The shed was silent, save for the wet, desperate sounds of struggle and the electric hum of the System vibrating in Li Ye's skull.
Li Ye's mouth was a seal of iron over Han Ruoxue's. He drank from her not like a lover, but like a man dying of thirst in a desert who had stumbled upon a spring. Her lips were soft, impossibly soft, tasting of the spiritual tea she had likely sipped earlier that morning in her ivory tower. But beneath the sweetness lay the true prize: the Pure Yin Essence.
It flowed out of her mouth like a glacial stream—cold, blue-tinged energy that rushed down Li Ye's throat and exploded into his dantian.
"Mmph! Mmh!"
Han Ruoxue's hands beat feebly against his shoulders. Her nails, manicured and painted pink, tried to dig into his flesh, but her strength was evaporating. The Celestial Plunder System acted like a siphon. Every ounce of Qi she tried to rally to defend herself was instantly hijacked, twisted, and pulled into Li Ye's voracious void.
He broke the kiss, pulling back just an inch. a string of saliva connecting them before snapping.
Han Ruoxue gasped, her chest heaving violently. Her face, usually a mask of icy arrogance, was flushed a deep, shameful crimson. Her eyes were glazed, swimming with a mixture of terror and a confused, chemically induced arousal caused by the rapid destabilization of her Yin energy.
"You... you demon..." she panted, her voice trembling. "What... did you do to my cultivation?"
"I'm merely borrowing it," Li Ye rasped. His voice was changing. The scratchy weakness was gone, replaced by a deep, resonant baritone. "The sect teaches that resources belong to the strong, does it not? You are a resource, Ruoxue."
His gaze dropped. The struggle had loosened her robes further. The white silk cross-collar had slipped, exposing the entirety of her clavicle and the upper swell of her breasts, encased in a rose-colored dudou (an embroidered stomach stomacher/undergarment).
The dudou was exquisite silk, embroidered with mandarin ducks playing in water—a symbol of marital bliss. The irony made Li Ye smirk. The fabric struggled to contain the heavy, creamy mounds of her flesh, pushed upward by the tightness of the binding.
[SYSTEM ALERT] [HOST BODY REPAIR: 45%] [CRITICAL JUNCTURE REACHED. THE YIN SOURCE IS RESISTING. TO EXTRACT THE CORE ESSENCE, DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE 'MOON GATE' (CHEST) IS REQUIRED.]
"Time to peel the fruit," Li Ye muttered.
He didn't hesitate. His hand, caked in dried blood and grime, grabbed the pristine white collar of her outer robe and ripped.
RIIIP.
The sound was sharp and violent in the small shed.
"No! Don't!" Han Ruoxue shrieked, trying to curl into a ball, but Li Ye's knee drove between her legs, forcing her thighs apart and pinning her to the dirty straw.
With a ruthless yank, he tore the outer robe down to her waist, trapping her arms in the tangled fabric. She was left exposed in her translucent white inner pants and the rose dudou.
The air in the shed was cool, but Han Ruoxue's skin was burning feverishly. Li Ye could see the intricate ties of the dudou behind her neck. He ignored them. He simply hooked his fingers over the top hem of the rose fabric, right between her breasts, and pulled it down.
The silk snapped taut, then gave way.
Her breasts spilled out, bouncing heavily with the motion. They were magnificent—shaped like perfect peaches, milky white and veined with faint blue due to her Ice attribute cultivation. The nipples were a tender, pale pink, currently hardened into stiff peaks from the cold air and her fear.
Li Ye paused for a microsecond to appreciate the view. In his past life, he had bedded models and actresses, but the women of this world... their bodies were refined by spiritual energy. Her skin looked poreless, glowing with a faint pearlescent luster even in this filth.
"Beautiful," Li Ye whispered. "And wasted on a prude like you."
He cupped her left breast. His rough, calloused palm contrasted sharply with her delicate skin. He squeezed firmly, his fingers digging into the soft yield of fat and gland.
"Ah!" Han Ruoxue threw her head back, her back arching off the straw. A jolt of electricity shot through her spine. It wasn't just physical touch; his hand felt like a branding iron.
[PLUNDER: MAXIMUM OUTPUT]
Li Ye channeled the System through his palm. He kneaded her flesh, molding the breast roughly as he extracted the Qi stored within her heart meridian.
The sensation for Han Ruoxue was maddening. It felt like ice water was being sucked out of her nipples, replaced by a searing heat that pooled in her lower belly. Her hips began to grind involuntarily against the straw. The shame was worse than the pain. She was the Ice Empress of the Outer Sect, and now she was lying half-naked in a woodshed, moaning under the touch of the sect's trash.
"Look at you," Li Ye mocked, his thumb brushing rapidly over her stiff nipple, teasing it, tormenting it. "Your mouth says 'kill', but your body is leaking nectar. Is this the pride of the Wang Clan's fiancée?"
"Stop... please..." Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. "My cultivation... it's dropping..."
She could feel it. The dense Qi she had spent years cultivating was flowing out of her breast and into his hand. Body Tempering Layer 8... Layer 7... Layer 6...
"You have plenty to spare," Li Ye said coldly.
He lowered his head. He didn't kiss her lips this time. He buried his face in her cleavage, inhaling the scent of her skin—musk, fear, and lotus. Then, he opened his mouth and captured her right nipple, sucking greedily.
"AAAAHN!" Han Ruoxue screamed, her body convulsing.
The suction was intense. Li Ye used his tongue to swirl around the sensitive nub, drawing out the purest concentration of Yin Qi. The energy hit his tongue like spicy wine.
Inside Li Ye's body, a transformation was taking place.
CRACK. POP.
His broken ribs didn't just heal; they fused together with a density harder than granite. His atrophied muscles swelled, the fibers tearing and re-knitting instantly, becoming lean and wire-strong. A black, tar-like substance began to ooze from his pores—the impurities of his old, weak body being expelled.
[SYSTEM NOTICE] [HOST BODY REPAIR: 100%] [CULTIVATION RESTORED.] [BREAKTHROUGH IMMINENT.]
Li Ye bit down gently on her nipple, eliciting a sob from Han Ruoxue. He could feel her resistance shattering. Her legs were wrapped around his thigh now, seeking friction. The Yin-Yang Deficit in his system was stabilizing, the red warning text turning green.
He lifted his head, his mouth wet with her essence. He looked down at her. She was a mess—hair wild, chest heaving and covered in his saliva, her dudou torn around her waist, her eyes unfocused.
She was ruined. And she was his.
"Open your legs," Li Ye commanded.
Han Ruoxue shook her head weakly, sobbing. "No... I can't... I'm betrothed..."
Li Ye moved his hand from her breast down her flat, trembling stomach. He slid his hand beneath the waistband of her silk trousers. Her skin there was hotter than anywhere else. He pushed his fingers down, through the damp hair, until he found her wetness.
She was soaked. The extraction of Yin had forced her body into a biological state of extreme arousal to protect her meridians from collapsing.
He didn't penetrate her. Not yet. He simply pressed his palm against her flower, cupping her femininity, feeling the heat radiate into his hand.
[WARNING: HOST CULTIVATION BASE TOO LOW TO HARVEST PRIMAL YIN (VIRGINITY). PENETRATION AT THIS STAGE WILL CAUSE ENERGY OVERLOAD AND EXPLOSION. RECOMMENDATION: ABORT FINAL EXTRACTION.]
Li Ye grit his teeth. Damn it. If he took her virginity now, the massive surge of energy would blow his newly repaired body apart. He was still too weak to digest the main course.
He withdrew his hand, wiping the slick fluids onto her thigh.
"Consider this a deposit," Li Ye sneered.
He sat up, the dark energy swirling around him dissipating. He felt incredible. His vision was sharper than a hawk's. He could hear the heartbeat of a beetle in the corner of the shed.
He stood up, adjusting his tattered robes. He looked down at Han Ruoxue.
She lay there, shivering, clutching the rags of her clothes over her chest. She looked up at him, and for the first time, there was no arrogance in her eyes. Only pure, unadulterated terror. She had come to kill an insect and had awakened a dragon.
Li Ye leaned down and picked up the silver hairpin that had fallen from her hair. He twirled it in his fingers.
"Cover yourself," he said, his voice flat. "And tell your fiancé, Wang Teng... tell him I'm coming for the rest of what he owes me."
He turned to the door.
"Wait..." Han Ruoxue whispered, her voice barely audible. She didn't know why she stopped him. Hate? Fear? A twisted need to understand what had just happened? "Who... who are you?"
Li Ye paused at the threshold, the sunlight framing his silhouette. He looked back over his shoulder, his eyes flashing with a predatory glint.
"I am your inner demon, Senior Sister."
He kicked the door open and stepped out into the blinding light of the Sect, leaving her weeping in the darkness, clutching her bruised breasts, her cultivation shattered, and her soul branded.
[STATUS UPDATE] [NAME: LI YE] [CULTIVATION: BODY TEMPERING - LAYER 5 (SOARING)] [INVENTORY: HAN RUOXUE'S HAIRPIN, 50 SYSTEM POINTS] [CURRENT OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE THE WRATH OF WANG TENG.]
The wind on the mountain was cold, but Li Ye felt nothing but fire. The game had begun.