After a day.... well, a night full of pleasure from his women and the new additions, Ash stood in the spacious bathing chamber turned dressing area, steam still curling lazily from the crimson-tiled floors.
The air smelled of blood-roses and warm skin, the massive arched mirrors fogged at the edges. He believed they would have some shyness today, a blush or averted gaze after everything… but they were shameless.
Raven leaned against the obsidian counter in nothing but a towel, black hair damp and wild. Summer lounged on the edge of the massive tub, legs crossed. Katherine stood before a mirror, combing blonde hair with slow, deliberate strokes.
Ash used his ring with a casual thought.
His outfit materialized, he wore baggy black sweatpants that hung low on his hips, a loose white oversized shirt that draped just right across his bronze chest, sleeves pushed to the elbows. Simple silver hoops glinted in both ears, catching the rose-gold lantern light.
"Ladies," he said, voice low and smooth.
They turned from their own activities, focusing on him instantly.
"Before things escalate any further and any misconceptions are made…"
His blood-drop eyes became almost hollow... red-pink irises turning cold and depthless, like staring into an endless void that had seen too much.
The temperature in the room dropped a few degrees.
The three women stilled, towels and combs forgotten.
Ash's smile didn't reach those eyes.
He waited.
The silence stretched, thick with the weight of what he might say next.
"….I don't want you three to make the decision of being one of my future wives right now," Ash said, voice low and steady, blood-drop eyes almost hollow as the pinkish-red aura faded.
A slight smile crept onto his face. "Currently, I have five lovers… all special and equally important to me."
"And…" he continued, stepping closer until the air itself seemed to thicken with his presence, "even if you decide not to be in a relationship in the future, you are mine no matter what. As long as we're fucking, no other man shall touch you."
The words settled over them like velvet chains.
The women felt a shiver ripple through their bare skin.
Katherine giggled first, blonde hair spilling over her shoulders as she pressed against his side.
"Hehe, Ash, do you really think we mind you having multiple wives?"
Summer approached from the other side, wrapping herself around his free arm. "Right. We wouldn't have all three come at once if it was a problem."
Raven folded her arms beneath her chest, black hair still damp and wild, bloody eyes narrowed but sparkling. "Five, though?" she asked, voice teasing yet edged with genuine curiosity.
"Are they foxes as well?"
"Uhh… not exactly," Ash answered, smile widening as he led them toward the door. "However, you will meet them in about a week or two."
"Hopefully they accept us with open arms," Katherine said, leaning her head on his shoulder as they stepped out of the steam-filled bathroom.
The three vampires exchanged glances.
And Ash walked between them, wings rustling softly, already knowing exactly how that meeting would go.
They continued chatting for a while as they exited their room, heading downstairs through corridors of black marble veined with living crimson that pulsed softly underfoot.
Raven clung to Ash's left arm, her black hair brushing his shoulder. Summer pressed against his right, shadows curling playfully around her fingers. Katherine walked close behind, blonde hair swaying, occasionally leaning in to whisper something that made Raven roll her eyes.
They reached the vast echoing hall downstairs where Seth and Connor waited, dark circles under their eyes from a night of very little sleep.
As Calamity cultivators, rest was optional, but the sounds from upstairs had made it impossible. Seeing the three women clinging to Ash like possessive vines, both men nearly stumbled.
"You four have become quite close," Connor said, voice dry as dust.
The girls just rolled their eyes in perfect unison.
Summer's shadows flickered. "Maybe you should mind your own business?"
Seth shook his head, already resigned. "So… are we going to find those two women today?" He muttered lower, almost to himself, "I can't believe I miss Nocturne Prime this much."
"No," Raven answered, stepping forward slightly, her grip on Ash's arm tightening just a fraction.... She then explained their encounter with Silas.
Connor's expression shifted instantly, pushing aside exhaustion and jealousy.
"That bastard isn't scheming, is he?"
With the mention of another Eternal Clan—and a Third Era realm—his eyes shone bright, hunger and caution warring in their crimson depths.
"It's possible, however missing an opportunity to explore this realm will be unfortunate," Raven said, turning her bloody gaze to Ash, black hair still slightly tousled from the night.
"What do you think… still want to go?"
Ash nodded without hesitation, already moving toward the door with that lazy, confident stride.
Before, he hadn't grasped the true value of "Third Era Realms" or secret realms in general. Now he understood—they were gold mines for clans, sects, any faction worth the name. Materials that couldn't be found elsewhere, lost skills from forgotten eras, ancient technology that could shift galactic balances.
The older the realm, the richer the harvest.
"Of course… Vyrnath Continent, isn't it?" he said, glancing back with a faint smirk.
"Right… it's about a full day's travel from here," Raven added, falling into step beside him.
The women walked with him in comfortable silence as Summer's shadows curling playfully at her feet, Katherine's blonde hair catching the morning light through the windows. Seth and Connor brought up the rear, exchanging glances that spoke volumes.
The group left the manor together, stepping into the crimson dawn of Astralis, heading toward the promise of a Third Era Secret Realm.
-----
While Ash and the others soared toward the Vyrnath Continent, ripples spread through the cultivation world like silent thunder. His arrival on Astralis and other antics had not gone unnoticed.
Two beings of immense power... entities whose names alone could silence galaxies, had felt the faint echo of his shenanigans.
Now, across the endless void, they searched.
Far beyond the Venia Galaxy, in a realm known only as the Infernal Crucible, lay an entire galaxy of living flame. Worlds burned here in impossible shapes there were spiral continents of blue-white fire, oceans of liquid gold plasma, mountains of obsidian lava that sang in voices older than time.
Every star was a heart of pure conflagration; every void filled with drifting embers the size of moons.
At the absolute centre floated the Phoenix Progenitor in her full, unrestrained form.
She was colossal... larger than worlds, larger than most stars. Her body was a living constellation of flame wings spanning thousands of light-years, each feather a blazing comet-trail of every color fire had ever been....
Crimson, gold, emerald, sapphire, amethyst, and colors mortal eyes had no name for. Her tail streamed behind her like a river of molten dawn, long enough to wrap the entire galaxy in its warmth. Her talons were forged from condensed stellar cores, sharp enough to carve new galaxies.
Her beak curved like a crescent of pure white-gold plasma, and her eyes were two vast supernovas of shifting rainbow fire that held the memory of every rebirth since the Second Great Cycle.
She was like beauty incarnate.
Planets orbited her like worshippers.
Stars dimmed in her presence.
The flames of her body did not destroy; they simply were, and everything around her existed because she allowed it.
She had slumbered in this galaxy for eons. The wounds from that ancient battle that left scars across her very Origin had kept her dormant, healing in the heart of her own flames.
But about a month ago, her eyes had creaked open.
A power directly tied to her Origin had stirred.
Usually, she ignored such things. Every phoenix in existence stemmed from her; she felt their rebirths like distant heartbeats.
But this was different.
This was her own Nirvana being used... the unique flame that let her grow stronger with every death, creeping toward absolute perfection. Not even her daughter had inherited the full version; only a diluted echo.
"He's interesting indeed," she murmured, voice echoing across the burning galaxy like the birth-cry of a star.
As the Origin of all phoenix flames, tracking was effortless. Since she woke up, she had watched him.
Every moment, except when he vanished into his inner cosmos or the Haven. His rapid growth, his transformations, none escaped her supernova gaze.
"And he's a baby Progenitor himself…" Her colossal wings shifted, sending solar flares rippling across the void.
"But how can he have access to my power?"
She had already deduced his composition.
"Human… Celestial Fox… Nosferatu… and something much more ancient…"
If she hadn't seen it with her own world-sized eyes, she would have dismissed it as impossible nonsense.
The Phoenix Progenitor tilted her head, flames of every colour dancing across her feathers like living auroras.
A new spark had ignited in the cosmos.
And she intended to see where it led.
My power being used is for sure an anomaly… but being a Nosferatu?" She shook her head slowly, flames rippling across her colossal wings like living auroras.
With a thought, she began to transform.
Her world-sized form condensed as flames folded inward, worlds of fire collapsing into a single, breathtaking figure.
She stood three meters tall now, a towering yet exquisitely beautiful humanoid woman.
Skin like molten gold swirled with rivers of living lava glowed from within, flawless and radiant. Her shape was perfection incarnate with curves that would shame the finest sculptures, proportions that made mortal beauty feel like a pale imitation.
Long golden hair cascaded through the void behind her, endless and weightless, shimmering like captured starlight. Her eyes were the most striking: one void-black, the other pure white as fresh snow, yet both held looping flames that danced eternally.
"That's impossible…" Seraphiel whispered, voice echoing across her burning galaxy. "It has been twelve Cycles since the Nosferatu were locked away."
For the first time in literal epochs, Seraphiel—the Phoenix Progenitor—found herself confused… and intrigued all in one.
She waved a hand.
Flames coalesced before her, forming a perfect projection of living fire.
On it stood the spitting image of herself... smaller, younger, yet carrying the same impossible beauty: Aurelia, her daughter.
"Aurelia, how have you been?" Seraphiel asked, a warm smile softening her flawless features.
"Mother," Aurelia replied, bowing slightly, her own flames flickering in respect. "I've been fine, of course. What about you… shouldn't you be recovering?"
"No… I've slept far too long now. My wounds are ninety percent healed. I will return to the Clan soon," Seraphiel said, smile widening before her tone turned serious.
"Hmm, since you have a knack for getting into trouble anyway… I have a mission for you…"