Chapter 10: The Cracks in the Facade

The five newly operational Extraction Arrays in the Demon Beast Mountain Range roared to life, a silent, ravenous feast on the spiritual essence of the fallen beasts.

Ao Yetian now had a sustainable, albeit dangerous, flow of fuel for the insatiable CEO card.

This sudden stability allowed him to shift his focus, not just to wealth generation, but to maintaining the three pillars of his ambition: Xiao Ning'er, Ye Ziyun, and Yang Xin.

He found himself spending an unexpected amount of time with them, teaching them his advanced techniques.

His teaching style was meticulous, patient, and deeply personal, and as their power grew under his guidance, so did a genuine, troubling warmth in his own core.

Ao Yetian met with Xiao Ning'er most often in the isolation of her private courtyard, often under the guise of "maintaining the anchor."

She was a furious flame of potential, dedicated and fiercely loyal to the pact.

He had initially targeted her for the unique purity of her Dragon Bloodline Essence, but he found himself drawn to her unwavering commitment.

She didn't question his methods; she questioned his motives, forcing him to be ruthlessly honest about his desire for power, even if he hid the truth of the multiversal trade.

During one session, after showing her a new, intricate circulating rhythm that pushed her Dragon Blaze to the brink of Silver Rank, he noticed a faint spiritual tremor near her heart.

"You are pushing too hard,"

He said, gently placing his hand on her wrist, a necessary act to guide her energy flow.

Her skin was cool beneath his touch, but her gaze, usually defensive, was filled with trust.

"I have so little time to grow strong. You said the horde is coming."

"Strength requires patience,"

Ao Yetian murmured. He knew her drive came from a fear of being trapped.

"You have potential that no one in this city understands. You will not just be strong; you will be free."

The word 'free' resonated deep within him, touching a nerve that echoed the vague, twisted sense of confinement he couldn't quite remember from his life before waking up in this body.

He wasn't supposed to feel this way; he was supposed to see her as a battery, yet when she smiled, a genuine, joyful expression of new power, he felt an unfamiliar, protective pang.

It was a warmth he wanted to bottle and keep, a small, pure light against the cold logic of the card.

With Ye Ziyun, his interactions were softer, more veiled in noble courtesy, but equally intense.

Her Snow Wind Soul Force was the easiest to anchor to the card—stable and vast, a perfect reservoir.

He met her in ancient, quiet halls, teaching her cultivation methods that instantly stabilized her fragile health, making her radiant with power.

She saw him as a saviour, a true hero who had defied her father’s suffocating restrictions.

"I don't know why you are so kind to me, Ao Yetian,"

She confessed one afternoon, her eyes shimmering with gratitude.

"You have given me back my life."

"You were meant to fly,"

He replied, using the romantic words he knew would appeal to her virtuous nature.

"I merely clipped the cage."

But as he guided her through the final stages of a Legend Rank Snow Wind technique, a fleeting, intrusive thought flashed across his mind:

Cages are necessary. Order must be enforced. Compliance is the only path to safety.

The thought was cold, metallic, and absolutely alien, yet it felt terrifyingly familiar.

He pulled his hand back quickly, a sudden, cold sweat breaking out on his brow.

The sensation—a twisted memory of iron bars and absolute control—vanished as quickly as it came.

He quickly masked the disturbance with a complex explanation of energy equilibrium, forcing his mind back to the present.

He realized, with a jolt of alarm, that the more emotionally invested he became in protecting these women, the closer he got to excavating the horrors of his own forgotten identity.

Yang Xin was the most intellectually stimulating—a partner in crime who understood the ruthless scale of his ambition.

Their meetings were late at night, filled with maps, ledgers, and whispered secrets of the coming multiversal trade monopoly.

She was his financial anchor, ensuring the CEO card had the necessary currency to avoid system collapse.

Her refined Soul Force proved excellent for maintaining the card's transactional stability.

"The Sacred Family is investing heavily in obsolete alchemical formulas,"

Yang Xin purred one night, a malicious satisfaction in her voice as she reviewed his investment ledger.

"In six months, we will own everything they have."

Ao Yetian admired her ruthlessness. It mirrored his own calculated ascent.

But what started as professional admiration quickly became something more.

Her maturity and fierce independence—the very traits he sought to exploit—began to feel strangely comforting.

He started anticipating her sharp wit, her insightful critiques of his expansion plans.

"You are wasting your time on these minor nobles, Ao Yetian,"

She said, tapping the ledger with a sleek nail.

"You have the power of three worlds. Why not leverage this 'Celestial-Punishing Realm' you speak of? Bring back a single relic, and we can buy this city ten times over."

"Patience, Head Yang Xin,"

He smiled, a genuine, conspiratorial smile.

"We must conquer our own house first. Besides..."

He let his gaze linger on her, noting the sharp intelligence in her eyes and the graceful curve of her neck.

"...I find the challenges of this realm, and its company, quite engaging."

He felt a deep, complex affection for her—respect, shared ambition, and a spark of genuine attraction.

But beneath the warmth of their partnership, a cold whisper of his subconscious echoed: A successful controller must always appreciate the beauty of their tools.

It was during a late-night consultation with Yang Xin that the crisis hit.

They were reviewing the latest energy logs from the Extraction Arrays—the data showing the spiritual essence of slaughtered Demon Beasts—when the logs suddenly spiked.

[ANOMALY DETECTED: UNNATURAL SPIRITUAL CHURN.]
[LOCATION: DEMON BEAST MOUNTAIN RANGE—CENTRAL RIDGE.]

[LIKELIHOOD OF DETECTION BY HIGH-LEVEL REALM CULTIVATOR: 98%.]

"What is that?"

Yang Xin breathed, pointing at the alarming data spike.

"That energy signature—it's too vast, too chaotic. It’s not a beast; it's a maelstrom."

Yetian’s blood ran cold. He knew exactly what this was. The concentrated, unnatural consumption of thousands of Demon Spirits had created a spiritual disturbance too massive to hide.

"It is a consequence of our work,"

Ao Yetian said, standing abruptly.

"We have drawn the eye of a true master."

A moment later, a terrifying, soul-crushing wave of Peak Black Star Rank Soul Force—a power far beyond anything Ao Yetian's Profound Core had yet to match—slammed into Glory City. It wasn't an attack; it was a search.

Ye Zong, the City Lord, had found the Spiritual Extraction Array.

The web Ao Yetian had so carefully woven around the city's three most powerful women was about to collide head-on with the city's single most powerful man.