"No, don't, I don't want to dual cultivate!"
Faced with Chu Lan's refusal, the exquisitely beautiful woman let out a cold snort. "I am not asking for your opinion; I am informing you!"
She was Empress Shenhuang, the supreme ruler of the three thousand great worlds.
No one could defy her will.
Had she not been stabbed in the back by a close friend and poisoned with fox-charm poison during her tribulation to ascend, how could she possibly have engaged in dual cultivation with Chu Lan?
"Get over here!"
Empress Shenhuang reached out a slender, jade-white hand.
Chu Lan's body lost control as he flew directly toward the woman.
His clothes shattered, leaving every inch of his physique exposed to view.
"No... I don't want this!"
However, Chu Lan's opinion meant nothing at all to Empress Shenhuang.
Empress Shenhuang's garments fell away, revealing her flawless, delicate skin before Chu Lan's eyes.
Faced with such a stunning beauty, Chu Lan could only show a face full of struggle and terror.
This terrifying woman wanted his life.
Even though Chu Lan struggled desperately, Empress Shenhuang—despite her severe injuries—possessed a terrifying strength that he was utterly powerless to resist.
Let alone Chu Lan.
Even the strongest practitioner in the Great Xia Dynasty, someone at the Martial Emperor Realm, would be nothing more than an ant in front of the heavily injured Empress Shenhuang.
Rustle, rustle...
For a whole day and night, Chu Lan rolled his eyes, feeling as though his body had been completely hollowed out.
How many times?
Chu Lan had lost count; he only knew that Empress Shenhuang had kept forcing him through it all.
"Useless!"
Getting to her feet, Empress Shenhuang looked down at the half-dead Chu Lan with absolute disgust in her eyes.
Yet, nourished by the act, Empress Shenhuang's complexion was visibly much ruddier than before.
Empress Shenhuang sat cross-legged, forming hand seals to recuperate, and her aura was already much steadier than before.
Though the fox-charm poison had not been completely eradicated, it had been suppressed significantly.
Having caught his breath, Chu Lan took in everything before him.
He could clearly sense that this female fiend was even stronger than she had been moments ago.
"This is bad... I have to run... This female fiend will definitely go for a few more rounds soon..."
Chu Lan had to admit that it felt quite good at first, but after too many times, it became agonizing.
Staring at Empress Shenhuang, Chu Lan only now noticed that the turbid stains upon her body actually carried a trace of bright red blood.
A shock went through Chu Lan's heart. Could she be...
Regardless of whether she was or not, this female fiend would definitely force him into dual cultivation again shortly.
Now was his best chance to escape.
The moment Chu Lan took a step forward, a cold voice rang out in the next second.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The voice froze Chu Lan in his tracks.
"This is the ninth floor of the Divine Desolation Pagoda. Even if you were given hundreds of years, you could never walk out without my permission."
Empress Shenhuang's words caused Chu Lan's eyes to sink. He clenched his teeth and tightly balled his fists.
"I, Chu Lan, am just unlucky and accept my fate. Do as you will—kill me or carve me up as you please!"
Chu Lan put on a look of having cast aside all thought of life.
"Rest assured, I won't kill you."
Empress Shenhuang propped up her jade foot, looking down at Chu Lan from on high. "I won't let you give yourself for nothing; I can help you repair your shattered Dantian."
A glimmer of brightness surfaced in Chu Lan's dimmed eyes.
"Really?"
Chu Lan's tone carried a hint of disbelief.
Empress Shenhuang chuckled softly, her gaze full of disdain. "I wouldn't deign to trick you."
His eyes revealed a chilling murderous intent.
Two figures flashed through Chu Lan's mind: Liu Yemei and Wang Zhaoyun!
He was originally the young lord of the Chu Family, one of the four great clans of Luoyang City. Gifted with extraordinary talent since childhood, he had even awakened the primordial Wuji Bloodline of the Chu Family ancestors.
In Luoyang City, he was hailed as a once-in-a-century chosen prodigy.
He had even received an invitation to the entrance trial of the Backing Mountain Sect.
Yet he had been plotted against by his fiancée Liu Yemei and his sworn brother Wang Zhaoyun, resulting in the total loss of his cultivation and the theft of his bloodline.
And the reason they did this was because the imperial Jun Family had provided them with countless heavenly treasures in exchange for stripping away Chu Lan's Wuji Bloodline.
"What do I need to do?"
Chu Lan could no longer wait a moment longer.
Empress Shenhuang raised her delicate jade foot and kicked Chu Lan toward the vortex in the sky.
"The tenth floor of the Divine Desolation Pagoda can help you reshape your physical body and restore your Dantian."
"Of course, once you enter, whether you live or die is up to you!"
"Liu Yemei! Wang Zhaoyun!"
Chu Lan growled through clenched teeth, "You just wait for me—everything I, Chu Lan, have lost, I will take back with my own hands!"
As he drew closer to that vortex, the more he felt a terrifying force pressing down on him.
It felt as though it was about to crush his flesh and bones to powder.
"Ah!"
Chu Lan let out a cry of agony as his flesh burst apart, exposing the bare white bones beneath.
Yet very quickly, the shattered flesh recondensed together once more.
It was Empress Shenhuang.
If not for Empress Shenhuang protecting Chu Lan with her own spiritual energy, he would have long since been ground into a pulp by the immense force.
As for the power remolding Chu Lan's flesh, it did not come from Empress Shenhuang, but from the Divine Desolation Pagoda itself.
Throughout the entire process, Chu Lan endured immense agony, but the impurities within his body were purged outward as his flesh repeatedly shattered.
Chu Lan's Dantian also began to sprout and take root at that very moment.
A year felt like a single day.
One year inside the Divine Desolation Pagoda was equivalent to just one day passing in the outside world.
Over that single year, bathed in the Dao of Samsara, Chu Lan's Dantian grew back completely.
And Empress Shenhuang remained by his side every step of the way throughout that year.
Chu Lan woke up from his hazy slumber.
"My Dantian... it's restored!"
Feeling the Dantian present once more within his abdomen, Chu Lan wept tears of joy.
"Don't celebrate too soon."
Empress Shenhuang's voice was like a bucket of cold water poured over Chu Lan's head.
"Your Dantian is not completely recovered, but carrying out some basic cultivation will be no problem."
Empress Shenhuang went on, "It's just that your cultivation speed will be more than a dozen times slower than an ordinary person's."
Chu Lan took a deep breath, and after a long silence, he said, "As long as I can cultivate, what does it matter if it's slower?"
"Even if I'm slower than others, I'll make up for it with a hundredfold or a thousandfold the effort!"
Chu Lan's resolute attitude caused Empress Shenhuang to look upon him with a hint of newfound respect.
"I will still have use for you later."
"I'll lend you the Divine Desolation Pagoda for your cultivation in the meantime."
"The first floor of the Divine Desolation Pagoda has the ability to make the time flow inside different from the outside."
"One day outside is one year inside the pagoda."
Empress Shenhuang raised a jade hand toward Chu Lan and said, "I am going into secluded meditation."
At that moment, Chu Lan felt the surrounding space beginning to reject him.
"As for your Dantian, I will help you refine it further a year from now."
"A year from now, I hope you reach the Martial Emperor Realm. Otherwise, if you die the next time we unite, don't blame me for not warning you."
"What?! You want more?"
Chu Lan's expression shifted drastically, his tone filled with utter dismay.
Empress Shenhuang gave him no chance to object whatsoever, directly banishing him out of the Divine Desolation Pagoda.
Opening his eyes, Chu Lan found himself back in his own bedroom.
At the same time, he realized that the Divine Desolation Pagoda now resided within his body.
"Who would have thought that the heirloom left to me by my mother would lead me to such an encounter."
Though it had subjected him to a bit of torment, it had also brought with it a great stroke of fortune.
"Now that I can cultivate, I must recover my strength as quickly as possible!"
"When that time comes..."
A boundless murderous intent flashed in Chu Lan's eyes. "When that time comes, Liu Yemei, Wang Zhaoyun, your time of death will have arrived!"
As for becoming a Martial Emperor within a year, though it would be somewhat difficult,
he had to achieve it no matter what!
If he failed, that female fiend really would disregard his life or death and forcefully unite with him again.
Right at that moment, his bedroom door was suddenly kicked open!