Chapter 39: Veil of the Sacred Pearl
The wind within the Sacred Dimension carried an ancient hush, as though even time dared not speak too loudly here.
Kael stepped onto the marble-like soil, the sky above painted with cascading auroras and distant stars that seemed close enough to pluck from the heavens. The Sacred Pearl's entrance shimmered behind him, sealed, a gateway to a realm where ten years could pass in a single day outside. An opportunity few cultivators could ever dream of.
His breath left in awe.
"So this is the Sacred Dimension..." he murmured.
Behind him, his wives had stayed in the material world. Kael needed this moment, this solitude, to refine what he'd gained, to understand his newly awakened racial and physique paths. He wandered, curious, through the floating jade meadows and crystalline forests. The land pulsed with spiritual energy so pure it made his blood sing.
Hours passed—or perhaps weeks in this space—until he came upon a quiet temple.
Its spires rose like marble fangs beneath the sky, weathered with age but preserved by a gentle stasis. Vines with glowing blue flowers clung to its walls, and as Kael stepped forward, a soft melody wafted through the air.
He followed it.
The moment he stepped inside, his body went still. His eyes caught her silhouette before his soul caught fire.
Seated on a stone bench amidst a garden of moonlotus flowers was a woman unlike any he'd ever seen.
She was tall, poised, and impossibly elegant. Her raven-black hair cascaded down her back in graceful waves, brushing her waist. Her figure was sinful in its maturity: a voluptuous bust wrapped in silver-stitched lavender robes, a narrow waist that led to wide, noble hips that could have been carved from temptation itself. Her skin was flawless, pale like pearl with the faintest golden warmth.
And her eyes—bright azure with ancient wisdom—glowed when they met his.
"You are not a memory," she spoke, her voice low, sultry yet controlled.
Kael straightened. "Neither are you."
The woman rose slowly, robes falling around her like flowing water. She walked toward him with a grace that defied motion itself.
"What name does the bearer of Sin carry?" she asked.
"Kael Viren," he replied. "And you?"
She studied him for a long moment, then bowed her head slightly. "Lady Evelyne."
The name wrapped around him like velvet.
[New Companion Identified: Lady Evelyne - Worldbreaker Realm, Tier 7]
[Race: Half-Elven]
[Status: Virgin]
[Bloodline: Moonshadow Empress Lineage - Dormant]
[Potential Bond: 98% - Awaiting Emotional Resonance]
Kael blinked as the system fed him more.
[Alert: Virgin Heritage Detected - Possible Unique Bonding Reward Upon First Union]
[Caution: Companion has not known intimacy, and carries immense dormant power]
"You shouldn't be here," Evelyne said suddenly, her tone laced with sadness. "This place... was meant to be forgotten."
"Then fate had other plans," Kael answered, stepping closer.
For a moment, the breeze stilled.
"I have waited for countless years," she whispered. "Trapped in cycles. Rejecting all suitors. They came for power... or my body. None came because they saw me."
Kael reached out and gently took her hand. It trembled.
"Then let me be the first."
Her lips parted slightly. Emotion rippled through her eyes. Something ancient stirred.
[Quest Initiated: The Moonshadow Bond]
Awaken Evelyne's true power.
Earn her love, not just her body.
Withstand the trial of the Moon Lotus Pool.
Rewards:
Bloodline Synergy (Worldbreaker Class)
Unique Passive: Lunar Tether
System EXP Boost
Evelyne looked away, cheeks flushed faintly. Her defenses weakened, but not fallen.
"Why are you truly here, Kael Viren?" she asked softly, her voice no longer guarded but curious.
He chuckled. "To find strength... to protect those I love. And perhaps, to find pieces of myself that power alone cannot awaken."
"You speak like a man who has tasted loss."
Kael's expression turned pensive. "I've buried more than one dream. But I've also risen stronger from the ashes. What about you, Evelyne? What keeps you here in solitude?"
She sighed, her fingers brushing the petals of a glowing moonlotus. "This temple was once a sanctuary of my people. I was the last of its priestesses—until my bloodline marked me unworthy of peace. They sealed me here, claiming it was to preserve the Moonshadow line. In truth... they feared me."
Kael frowned. "Feared you?"
"Because I refused to bend. Because I had power that did not answer to them. And because... I rejected a marriage that would have enslaved me to a tyrant."
Kael's hand curled around hers again, firmer this time. "Then they were fools."
She looked up, startled.
He smiled. "A woman like you deserves worship, not chains."
Evelyne's cheeks colored more deeply. She turned her gaze to the moonlight filtering through the ruined ceiling. "You're a bold man, Kael."
"Only when I see something worth chasing."
Their eyes met, and for a moment, there was no Sacred Dimension, no Sin System, no world.
Just two souls, orbiting.
And Kael knew this journey—one of strength, respect, passion, and awakening—had only just begun.
End of Chapter 39