Sect Leader and talking things over. More importantly..."
Lick. Lick.
Lee Si-a licked the frozen rod—the Thousand-Hand Guanyin Rod—on the wooden stick she was holding with her tongue. No matter how one looked at it, she was taking that object, shaped as it was, into her mouth and sucking on it just like a child does with a long bar of candy.
"...Sister, what are you doing?"
"Practicing the Heavenly Demon Mouth-Exhalation Nine Palaces Acupoint."
"......."
Recalling the sight of Sagong Hee and Lee Si-a sucking on the member, Dokgo Yeon felt dizzy.
'Right. Sister Shia is from the Demonic Cult, after all.'
Maybe Lee Si-a was the odd one. Dokgo Yeon turned her head toward Sagong Hee, who was just coming out of the kitchen.
"Sister Hee, by any chance—"
Sssssshlurrrrp.
Upon seeing Sagong Hee with her cheeks hollowed, moving the Thousand-Hand Guanyin Rod back and forth in her mouth without even using her hands, Dokgo Yeon was at a loss for words.
"Yeon, hurry up and eat yours too. It's a spirit medicine, after all."
"......."
Is the martial world truly going to be alright like this? Dokgo Yeon gently placed her lips atop the tip of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin Rod, which showed no signs of melting, in her own hand.
Slurp.
...It was extremely marginal, but feeling that her internal energy might be increasing, Dokgo Yeon silently continued to hold the Thousand-Hand Guanyin Rod in her mouth and melt it with her tongue.
"By the way, Hee, what did you say to the physician just now?"
"When he was coming, something about a peach?"
"And what did the physician say?"
"...He said he had a favor to ask, and also that he was going to meet a friend."
So they waited for Mubung, who had stepped out briefly for a house call at the Emei Sect.
"But doesn't the physician not have any friends?"
"......."
The two women quietly licked their Thousand-Hand Guanyin Rods, and following their lead, Dokgo Yeon too gradually licked and ate at her rod.
Drip.
"It tastes like peaches...?"
At the thick honey that leaked out from inside, Dokgo Yeon kept licking her tongue over it.