Chapter 62: Awakening 3
Meng Hao sat cross-legged on the soft, cloud-like bedding within the lavish chamber allocated to him inside the Heavenly Demon Sect. The walls of the room were covered in velvet tapestry that shimmered faintly with spiritual threads, each strand pulsing gently with defensive formations embedded within the fabric. Decorative lanterns lined the carved stone walls, casting a warm golden glow that softly illuminated the room, accentuating the luxurious ambiance in every corner.
The bed beneath him was draped in silk spun from spirit cocoon moths, smooth and cool to the touch, and the scent of sandalwood incense lingered faintly in the air, its calming properties helping stabilize one's spiritual sea. Despite the tranquility around him, Meng Hao's mind was anything but calm.
He stared intently at the glowing blue system panel floating silently before his eyes. The digits and symbols gleamed with ethereal radiance, as if etched into the very fabric of the void. His pupils trembled as he read the stats that had just been refreshed.
His mouth parted unconsciously, words spilling out in a dry whisper.
"Indigo level…? Wasn't she blue just a day ago? What is this… how the hell did she jump two entire tiers?!"
There was no one in the room to answer him, and yet the suffocating silence only made the tension in his chest grow heavier.
He clenched the edge of the bed unconsciously, his knuckles whitening against the pristine white linens. He could feel the wooden frame beneath the cushioning groan slightly under the pressure of his grip. Though he had lived in this cultivation world long enough to accept many absurdities, what he was witnessing now was beyond anything even the most exaggerated cultivation novels from his past life had ever described.
Li Yao.
A name that had lingered in his mind like a beautiful yet dangerous memory. That possessive girl who clung to him so dearly… had just undergone a transformation so profound, it was like she had stepped across an entire epoch in a single breath.
He narrowed his eyes and whispered urgently into his mind, "System. What is going on with her luck level? Explain this to me now!"
The familiar mechanical chime echoed crisply in his mind, clear and emotionless, like the voice of a celestial being looking down upon mortals.
[Ding! The host has requested an explanation. Clarification as follows:]
[In extremely rare situations, Daughters of Luck may experience rapid elevation in their luck grade due to critical emotional breakthroughs, combined with the awakening of unique bloodlines or ancient physiques. The higher the grade of luck, the harder it is to upgrade. The current rise in luck level is considered an exceptional case and does not reflect a repeatable norm.]
Meng Hao's eyes narrowed, his mind racing through everything he knew. A chill ran down his spine.
"So that's it…" he muttered to himself.
He leaned back slightly, letting his shoulders sink into the plush cushions of the bed, and exhaled long and deep. The faint breeze from the open balcony doors rustled the jade-thread curtains slightly, allowing a cool draft to enter. Beyond the curtain lay a moonlit sky where twin moons hung above the mountain peaks of the Heavenly Demon Sect, illuminating the sect's grand spires with an eerie, divine glow.
But Meng Hao's attention was locked entirely on the implications.
"Overpowered… this is beyond overpowered," he muttered again, his tone a blend of admiration, wariness, and irritation.
He recalled the effort it had taken him to increase his own charm to the 500 mark. The countless setups. The carefully calculated dual cultivation encounters. The boobs-grabbing incidents. The stolen kisses. The missions that pushed him through humiliation, pain, and danger.
And yet here she was. Li Yao. Reaching the same level of charm and skyrocketing to the Golden Core realm in a single day. All because of a burst of grief and awakening an immortal bloodline?
"Dammit," he whispered, almost laughing. "I had to go through a whole academy arc for that charm increase. And this girl does it by crying in a forest and setting fire to a few trees?"
He shook his head, both amused and frustrated, but before he could speak further, a crisp chime rang through his mind again.
[Ding! A new system feature has been unlocked due to Host's progress and involvement with a high-tier Daughter of Luck.]
[Now displaying reward matrix for dual cultivation with Daughters of Luck according to their current luck tier:]
• White Tier: 1 year of cultivation
• Grey Tier: 2 years
• Green Tier: 10 years
• Blue Tier: 100 years
• Yellow Tier: 1,000 years
• Indigo Tier: 10,000 years
• Orange Tier: 100,000 years
• Purple Tier: 1,000,000 years
• Red Tier: 10,000,000 years
• Immortal Tier: 100,000,000 years
[Note: Dual cultivating with the mother of a Daughter of Luck yields ten times the daughter's reward.]
Meng Hao blinked.
His mouth fell open slightly, stunned silent. A heartbeat passed, and then another. His expression slowly warped into a mixture of disbelief and growing excitement.
He leaned forward, gripping the edge of the bed as the reality sank in.
"Ten… thousand… years?"
His voice trembled slightly with excitement.
His mind spun furiously. "So if Li Yao's luck is now Indigo… that means if I dual cultivate with her now, I'll earn ten thousand years of cultivation?"
His breath caught.
He was suddenly hit with the thought—what if he had dual cultivated with her earlier, when she was only at Blue tier?
He did a quick calculation.
"Only one hundred years," he muttered, eyes wide.
His fingers clenched into fists. "Damn it… I almost wasted her full potential. If I had used her then, I would've only gained 1% of what I can now."
He swallowed hard and looked back at the glowing system panel that floated silently before him, its cold blue hue casting a ghostly light upon his face. In that quiet chamber, wrapped in velvet silence and incense-scented air, Meng Hao's thoughts grew sharper—more dangerous.
A sinister glint flickered in his eyes.
"But wait…" he murmured.
His lips slowly curled into a smirk, the kind that did not belong on the face of a man with kind intentions.
"If she's worth ten thousand years now… then her mother…"
He didn't even bother finishing the sentence out loud.
The conclusion was obvious—blazing in his mind like divine scripture carved into his soul.
A hundred thousand years.
That number echoed like a sacred mantra, louder than any sect bell, more resounding than any spiritual awakening he had ever experienced. His heart began to beat faster, each thump pounding like the drums of an army preparing to go to war.
Meng Hao rose from the bed in a slow, almost reverent motion, as if his body was reacting instinctively to the revelation that had just been handed to him. His bare feet pressed against the soft, spirit-weaved carpet that covered the floor, the texture smooth and cool like moonlight flowing over polished jade.
He walked toward the balcony in a daze, his mind still calculating. The long, translucent curtains billowed slightly from the mountain breeze that wafted in through the tall window panes. He pulled one aside and stepped into the open air, letting the night wind wash over his face.
Above him, the twin moons hung suspended in the heavens like silent watchers. Their silver light bathed the sect's mountain peaks in a dreamlike glow, turning sharp stone ridges into smooth silhouettes, like brushstrokes painted by an immortal artist.
Down below, the vast grounds of the Heavenly Demon Sect spread outward like a celestial web of cultivation towers, demonic halls, and spirit gardens. The flickering lights of barrier formations shimmered across rooftops, and faint chants from disciples in secluded meditation chambers could be heard humming beneath the wind—each voice resonating with the discipline of thousands of years of inherited power.
Yet Meng Hao's eyes weren't seeing any of that.
He saw numbers. Possibilities. Cultivation years. Advancement. The path to supremacy that now stretched clearer than ever before.
"I should thank Mo Zhou…" he muttered with a sardonic grin, the wind rustling his hair like a silent conspirator.
His gaze remained fixed on the stars, but his thoughts churned like a storm beneath calm waters.
"If I had dual cultivated with Li Yao earlier," he whispered, "I would've squandered her value. Only a hundred years... laughable. But because I was delayed—because Mo Zhou intercepted me—I now stand to gain a hundred times more."
He chuckled darkly, the sound low and coarse, almost drowned by the mountain breeze. To any outsider, it might have sounded like madness. But to Meng Hao, it was the laughter of someone who had narrowly avoided a critical mistake… and stumbled into a divine opportunity.
He stepped back into the room, pulling the curtain closed behind him. The warm glow of spirit lanterns welcomed him once more, chasing away the cold of the night air. He paced slowly across the room, his mind still swirling with plans.
"Ten thousand years from Li Yao…" he repeated silently, "but that's only the beginning."
His eyes gleamed with ambition.
"The real prize… is her mother."
He paused and took a deep breath, then slowly sat down on a nearby meditation cushion placed near the jade tea table. The table itself was carved from a single block of spirit jade and inlaid with golden lotus patterns—clearly the craftsmanship of a high-ranking sect member. Everything in the room screamed wealth, status, and power, and yet to Meng Hao, it all felt temporary. It was a stepping stone. A base from which he would rise far higher.
"Li Yao's mother…" he thought again. "She must be far stronger than Li Yao—maybe even stronger than Mo Zhou herself."
His lips twitched with dark amusement. "That woman must be terrifying... a Nascent Soul at minimum, perhaps even Divine Transformation or above."
He leaned forward slightly, elbows on his knees, fingers steepled before his lips.
"But how do I reach her?"
The Heavenly Demon Sect wasn't a place where he could freely come and go, and even if he did leave, finding Li Yao's mother would require information—and timing. He had to remain patient, careful, and precise.
But before that…
He glanced toward the direction of Mo Zhou's quarters.
The young sect lady of the Heavenly Demon Sect. The terrifying demonic beauty who could kill Golden Core cultivators as casually as swatting a fly. The woman whose puppet had nearly ended his life before she even knew who he was.
And now… she was in love with him.
He grinned.
"A Divine Transformation Realm cultivator… one who loves me, and who's planning to dual cultivate with me. That's easily another thousands of years in cultivation if I play it right."
Meng Hao's fingers curled tightly around his own forearm, gripping it as if to anchor himself to this new reality.
The world had changed.
He reached for the nearby spirit jade teacup, still steaming from when a servant had delivered it earlier. He sipped slowly, letting the warmth seep through him as he pondered.
"One step at a time," he reminded himself. "First Mo Zhou… then Li Yao again… and eventually, her mother."
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, steadying the storm of excitement threatening to burst within him.
"I need to get out of this sect at the right moment. Not now. Mo Zhou is still watching. If I try to leave too early, she might grow suspicious."
But i should get Mo Zhou worth of shares of cultivation years right.