Villain Seduces to Rise in Status

Right as Cale was contemplating his next move while Niva slept against his chest, a signal reached him through the spiritual connection he shared with his harem members. It had unknowingly grown stronger with each of his increasing soul bodies.

A mark talisman had been shattered from Fiora’s side.

She’d found it. The Primordial Spirits Spring — one of the three main inheritances of the Maleficent Realms, and the only one whose location Cale had managed to pinpoint (though not with precision). The spring contained thousands of primordial spirits, each one distinct in nature and attribute. A treasure truly beyond measure.

’I need to go to her side.’

While Rexa and Emma remained with the larger group to maintain their cover, Fiora would enter the spirit realm with him. The inheritance was mostly related to ice attributes with mostly ice spirits, and since Cale possessed ice cultivation as well, their combined understanding would allow them to navigate it far more efficiently than most.

He quickly located a nearby cave and threw the half-healed Niva on its floor, while also healing her a bit. With a gesture, he erected a barrier around the space, made to last twelve hours. She would likely wake within four or five hours, but the barrier would keep her safe from any external threats until her body completed the healing.

Then he soared toward Fiora’s location, his form blurring across the sky with impossible speed.

Fiora stood before a massive door planted right in the middle of a dense forest. It was simply a door. An ancient, ornate one, covered in strange patterns with nothing behind it. No wall or frame, no connection to any normal structure. It was a portal in pure form, a gateway between realms.

She understood intuitively that opening it would reveal the Primordial Spirits Spring beyond.

But she had no idea how to open it.

”I can’t open it,” she murmured to herself, watching Cale descend from the sky above her. ”But Cale should know how to do it. Since he knew its location, I’m sure he has the means.”

She smiled slightly despite herself.

’That kid has everyone playing in his palms these days. Even killing so many people without consequence. If there exists a thing like karma, he would likely get a lot of it in the future. Heh, aren’t I doomed too if we marry...’ She paused, her smile widening a bit. ’Hehe, I’m looking forward to it.’

She jumped down from her elevated position and stood on the ground before the door just as Cale landed a few steps ahead of her.

She still couldn’t quite believe the transformation in his appearance. When she’d first met him, he’d been handsome in some ways, but it was the beauty of a nobleman’s son, refined and elegant. But now? Now his looks had transcended ”handsome” and entered something far more extraordinary and godly.

’Truly, how did his looks go from handsome to extraordinary?’ she thought, watching him approach with that infuriating smirk.

Cale smiled warmly, his voice smooth.

”Yo, dear princess~”

Fiora’s expression didn’t shift by even a millimeter.

’Tch, she doesn’t even move her expression,’ he thought with amusement. ’Does she practice this in front of a mirror?’

As they walked toward the door together, Fiora explained the situation.

”Seems like there are many traps and formations here. We need someone who can open them up. But from how you explained it, I guessed you knew how.”

He nodded confidently. ”Well, if it’s two or three traps, I can analyze and dismantle them. But I hope it’s not too grand. Given that this was an Emperor-stage inheritance ground, we shouldn’t worry too much.”

Then, as they approached the massive structure, Cale turned and extended his hand toward her, gesturing for her to take it.

Fiora stared at his outstretched palm, her expression unreadable.

He held the position for ten full seconds... then pouted like a child.

”Sigh... it can’t work like this. Come on, aren’t we a pair?” His voice carried frustration. ”If you show no cooperation, it won’t even matter if we’re married or not. Those who don’t know us would think I did something to you in the past.”

Fiora contemplated silently. They were only engaged — well technically, she could still cancel the arrangement if she wished. There was no legal obligation binding them yet.

But there was another reason she avoided physical contact with people and most people avoided him.

When she’d been sixteen and newly cultivating at peak Beginner Stage, her ice-attribute powers had manifested with terrifying force. The freezing energy that radiated from her body had intensified as her cultivation grew stronger. One of her maids had made the mistake of holding her hand.

Her hand was frozen solid. By the time they’d managed to thaw it, the damage was irreversible. The maid had lost all sensation in her fingers, then her hand, then her entire arm. She’d died from complications months later.

Since then, Fiora had isolated herself. People were naturally wary of her, keeping their distance, understanding instinctively that touch would mean death. Only high-level fire-attribute cultivators or mages could safely maintain physical contact with her; their internal heat countering her lethal cold.

This was why the engagement had been so shocking. Most noble families wouldn’t dare propose such a union. But some did think of daring, dying before they even saw her face.

The husband would have to spend every night using fire cultivation just to survive in the same bed! His lower body would freeze!

But Cale... Cale had accepted without hesitation. He’d even grown bolder over the past year, seemingly unbothered by the danger.

’He at least knows what he’s getting into,’ she realized.

After another minute of internal deliberation, she made a decision.

It was time to break the shackles of isolation. To take this risk and see what lay beyond.

She reached out and gripped his hand tightly.

”Heh,” Cale smirked triumphantly. ”Oh, how the mighty have fallen~”

She immediately tightened her grip hard enough that frost began to spread across his palm, creating patterns of ice that glittered with deadly beauty.

”Owww... I’m sorry, okay! Can we act civilized here!” he shouted, wincing at the cold but not pulling away.

As they walked forward together, hand in hand despite the danger, they approached the massive door. The moment they drew close, Cale’s eyes brightened.

”So this is the door to spirit realm,” he murmured,

”Is that what it’s called?” Fiora asked.

”Well, many mages call it that. You can even say it’s another small portal, but we can’t always enter such portals only the spirits can come out... But that is for most people, heh.” He replied with his smirk.

”You... can enter something like that? How?” she asked, curiosity in her voice. This man was definitely hiding countless secrets. Based on how he’d been treated at her uncle’s main estate, he shouldn’t possess such esoteric knowledge.

’Hmm, well it depends on what it is, but I can definitely force one of my soul bodies out inside this if done correctly,’ Cale thought, remembering fragments of his past life. ’I entered such a spirit realm once with a group of mages. Hope their method works here too.’

”Well, we will see about that,”

They drew closer to the door.

The ancient door was a masterpiece of otherworldly craftsmanship.

Its surface was carved from a material that seemed to shift between solid stone and flowing mist, as if it existed simultaneously in both the physical realm and the spiritual one.

Intricate patterns covered every inch—spiraling runes that glowed faintly with ethereal blue light, depicting scenes of ancient spirits dancing and swirling in eternal celebration.