"Dual cultivate with me and let me conceive a child."

In the forbidden land of the Tianmu within Tianxuan Continent, a lone woman dressed in pristine white hovered in midair.

Her eyes sparkled like stars, her features cold yet flawlessly stunning. Her snow-white robes danced gently, accentuating a waist so slender it seemed fragile, while her chest swelled recklessly, defying the coldness of her gaze.

Yet despite her ethereal appearance, her face flushed deep red. A teasing charm radiated from her as she stared intently at the young man before her, like a predator eyeing its prey.

Backed against the cliff, Alexander Stanton frantically shook his head.

"No, I can’t! I’m already engaged. How could I possibly dual cultivate with you?" His voice, though firm, carried traces of panic.

Of course, he knew her intentions. She wouldn’t treat him as a partner, only as a furnace to steal his essence.

"Don’t want to cultivate with me?" Her voice dripped with playful malice. "Then you’d prefer being my furnace, letting me drain your life for three hundred years?"

She licked her lips, her gaze burning hotter, locking him in place like a beast toying with her cornered prey.

"Three hundred years of draining..." The imagery alone sent a cold shiver down Alexander’s spine. He didn’t even think he could endure three years of such torment, let alone centuries.

Before he could utter another word, the scent of her breath brushed past. In the span of a blink, she was already on him, pinning him to the ground.

“Ugh...”

His protests were silenced, her crimson lips sealing his words before they could escape.The woman was none other than Catherine Knight, the Empress of Xuanji from the Upper Realm, her power unmatched and reaching the heavens. However, after obtaining the legendary artifact, the Refining God Cauldron, she was ambushed by enemies. Gravely injured, she fled to the lower realm.

Though she managed to escape with her life, she was afflicted with a deadly poison. If she couldn't pair with a man who had never lost his primal Yang energy, her soul would perish soon.

Alexander Stanton became her target.

Hours later, an exhausted Alexander opened his eyes, only to see that stunningly beautiful face staring straight at him.

After forcibly taking his primal Yang, Catherine Knight's complexion seemed to improve visibly.

"You... shameless!"

Alexander seethed with anger, glaring at her. He had clearly refused her before, but this woman had ignored his will and forced herself on him!

Just as he tried to get up, Catherine gave a playful laugh.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Before he could react, she pressed her pale figure against him, pinning him back down.

…

Several more hours passed before Alexander could open his eyes again.

"I've got nothing left. If you keep doing this, you might as well just kill me already!" He raised his head, despair filling his voice as he looked at her.

"Don't worry, I won't let you die. In fact, I can even heal the injuries to your dantian." Her voice was calm, almost playful.

Hearing this, Alexander was both shocked and hopeful, gazing at her in disbelief.

He was, after all, the young patriarch of the Stanton family's Firewind City branch in the Grand Dry Empire.For the sake of treating his fiancée Evelyn Harrison’s illness, Alexander Stanton risked venturing near the forbidden Tianmu, searching for spirit herbs. Yet, he accidentally stumbled into the tomb itself, only to have his dantian torn apart by the spirit beasts within. Death had been a mere breath away.

If not for Catherine Knight ripping through space to save him, he would’ve perished there. Even so, his dantian was ruined—beyond repair.

If only it could be healed somehow...

He glanced at Catherine Knight, desperate, but the greed gleaming in her eyes made him shudder. Words caught in his throat, he dropped his gaze.

Hours of torment later, he was completely drained—there was nothing left to give.

“The poison runs too deep. I need you to help me... recover further!”

“No!” Alexander shook his head furiously.

If this continued, he might truly be sucked dry, reduced to nothing more than a lifeless husk.

“Relax, I know my limits,” Catherine laughed as she reached out and seized his wrist.

The moment she touched him, his vision blurred. When clarity returned, he found himself in an otherworldly expanse—a limitless starry sky.

In its center stood a colossal bronze cauldron.

The cauldron rested on three legs, with two handles jutting out. Nine carved dragons coiled around its body, their forms so lifelike they seemed ready to roar to life, standing guard over the structure.

Alexander’s gaze was fixed on the center of the cauldron.

Two blood-red characters were inscribed there: Refining God! "This is the Taicraft Divine Artifact, the Refining God Cauldron, something I put my life on the line for to seize in the Upper Realm. And this... is its Taicraft Space," Xuanji Empress said with a calm yet piercing voice.

"The Taicraft Space is unlike spaces in lower planes. One day outside is equal to a hundred days here."

With a wave of her hand, countless rare herbs floated out, shimmering with brilliance.

"My Refining God Cauldron can melt the sun, the moon, even the stars. It can refine anything—gods, spirits, immortals—it spares no exception!"

"I will use starlight to remold your bones, chaos energy to reform your dantian, and completely change your constitution!"

"But let me make this clear—it’s going to hurt. Your body will feel like it’s burning alive, teetering on the brink of death. Most people would crumble under that agony."

Her eyes locked onto Alexander Stanton, unwavering and fierce. "Are you afraid?"

"Not at all!" Alexander answered without hesitation. If it meant restoring his cultivation, he would endure any pain.

"Then step in." Her words were sharp, commanding like thunder.

Without delay, Alexander leapt straight into the Refining God Cauldron.

The instant he entered, flames erupted, engulfing him in their searing heat.

The air snapped and crackled. "Snap!"

Every inch of flesh, every muscle fiber on his body screamed in agonizing pain.

"ARGHHH!" The pain surged like a tidal wave, forcing him to grit his teeth so hard that they began to crack under the pressure.

Flames swallowed him whole, unchecked and relentless.

The pain—it was unbearable, beyond anything he’d ever imagined.Alexander Stanton's body felt like it was being consumed by flames, an unbearable heat trying to reduce him to ashes. The burning didn’t just sear his skin and bones; it seemed to purge the impurities buried deep within him.

Soon, even his shattered dantian began to melt away.

“Rise!”

The precious herbs were engulfed in fire, their essence rapidly extracted. Thick liquid medicine flowed forth, wrapping Alexander in its warmth.

“Come!”

The Empress gestured, and the Refining God Cauldron trembled.

In this boundless starry void, countless stars surged toward Alexander. At the same time, strands of chaotic energy poured in from every direction, flooding into his body.

“Stars for bones, chaos for flesh!”

The cauldron pulsed with energy.

His old body crumbled under the intense pressure and was reforged anew—bones and flesh taking shape stronger than before—while his dantian began to radiate a brilliant light.

Destruction birthed creation.

This was what Xuanji Empress had been waiting for.

A single golden seed emerged from the vast starry expanse. Chaos energy swirled around it, intricate symbols weaving across its surface.

Even these runes alone seemed to ripple through the space around them, twisting it ever so slightly.

“Now comes the hardest part, boy. You better hold on!”Alexander Stanton watched as the golden seed, shrouded in flames, merged with his body. Within seconds, it took root like a tree, spreading fast.

"Boom!"

The flames within the refining cauldron surged, engulfing Alexander completely. Outside the cauldron, Delilah Cross bit her lip anxiously, eyes fixed on the fiery scene.

"This seed is something I found after countless years. Consider yourself lucky today, little one. You'd better hold on."

Though she masked it with her usual aloofness, Delilah silently prayed for him.

An hour passed, and the flames surrounding Alexander finally receded. What remained was a cocoon of blood within the cauldron.

"It's done!" Delilah muttered, her eyes lit with excitement, staring at the blood cocoon as though it held the world's secrets.

Suddenly, a sharp cracking noise broke through the silence. A hand burst out from the cocoon, ripping it apart. Alexander emerged, gasping for breath.

Exhaling deeply, Alexander glanced at himself, relieved that he survived unscathed. While he had expected a challenge, he realized he'd greatly underestimated the power of this refining cauldron.Alexander Stanton sprang out of the Spirit Refining Cauldron, his gaze lowering to his own hands. He froze.

His hands, pale as jade, appeared flawless, untouched by blemishes or imperfection.

A surge of awareness coursed through him—his tendons, bones, muscles, and skin had undergone a complete transformation. His physical strength had reached an entirely new level, far beyond what it had been.

But the body wasn’t the most critical change. "The dantian!"

Alexander’s breath caught. Eyes narrowed, he focused inward, inspecting his meridians and dantian.

"What the..."

Shock flooded his face. His dantian was no longer the same. It had transformed into a vast ocean of golden spiritual energy, gleaming and boundless.

Even his meridians had expanded, widened several times over, running like mighty rivers, grand and endless.

"My dantian..." he murmured, voice trembling with disbelief.

A soft laugh interrupted him. The sound came from Empress Xuanji.

"Dantian? No," she said, her voice laced with amusement. "This is now a spiritual ocean—a Dantian Sea."

A Dantian Sea?

Her words stunned him. He had never encountered such a term in all his life.

"The warriors of lower realms are so ignorant," the Empress chided, her tone light, contemptuous. "Let me educate you. A Dantian Sea holds ten times, no, many times more spiritual energy than an ordinary dantian of the same rank."

"And that’s not all. Even if your Dantian Sea were the same size as another’s, this golden spiritual energy surpasses ordinary spiritual energy by a wide margin." "In other words, the spiritual energy stored in your Danhai alone is equivalent to that of a dozen cultivators in the same realm as you!"

Unrivaled in the same realm!

Alexander Stanton clenched his fists with excitement.

But then, he noticed her gaze—a fiery, predatory stare from Catherine Knight. Something was wrong.

Damn! The earlier flames had burned his clothes to ash!

Before he could speak, Catherine Knight pounced, pinning him to the ground.

"Your body? I've already reforged it. Now... it's our time."

...

Three years later, on the edge of the Heavenly Tomb, Catherine Knight looked at Alexander Stanton, a trace of reluctance in her eyes.

"You really don’t want to stay with me? When my injuries fully recover, I can take you to the Upper World..."

"No."

Alexander Stanton shook his head firmly.

Three years? It felt more like three centuries!

Those three long years of being drained endlessly... How had he even survived? Anymore, and even the strongest pills wouldn't save him from being sucked dry.

"Fine," she sighed. Her delicate hand waved, and a jade pendant floated to his side.

"You’ve lost all your cultivation now. Take the Refined Spirit Cauldron, and the techniques within the pendant should be sufficient for this realm." Taking the jade pendant, Alexander Stanton felt a rush of relief. Finally, he could leave. This cursed place—he didn’t want to stay a second longer.

“Alexander, a year from now, I’ll leave the Heavenly Tomb to find you...” The Empress’s voice was cold yet commanding.

“Your cultivation must reach the Jade Purity Realm by then. Only then can our union completely dispel the poison in my body!”

“If you fail, then prepare to become a dried-up husk!”

Again?

Alexander’s knees nearly gave out. Just as he was about to protest, she waved her hand dismissively, cutting off his chance to speak, and sent him out of the Heavenly Tomb without another word.