Dual Cultivation: Gathering SSS-Rank Wives in the Cultivation World-Chapter 329 - What the Hell

Meilin’s face had gone from composed to thunderous. Her hands, previously relaxed, now trembled with barely suppressed rage. "How dare you—all of you—come into my household and—"

The fury was real now, no longer manufactured or controlled. How dare this man—this inferior, powerless man—humiliate her in front of her daughter, her niece, her servants? How dare he see through her carefully laid plans and expose them with such casual confidence?

She’d underestimated him. Badly. She’d seen a man and assumed weakness, assumed stupidity.

"Your household?" Sabrina took a step forward. "This is my mother’s household. You’re just the caretaker. And a piss-poor one at that, if children are getting poisoned under your watch."

"I didn’t—!" Meilin caught herself, breathing hard. When she spoke again, her voice was ice. "Fine. You want to know where your father is? Your uncle? They went to negotiate with the main clan. In secret. Because your mother’s loud, aggressive approach was getting us nowhere. They’ve been gone for three weeks."

"Three weeks," Sabrina repeated slowly. "And you didn’t think to mention this before?"

"I sent word to you!" Meilin’s mask was fully gone now, replaced by raw anger. "Multiple times! But you were too busy gallivanting around the competition grounds to respond!"

Tianlong watched the exchange with interest, his Absolute Domain reading every emotional fluctuation. Meilin’s anger was genuine. But beneath it... beneath it was something else. Fear? No. Not quite.

Anticipation.

Like someone waiting for a trap to spring.

His eyes narrowed. There was more here. Something Meilin was still hiding, still hoping would save her. A final card she hadn’t played yet.

He needed to push harder.

Then, casually, he stood—drawing every eye in the room. He walked past Sabrina, past a fuming Meilin, until he stood directly in front of the older woman.

"You know," he said conversationally, "there’s something I’ve learned about liars. Really good liars mix truth with fiction. Makes it harder to sort out what’s real." He leaned in slightly. "So let’s try a simpler question. Where. Is. Kai’s. Sister?"

Meilin’s eyes flashed. "In her quarters. Resting. As I said."

"Show us."

"Absolutely not. She needs—"

"Then I’ll find her myself." Tianlong turned to Kai. "Where’s your sister’s room, kid?"

Kai pointed with a trembling hand toward the eastern wing. "T-that way. The servants’ quarters. We’re not... we’re not important enough for the main house."

"Perfect." Tianlong started walking, his black robes swirling behind him. Sylvia, Akane, and Xiang fell into step immediately.

"Wait!" Meilin moved to intercept, but Sabrina’s hand shot out, gripping her aunt’s wrist.

The contact sent a jolt through both of them. Sabrina’s grip was iron-strong, unbreakable. And in that moment, Meilin saw something in her niece’s eyes that chilled her to the bone.

Not anger. Not rage. But cold, absolute certainty.

Sabrina knew. Truly knew. And there would be no talking her way out of this.

"Let him go," Sabrina said quietly. "If you have nothing to hide, it won’t matter. Right?"

Meilin’s jaw clenched so hard Tianlong could hear her teeth grinding from across the room. "You’re making a mistake, Sabrina. These people—this man—you don’t know what he’s doing. What he’s planning."

Desperation. That’s what this was. One last attempt to sow doubt, to drive a wedge between Sabrina and this dangerous outsider.

"Maybe." Sabrina’s grip tightened. "But right now, I trust him more than I trust you."

The words hung in the air like a death sentence.

Sabrina’s own words surprised her.

Trust? Did she trust Tianlong?

No. But she trusted his motivations less than her aunt’s, which said something about how completely this situation had deteriorated.

He was self-serving, arrogant, and probably had a dozen ulterior motives she couldn’t even guess at.

But he’d been honest about it. He’d shown her, in his own crude way, exactly what kind of man he was.

Perverted bastard who cared for his wives and cooked good poisoned food.

Her aunt, on the other hand, had been lying for gods knew how long.

Tianlong didn’t wait to hear more. He strode through the dimly lit corridors, following Kai’s whispered directions.

Meilin’s eyes narrowed, a silent command passing to her daughter. It was a gesture so subtle, a mere flick of her gaze, but Julia understood instantly.

With a snarl, Julia launched herself forward, her own fury mirroring her mother’s. "Stop! Didn’t you hear what mother said?" she yelled, her hand outstretched, aiming to grab Tianlong’s shoulder and spin him around. She was fast, a blur of motion, her athletic form coiled with power.

But as her fingers were about to make contact, they passed through nothing but air.

She stumbled forward, her momentum unchecked, an audible gasp escaping her lips as she passed directly through the space Tianlong had occupied a split second before. He was like smoke, intangible and untouchable.

Before Julia could even right herself, a delicate, cool hand clamped around her wrist. The grip was impossibly gentle, yet it held her with the force of solid steel. Julia’s eyes widened in shock as she was halted mid-stumble. She turned, her face a mask of rage, only to see the woman in the black and violet robe, her enchanting violet eyes twinkling with a lazy, confident smirk.

"LEAVE ME!" Julia roared, trying to yank her arm free, but it was like pulling against a mountain.

Ignoring Julia’s struggle as if she were a pestering child, Xiang looked towards Tianlong’s back. Her voice was like honeyed silk, flowing through the tense room. "You can go ahead. I will join you after having a proper talk with Miss Julia. A woman-to-woman talk, as per this world’s standard."

Julia’s eyes widened further, a flicker of true fear replacing her anger.

Before she could form another word, Xiang’s form holding her wrist began to shimmer and dissolve.

Her body disintegrated into a swirling storm of thousands upon thousands of black and violet butterflies, a sight both mesmerizing and terrifying.

The swarm enveloped Julia, the feeling of countless, soft wings fluttering against her skin sending a wave of revulsion through her. She felt herself being lifted off her feet, thrown into an abyss of blackness as the living tide of butterflies carried her away from the light.

"JULIA—!" Meilin screamed, her carefully constructed composure finally shattering like glass. She lunged forward, her face a mask of primal terror, only for Sabrina to step directly into her path, a solid, immovable wall.

"Rest assured, aunt," Sabrina said, her voice chillingly calm. "I will not let anything happen to my cousin. You can rest."

Meilin’s face was a mottled canvas of rage and fear, but she was trapped. Doubted, cornered, and now utterly outmaneuvered, she knew any further struggle was pointless.

All she could do was give a stiff, trembling nod as she watched Sabrina turn her back and walk away, following Tianlong, Akane, and Sofia out of the hall, leaving her utterly alone in her defeat.

Far from the main house, within the confines of a secluded training ground, the air shimmered.

The dense swarm of butterflies reappeared in a chaotic vortex before they seemed to violently spit Julia out from their center.

She fell through the air, but her instincts were sharp. Her body twisted, a long, striped tiger’s tail lashing out from the base of her spine to grant her perfect balance.

Pointed, furry ears, no longer hidden by any illusion, perked atop her head. She landed in a low crouch, her hands and feet cracking the hard-packed earth beneath her with the force of her impact.

She straightened up in one fluid motion, her form taut with aggression as she glared at the cloud of insects.

The butterflies began to coalesce, fluttering together in a hypnotic dance. They weaved into a humanoid shape, the black wings forming the fabric of a flowing robe, the violet ones adding shimmering, ethereal highlights.

A delicate woman walked out of the fading swarm, her hips swaying with a mesmerizing rhythm that made the newly-formed silk ripple over her generous curves.

The subtle motion outlined the full swell of her breasts and the tantalizing shape of her ass, a display of effortless grace and absolute, predatory confidence

Julia stared, her jaw slack. "What kind of sorcery is this?" she yelled, her voice raw with a mix of fury and awe. "Are you a mana cultivator?"

Xiang merely shrugged, a simple, elegant movement that did nothing to hide the dangerous power radiating from her. Her violet eyes locked onto Julia’s furious gaze, and a faint, condescending smile touched her lips.

"You shouldn’t have talked to my husband like that."

Others arrived one after another at the secluded training ground, the air charged with tension and unspoken challenges.

Akane’s nine tails swirled possessively around Tianlong, their movement like living shadows that hugged him closely, melding their power with his presence.

Tianlong stood confidently, his arm resting possessively on Sylvea’s thick ass.

"Unh.. mnhh..." Sylvea winced slightly but hugged her face into his arm, a subtle shiver of pleasure as his fingers teased her ass crack lightly from above her robe, an intimate and electric touch.

’This pervert...’ Sabrina watched the scene with a frown, her gaze flickering to Tianlong’s boldness, though she ignored it as her eyes shifted toward the training field with a sharp focus.

"Will she just dodge? Let’s see..." Sabrina muttered under her breath, her interest piqued. She was keenly watching the fight between Xiang and Julia.

Xiang’s intangibility made her pass through attacks, but it was less offense and more a defensive tactic—maneuvering and countering, testing Julia’s limits.

But Tianlong noticed something subtle while rubbing Sylvea’s ass ring, as if telling her, "Tonight, this is mine."

’Xiang’s kinda looks hot... hm.’