Outside Tianqiong City stood an ancient temple.
The temple was far from run-down. Incense offerings were constant, and even at night, devotees still came specifically to eat vegetarian meals.
It wasn't because the temple cooks were exceptionally skilled, but because the abbot was a Golden Core cultivator.
Those who failed to enter the city in time naturally took shelter here.
And inside the abbot's quarters...
"That old monk leaked his True Essence. Completely pointless."
A seductively beautiful woman rose from the bed, boredom written plainly across her face.
As she lifted her skirt, she added, "Just average."
"Betsy, that's enough. Don't mess up the higher-ups' plan."
Another beauty sat at the table, her looks no less striking than the one who had just left the bed.
Unlike Betsy, however, her face was cold and distant, radiating an unmistakable keep-your-distance aura.
"Hmph! Vicky, who are you trying to fool?"
Betsy shot the ice-cold beauty a sharp glare. "You've already devoured all of that old monk's disciples. Don't think I don't know."
"Hm?"
Vicky's alluring eyes widened, and the moment she opened her mouth, her composure collapsed.
"How can you accuse me like that out of nowhere?"
"How can what Succubi do be called 'devouring'?"
"I'm just eating normally."
After that, she muttered a string of incomprehensible remarks about things like "a Succubus's life still being a life" and "they were the ones eating me."
In any case, after Vicky's rambling defense, the tense atmosphere in the room eased considerably.
"I'm not even going to argue with you."
Betsy rolled her eyes at Vicky. After getting dressed, she began to complain, "What are the Demonic Sect members thinking? Of all times to stir up trouble, they had to choose now."
Because of the Demonic Sect's sudden attack, Tianqiong City was under lockdown. Even with their combined strength, they couldn't break through.
"How about we go look for people from the Demonic Sect?"
Betsy offered the suggestion tentatively.
"No."
Vicky shook her head decisively. "Those people are filthy. They make me sick."
"Huh?"
Betsy looked puzzled as she sized Vicky up from head to toe. Then realization dawned on her. She reached out and grabbed Vicky's ample chest.
"So that's why you're acting so proper today. You already sneaked a bite, didn't you?"
"Was that really sneaking?"
Perhaps feeling guilty, Vicky didn't dare fight back, letting Betsy knead the soft flesh in her hands.
"I was just testing things ahead of time..."
"Hmph!"
After a moment, noticing that Vicky wasn't resisting at all and was actually enjoying herself, Betsy snorted and pulled her hand back.
"Anyway, the target finally showed up in the city. Who knows when he'll leave again. We can't miss this chance."
After all the fooling around, it was Betsy who returned to the matter at hand.
"Is that little guy really worth us making a move?"
Vicky straightened the clothes Betsy had messed up and said, "I'm just worried we might lose control and drain him dry."
"Stop dreaming, you slut!"
Betsy shot Vicky a sideways glance. "Even if you can't hold back, you have to. This time, you absolutely must endure it. If you dare lay a finger on that boy, forget about our Succubus clan. Even the demons that migrated with us, and the entire Myriad Demon Ridge, could be wiped out."
Compared to Vicky's feigned restraint, Betsy was clearly more rational. Or perhaps it was because she had just vented her urges and was now in a calmer state of mind.
"Is it really that scary?"
Vicky twirled a strand of hair around her finger, her charm fading as her expression cooled, once again taking on the air of an icy beauty.
She shook her head slightly. "I don't believe it."
"Believe it or not, you weren't there that day. You didn't see how terrifying that sect was. I'm not willing to gamble the future of our Succubus clan."
Unlike Vicky, Betsy had learned about the Heavenly Gate Sect's terror from the Great Peng Birds. From the very beginning, she had never considered crossing that line.
"Besides, don't forget who we are. We're exiles, the losers who were driven out. If Myriad Demon Ridge weren't in chaos right now, and if the Great Peng Clan didn't need our demonic strength, do you really think we'd be allowed to stay here?"
From an objective standpoint, the Succubus clan had no choice but to obey the Great Peng Clan.
Only once the demons had stabilized would they gain the strength to contend with the native factions of Myriad Demon Ridge.
More importantly, the Succubus clan had never possessed any real frontal combat ability. By nature, they could only cling to the strong. Choosing the right side was their way of survival.
At a critical moment like this, even if she didn't care about the clan, she still had to think about her own life.
Yet after all of Betsy's reasoning, Vicky's response was only—
"Stop it! Stop it!"
Vicky covered her ears, completely disregarding her beautiful image.
"Just remember this. Our objective is simply to obtain that kid's sperm. That's it. Don't go causing trouble."
Seeing Vicky's attitude, Betsy snapped impatiently.
"I understand."
Vicky clasped her hands behind her back, stuck out her tongue at Betsy, and said playfully, "But what if that kid insists on me?"
"Then I'll personally send your head flying."
Betsy's expression turned completely cold. She was clearly serious.
When weighed against the Succubus clan and her own life, she wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice her sister, especially if this idiot brought it on herself.
That was the survival rule of their kind.
"I get it! Even if that kid cries while begging me with his mouth full, I still won't agree!"
Realizing Betsy wasn't joking, Vicky hurriedly raised a hand to swear.
"That's why I told you not to fantasize!"
Betsy smacked her scatterbrained sister hard on the head. "Just let the kid have a nocturnal emission and collect it afterward. Don't you dare do anything unnecessary!"
According to the intel, their target was still a virgin, so nocturnal emissions were perfectly normal.
As long as they could produce a child from the target, the Succubus clan would at least be preserved.
"I understand."
Vicky raised both hands. Just as she was about to fool around again, her expression suddenly turned serious.
With nearly a thousand years of coordination between them, Betsy and Vicky didn't need words. They immediately understood each other's intent.
"Go."
Betsy hesitated for only a second before making her decision.
In the next instant, the two vanished from the abbot's room, leaving behind a body on the bed that looked like a dried corpse.
From the faint rise and fall of its chest, he wasn't dead yet, but his Cultivation Level was likely ruined beyond repair.
...
In the blink of an eye, Betsy and Vicky appeared inside a mountain valley. A group of black-clad men had surrounded five seductive, beautiful young women.
If there were any camera stones nearby, the timing and outfits alone would have easily led to some very questionable interpretations.
"It's a search party."
Betsy shot Vicky a glance. When she reappeared, she was already standing among the crowd.
"Another one?"
The leader of the black-clad men was one of the four who had been beneath Gui Ying earlier.
After the meeting ended, he led his subordinates out to scout for potential targets. The Demonic Sect allocated cultivation resources based on performance, so its disciples were always on the move.
Since Tianqiong City was off-limits for the time being, they decided to look elsewhere for achievements. Sitting around and doing nothing was never an option.
While traveling, they just so happened to run into a Succubus squad camping in the wild.
Succubi were priceless commodities. Alive, they could serve as cauldrons. Dead, their essence could be refined, and their bodies could be turned into Flesh Puppets. They were nothing short of heaven-sent treasures.
Most importantly, this squad even contained a Succubus with strength at the Soul Formation Stage. Calling her a rare treasure wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Rarity drove value, and foreign goods were always prized.
Compared to the fox tribes of the cultivation world, Succubi from the western lands were naturally far more valuable.
"Big brother, come play."
That sentence became the last words the black-clad leader ever spoke.
Even in death, he never imagined that he, a mighty Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivator only half a step away from facing the Demonic Tribulation, would die here in such a muddleheaded way.
I really shouldn't have said anything… I should've just finished this mission and gone back to face the tribulation. Too unlucky.
That was his final thought before his consciousness sank into darkness.
"No one else around."
Only after seeing Betsy finish off the enemies did Vicky fly over.
Pointing at the black-clad men sprawled on the ground, she said, "See? I told you it'd be disgusting."
The fallen men were leaking a thick, sticky black substance. It was their vital essence.
"Tch. It really is disgusting."
Betsy shuddered in revulsion, then turned to the Succubus squad already kneeling behind her. "But it'd be a waste to throw it away. After all, it's Tribulation Transcendence Stage essence. I'll let you have it."
Without caring whether the Succubus squad could handle it, she directly infused all of the black-clad men's essence into their bodies.
Then—
"Three of them broke through. From an energy standpoint, that's not bad."
Vicky commented from the side, sounding completely detached.
"It's decent, but still way too disgusting."
The quality of the essence was indeed good, but Betsy couldn't tolerate the murderous intent mixed within it.
To her, that kind of emotion was like sewage in a muddy ditch, utterly nauseating.
More importantly, it offered her little improvement. There was no reason to disgust herself.
Sure enough, although three members of the Succubus squad broke through, all of them ended up vomiting on the ground.
"Once you've recovered, tell me what mission you were on."
After waiting a bit, Betsy finally spoke to the squad.
"Greetings to the two Matriarchs. Reporting to the Matriarchs."
The squad leader prostrated herself respectfully and said, "Our mission was to track Lady Eve."
"Huh? Why is that lady here?"
Betsy's expression changed in shock.
"To shake us off, Lady Eve used random teleportation. We searched for a long time before finally finding her again."
"I see…"
Fear and worry alternated across Betsy's beautiful face.
"That lady hasn't eaten in a long time, has she?"
"Yes."
"In that case…"
Betsy's eyes lit up, but Vicky excitedly blurted out first, "Doesn't that mean we can finally get our revenge?"
"Idiot! Don't say what you're thinking in front of subordinates."
Even so, Betsy didn't refute Vicky's words.
Hmph.
Eve, I've finally caught my chance.