The Lotus Woman
Black lotus petals stirred with every breath of wind. Thick with qi, the air pulsed with strange rhythms—too steady to be natural, too seductive to be safe. Haaron stood among them, barefoot and bare-chested, the scent of the flowers curling through his lungs like a drug. The sky above him was alien—its constellations foreign, its moon colder. This was not the world he had known. That one had burned him, broken him, buried him. And yet, he lived. Stronger. Taller. No longer a scorned boy with empty eyes, but a man reborn in chaos and filled with hunger.
He flexed his fingers. Power hummed beneath his skin. Unshaped, unstable, but undeniably vast. He didn't need answers. He needed a target. He needed something to take, to bend, to dominate. He needed blood. And pleasure.
"You've been watching me since I woke," he said, not turning. "Come out."
Soft laughter answered him. A woman's voice, smooth as silk, rich with amusement and something darker. "Sharp. You must be special. Most who land here can't stand within an hour. You're already commanding the wind like you own it."
"I own nothing yet," Haaron said. "But I will."
From the black lotus came a figure, stepping barefoot through the petals as if she floated instead of walked. A woman. Beautiful didn't do her justice—her robe was sheer, clinging to her like shadows to moonlight, exposing flawless legs and curves that swayed with purpose. Violet eyes glowed faintly. Nine ethereal tails drifted behind her like mist, each flick a whisper of illusion and charm.
"You're a fox demon," Haaron said.
"You say that like you're not interested," she replied, smiling with fangs.
"I'm not here to be toyed with."
"You were reborn in my domain," she said, circling him slowly. "This lotus field catches the bodies the Forest of Silence regurgitates. Most are broken. You're… different."
"I don't need your compliments."
"Then take my offer." She stopped in front of him, head tilted. "Your energy is unstable. Your spirit is cracked. Your qi is trying to tear itself apart. You're on the edge of a wild breakthrough—and you'll die if you don't anchor it."
"And you're the anchor?"
"I'm the answer." Her hand reached for his chest. "Let me help you stabilize through union. Dual cultivation."
"You mean drain me."
She didn't deny it. "You wouldn't be the first."
His hand caught hers before she touched him. "I'd be the last."
Her eyes flared, amused. "Big words for a man still naked and radiating chaos."
"Try me."
She moved.
Fast.
In a blink, she vanished and reappeared behind him, palm glowing, fingers angled toward his spirit sea.
He caught her wrist.
Spun.
Drove her back into the trunk of a black lotus tree.
The wood cracked. Her smile didn't.
"Strong," she purred, her chest rising against his. "But can you control it?"
His aura flared, silver and violet clashing in the air between them. Her tails writhed, wrapping around his waist. She didn't resist. She watched.
"You were going to take from me," he said coldly.
"I still might."
"No," he said, pressing closer. "I take from you."
Then he kissed her.
It wasn't soft. It wasn't romantic. It was domination in the form of lips and teeth, a flood of raw spiritual pressure forcing into her body. Her eyes widened as her illusion technique cracked at the edges. Her charm aura fizzled. His qi entered her like fire into dry grass.
She moaned.
Her robe slipped lower, revealing pale skin flushed with heat. "This… isn't how it's supposed to go."
"You chose the wrong prey," Haaron growled.
He lifted her effortlessly, her legs wrapping around his waist. The tree behind her glowed with dark energy, reacting to the surge of dual cultivation. The black lotus field quivered.
He entered her in one hard, claiming thrust.
She gasped, the sound torn from her throat, her tails flaring wide.
Qi exploded around them in ripples of light and shadow. Haaron gripped her thighs and moved with relentless power, every motion pushing their spiritual energy higher into resonance.
"You shouldn't be able to—ah—control it this fast," she gasped between breaths. "You're not just reborn. You're something else."
"I'm the mistake they tried to erase."
Her back arched as he flooded her with essence again and again. Her voice cracked. Her nails dug into his shoulders. The field swayed violently as spiritual pressure surged through the area.
She kissed him this time—desperate, gasping.
He devoured it.
"You're draining me," she whispered, half-lost in the spiral of pleasure.
"No. I'm rewriting you."
Her spirit trembled as her core reacted, not from loss but submission. Haaron's cultivation storm was stabilizing—by force. Her illusion Dao unraveled beneath him, not because he broke it, but because she offered it.
"I don't submit," she hissed.
"You just did."
She came first—loud, body convulsing around him. Her qi exploded outward, feeding his storm, and Haaron rode the wave through it, his own breakthrough igniting seconds later. His essence entered her not just as seed, but as spirit fire, burning a brand deep inside her sea of consciousness.
The air went still.
The lotus petals settled.
He let go of her slowly, letting her slide down from the tree, her body shaking. Her robe hung off one shoulder, her lips parted in disbelief.
"You… what did you do?"
He stepped back, voice calm, breath steady. "I didn't just fuck you. I claimed you."
Her hand touched her chest where the mark pulsed faintly—a yin-yang sigil burned into her qi.
"You forced a link."
"No," Haaron said. "You gave it up willingly. You just didn't realize it until after."
Her eyes narrowed—but not in anger.
In awe.
"What are you?"
He turned away, walking through the lotus field, each step cracking a petal with his rising qi. "I was born to be sacrificed. Raised to be forgotten. Killed to be replaced."
He stopped and looked over his shoulder, silver eyes burning like dawn through smoke.
"Now I'll be worshipped."