Tome of Troubled Times-Chapter 835: Monkey Zhao Messes With the Underworld

Zhao Changhe had to admit that he was a worldly man through and through. For all the lofty talk in Buddhist and Daoist texts about the wonders of divine soul union, no matter how many times he had tried it, it had always felt... underwhelming. None of it could compare to holding a warm, fragrant, and soft body in his arms. Even if he did nothing else, the sensation alone was worlds apart.

Seeing her beloved so enchanted by her new form, Piaomiao naturally felt gratified. It made all the effort feel worthwhile. However, her expression gave away nothing. “Do you intend to take a bite of me while I’m still fresh?”

Zhao Changhe replied with mock solemnity, “Nonsense. Am I that kind of person? I am merely inspecting this new body for imperfections.”

“Why, you sure are inspecting it,” Piaomiao snapped as she pinched and twisted his waist sharply. “Where exactly are your hands wandering? Is there a need for you to grope me in order to check for flaws? Was all that gentlemanly restraint before merely an act? So this is the real you! Lecherous to the bone!”

Zhao Changhe laughed. “Isn’t being lecherous toward one’s own wife a virtue?”

“Wife? Who’s your wife?” Piaomiao shoved Cui Yuanyang into his arms. “Here you go, take her. The remaining lotus petals will be used to refine her body. Go on, handle your business. I still need time to attune myself to this new vessel, so keep your hands to yourself.”

Zhao Changhe rolled his eyes. He was not planning to make any moves right now anyway. Yangyang had just injured herself, and although they had indeed been caught up in the excitement of resurrecting Piaomiao, there was no way Zhao Changhe would ignore her.

He reached for Cui Yuanyang’s wrist to examine the cut.

It was not deep, and thanks to the Rejuvenation Art, it had already healed with barely a trace left behind. There was only the faintest line, which would vanish soon enough.

“You...” Zhao Changhe pinched her nose gently. “I never knew you could be so harsh on yourself.”

“It was important. What’s a little blood?” Cui Yuanyang beamed as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I did good, didn’t I? So... what’s my reward?”

“You did amazing! Come, let’s make our Yangyang fragrant too.”

Truth be told, they had more than a few lotus petals left; the entire base of the lotus platform remained. It was large, slightly springy, and shaped like a round cushion. A faint trace of lingering vitality pulsed within it, making it an ideal tool for both cultivation and body tempering.

After all, this was a treasure that Ye Wuming had personally nurtured beneath her astronomical observatory. Its grade was far beyond ordinary divine items, and its uses were far more diverse.

Piaomiao retreated to a quiet corner to meditate, while Zhao Changhe gently lifted Cui Yuanyang, placing her at the center of the lotus platform. As he loosened her robes, he simultaneously arranged the leftover petals along her exposed skin.

Cui Yuanyang’s face turned bright red. “W-why do I have to take my clothes off?”

“You can’t apply medicine through them, can you?”

Biting her lip, she tried to endure it. How had something like body tempering become this suggestive? Still, it was clear that Zhao Changhe had not forgotten her or grown tired of her now that Piaomiao had a dazzling new form. That, at least, was comforting.

With that thought, her shyness faded a little. She opened her heart and focused on the sensation. With the petals pressed to her skin, warmth radiated inward. A surge of pure life force coursed through her, so intense that she could not help but moan softly and tremble.

At that exact moment, Piaomiao also let out a faint, involuntary sound, her cheeks flushing red as blood.

Zhao Changhe did not notice. He was fully absorbed in aiding Yangyang’s refinement. Having witnessed every step of Piaomiao’s resurrection and now assisting Cui Yuanyang, he felt his understanding of the law of life undergo a fundamental transformation. Something stirred at the center of his brow. His Niwan Palace[1] seemed to pulse, hinting at an impending breakthrough.

The third layer of Profound Control Realm... the threshold had begun to loosen.

Once he broke through, he would truly stand on equal footing with the Ye sisters and Piaomiao. By then, he would no longer be outclassed when it came to cultivation. However, this was no simple step. Across two eras, only a handful had ever reached that level. It was not something easily achieved.

In the past, he had always had others to look up to, whether it was Yue Hongling, Huangfu Qing, Lady Three, and so on. This time, however, none of their paths were applicable. Piaomiao’s cultivation method was also far too different to draw much from.

The ideal reference point would have been Ye Wuming, but she was currently out of contact and possibly altogether estranged. The bridge between them might never be mended again.

He wondered whether Ye Jiuyou could provide a path to insight instead.

He was just drifting off in thought when Cui Yuanyang whimpered again, her body arching slightly. “Big Brother Zhao... I... I can’t take it anymore...”

With a sudden motion, she clung to his neck, wrapping herself around him. “You can’t just keep touching me like this... I want to dual cultivate...”

Honestly, who could endure being caressed endlessly like that, especially with the vitality surging inside her? Zhao Changhe threw a helpless glance toward Piaomiao. She appeared to be deep in meditation, serene as a statue. He figured she had no idea what was going on over here, so he leaned down and kissed Cui Yuanyang gently. “All right... let’s do it.”

Soft moans echoed through the silent abyss. The core of Ye Jiuyou’s domain had been transformed... into a love nest.

What the little couple did not know, however, was that the seemingly serene Piaomiao, who sat in meditation with her expression solemn, was, in fact, biting her lip and struggling to suppress the strange sensations coursing through her.

There was no need to “get used to” this body as it was not a borrowed vessel but one molded precisely to her soul. The excuse was nothing more than that: an excuse. The truth was... something about the bond between her and Cui Yuanyang had changed. Every time Yangyang experienced strong stimulation, Piaomiao could feel it, too. It was not just when it came to the body but the soul as well. This bizarre resonance had not existed in the past, and Piaomiao, now wrapped in this mysterious experience, was trying desperately to make sense of it.

How could Piaomiao even begin to talk to Zhao Changhe about this?

And yet, no matter how she tried to analyze it, there was no getting around the fact that as soon as Cui Yuanyang experienced anything particularly intense, she would feel it too—as vividly and intimately as if it were happening to her own body.

It has to be due to the blood and flesh connection... But then, if that’s the case, does the bond go both ways? Are my sensations shared with Cui Yuanyang as well? I suppose they would br. Cui Yuanyang offered me her flesh and blood, and I, in turn, shared the lotus petals.

They were, quite literally, a case of “you’re a part of me and I’m a part of you.”

Earlier had been manageable as it had been just a matter of treatment and body tempering. But now, they were dual cultivating. Each time Zhao Changhe’s divine staff attacked, it felt like it passed right through her.

She had thought that having her own body would put an end to this absolute embarrassment. However, she had clearly underestimated karma. No matter how independent she became, it was as if nothing had changed. Whatever Zhao Changhe did to one... he was doing to both.

Piaomiao wanted to bury herself in a hole from the shame. She regretted forging this body now. This “sweet time” the two were having had become nothing short of a torment for her.

She did not know how long it went on, but when Cui Yuanyang’s ecstatic cry echoed like a thunderclap through the void and tore apart the oppressive gloom, Piaomiao’s own voice followed almost at the same instant.

Zhao Changhe: “What the fuck?!”

He turned, startled.

Cui Yuanyang had gone completely limp, her eyes rolled back in blissful unconsciousness. That was one thing, but... Piaomiao, not far away, had slumped to the ground as well, her breathing ragged.

Zhao Changhe scratched his head and leaned over to check on Cui Yuanyang first, but she was not unconscious from the act. Rather, it was a side effect of a genuine transformation. Her cultivation was refining itself even in her sleep. At this rate, she would push her cultivation from the early to the late stage of the first layer in one stroke.

This possibly made her one of the most baffling cultivation miracles in history: Someone who did not even fully understand the arts of dual cultivation, and yet was now outpacing most practitioners in her realm. This was her unique fortune.

Seeing her in good condition, Zhao Changhe was relieved and then turned to Piaomiao.

Then, he froze.

She was half-collapsed on the ground, disheveled, damp with sweat, and red-faced. Her gaze lifted toward him was equal parts shame, fury, and accusation.

“You...” Zhao Changhe stared, dumbstruck. “What just happened to you?”

Piaomiao pushed herself up with effort and grabbed his collar with trembling fingers. “Are you proud of yourself?”

“I don’t even know what I di—” he protested, then suddenly remembered that Sisi had once planted a gu that let her share his pain. When he was injured, she could feel and even absorb part of it. Could Piaomiao have just felt everything Yangyang just did?

Judging by her expression, he did not even need to ask.

“You get it now?” she hissed through clenched teeth. “What curse have I brought upon myself? I finally gain an independent body, only to find I’m still caught in this mess... As long as you touch one of us, it’s like touching both of us.”

Zhao Changhe did not know whether to laugh or sympathize. What ended up coming out of his mouth was, “Well, looks like your new body’s a lot tougher than Yangyang’s. She passed out, and you’re still yelling at me.”

Piaomiao was so mortified she could die. “I told you to temper her body, and this is how you do it? Look where we are! When we are! And you were actually in the mood?!”

Zhao Changhe replied, “Why not? Jiuyou wanted to trap us here, so she can’t complain if we turn her sanctum into a love nest.”

Piaomiao could not help laughing even through her outrage. “Messing around with us isn’t much of an accomplishment. If you’ve got the guts, go mess around with her!”

Joke though it was, the idea did cause a ripple of thought within her. That earlier scheme of Ye Jiuyou’s where she was trying to tie her to Zhao Changhe was clearly no favor. She knew full well Ye Jiuyou had not done it out of kindness.

It was easy to guess the real intent: if Piaomiao entangled herself with Zhao Changhe, then Ye Wuming’s grand plan to have Zhao Changhe kill ancient demon gods would be thrown into disarray, as Piaomiao would now stand in his way. And obviously, anything that inconvenienced Ye Wuming delighted Ye Jiuyou. Piaomiao’s dignity, her wishes, her welfare, none of it had ever factored into Ye Jiuyou’s calculations.

Piaomiao swore, once again, that she would settle that score someday.

Of course, Zhao Changhe’s so-called defiance here was not exactly revenge. Ye Jiuyou’s nature was too strange. Her domain had no palaces, no temples, no thrones, no sanctity to defile. It was just death and chaos. For all anyone knew, she would be amused to hear they made love here. It might even seem in line with her doctrine of chaos and disorder.

If they truly wanted to defy her, they had to bring light and order to this place. Now that would disgust Ye Jiuyou to her core.

“I want to spite Ye Jiuyou,” Piaomiao suddenly said, sitting upright, an excited gleam in her eyes. “Will you help me?”

“Of course. What do you have in mind?”

Piaomiao patted the lotus platform’s base. “This can still be cultivated. It can bloom again. Or better, it can become an entire lotus poolfull of life: green leaves, fragrant blossoms, insects chirping, cicadas singing. All of it. Of course, in this twisted realm, that’s impossible. Order here is broken. But if we can force a lotus pool into existence, it would be like you planting the dragon banner of the Great Han on Langjuxu. A message carved in her heart. A monument that says ‘we were here.’”

Zhao Changhe’s eyes lit up. “You’re right! How do we do it?”

“You’ll use your Dao of time to accelerate the blooming process. Leave the rest to me. I command the qi of the mountains and rivers. My will can reshape the land around me. By assimilation and taming, I will bend this place to my rule. Even Ye Wuming can’t do that.”

Without further delay, Piaomiao rose, hovering in the air. Her hands came together, forming a strange and intricate seal.

Zhao Changhe pressed his palm against the lotus platform and began to channel the Dao of time, catalyzing the transformation.

Cui Yuanyang stirred groggily, rubbing her eyes.

She had no idea how long she had slept, but it felt as if it had been a geological era. Before, without Zhao Changhe’s help, she could not see anything in this place. But now, inexplicably, there was a faint glow. A glimmer of light shimmered in the distance, and before her stretched a tranquil pool. Lush lotus blossoms bloomed in quiet splendor, and a soft breeze stirred the water, carrying a delicate fragrance.

She could even hear the gentle rustle of insects crawling. It was incredibly faint but present.

The oppressive gloom and lifeless stillness were gone. In their place, the unmistakable presence of life.

Is this still the Abyss of Jiuyou?

Though undeniably beautiful, one could argue that they had just taken a spiritual dump right in Ye Jiuyou’s living room.

She glanced around. Zhao Changhe and Piaomiao both looked a little drained. It was apparent that it must have cost them a great deal to pull this off. Yet they were smiling like fools, clapping their hands in triumph. “We did it!”

When Zhao Changhe saw Cui Yuanyang was awake, he scooped her into his arms and took off at full speed. “Run! If Jiuyou finds out, she’ll skin us alive!”

With a whoosh, the family of three vanished into the void like fugitives.

In truth, Ye Jiuyou had not noticed a thing. She was preoccupied with her own affairs. And Zhao Changhe, for all his cheeky bravado, had no idea just how far-reaching the consequences of this little act of revenge would become.

They bolted for a while, aimlessly, until it became clear no one was chasing them. Zhao Changhe finally stopped, catching his breath and laughing. “Looks like Jiuyou really is busy with something.”

Piaomiao, in high spirits, asked, “I don’t have a quick way out of here. But you said earlier you had an idea. What is it?”

She was in such a good mood that she did not even care that they might be stuck here for a while.

“No matter how twisted or chaotic this place is, it still comes down to time and space. You two can’t see or sense the way out, but I can.” Zhao Changhe extended a hand into the void and whispered, “And we’ve got a very specific marker. If we find it, we’ll find our path out.”

“What marker?”

“A shard of the Soul-Capturing Mirror. Jiuyou kept it here, using it as the Mirror of Illusion and Reality. Once we find it, we can trace it back to the stone wall where the original was embedded. It’s the same method Ying Five used to navigate spatial realms. Now, we’re going to put it to use.”

Piaomiao’s eyes gleamed with realization.

No wonder Zhao Changhe had once said he might reunite with his wives during the battle against the ancient White Tiger. He had guessed long ago that Snow Owl and Papiyas were linked to the White Tiger. He had even deliberately let Papiyas go... And now, the path of escape also led through the Heavenly Demon Illusion Realm. From the beginning, he had a precise plan.

Zhao Changhe closed his eyes and attuned his senses. Moments later, he opened them with a smile. “As I thought, the mirror is located in the heart of the abyss, right near the place where we forged Piaomiao’s body. It’s really not far at all.”

Cui Yuanyang piped up, “So... that might be Big Sister Jiuyou’s boudoir, huh?”

Zhao Changhe nodded gravely. “Indeed... She has her secrets. Maybe we’ll get a peek this time.”

The two “sisters” exchanged a look. They could almost feel Ye Jiuyou’s frustration in advance. Certainly, she was going to feel as if she had unknowingly let a monkey loose to wreak havoc in her sacred palace. Thinking she had trapped her prey, she could never imagine how much chaos this one man could stir up in her domain.

1. Reference from Chapter 348: 泥丸宫 (niwangong) literally translates to “clay bead palace.” However, this actually refers to the area at the center of one’s brain. This is believed to be the residence of one’s spirit. ☜

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