Jared clasped Lyra’s slender hand. Warmth pulsed from his palm, running straight to heart. A tremor fluttered through fingers before could hide the response.
He carried the Pentacarna Tower to a secret grotto cut Into the rear mountain of the Sword Sect, certain no sentry would ever find, let alone guard, the place.
A stone door sealed the cavern. Flowing runes curled across its surface, carrying an ancient and heavy aura. Few in any realm could force that door to yield.
“Inside this tower, one day equals a hundred beyond these walls. We can cultivate undisturbed,” Jared said, voice low yet steady.
He traced a slow arc across the door. The moment his spiritual energy seeped in, every rune blazed. Stone groaned, revealing a narrow slit, just wide enough for two.
“I will follow you, Mr. Chance,” Lyra murmured, head bowed, cheeks blossoming rose. Before the last syllable left lips, drew by the wrist. Together, they stepped into a pearly haze that swallowed every earthly sound.
The world within the tower unfurled, no cramped dungeon, but an endless expanse lit by silent suns that drifted across a violet sky.
Celestial energy thickened the air until it seemed to crystallize. Rivers of celestial ley lines coursed around them, and they could vaguely hear the sounds of celestial energy.
“I-Is this an immortal realm?” Lyra breathed, wonder turning eyes bright. Awe softened every line of face, looked like someone seeing dawn for the first time.
She had expected the Pentacarna Tower to be a prison for evil spirits, dark, rank, and narrow. Nothing prepared for this boundless serenity.
Jared smiled. “The tower seals demons, yes, yet it is also a sanctum for cultivation. Cultivate here in peace. I’ll fetch Mr. Flaxseed.”
A wink of light, and vanished between breaths. Moments later, reappeared beside the Flaxseed. Flaxseed was overwhelmed with joy when sensed the thick celestial energy. Eyes widened, gasped and exclaimed, “Great heavens! The celestial energy’s thicker than before. You’ve been stockpiling resources again, haven’t you?”
“Naturally,” Jared replied. “Every resource I scrounged now feeds the tower. That’s why the celestial energy brims so high.”
“Find a stone dais and recover, Mr. Flaxseed,” added. “The celestial energy will knit your wounds faster than any elixir. Lyra and I will cultivate nearby. Call if you need anything.”
Flaxseed nodded hard, raced to an empty platform, and dropped cross-Iegged. At once, a visible whirlpool of celestial energy spun around him.
Jared guided Lyra deeper until they reached a hollow bathed in a pale-gold curtain of light, isolated, silent, and rich with celestial energy.
He turned, smiling gently. “The coming days may be demanding. Thank you for facing them with me…”
Lyra bit lower lip and offered the faintest nod, twisting the hem of sleeve without noticing. Unbidden, memories of that moonlit night, sheets, whispers, tangled breaths, rose inside her, and own breathing quickened. Jared sank into a cross-legged posture and gestured to the space before him, signaling to sit.
The instant their palms touched, a ribbon of spiritual energy looped through their meridians, knitting them into a single, flawless circuit.
His Power of Dragons roared with dominating manliness; spiritual energy flowed like spring water. Steel met silk, and the resonance sang. The surrounding energy tugged at clothes.
Soon, was naked in front of Jared. Jared then invaded Lyra’s body with something of his that was the most manly. As they cultivated, time slipped away like fine sand in an hourglass, unnoticed yet relentless.
Beyond the tower, a single sunrise and sunset came and went, while within its wards, one hundred days of sealed cultivation unfurled in silence.
At first, Lyra’s brow stayed faintly knit, body still adjusting to the strange currents Jared wove through veins. Yet as their energies intertwined again and again, wonder replaced discomfort, and surrendered to the artistry of the cultivation.
Before long, soft cries spilled from lips, each one louder than the last. Fortunately, the tower’s walls drank up every echo, leaving the outside world deaf to rising abandon.
Jared, fully immersed, let his Power of Dragons wash through her. It tempered Lyra’s meridians, nudged stifled spiritual energy toward its next threshold, and, within only a few dozen days, saw the signs in the changes in cultivation.
