333: Chapter 333 Floating Rift

The night was deep, and the bedchamber of Moon Shadow Palace was filled with an amorous atmosphere.

Luxurious gauze curtains hung half-drawn, and the floor was strewn with scattered, disheveled garments.

A carmine-red short jacket with a front opening was draped over the back of a rosewood chair. A crimson gradient liuxian skirt lay spread out on the plush carpet like flower petals, beside it a peach-red embroidered bellyband adorned with delicate intertwining peach branch patterns.

Before the dressing table, Yun Menglu's voluptuous, mature figure lay slumped over the surface. Her deep purple kesi wide-sleeved robe was half-slipped down to her elbows, revealing large swathes of snowy, smooth shoulders and back, as if she had exhausted her strength and fallen into a deep sleep.

Her black, gold-sprinkled pleated skirt was bunched around her waist, leaving only a deep purple satin bellyband to barely contain the heavy, ample fullness of her bosom.

Due to her prone position, viewed from the side, one could see the enticingly plump curves spilling over from the taut side edges of the bellyband, flattened and deformed, pressing tightly against the tabletop.

At the edge of the bed, Hua Xiangrong lay prostrate, her delicate, well-proportioned figure covered only by a thin brocade quilt. Her smooth shoulders glowed with a tempting pinkish hue under the candlelight, with a few loose strands of hair clinging to her dampened neck.

Within the gauze curtains, Liu Sisi lay lazily sprawled on Ling Hao's broad chest.

She wore only the loosely draped green-red gradient wide-sleeved liuxian dress, its front open, revealing vast expanses of snow-white skin and the fullness of her bosom. Her slender fingers traced circles over Ling Hao's heart.

The cloud-patterned skirt from her lower body had slipped down to her thighs, exposing her long, jade-like legs completely to the air, pressed tightly against Ling Hao's body.

"You... haven't come to find me in so long."

Liu Sisi lifted her eyelashes, her cool eyes brimming with longing, yet she cautiously observed Ling Hao's expression, afraid he might misinterpret it as complaint.

"I thought... you had forgotten me."

She buried her face in the crook of his neck, nuzzling gently, like a small animal seeking comfort.

Ling Hao chuckled lowly, his large hand stroking her smooth back, feeling the warmth and softness of her body.

"How could I forget? I can feel your longing and... affection."

He deliberately paused, teasing, "After all, you were so passionate just now, you nearly broke my old back."

Liu Sisi's pretty face instantly flushed crimson, and she gave him a light, indignant punch:

"What nonsense! It was clearly you who did all the work."

After saying this, she suddenly fell silent.

Ling Hao could sense some of the woman's emotions on him. He took her hand, intertwining their fingers.

"Worried about not doing well as the Pavilion Master?"

Liu Sisi nodded, a flicker of anxiety flashing in her eyes.

Ling Hao held her tighter, rubbing his nose against the top of her head.

"When have you ever seen me appoint people based solely on merit? I've always favored those close to me."

"Besides, my Sisi, do you truly lack the capability? Your tenure as the Master of Liuyun Temple wasn't for nothing, was it?"

Liu Sisi felt sweetness in her heart; that bit of unease was easily soothed by him.

The two whispered intimately, sharing words of reunion after long separation. His kisses fell on her forehead, her brows and eyes, the tip of her nose, finally covering her slightly swollen red lips—gentle, lingering, exchanging breaths.

Liu Sisi gradually lost herself in this tenderness, her arms encircling his neck as if wanting to merge into his body. They only parted when their breathing grew unsteady, her gaze hazy as she looked at him.

Ling Hao suddenly gave a mischievous laugh, lowering his head to breathe by her ear: "What, wanting more already?"

Liu Sisi blinked blankly, then quickly waved her hands.

"N-no, not at all..."

Her gaze swept over the two figures by the bed and the dressing table, feeling a sense of relief.

If they hadn't been there first, she feared she would have fainted long ago too.

Ling Hao: ?

Liu Sisi's hands were clearly within his line of sight.

Ling Hao raised an eyebrow, his gaze following his own body downward.

A restless little hand had precisely grasped him.

Both their gazes simultaneously turned toward the foot of the bed.

Hua Xiangrong had, at some unknown time, quietly moved over. She lay there now, only a pair of sly, lively eyes visible, looking at them with a triumphant smile.

"Little Rong Rong..." Ling Hao's voice held a hint of dangerous amusement.

From within the bedchamber came Hua Xiangrong's coquettish, tearful complaint:

"Sect Master Yun! I know you're pretending to sleep! Hurry, come help me... Grandmaster is too wicked! He actually... hung me up and... I... I'm almost out of strength..."

...

The morning sunlight streamed into the bedchamber through the carved window lattice, dispelling the lingering atmosphere from the previous night.

Palace maids had already entered to light elegant incense and open the windows, letting the morning breeze carry away the last trace of amorousness.

Ling Hao, draped in an outer robe, sat on the soft couch by the window, sipping tea.

"I'll bid farewell to Huang Yutong and the others soon, then head to the Southeast Main Rift."

His gaze turned toward the southeast direction, as if seeing, across a vast distance, the enormous cross-shaped scar in the sky.

...

In the southeast of Cangwu, the sky was torn by a massive cross-shaped rift. The core of the rift was a piercing, eerie bright purple. At its edges, space resembled shattered glass, with countless irregular fragments suspended and peeling off, shimmering with chaotic, dangerous light.

Below the rift, the clamor of voices rose and fell, and spiritual lights flickered—a temporary yet massive gathering place for Cultivators had formed.

To call it a city would be a stretch; it more closely resembled a giant trading post temporarily built relying on the terrain.

Ever since the Moonshadow Sect swept through the secondary rifts in the southeast and suppressed them with the world-suppressing monument, numerous Sect Cultivators from the southeast of Cangwu and even over a dozen distant immortal cultivation countries... or rather, from the Tianyuan Immortal Dynasty, had been coordinated and settled here before Ling Hao's departure.

Under the management of Moonshadow Sect Disciples, they divided the area based on Sect influence, each setting up simple protective Formations. Viewed from afar, the spiritual lights dotted the landscape like scattered stars under the night sky.

Initially, these Sect Disciples were on edge all day about the rift in the sky. But as time passed, and with the arrival of more and more Moonshadow Sect Elders and Disciples, as well as the tianque divine boat, this fear gradually faded.

On the peak of a towering mountain nearby, three graceful figures stood facing the wind, overlooking the bustling area in the valley below.

At the forefront was a woman wearing a light jade-green cross-collared, wide-sleeved gauze dress. Her dark hair was half-coiled up, secured with a jade-green hairpin from which tear-shaped ornaments dangled, presenting an aura of cool elegance and tall, graceful bearing.

"The Southeast Main Rift... is expected to fully form within these next few days."

Yu Lingling gazed at the shocking rift in the sky, her voice calm.

"Mm, but there's no need to worry. I heard the Sect Master has already returned."

Nangong Mei chimed in. A daringly tailored reddish-brown waist-cinching gauze dress outlined her extremely curvaceous figure. Her ample, proud bosom, rivaling Du Yuqing's, was faintly visible beneath the gauze. Her beautiful face wore a hint of laziness, with a captivating charm in the corners of her eyes.

"He will arrive personally soon after to begin sealing this source of calamity."

Mentioning Ling Hao seemed to bring a subtle change to the atmosphere.

Yu Lingling's gaze remained fixed on the rift, but deep in her eyes, a trace of longing flickered.

During the time Ling Hao left for the Wutong Divine Dynasty, she had truly come to realize that the emotion buried deep in her heart, which she had deliberately ignored, had long surpassed gratitude and respect.

She pursed her lips slightly, her eyes somewhat vacant.

Nangong Mei noted her subtle change, a playful smile curling her red lips. She leaned close to Yu Lingling's ear, breathing out a fragrant, orchid-like breath, teasing:

"Ling Ling, looking so distracted... missing the Sect Master? Since you've figured it out, when do you plan to go tell our Sect Master?"

Yu Lingling's ears instantly flushed crimson. She forced composure, looking straight ahead, and said with shy embarrassment:

"No... not at all..."

"Hmm?"

Nangong Mei pressed relentlessly.

"Your behavior doesn't seem like 'not at all.'"

Yu Lingling turned her head away.

"After... after matters here are settled, after this rift is sealed, then we'll see."

Beside them, Baili Qiao, dressed in a purple palace gown embroidered with intertwining branch patterns, had an exceptionally full lower curve. The outline of her rounded peach-shaped bottom was clearly defined beneath the skirt.

Listening to their conversation, her delicate brows slightly furrowed, and worry surfaced in her eyes as she murmured to herself.

"Ling Ling's words... why do they sound a bit like... that thing Elder Qin Zhaoxue mentioned... standing, standing on the brink of the rift?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Lingling's figure stiffened slightly.