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  Many are the luxuries afforded to a cultivator. A stronger body. A longer lifespan. The respect and fear of lesser mortals. The first taste of Divinity.

  All of them are chains. The further one advances, the less human one becomes. Those who are weak stopped appearing to you as people, but as resources. Insects. Trash to be killed or used at your leisure.

  They become meat, the fuel for your cultivation.

  But the same principle is adopted by those stronger than you. You learn to be afraid of your betters, those great men and women you were taught to look up to. Perhaps one day, when the abundance of flesh runs lean or their cultivation stagnates, they might judge your worth lacking, and think your life better served for their consumption.

  Few are the true freedoms afforded to a cultivator. Slaves to the strong, and slaves to their own powerlessness and hunger. No wonder they torment the mortals so often. Otherwise, the fear of being devoured would have driven them to madness.

  — Excerpt from Of Jade’s Lacking

  “L-Lady Lianshi!” Sister Jin exclaimed. Her complexion somehow kept alternating between the red hue of mortification and the pallid paleness of fear. “This isn’t what it looks like!”

  The Young Miss raised an eyebrow, her eyes slowly looking over the female disciple’s half-naked form, before shifting over to the Young Master’s completely naked one.

  “Really? Because it looks like you were trying to seduce my Fiancé while wearing his robes,” Lianshi noted, before frowning as the half-dressed female disciple hastily pulled on the rest of her dishevelled attire. “Sloppily wearing his robes, might I add.”

  “It looks good on her like that, though, you must admit.”

  That voice came from another newcomer — or perhaps a returning jester would be a better description. Brother Dai had rejoined them, perched on a stone guard rail some ways away. He was fully dressed in his Core Disciple robes and carrying another set of their Sect’s apparel with him.

  “I would wear it better,” Lianshi countered defiantly.

  “We can test that right now if the Lady wishes to back her words with proof,” Brother Dai offered without a hint of shame. His roguish grin was met by an unamused stare from the Young Miss. “In fact, I challenge the Young Miss to do so, if only to prove her rightful place over the bold upstart that dared try to steal my Young Master’s — and your beloved Fiancé’s — heart.”

  Sister Jin gave a horrified choke at Brother Dai’s provocative words. Feng sighed when he saw Lianshi’s considering gaze.

  “Senior Brother,” Feng intervened. “Please do not dare my Fiancée to undress in public. She would do it simply to prove a point.”

  “I would,” Lianshi agreed shamelessly. She gestured towards her fellow Sect disciples, who could only stare at the ground in abject humiliation. “My Senior Sister had already set an example by openly showcasing her body for all to witness. While I cannot see the reason behind such an act, who am I to go against her wisdom? As her Junior, it is only right that I follow her inspiring actions.”

  “Young Mistress, you mustn’t!” Sister Jin cried out in panic, unaware of the mischievous glances shared between the Lianshi and Brother Dai. “This and that are two different things! An Heir to the Head Clan of a Sect must not bear themselves to anyone except their spouse or consort!”

  “You realise my Young Master, who is also the Heir to a Head Clan, is standing naked right beside you at this moment?” Brother Dai interjected. “At least, I hope you do. Especially after seeing how you so enthusiastically rubbed your hands all over him earlier.”

  Sister Jin glared viciously at the male disciple, although its effect was somewhat lost due to the flaming blush covering her face. “That’s different! He is currently within the confines of his Sect, surrounded by his fellow disciples! My Mistress is a foreign Heir. And besides, her body is far too precious for such lowly peons to see!”

  “Oh, so yours isn’t, then? You are far too harsh on yourself, Jin.”

  The two of them bickered once more, arguing with increasingly ludicrous statements regarding the decency and propriety expected of a cultivator. Feng ignored the two of them and walked over to his Fiancée, who was looking at him with an appreciative smile.

  “You look nice,” she said, leaning down to kiss the Young Master on the cheek. Feng hummed before reaching over to squeeze her hand. “I could get used to seeing you like this more often.”

  “This is hardly the first time you have seen me undressed,” he countered. Despite Feng’s best efforts, the two of them had already previously shared a few moments of intimacy before their wedding. Although they never commit far enough to sully Lianshi’s purity, there were plenty of other indecent acts they had already performed — far more than Feng thought proper.

  “Perhaps, but this is the first time I have seen you undressed in public.” Her eyes twinkled with amusement. And only amusement, Feng realised with some surprise. There was nary a hint of hunger in those eyes, despite his… vulnerable state. “There is a certain appeal there that I can’t describe…”

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  He raised an eyebrow. “Would this also be the same appeal that held you back from intervening earlier?”

  The Young Master knew Lianshi had been close by for some time, even before Sister Jin had made her advances on him. The promised pair had engaged in multiple instances of flesh exchange over the years leading up to their wedding. Not all were wholly intimate; rather, some had been done purely with the ritualistic intent to acclimatise Lianshi to the taste of Feng’s essence.

  Such precautions would help ensure that she does not react too passionately on their wedding night and kill him by accident. Given the wide berth in cultivation levels, it was originally a very real concern. However, it soon became clear that Lianshi possessed a level of control usually unseen in disciples her age, making such worries void.

  In any case, as a result of these frequent ‘rituals’, they both could always vaguely sense the other’s presence when nearby — a lesser benefit among many others that would only become apparent once they began Dual Cultivating in earnest.

  Feng had, in some part, been hoping for her to intervene between him and Sister Jin earlier, but apparently, the Young Miss shared her younger sister’s predilection for voyeurism. Or perhaps it was the other way around?

  Lianshi grinned sheepishly, a rosy red dusting her cheeks. “You gave a good performance, I will not lie. Did you enjoy yourself?”

  The question was a surprise, as was her relative playfulness. Feng knew the Young Miss would not have minded the ‘tryst’ he shared with her handmaiden — so long as they did not pass certain thresholds of intimacy that would be deemed wholly improper — but the lack of possessiveness from his Fiancée was unexpected.

  Welcomed, but unexpected.

  “Senior Sister Jin’s skill cannot be denied,” he admitted. “But I had thought you would be a little more opposed to our… dalliance.”

  He and Sister Jin had engaged in a form of Dual Cultivation. A limited form, to be certain, but such things often went beyond a simple exchange of flesh if left unchecked. Feng would never go so far as to endanger the integrity of his relationship with Lianshi — and the woman knew that — but some chastisement for her would not be out of line.

  “If Jin had taken things further, I would have,” Lianshi confessed. “But she didn’t, and I like seeing you happy. Especially since, when it’s between us, you… well…”

  The Young Miss did not have to finish her statement for Feng to understand.

  The Young Master winced. He tried to apologise, but the words felt hollow. “Lianshi, it’s not like that. I enjoy my time with you, but—”

  “I know. And I understand,” she reassured him. Her smile was a little bitter, but the words felt sincere. “I just want you to know I’m not mad. Perhaps if you were with a stranger, I might be, but Sister Jin is a senior I respect, and one of my closest aides besides.”

  She kissed him. “Although I am glad you did not take her up on her offer to go further. Even I have my limits, you know.”

  The Young Master wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her close. A hug ill-made a proper apology, but it was a start.

  “It wasn’t a serious proposition,” he assured her. “She was just teasing me.”

  “Jin was only half-teasing,” the Young Miss corrected, affirming that nascent suspicion of his. “If she thought she could get away with it, she would have taken you to bed already.”

  Lianshi looked over him. The teasing gleam in her eyes faded a little. “Not that I don’t understand her feelings, of course. Part of me wants to drag you away back to the private estate so that I could have my way with you right now, but…”

  The Young Miss’s expression was worried. Feng sensed her qi, a slumbering beast of immense might, flickering its tongue as it mingled with his. “You are utterly spent. You have been running yourself ragged the whole day, haven’t you? When was the last time you slept? Did you eat anything today?”

  He considered the question. “For sleep… A week. Maybe more. As for food… Well, you did generously gift me your tongue this morning. I had a little wine and blood since then, too.”

  At higher advancements, a cultivator body evolves beyond the need for mortal rest or sustenance. Sleep becomes less of a necessity, although many cultivators still enjoy indulging in a slumber’s embrace. Feng has not reached the point where he could live without it completely, but he could easily go for days without sleep and suffer no impairment to his mental faculties. A week was stretching things, but still within acceptable limits.

  Likewise, mortal food and mundane alcohol might lose their flavour as one grows closer to Immortality. The craving does not cease, however. The palate simply takes on another form.

  Divine Hunger was an ever-present companion for any cultivator. Qi-rich meat, Spirit Wine, and Divine Flesh would always be in high demand. Though Feng had eaten at least a meal every day, he had not had the chance to properly satiate himself for quite some time. Lianshi’s tongue was probably the richest meal he had had in weeks.

  The Young Miss huffed. “This is just like you, always forgetting to take care of yourself. If I had known, I would have dragged you along in my hunt earlier. Your qi is on the brink of starving.”

  “A good thing dinner approaches, then,” Feng said before he blinked. Wait, what did she just say?

  The Eternal Banquet, Part 1

  The Eternal Banquet is the super-powered, continent-wide Domain of the Emperor. Its effect is singular, yet profound. For as long as one remained within the Qiangyu continent, any foreign cultivated flesh ingested by a cultivator would not lead to a spiritual rejection of the body, but rather serve to greatly enrich the qi of the practitioner.

  This led to the creation of the three Paths of Hunger: the Consumption of Spirit Beasts, the Cannibalism of human cultivators, and the Communion of Dead Gods. Each of these three new approaches to cultivation possesses an efficacy that far surpasses any other method before them.

  With such a boon, cultivation became significantly more attainable, and with it, Immortality became a feat within reach. The quality and quantity of human cultivators proliferated, and Mankind finally seized upon their Destined Fate.

  It is his greatest Gift of Liberation to Mankind. His Will made manifest, to guide a billion souls into Immortality. Though His Majesty now remains silent and secluded within his Imperial Court, and his first Proclamation the only words ever recorded by his subjects in living history, the presence of his Domain makes his intent clear.

  Consume all. Devour all. For that is your purpose. May our Hunger never cease, and may His reign never end!

  — Excerpt from To Those Worthy of the Eternal Banquet