Zhou Kai stood outside the cabin, listening to the voice within—a voice feigning cold detachment. He took a moment to organize his thoughts.

Li Youci’s emotions are volatile. We are both at the peak of Qi Condensation, and her Ghost Body is currently unusable…

He suppressed the flicker of pity rising in his heart, replacing it with a sharp, aggressive determination—the intent to conquer. Only then did Zhou Kai turn and push the door open.

Li Youci sat on the edge of the soft couch, her posture rigid, her spine pulled taut as a bowstring.

If not for her hands—knuckles white as they death-gripped the hem of her robes—Zhou Kai might have believed the previous events were merely an illusion.

Neither spoke. The air felt solid, heavy enough to crush bone.

The harder she tried to maintain her dignity, the more ragged she appeared.

Finally, Li Youci broke the silence. She forced her voice to sound steady, mimicking her usual imperious tone.

“Did you find any clues within the Secret Realm?”

She didn’t mention her loss of control. She didn’t mention the hideous, monstrous form she had revealed. She acted as if none of it had happened.

She was desperately trying to derail the train wreck of reality and force it back onto a track she could control.

Zhou Kai watched her facade of calm. He chuckled inwardly but didn’t expose her immediately. He simply waved his hand.

Crash—!

Two massive carcasses slammed onto the floorboards.

Li Youci’s gaze fell upon the beasts. Beneath her veil, her brow twitched ever so slightly.

“Metal and Wood Qi…” A trace of genuine surprise entered her voice. “Only these two?”

“More than that.” Zhou Kai pulled over a chair and sat down with arrogant sprawl, legs wide, acting the master. “I also slaughtered a few blind fools from the Yin Ruins Sect. I looted quite a bit from their Storage Bags.”

Li Youci fell silent.

She studied the two corpses—the Blade Arm Strange Beast and the Three-Eyed Crocodile Beast. Different styles, different elements. A suspicion she had long ignored began to clarify in her mind.

After a long pause, she spoke slowly, realization dawning.

“The Cicada Raiment Art… I should have realized it sooner.”

“Realized what?” Zhou Kai watched her with keen interest.

“This place isn’t a trial ground for cultivators,” Li Youci said, her eyes darkening. “Or rather, the human trials are merely a byproduct.”

She extended a slender, jade-like finger, pointing at the carcasses. “These beasts are high-quality fodder.”

She continued, her mind working fast. “The next challenges should be Water, Fire, and Earth. The Five Elements in rotation, an endless cycle of generation. The master of this Secret Realm expended massive resources to build five distinct ecological zones. It wasn’t to let a bunch of Qi Condensation juniors scavenge for materials.”

Her tone turned absolute.

“This is a massive nursery. An incubator designed to breed and cultivate Spirit Insects.”

“Spirit Insects?” Zhou Kai blinked.

“Correct.” Li Youci nodded. “Every mechanism here—the beasts, the Sword Rain, the miasma—is a filter. They are screening the Spirit Insects, selecting the strongest for evolution.”

Zhou Kai frowned. “So the requirement for mass sacrifice—living souls and blood—was just to feed the initial swarm? Only the surviving insects are qualified to enter?”

“That would be the logic.”

“Does this relate to the Cicada Raiment Art? It has ‘Cicada’ in the name, but it looks like a human technique.”

Li Youci paused. “Spirit Insects are a sub-class of Demonic Beasts. If a beast reaches the Fourth Rank—equivalent to a human Nascent Soul—and chooses to take human form, it can cultivate human arts.

“Haven’t you noticed how difficult the Cicada Raiment is to master? A cicada naturally molts. For them, this technique would yield twice the result with half the effort.”

“So humans can learn it, but we’re just slower?”

“Exactly. The senior who created this art was likely a Great Demon—a Cicada that took human form but retained its primal characteristics.”

“Have you heard of this senior, Grand Miss?”

“No.”

Silence descended again.

Normally, Li Youci would dismiss him, or Zhou Kai would tactfully retreat.

“So what?” Zhou Kai suddenly asked.

“This Secret Realm is raising insects. You, however, are feeding a ghost with your own body. You are turning yourself into a monster—neither human nor ghost.”

“What is your point?” Li Youci’s voice dropped to absolute zero.

Zhou Kai didn’t answer.

Step. Step. Step.

He walked slowly toward her.

Li Youci’s body went rigid. She felt it immediately—the naked, undisguised aggression radiating from him.

“Stand down!” she warned. A wisp of her Divine Sense flared, ready to strike.

Zhou Kai ignored the warning. He didn’t even slow his pace. He walked right up to her, towering over her petite frame, looking down with predatory intent.

They were inches apart.

Zhou Kai could see it clearly now. Beneath the veil, her eyes were frantically churning with shame, humiliation, and panic.

He smiled. It was a brash, domineering grin.

“Grand Miss, do you think… the way you looked earlier was ugly? Terrifying?”

Li Youci trembled. She jerked her head up, her eyes like daggers, glaring murderously at him.

He had touched the deepest scar in her heart. The forbidden zone!

“Do you think if you don’t mention it, I’ll pretend I didn’t see it?” Zhou Kai continued. His voice wasn’t loud, but every word was a spear, stabbing relentlessly into her chest.

“You… shut up!” Li Youci’s voice shook.

“Why should I?” Zhou Kai leaned down, locking eyes with her. “Do you think I care if you’re human or ghost? Do you think I care if you’re the peerless Grand Miss Li, or… a hideous monster?”

He reached out.

With rude, irresistible force, he ripped the veil from her face.

“Ah!”

Li Youci let out a short, stifled cry. Her mind went blank.

Her face was exposed. Breathtakingly beautiful, yet flushed crimson with shame and rage, tears misting the corners of her eyes.

Before she could react, Zhou Kai’s voice exploded in her ear like thunder.

“I’ve got my eyes on you. I don’t give a damn what you look like!”

As the words fell, he lowered his head and crushed his lips against hers.

There was no tenderness. No romance.

It was a declaration. A barbaric, undeniable theft of her breath.

“Mmph!”

Li Youci’s eyes widened to the bursting point.

This wasn’t intimacy. This was an unprecedented offense! A towering wave of humiliation and fury washed over her.

Since the day she was born, who had ever dared to treat her with such disrespect?!

BOOM!

A violent surge of Mana detonated from her body.

“The audacity!”

A scream of shame and rage tore from her throat. Without thinking, she lashed out. Her palm, wreathed in black Nether Fire, struck straight at Zhou Kai’s chest!

This palm was fueled by pure fury. It was powerful enough to pulverize rock and shatter steel.

Zhou Kai didn’t dodge.

He didn’t blink.

He held her tight, ready to take the blow head-on. His body, his eyes, broadcast a single message: I don’t care.

The palm rushed toward his heart.

In that split second, Li Youci looked into his eyes. They were right in front of her, filled with stubbornness and tyranny.

There was no disgust. No fear.

And most importantly… no pity.

There was only pure, unreasonable possession.

He wasn’t pitying a monster. He was conquering a woman.

Crack.

That realization struck the hardest fortress in her heart, shattering the foundations.

At the very last moment, the killing intent behind her palm evaporated. Ninety-nine percent of the force vanished as if spirited away by ghosts.

It made no sound.

It was less of a strike, and more of a caress.

The jade-white hand, still flickering with black fire, landed softly against Zhou Kai’s chest. It rested there, limp, drained of all strength.

And their lips, finally, met in earnest.