Did she… Did she think this was his offer to dual cultivate with her? Her adamant rejection was a little more understandable now, but even so, Feng felt a little flustered that she thought him so licentious.

  “This isn't a proposition for anything improper,” the Young Master replied, trying to calm her down. “I am not interested in you that way, Senior Sister.”

  Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that it would be inappropriate for him to show any interest in her. A few glances or lines of flirtation were one thing, but to actively pursue other women when he was already engaged — to the Young Miss of a Sect, no less — brokered the kind of disrespect from Clans that might see him killed.

  Feng was not that eager to court death. If anything, his life had far too many women in it already.

  “Besides, Lianshi is not so... possessive as to misunderstand my intentions for you,” the Young Master continued, trying to keep the embarrassment out of his voice. “My desires for compensating your efforts are entirely pure, despite the… unorthodox approach that I might have gone about showing it.”

  Courtship rituals aside, that method was one of the fastest ways for him to procure an organ for her consumption. Perhaps it was not wrong for the Senior Sister to view his ‘performance’ as a romantic gesture, but given the context of their near non-existent relationship — combined with the fact he was to wed her Mistress — Feng could not help but feel Sister Jin jumped to outlandish conclusions a little too readily.

  Surely he had not given the public impression that he was such a disloyal cur? He might have to look into this later.

  “Your wandering eyes say otherwise, Young Master,” Brother Dai injected. Feng glared at him, and though he tried, the young cultivator could not stop a faint blush from appearing on his cheeks. The other disciple gave a knowing grin before raising his hands in surrender. “Fine, I’ll stop with the teasing.”

  The Young Master sighed, before addressing the Sister once more: “I apologise if I gave the wrong impression. I’m not looking for bodily repayment or any sort of illicit trade. This is simply my way of thanking you for the aid you delivered to our Sect. The fire would have raged far more chaotically without your timely intervention.”

  The complete transformation into that monstrous Insectoid-Saurian hybrid form would have drained a profuse amount of her spiritual reserves. More specifically, it would have tapped into the wellspring of Yang energy stored within the Dantian of her body — the key stabilising property vital to the Yin-rich bodies of the female disciples of the Split-headed Carnivore Sect.

  Though the Sister appeared fine for now, her following days would be wrecked by ravenous cravings as her body cannibalised portions of itself to fuel the gnawing ache of Yin Hunger.

  It would not be beyond her means to endure. A disciple of Jin’s calibre — trained and grown within the flesh-starved monastery of her winter mountain Sect — would have certainly weathered through her fair share of famine. There was Yang meat to be found in the Beheaded Phoenix Sect as well, should the Sister prove herself resourceful and of a suitably… promiscuous deposition.

  But Feng did not want her to have to go through all that, especially if it was to make up for the reserves she lost in dealing with the mess he made.

  Brother Dai turned towards the trembling female disciple and added his affirmation. “Jin, seriously, it’s fine. This is simply my Young Master’s way of paying gratitude, foolish and unconventional as it might be. Just accept the damn meat and be grateful.”

  Sister Jin's expression wavered for a moment, eyes darkening to hungry pits before she wrestled control over herself again.

  “No! You will not tempt me on this!” She directed her finger to Brother Dai and shook her head vehemently. “I might be starving, naked, and maybe, maybe, a little aroused—!”

  “Maybe? I have seen women in the throes of sex who look less aroused than you do right now,” Dai interjected.

  Sister Jin glared back, before continuing as if he had not interrupted. "But I am a woman with principles! I will not be swayed by your attempts at seduction! I will remain loyal to my mistress’s honour!”

  Even as she declared those words, her lithe tongue nervously darted out to wet her lips. The disciple's eyes raged with uncertainty and desire. Jin’s hunger was evident to all, even as she persistently refused.

  The Young Master shifted awkwardly in place, hand still outstretched with his liver in hand. Being exposed like this to the winter air, stuck in such a posture — while naked, no less — was decidedly uncomfortable. He felt like a spurned lover whose offering was found wanting.

  Perhaps he should have offered a different type of meat instead? The liver was often considered the most scrumptious of cultivator flesh — Lianshi had certainly never complained in the rare moment he offered his to her during their younger years, usually after he lost a bet or series of bouts — but it was not unusual for tastes to differ among practitioners. Disciple Shao might have claimed it was Sister Jin’s preference, but perhaps he should have asked before surgically extracting the chosen piece?

  Then again, it was a little too late for that now. And if nothing else, the salivating and flushed expression of Sister Jin indicated she at least found the organ to be of some appeal.

  “Gods, you’re stubborn,” Dai murmured, utterly unconvinced. “Aren’t you Split-headed Carnivores supposed to be voracious eaters? Just accept the blasted offering so that we can all go get dressed. You need the Yang meat to stabilise your qi, and I doubt your envoy has prepared any for you. The Young Master can replenish his reserves at dinner later. You can rest assured that the Sect will feed him well enough for it.”

  Sister Jin's glare intensifies, her will steadfast even in the face of enticements. “This is a matter of principle, not practicality. You male disciples might be ready to throw away your honour at the first convenient solution, but you will find me not so easily bought over!”

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  Feng was at a loss for what to do. This was the first time someone had rejected his offering so ardently. He had not been expecting such resistance from Sister Jin, especially since she hailed from the same Sect as his Fiancée.

  The Young Master could say with experience that if Lianshi were here instead, she would have snatched the liver from his hands the moment he took it out.

  “Oh, for Emperor's sake…” Dai muttered. His qi rose, and by the time Feng realised what his Senior Brother planned to do, it was already too late.

  The Core Disciple extended his fortified fingers and thrust them unflinchingly into the iron-hard flank of his own torso. Blazing hot blood spurted forth from the wound, hissing as they fell upon the ground. A mere second later, Dai violently tore out his own smoking liver, uncaring of the savaged offal and flesh that gushed from his wound.

  “That was unnecessary,” the Young Master said with a sigh.

  Dai rolled my eyes. “That’s my line, Young Master. In the first place, the Senior Sister is not wrong. Offering your flesh like this to a woman while you are engaged to another is highly inappropriate, good intentions notwithstanding. And you!”

  The disciple lifted his liver in Sister Jin’s direction. The wound at his flank had already healed.

  “You were feasting your eyes all over me just now," he called out to her. "If you find the Young Master so unpalatable, just end all our misery and take mine instead. Restraint is admirable and all, but your stubbornness stops being attractive when it has us standing out in the open — naked! — for any longer than we have to.”

  Brother Dai's logic was sound, in a way. If it was her dedication to Lianshi that was preventing her from accepting Feng's flesh, then Dai's should prove no issue. The accomplished disciple's liver was not inferior to the Young Master's, and would more than suffice as an offering to replenish Sister Jin's qi reserves.

  Yet rather than eagerly accepting the meat like the two male cultivators had expected her to, Sister Jin instead reacted in the complete opposite manner.

  The female disciple's complexion instantly blanched, her earlier blush disappearing so rapidly it was almost impressive. “No! Absolutely not! That’s even worse!”

  “What?” Brother Dai looked completely taken aback, evidently not expecting her extreme reaction. “W-why not?! You were eyeing me up like you wanted to take a bite out of me earlier!”

  “Yes, but that’s just to look, not to eat!” she frantically yelled, eyes wide with horror. “Sister Shao will kill me if I take that!”

  “Wh– I won’t tell that wretch!” Dai yelled back.

  Sister Jin vehemently shook her head, even going so far as to take several steps back. “She’ll know! That woman is obsessed with you. She can smell you on me! In me! I won’t take it!”

  “Well, what are we supposed to do!” Brother Dai raised his hands in frustration, composure lost. “We have BOTH ripped out our livers for you! Do you expect us to swallow them back down? Just pick one already so that we can move on with our lives!”

  “I… But that’s–!” Sister Jin cut off whatever she was going to say and took a deep breath, before exclaiming: “FINE! I’ll choose! Just, give me a moment to decide!”

  Both male disciples presented their livers, their dispositions tired. The wounds on their flanks had already healed, though their gloomy expression spoke of other discomforts and humiliations being suffered.

  Sister Jin stood hesitantly before them. The twitching in her fingers spoke of nervousness, but those dilated pupils in her gaze gave away her true hunger and excitement. Enchanted emerald eyes gleamed with barely concealed glee as she looked from one delectable choice to the other.

  Her pale-pink tongue darted once more from parted lips, tasting the air to discern their exquisite flavours. Should she choose the flesh of Dai, whose cultivation even surpassed hers? Or the weaker Young Master’s, whose cultivation held more depth?

  She pondered…

  And pondered…

  ...

  And kept pondering still. For two whole minutes. Until Dai’s patience finally reached its end.

  “Choose already!” He yelled, startling her. "Gods, you were nowhere this indecisive when you claimed your bedmates. Just pick one!"

  Jin’s eyes darted nervously between them, expression horribly embarrassed. She looked down shyly, opened her mouth to answer, closed it hesitantly again, before finally summoning the courage to meekly ask: “Can… can I have them both? I mean, since the two of you are already offering..."

  "..."

  Feng was at a loss for words.

  Dai, however, was not.

  “... I take back everything good I said about you. All you Split-headed Carnivores are exactly the same!”

  Dual Cultivation, Part 2

  Organs are considered the richest source of qi within a cultivator's body, with flesh coming second, bodily fluid third, and bones last.

  Livers, kidneys, lungs, spleen, stomach, and intestines are all common choices for consumption. The reaped cultivator would be able to regenerate the harvested tissues if given enough time and ambient qi. This means that with a large enough number of ‘volunteers’, a Sect's Butchery could produce a sustainable amount of cultivated organs for long-term Dual cultivation, at least among their higher echelons. Other organs, like the pancreas and gallbladder, are less common food choices, but hold significant value for Pill-Makers and Alchemists, particularly for producing potent qi medication.

  Internal organs that overlap closer to the three Dantian of the cultivator's Spiritual System are often deemed to be of higher value for consumption. As such, parts such as the lungs, kidneys, and livers are particular favourites among cultivators.

  The heart and brain are considered the richest organs within a cultivator's body, given their direct proximity to the Middle and Upper Dantian of the Spiritual System, respectively. However, as their removal would often prove instantly fatal, they are an extremely scarce resource that rarely sees consumption outside of festive or important occasions, and are thus heavily sought after.

  The Lower Dantian overlaps the reproductive system, but the saturation of qi is heavily skewed towards the progenitive functions of a cultivator. For this reason, fertility rates for regular cultivators are often far lower than for normal mortals, with odds becoming nearly negligible once Immortality is achieved. It is determined that the strange interference and properties of the Lower Dantian might be responsible, though efforts to understand or circumvent this issue — particularly at higher Cultivation Realms — have proven to bear little fruit, even after a millennium of research.

  The consumption of such organs is heavily taboo — even outlawed in some provinces. Only the most depraved of cultivators would resort to eating those organs, for they carry little sustenance and hold unpleasant implications besides.

  The only primary exception to this rule is the practice of mothers consuming their placentas after childbirth. The organ is unusually rich in balanced qi and may act to aid the female in replenishing some of their lost strength after delivery.

  There are rumours of hidden Sects that regularly harvest the enriched placentas of pregnant females — both mortals and cultivators — to produce elixirs of unparalleled potency, but such things are likely tall tales meant to scare or disgust the average serf.

  — Excerpt from To Those Worthy of the Eternal Banquet