Chapter 171: The Triple Eclipse Holy Son?
Chapter 171: The Triple Eclipse Holy Son?
The tension in the grand pavilion was palpable. Following Xia Sha’s hesitant nod, the high-stakes negotiation regarding my unprecedented status—becoming the shared Holy Son of two competing factions—officially commenced.
Though a thick, intricately woven veil completely obscured her face, Lin Xue’s posture gave her away. She was practically radiating delight, thrilled by the sudden arrangement that would allow me to join the Ice Palace Sect right alongside her.
However, not everyone shared her enthusiasm. Su Youming turned to her sect master, her voice tense and demanding answers out in the open. "Sect Master, I understand the necessity of a marriage agreement, but why must he become a formal member of the Ice Palace Sect? Will you truly approve this merger?"
I watched the exchange quietly, piecing the puzzle together. First, Xue Wuxia was brilliantly using Lin Xue as a political shield. It gave her a flawless excuse to bring me into her sect permanently, allowing her and Xia Bing to keep me all to themselves behind closed doors. Second, Su Youming was practically burning alive with jealousy. The Love Gu inside her was thrashing, making her violently reject the idea of me spending my nights with Xue Wuxia and a mysterious second Holy Maiden she hadn't even met yet.
Unbeknownst to the seething Su Youming, the Emperor was secretly ecstatic about this chaotic turn of events. To him, tying a powerhouse like Hao Hun to both the Corpse Refining Sect and the Ice Palace was a masterstroke. Together, they would form a massive, unified front capable of opposing the Demonic Sect led by Loki Sky.
The Emperor's brilliant blue eyes twinkled with calculated amusement as he spoke. "An alliance between these two particular sects is definitely abnormal. However... the fact that Hao Hun has recently acquired the Ice element within his body satisfies the spiritual prerequisites of the Ice Palace."
His gaze shifted, landing on the massive Black Iron Heavy Saber leaning quietly against the table right next to me. "Furthermore, young Hao Hun has demonstrated terrifying proficiency in swordsmanship. Therefore, I see no reason to oppose a cooperative agreement between the two sects. As the supreme arbiter of this Summit, the Heavenly Palace gives its official blessing."
Underneath the table, I caught a glimpse of Su Youming’s fists tightening so hard her knuckles turned white. Only the Emperor and I noticed, but the sovereign completely ignored her reaction, knowing exactly what kind of emotional turmoil she was hiding.
Turning her attention to Xue Wuxia, Xia Sha spoke with cold, administrative precision. "Then it is settled. We will schedule the wedding for precisely one year from now. The specifics of the dowry will be negotiated privately between us. Following our formal ceremony tomorrow, you may officially designate Hao Hun as your Holy Son before we depart the sect grounds."
Xue Wuxia offered a single, elegant nod of agreement. "Splendid. As of this moment, the Holy Son’s Peak officially belongs to Hao Hun. Now that the matters of the Corpse Refining Sect and the Ice Palace are concluded, we have only the Bloodshed Sect to address."
For a fleeting second, Xue Wuxia’s golden eye flashed with a sharp spark of possessiveness before she looked away from me. Her tone grew icy and severe as her gaze locked onto Su Mei. Through our newly forged Summoner Link, a sudden spike of annoyance rippled from Wuxia straight into my mind—a residual flash of irritation regarding the gorgeous woman I had claimed under rather... scandalous circumstances.
Su Mei frowned deeply at the sudden union of the two sects. Tilting her head, her cascade of silver-blue hair catching the light, she raised a slender finger and pointed directly at me. "Your new Holy Son ruthlessly slaughtered my Holy Son. How exactly do you intend to make this right, Palace Master Wuxia?"
The entire room fell into a dead, breathless silence. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from grinning wildly. I wanted nothing more than to give Su Mei a massive thumbs-up for turning what should have been a wedding trap right back into her own political victory.
Don't get me wrong, I had absolutely no objections to marrying Lin Xue—her breathtaking, voluptuous body was precisely my type—but the sheer irony of watching Su Mei use the Ice Palace's own underhanded tactics against them was pure art. It begged the question: how did a woman this terrifyingly sharp manage to do something so incredibly foolish that she ended up trapped in my bed in the first place?
"Hao Hun only just joined my sect moments ago," Xue Wuxia countered smoothly, her voice a shield of flawless logic. "He was not a member when Ye Chen was slain. Furthermore, your Holy Son was entirely at fault for provoking the lethal altercation."
The clever Su Mei had anticipated that exact defense. She smoothly shifted her gaze to the throne. "Killings and lethal duels are strictly forbidden during the Summit, Your Imperial Majesty... yet my Holy Maiden’s betrothed was slaughtered directly on the Ice Palace's sacred grounds. My daughter is now a grieving widow. How should such a blatant transgression be answered?"
The Emperor raised a hand, correcting her mildly. "Su Ruyan and Ye Chen were merely engaged, not yet wed. It was also entirely evident that Ye Chen was the aggressor. Nevertheless, the final outcome remains the death of your Holy Son. What exact compensation are you seeking, Su Mei?"
A sly, fox-like smile played on Su Mei’s lips as she delivered her trap. "Hao Hun killed Ye Chen, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that he possesses the raw strength to take his place. My Holy Maiden’s future is ruined due to the death of her fiancé. Therefore, I demand that Hao Hun become the Bloodshed Sect's Holy Son as well, partnering with Su Ruyan. We desire a strategic alliance with the Corpse Refining Sect, identical to the Ice Palace's arrangement. Grant us this, and I shall consider the matter with Palace Master Wuxia entirely settled."
The sheer audacity of the demand drew fierce, burning glares from nearly every woman in the room. Yet, the Emperor looked utterly intrigued by this bizarre development. An alliance between the Bloodshed Sect and the Corpse Refining Sect wasn't out of the ordinary at all; since both factions walked the dark path of evil cultivation, it made perfect strategic sense.
Lin Feng, however, couldn't contain his disgust and barked out, "The Bloodshed Sect is utterly shameless! You care nothing for politics—you simply want to harvest Hao Hun's legendary Nether-Ice children for your aura-blessed daughter! Shameless!"
The idiot had absolutely no clue that his outburst had inadvertently insulted Su Youming. Meanwhile, Su Mei didn't even bother hiding her guilty, predatory smile, nodding her head in shameless agreement.
"You are absolutely correct," Su Mei purred, her eyes gleaming. "Sect Masters Xia Sha and Xue Wuxia are plotting the exact same thing with Hao Hun. My deep-cover spies inside the Beastmaster Sect have graciously provided me with a fascinating manual..."
With a sharp flutter, she tossed a bound text right onto the center of the table. It was Wan Meidi’s notorious, trashy Dual Cultivation Guide. A smirk crossed Su Mei's face as she exposed it. "Sect Master Loki Sky is actively impregnating every single one of his Beastmaster disciples using this garbage guide to lure them in. There is even a specific passage demanding that the women pray directly to the sect master to artificially boost their fertility odds! Therefore, I want Hao Hun to come and invigorate my sect with his hyper-potent, Pure Yang dual-element Death and Ice seed."
Xia Sha slammed her hand down, her voice rigid. "We of the Corpse Refining Sect are not engaging in something so vulgar as using our Holy Son as a mere breeding stud."
"My Ice Palace harbors no such primitive intentions either," Xue Wuxia added coldly.
Su Mei simply pointed a manicured finger at Gu Xia and Xia Sha, her smile turning triumphant. "Ye Chen’s younger sister is already verifiably pregnant with Hao Hun’s child. Furthermore, I am willing to wager that one—if not both—of you are already secretly carrying his seed right now. Let us make a formal bet. If both of you are pregnant, it proves my theory entirely correct, meaning Hao Hun becomes a Holy Son of my sect and we become official allies. If you are clean, I will rescind my demand entirely."
Xia Sha, utterly confident, nodded. "Fine. If even one of us is carrying a child, we will concede to the claim. What say you, Your Imperial Majesty?"
The Emperor, who hadn't considered countering Loki Sky’s massive population-expansion plans with a legendary stud of his own, found himself utterly fascinated. "I shall summon my court’s Divine Physician immediately to conduct the examination. The terms of the wager are fair."
A cold sweat broke out down my spine. I realized with terrifying clarity that my loving wife Wan Meidi’s aggressive sect-building manuals had just come back to bite me squarely in the ass.
A grueling half-hour later, a high-ranking healer draped in the prestigious robes of the Heavenly Palace concluded her advanced diagnosis spells on both Xia Sha and Gu Xia. The room held its breath. All four Sect Masters stared intently at the healer, whose face had twisted into a completely bizarre, utterly flabbergasted expression.
The Emperor leaned forward. "Reveal the findings to the assembly."
The physician cleared her throat, her voice trembling slightly. "Holy Maiden Gu Xia is indeed carrying a single, healthy child... And Sect Master Xia Sha... appears to be heavily pregnant with twins."
The entire pavilion fell into a stunned, suffocating silence.
Breaking the quiet, the white-haired beauty Gu Xia stood up gracefully, walked right over to my seat, and beamed with pure, unadulterated adoration. "Hao Hun... you finally did it. I love you!" She threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly right in front of the entire summit.
In stark contrast, poor Xia Sha sat completely paralyzed, entirely shell-shocked. It turned out she had actually made that secret, silent fertility prayer just like her daughter and Ye Lin had suggested. Not only had she gotten pregnant on the very first try, but she was having twins.
Even Su Mei looked completely startled. She had thrown out the accusation as a wild, calculated bluff purely to impress the Emperor with her resourcefulness in tracking down a legendary prime stallion. To think her random, predatory guess had actually hit the absolute jackpot was beyond her wildest dreams.
Seeing the chaos, Xue Wuxia decided it was the perfect moment to pour gasoline directly onto the fire. She had already privately checked her own body, but she wanted a public spectacle.
"Heavenly Palace Divine Physician," Wuxia called out innocently, "could you perhaps diagnose my current health as well? I wish to see if the severe condition I suffered from yesterday has been fully cured."
The moment I sensed the waves of pure, unadulterated mischief emanating from both Xia Bing and Xue Wuxia through the bond, a heavy, sinking feeling hit my stomach.
The entire room watched in rapt fascination as the diagnostic magic flared to life once more, illuminating Xue Wuxia’s flawless figure. The healer’s face contorted into something even more hilarious. The Emperor stared, looking as though a massive, glowing green aura had suddenly been forcefully decorated right onto his royal head, while the surrounding lords exchanged deeply uncomfortable glances.
"You... uh... you appear to be in peak physical condition, Palace Master," the healer stammered. "In fact, your cultivation has miraculously broken through to the legendary 9th Circle!"
Wuxia smiled radiantly. Her body had been completely purified and cured during our intense, breathless coupling the previous night, triggering a massive breakthrough. But that wasn't the real reason she had called the medic over. Playing entirely dumb, she tilted her head. "Then why the strange expression, healer? Is there something else to report? Speak freely."
The physician, desperate not to openly accuse a grand sect master of scandalous behavior, leaned in closer to whisper the scandalous news privately. But Xue Wuxia merely nodded knowingly, her voice ringing clear across the hall. "I see... So I am also pregnant. What an extraordinary coincidence!"
PFFFFFT!
I violently spat my spiritual tea clear across the table. I swear to god, even the author of a trashy, cheesy web novel wouldn't give a protagonist luck this absurdly over-the-top.
It was obvious now. My dominant Ice Phoenix Rebirth trait, combined with those highly potent, bright pink aphrodisiac pills, had hyper-charged Xue Wuxia’s fertility during our wild night. Xia Sha's sudden twin pregnancy was definitely the result of her frantic fertility prayer. And as for Gu Xia? Well, if you engage in countless, unprotected, sweat-drenched sexathons with a beautiful, insatiable nympho, getting her knocked up was mathematically inevitable. But why the hell did they all have to conceive at the exact same time?!
Terrified, my eyes darted over to Su Mei. I prayed to whatever gods were listening that my cosmic luck hadn't extended to her too. Sensing my panicked gaze, Su Mei subtly caught my eye and gave a tiny, reassuring shake of her head. No. A massive wave of relief washed over my chest. Thank Christ.
The Emperor’s gaze locked directly onto me. He realized with a sudden, dark thrill that the Heavenly Palace alliance now possessed its very own, wildly superior version of Loki Sky. A dozen devious, geopolitically shifting plans began taking root in his mind.
Smoothening his robes, his elegant, commanding voice boomed out to calm the whispering crowd. "Sect Master Su, your formal petition to claim Hao Hun as your Holy Son is hereby granted. From this day forward, across the length of the martial world, Hao Hun shall be officially recognized by the supreme title of... The Triple Eclipse Holy Son."
He rose majestically from his throne, clearly eager to escape this absolute circus of a meeting room before things got any weirder.
"The Heavenly Palace deems that all three factions have reached a historic, blood-bound compromise. With a shared Holy Son binding your bloodlines, you may draft the formal alliance treaties among yourselves. Tomorrow morning, I shall personally oversee the grand wedding of Sect Master Xia Sha and Hao Hun before departing. Hao Hun, you are summoned to my private guest palace tonight for dinner. We have a very bright, very busy future to discuss."
With a sudden wave of his imperial sleeves, the Emperor activated his high-tier Water element, instantly teleporting away from the pavilion in a splash of mist and leaving the entire assembly bewildered by his abrupt exit.
Lin Feng and Su Youming stood frozen, looking incredibly awkward as they realized their leader had completely abandoned them without a second thought.
I desperately wanted to crack a crude joke about the Emperor running off due to a sudden bout of diarrhea, but the sheer weight of the complicated, heavily loaded, and deeply predatory stares coming from every single woman left in the room shut my mouth real quick. For the first time in my life, I found myself desperately wishing I knew the spell for Long-Distance Teleportation.