A full month passed and it was still the same.
Su Liyue would seduce Huo Batian and he'd foolishly give his Zhulong Peak's resources to her.
He was hoping if she achieved Nascent Soul she'd finally kiss and decide to marry him!
Because of this, Li Qingmu's cultivation progressed smoothly and rapidly. He had more cultivation resources than he could use, to the point that he began storing them. He planned to save them for the day his kids and concubines would come to live with him in the Li clan settlement.
"Su Liyue will make a great wife!"
He loved sleeping with senior sisters.
Especially one that's the sect's big sister.
"She deserves a child for all these gifts."
Of course, being Su Liyue, she still skimmed plenty for her own imminent Nascent Soul breakthrough. But the fact that a famously selfish beauty now moved mountains for a man who barely noticed… that was new.
On one stormy evening.
A jealous Zhulong Peak disciple raced through the rain to Huo Batian's secluded abode.
"Grand Elder! Urgent news!"
The grand elder sat at his desk and smiled as he gazed dreamily at a newly commissioned painting of Su Liyue in flowing white robes.
The soaked disciple burst in with a vicious grin.
"It's about Fairy Su!"
Huo Batian leapt to his feet with desperate eyes.
"Did she send a letter at last?!"
Recently, he never saw her unless she came to get more resources or spirit stones.
And when he asked her about her disappearances she'd tell him to shut up and he did.
He would never disobey his apprentice.
The disciple stared at the man in disgust.
"No, Grand Elder… but I have great proof, gotten and verified by Official Wong himself that Su Liyue has been cheating on you with another man for weeks."
Thunder rolled across Zhulong Peak as the grand elder's aura exploded outward.
BAA-KOOOOM!
It cracked the pavilion beams.
His voice came out low and terrible.
"Show. Me."
The disciple bowed deeply then unfurled a stack of jade slips and a painting.
The grand elder saw the painting of Su Liyue and another man together with a child.
"Li. Qing. Mu."
The man crushed the paper with his cultivation.
Several days passed.
It was still hard for him to believe it.
So he went to confront Official Wong.
The man had been squatting in a rundown settlement at the foot of Zhulong Peak where he nursed his hatred like a festering wound.
He refused to believe his condition was final.
So he schemed.
First, he sent disciples to spy.
That's when he learned about everything Li Qingmu and Su Liyue had been up to.
And then the infamous painting emerged.
Official Wong had it copied and spread to every peak in the sect… except Zhulong Peak.
He wanted Huo Batian to suffer the humiliation slowly.
But the grand elder still defended her like a dog.
So Official Wong went direct.
He found a sick Huo Batian in secluded meditation.
The reality of losing Su Liyue was too much to handle.
"Grand Elder Huo!"
Official Wong spat out all his hatred.
"That Li Qingmu is a heartless snake. He steals women the way others breathe. He nearly took my own wife before the sect intervened. If you don't believe me… go see for yourself. Go to the Li family palace. See how your beloved treats him."
Huo Batian's massive fists clenched until the stone beneath him cracked.
He went… and he saw.
Outer courtyard of the magnificent Li family palace.
The proud Su Liyue was crouched on the ground in a plain gray robe and white apron, her sleeves rolled up, hair in a messy bun, cheeks smudged with soot. She stirred a pot of fragrant sauced boar meat as she fanned the flames with her sylph-like hand.
Huo Batian's heart seized.
He had never seen her like this. Not once.
In all their years, she had never lifted a finger for anything domestic.
He had done everything.
Yet here she was… cooking.
Then Li Qingmu stepped out from the inner hall.
He leaned against a pillar and glanced at the pot.
"I'm hungry. Is it done yet?"
Su Liyue looked up and smiled.
Not the cold, imperial smile she gave others.
Not the mocking one she gave Huo Batian when he begged for her attention.
A real, soft, almost shy smile.
"Not yet."
Her voice was so light.
"But you can taste it."
She stood gracefully, adjusted her messy bun with soot-stained fingers, then scooped a piece of sauced meat into a small bowl.
With chopsticks, she lifted it toward his lips.
Li Qingmu raised a brow, amused.
"Hmm, suspicious. Since when is Senior Sister so eager to feed me? You always say you're too beautiful to do work for another man."
Her cheeks flushed pink.
She huffed, suddenly stern like a mother scolding a mischievous child.
"Can you just eat it!?"
He chuckled and let her feed him.
Then slowly she shifted her hips toward him as she lifted the hem of her skirt just a bit.
Li Qingmu's eyes flicked down.
"Trying to get me to spank you?"
"No!"
She yanked the skirt down instantly.
He nodded with a mild expression.
"Okay."
Then he turned and walked back inside.
Su Liyue's lips puffed into a pout.
She crouched again and angrily fanned the fire harder than necessary.
『What was I even thinking? He hasn't shown me a shred of kindness, and here I am stressing myself over him… I must be a masochist. Hmph.』
She huffed and blew a strand of hair from her face.
SMACK!
A hand slapped and grabbed her rear.
"Eeeee!"
Her left cheek felt on fire.
She whipped her head around.
Li Qingmu stood there with a small smile.
He didn't say a word and walked away.
Su Liyue's hand slowly rose to touch the spot he'd struck and she smiled.
『…That felt good…』
There was a dreamy smile on her face.
Huo Batian saw everything.
His vision went red.
"This peasant… dares to take what is mine?"
He waved his sleeves violently.
"I'll take someone precious from him too!"
Then he vanished in a streak of thunderous light.
Three days later.
Four figures descended toward Fenghuang Peak like storm clouds.
Leading them was a smug Official Wong.
Behind him floated three stern-faced Core Formation elders from Zhulong Peak.
"Remember…"
Official Wong spoke loudly.
"Show no mercy. Crush that arrogant brat until he's begging. We'll tell the patriarch he was punished for adultery with Grand Elder Huo's woman. The grand elder himself sanctioned this lesson."
The elders nodded grimly.
Their loyalty lay with Huo Batian above all else.
To see proud Su Liyue made into a maid…
It was unforgivable.
One elder snorted coldly.
"I'll crush him until he kneels and weeps blood."
They walked forward then froze.
The earth trembled.
A terrifying surge of heavenly might erupted from the distant Li family palace.
Dark clouds gathered instantly overhead.
Purple-gold thunder snakes danced within them.
A massive barrier of golden light encased the palace to protect everything within.
At its center sat Li Qingmu in lotus position, eyes closed as his long hair whipped in the wind.
Pure, world-shaking heavenly tribulation thunder.
One elder's voice cracked.
"That's… a Heaven-Dao Golden Core!?"
"Yes! To form a golden core, one compresses the spiritual sea and uses spiritual thunder to crystallize it… but the grade depends on the thunder's origin! How does that peasant have access to true heavenly tribulation thunder!?"
Official Wong's smile faltered.
Then one elder laughed awkwardly.
"I… I just remembered. I have… pigeons to feed."
He turned and fled in a streak of light.
Official Wong shouted after him.
"Coward! Spineless worm!"
But the remaining two pressed on.