Chapter 105: The Empress is a Lesbian

Lured by the promise of the Evergreen Pill, the Emperor of the Yanhuang Empire proved to be quite trustworthy. As dusk began to fall while Zhou Tian and Aphra were out walking the streets, a eunuch dispatched by the Emperor sought them out before they could even return to their lodgings.

"My lords, His Majesty has commanded me to escort you into the palace. Please follow me."

"Lead the way," Zhou Tian said with a wave of his hand, not making things difficult for the young eunuch, and gestured for him to guide them.

With the Emperor's tacit approval, Zhou Tian and his companion naturally faced no obstacles entering the imperial palace. Taking advantage of pre-arranged loopholes, they bypassed all the palace guards and finally followed the eunuch deep into the inner palace.

Pointing to a palace building not far away, the eunuch reported to Zhou Tian, "For the next month, a dedicated servant will deliver your daily meals. We hope you two lords will not leave this palace at will."

"Very well, I understand. You may go," Zhou Tian dismissed the eunuch casually, then walked grandly into the palace building with Aphra in his arms.

Sitting on the bed, he patted Aphra's backside to get her to stand up. Looking at her, he said with a hint of apology, "I will be practicing a secret art for the next month, so you'll have to bear with some boredom. Don't listen to that little eunuch. If you want to go out for a walk, just go. You're a woman anyway; even if someone spots you, it won't be a big deal."

Kissing Zhou Tian on his right cheek, Aphra smiled understandingly. "Practice with peace of mind. This opportunity wasn't easy to get, so don't waste it."

"I won't." With a final look at Aphra, Zhou Tian sat cross-legged on the bed and began his meditation.

Instantly, as Zhou Tian activated his cultivation technique, a vast amount of Sovereign's Aura was drawn in by his energy. From all corners of the imperial palace, it began to converge toward him.

While Zhou Tian cultivated, Aphra initially sat by his side, staring at him blankly. But just as Zhou Tian had expected, given her personality, there was no way she could sit still for long. Before two days had even passed in that palace, Aphra was already leaving early and returning late, having found some place in the palace to amuse herself.

Since ancient times in the East, emperors were referred to as true dragons. This was because the eastern dragons shared a unique connection with human sovereigns. If a human refined a dragon vein or anything containing dragon qi, it increased their chances of becoming an emperor. Conversely, if a dragon could absorb the Sovereign's Aura of a human ruler, their strength would also make immense progress.

The *Secret Canon of the True Dragon* that Zhou Tian practiced recorded the cultivation techniques used by many dragon ancestors. While not everything might be historically accurate, at least within the game's settings, the techniques in his manual all had legendary origins.

For instance, the technique Zhou Tian was currently practicing was a secret art passed down by the ancient Yinglong.

Yinglong played a significant role in historical records, active not only during the reign of the Yellow Emperor but also assisting Emperor Yu in taming the great floods.

But did Yinglong truly possess a bodhisattva's heart, wanting only to help humanity?

Although dragons were not demons, they were not so benevolent as to aid humanity for nothing. The reason Yinglong so enthusiastically helped the human emperors was that he knew how to use the Sovereign's Aura for his own cultivation. By staying alongside two of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors for a considerable time, Yinglong grew from a mere flood dragon into a variant dragon far stronger than ordinary divine dragons, all thanks to the aid of the Sovereign's Aura. From this, one could see just how beneficial the Sovereign's Aura was to the dragon race.

It was precisely because the records in the *Secret Canon of the True Dragon* had tempted Zhou Tian that he had sought to enter the Yanhuang Empire's palace to absorb the Sovereign's Aura. The Yanhuang Empire had been established for over a thousand years, yet no one had ever known how to utilize the Sovereign's Aura for cultivation. As a result, the palace was saturated with it. Faced with such a temptation, Zhou Tian naturally could not resist finding a way to harvest this hidden wealth of the Yanhuang Empire.

Although his level did not rise and nothing changed on his attribute panel, as Zhou Tian drew massive amounts of Sovereign's Aura into his body, he could clearly feel his physical body growing stronger. Though it consumed a vast amount of the Sovereign's Aura, the secret technique left by Yinglong was indeed incredibly powerful. Zhou Tian estimated that after a month of absorbing it at full capacity in the palace, his physical body would be strengthened by at least three to four times.

To strengthen his body by so much in just one month without any conflict with his attribute points was an immense reward. Once he verified the effects, Zhou Tian immersed himself in his cultivation with great joy.

Because he poured all his focus into his cultivation, Zhou Tian did not have the energy to pay attention to anything else. Thus, when he finally reached a limit in his training and had to pause to let his body recover, he realized that Aphra had been spending most of her time outside lately. It was obvious she had found something in the palace that fascinated her. Zhou Tian couldn't help but feel curious.

With nothing else to do while Aphra was away, Zhou Tian decided to step out of the palace and look around, wanting to see what could hold such a strong attraction for her.

Having made his decision, Zhou Tian prepared to leave the palace. However...

"That bastard actually sent people to watch me." Just as Zhou Tian was about to step out, he suddenly sensed several powerful auras nearby. He didn't even need to think to know that these auras belonged to the experts sent by the Yanhuang Empire to monitor him. By revealing their presence now, they were warning him not to leave the palace building.

Zhou Tian had no choice but to retreat. Forcing his way out was not an option, as he still had to stay in their palace for a while longer. Having finally secured their permission, he did not want to be kicked out before he had absorbed enough Sovereign's Aura.

However, it was also impossible for them to make him obediently comply. On the surface, Zhou Tian could not openly break his agreement. But if he wanted to leave, those guards were not enough to stop him. Just as they assumed he had returned to his room to cultivate quietly, Zhou Tian used the spiritual energy he had accumulated recently to purchase two skills from the system shop.

"Clone Technique: Cost 1,000 spiritual energy. Each upgrade costs ten times the previous level. (Effect: The basic level only creates a single clone with no combat capability. Upgrading increases the number and strength of the clones. Each level multiplies the number by two, and clone strength increases progressively: 10%, 20%, 30%...)"

"Five Elements Evasion Art: Cost 5,000 spiritual energy. Each upgrade costs twice the previous level. (Effect: Allows movement through the five elements.)"

One skill had high growth potential, while the other had a powerful initial utility. Both, however, were extremely practical skills.

First, he conjured a clone identical to himself to sit in meditation inside the palace. Then, using the Earth Evasion Art, Zhou Tian's true body slipped out of the palace completely unnoticed.

Given his relationship with Aphra, Zhou Tian was naturally very familiar with her aura. Once he sensed her location, he used Earth Evasion to emerge right beside her.

However...

"I... I really didn't mean to." Zhou Tian had only wanted to get close to Aphra, but he never expected that when he appeared, he would witness a scene that embarrassed him to the core.

Aphra was in bed with someone!

Of course, the person in bed with Aphra could not be a man. If he had been cuckolded, Zhou Tian would not be feeling embarrassed; he would be feeling murderous.

Although he had slept with Aphra, Zhou Tian knew very well that it was impossible to completely alter her preferences in such a short time. While Aphra behaved very femininely in front of him, the moment she left his side, she was still the same lily knight as before.

Zhou Tian did not particularly mind Aphra's preferences. Finding a woman was better than finding a man. If she wanted to change, she could; if not, he didn't mind her keeping this little habit.

But walking in on Aphra and another woman sharing an intimate moment was still awkward. What made it even more awkward was that the other woman was none other than Empress Wu Zhao—the very woman Zhou Tian had been trying his best to guard against. He had wanted to keep his distance from her, yet he never expected his own woman to get so close to her. Now that he had accidentally seen her naked body, besides the embarrassment, Zhou Tian felt a sense of foreboding.

In contrast to Zhou Tian, while Aphra looked a bit embarrassed to be caught, Wu Zhao acted as if nothing had happened. She lay entirely naked within Zhou Tian's line of sight, even reaching out a hand to tempt him. "Bishop Zhou has quite the elegant interest. Since you've forced your way into the room of a weak woman like me, what is it you want to do? A defenseless woman like me has no way to resist. If you really want to do something, I won't be able to stop you!"

Hearing her words, Zhou Tian's gaze fell upon her shapely, curvaceous body, and for a moment, he was indeed tempted. But remembering Wu Zhao's past behavior, he truly did not dare to have any relations with her. Who knew if he would fall into her trap if he touched her now? If he ended up controlled by her because of this, the loss would far outweigh the gain.

Therefore, after hearing Wu Zhao's words, Zhou Tian only felt a momentary stir before staring hard at her body and saying coldly, "I wouldn't dare touch you. Put some clothes on! Wearing so little, aren't you afraid of catching a cold?"

"Hmph, you're really not a man!" Seeing that Zhou Tian was not tempted at all, Wu Zhao snorted in annoyance, muttered a quiet curse, and then obediently put her clothes back on.

(To be continued)