Reflecting.

—

After shaking hands with sister Yelena, who was already eager to move up and down so that she could achieve the same cultivation, Ying Yue sighed inwardly, knowing that she hadn't brought this story up for the good of the many concubines down the line. Instead, it was out of her own selfishness, driven by the desire to have her master's body to herself. By making this deal, she would gain leverage against sister Yelena when it came to future distribution disputes.

Ying Yue knew clearly that achieving the same cultivation wouldn't take long when using her master's Yang essence—probably half the time it would take their master, given how effective his circulation was. Unlike her own Dual Cultivation method, which only slightly sped up her master's cultivation.

Even though she could have told sister Yelena this, Ying Yue chose not to, as it was part of the competition she wanted to win to remain her master's favorite. It was in her best interest to stay silent, hoping that in the future, sister Yelena wouldn't take this small manipulation to heart. But as she thought more about it, Ying Yue realized that her manipulative behavior might not foster the cohesiveness needed among the master's concubines later on. After a long internal conflict, she decided to come clean.

Five years into secluded dual cultivation, Ying Yue finally chose truth over manipulation, forsaking her own benefit and leverage over sister Yelena. After climaxing once more and seeing sister Yelena finish another breathless session of dual cultivation, Ying Yue noticed that she had regained her senses.

She then said, "Sister Yelena, I'm sorry. Although Yue said earlier that it was for the good of the master's concubines, it was actually my own selfishness. Master's circulation during dual cultivation is superior and can speed up the process by half the time for those taking his Yang essence. This means that if our master reaches your fourth-stage cultivation in just a couple of decades, Yue can achieve it in half the time due to master's effective circulation. So, sister Yelena, I'm sorry again. I shouldn't have manipulated you like that."

Shaking her head, since she had already known this when sister Yue said it was purely transactional, Yelena replied, "I already knew, sister Yue. I knew you wanted to manipulate me when I argued with you about the schedule five years ago. But I also think you're right, sister Yue. I don't have anything worthy to give our master, even though he sees something valuable in me that I don't fully understand. Because of that, it's okay if Yue has the same amount of time with master as I do for dual cultivation. Not only that, I'm fine if you take a little longer, because you're right, sister Yue—you're master's first."

Reflecting on her earlier behavior and how her ego of being the first could lead to her downfall, imitating her master's approach to these matters, Ying Yue shook her head and said, "No, sister Yelena. It's okay. I think it's better for me to have only half the time for dual cultivation. At the end of the day, Yue only needs that amount of time to reach master's cultivation, fulfilling the motivation to have equal cultivation among the concubines. Moreover, just like master, I don't want my ego of being the first to become my downfall. So treat me the same as any other of master's concubines."

Still shaking her head out of respect for Yue's dedication as the first, which was the hardest role to choose since she didn't have a herd mentality and had to rely on herself to make a difficult decision that would last for eternity, Yelena still refused. "No, I don't want that to happen, sister Yue. First, I realize I have an insurmountable debt that places me below, or even at the very bottom, of master's concubines. So it's better for me to have the lowest distribution until I can prove my worth to you or any of master's concubines in the future, showing that I'm valuable enough to stand on equal ground. And lastly, because you're the first among many, I want you to have extra time with our master because it's the right thing to do, sister Yue."

Opening his eyes from deep meditation and sensing that this was the moment when Yue would develop feelings for Yelena, Tian Xing turned around and hugged both of them tightly in a gentle manner, ensuring their affection was directed toward him instead of each other. 

Kissing both of his beloveds on the tops of their heads—Yue, then Yelena—Tian Xing said, "Master is very proud of how you two handled this. It is as if celestial forces conspired to orchestrate this divine rhapsody of devotion, bringing you into harmony with each other. Yue, Yelena, you are both my adoration, and again I am very proud of you two. And if my Yue and Yelena want to hear it just for the sake of hearing it, yes, I love you both so much."

After hugging them in a touching scene where both became emotional upon realizing they had done the right thing, Tian Xing then decided to gently dance in combat and savor each bite of the fruit for a couple of days before returning to his meditation, satisfied that the warmth blossoming into love between the women was now directed toward him, not each other.

But before that, he gave both of them a long, breathless kiss before saying, "Okay then, master will go back to meditation once again. And just as we discussed earlier, it's okay to quarrel with each other, but after that, you two must reflect in silence, considering how it impacted your sister's heart and trying to understand each other's perspective. Is that okay?"

"Yes, master."

"Hihihihi. Right away, master."

Seeing her master close his eyes and return to meditation, Ying Yue turned to sister Yelena, saying, "Sister Yelena, can I dual cultivate with master for a bit? Yue wants to shower master with my love because I can't contain this feeling anymore."

Shaking her head while giggling, Yelena simply said, "Go ahead."

—