Against Heaven's Will

The news was so shocking to him that he couldn’t help but grab her shoulders.

"What? You thought no one controls the Heavens?" Ming asked playfully. "Although it’s mostly automatic, controlled by a part of my Uncle’s Soul, he is still the main man behind the Heavens. He manages the Reincarnation Cycle for all the Realms as well, basically deciding who will and who won’t Reincarnate as long as their Soul is still alive."

"Oof... Doesn’t that make him the most powerful man in the Universe?" Xuefeng asked speechless, overwhelmed by the information.

"Well, he is definitely powerful but not overpowered. Although he is immortal, he can’t really kill people on a whim unless they committed a sin and broke the rules. Even then, he doesn’t involve himself with mankind because that would destroy the balance we created," Ming explained. "Also, there is one more person who is more powerful than my uncle, but I don’t want to talk about him."

By the change in Ming’s expression, Xuefeng knew she was talking about her ex-husband, the King of Fate Kingdom.

"You are wrong about that," Xuefeng pointed out as he squeezed her cheek. "I’m your husband and I’m the most powerful. Remember that."

"Heh, yes. You are," Ming confirmed as she gave him a kiss.

"I’m not joking. Aren’t they all Fate Spirits? I have Elemental Bracelet which is Fate Qi nemesis and Ling Ability which can destroy Souls. Aren’t I more powerful than them?" Xuefeng wondered out loud, giving her a smirk.

Ming paused as if she realized something.

"Wait for a second... you might actually be right. Your Abilities should counter their powers entirely," Ming muttered before getting excited. "As long as we enter the Fate Kingdom, you can kill my ex-husband and replace him as the King of Fate Kingdom! We can rule all the Realms together!"

"Is that our goal?" Xuefeng asked with a smile, gazing at all his wives. "Are we going to take over the World and rule it together?"

"Let’s first survive the next year," Tianshi suggested, remaining level headed. "It will be quite a struggle to reach that point but we will follow you till the end of the World."

"Mhmm!" All his wives agreed firmly.

"Going back to your Uncle, if he controls the Heavens, wasn’t he the one who separated us when we Ascended to Heaven Realm?" Xuefeng asked seriously, thinking about this matter for a while. "I’m sure he had to go out of his ways to fuck with us."

Ming only shrugged.

"Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if my Uncle wanted to teach you a lesson. After all, the number of times you provoked him can’t be counted on one hand. He is clever when it comes to punishing people who provoke him."

"Ugh, I don’t mind if he punishes me, but why would he punish all my wives instead?" Xuefeng grunted but Ming disagreed.

"Are you sure he punished them?"

"What do you mean?" Xuefeng asked confused.

"I think the main person that suffered was still you while all your wives benefited from the split," Ming observed. "Can’t you see? All your wives became more independent and stronger, forced to survive without their husband who will always protect them. For me, this split was more like a reward instead of a punishment."

Xuefeng gazed at his wives and they smiled at him. Looking at her adventures, they improved significantly, but when it comes to Independence, they were always like this. They always made their own decisions and didn’t simply fall into line while listening to his orders.

"What can I say? I have the most amazing wives in the Universe," Xuefeng declared.

They immediately brightened, ready to throw themselves at him when they heard a knock on the door. Ming vanished, returned back inside Xuefeng’s body as Xuefeng invited the person inside.

"Can I come in?" Xinyu asked as she peeked through the doors. "I don’t want to disturb."

"Don’t worry, you are not disturbing us. Come in," Xuefeng assured, beckoning her inside.

She was quite respectful when it came to giving them space which Xuefeng appreciated. After all, even though they already connected in body, they were still yet to create anything beyond that.

"I came because I wanted to spend more time with you all," Xinyu admitted directly. "Cultivating alone is boring, so I decided to join you. I hope you don’t mind?"

"I guess now we have to start Cultivating for real," Xuefeng muttered as he clapped his hand. "Chop, chop. The break is over. Time to Cultivate."

He sat up as well and pulled out a batch of Upgrade Fragments, wanting to Cultivate with them. Everyone listened and busied themselves with their own absorption.

"Ugh... It’s boring," Xuefeng muttered after another Upgrade Fragment consumed. It wasn’t a secret that he hated Cultivating or doing things repeatedly over and over again.

"That’s what I was always saying..." Nuwa commented, crushing another empty Upgrade Fragment. "If I can’t cuddle as a break I don’t think I can do this all night.

"Ah, is there a way to quicken this process?" Xuefeng wondered with a sigh.

"Heh, you know that no one is supposed to sit every day and Cultivate? It’s not really normal to advance three whole stages in just one year," Xinyu said with a giggle. "Even if someone had immense resources, they would still spend years to progress steadily and build their foundation. At this slow rate, they wouldn’t be as bored since they are not in a hurry."

"Even if I wasn’t in hurry, I don’t think I would ever enjoy Cultivating. The only form of Cultivating I accept is Dual Cultivation with my Wives," Xuefeng replied as he kept the Upgrade Fragment and laid down on Lisa’s thighs. "I will have a short break."

He picked Mona up and let her lay on his belly while he petted her soft fur. Meanwhile, Xinyu continued her explanation.

"You asked if you can quicken this process but from what I know, it’s not possible. The Qi inside the Upgrade Fragments is too concentrated."

"Sigh, see what I have to deal Mona? This is a nightmare," Xuefeng mumbled as he caressed her fluffy tails. "What should I do?"

"Can’t you just use your bracelet?" Mona answered as if it was obvious.

"Huh?" Xuefeng blinked. "Can I?"

He has been moving between the Elements one by one and increasing the quality of his Qi to at least Fourth Refinement, so he didn’t even think about the Elemental Bracelet.

"Aren’t those Upgrade Fragments made from Qi? Can’t you control three Elements already? I was wondering why you are not using it," Mona explained confused.

"Yeah, why am I not using it?!" Xuefeng exclaimed, lifting himself up while hugging Mona. "You are a genius!"

He placed her to the side and spilled out tens of Fire Element Upgrade Fragments on the bed. He created a small stack before he activated the Elemental Bracelet. He slowly felt the Qi inside all the Upgrade Fragments before beginning.

"Absorb!"

He didn’t know what to expect but after the moment, the Upgrade Fragments cracked and eventually broke, sending red strings of high-quality Qi into his palms. In a matter of seconds, he absorbed close to a hundred Upgrade Fragments.

"I guess it worked?" Xuefeng muttered, grinning to himself. ’Did it really work?’

He needed to hear the confirmation from the insiders and couldn’t help but laugh when Ling replied exactly what he wanted to hear.

’The Quality of your Fire Qi indeed improved.’

He was about to celebrate when Ling broke his dreams.

’But there is one problem. You are too fast. Before you reach the Seventh Refinement, your Soul will be overtaxed at such a high rate. Though, you should be fine if you lower the amount by at least half.’

’Alright, that’s still better than before. I will take it,’ Xuefeng said happily and set up another pile of Upgrade Fragments, this time twice smaller. "Let’s try again!"

Swoosh!

He repeated the same process and all that was left were the empty crystal shells with no more Qi in them.

"Damn, this is so unfair," Nuwa cursed as she went out of her way to pinch him. "Why do you always find ways to cheat?"

"Haha, but that’s just for the three Elements. What about the others? I still need to cultivate normally till I can get other Elemental Stones," Xuefeng explained as he pinched her back.

"Good! You have to suffer with us and keep us company," Nuwa demanded to which he was happy to comply. They had a whole night ahead of them.

———

"Xuefeng, when will you all arrive?" Wu asked as she looked in the distance from her Flying Ship. They were already in the vicinity, seeing the countless mountains.

"We are still one day away," Xuefeng reported. "What about you?"

"We are about to arrive. I will contact you once I figure out what is going on," Wu informed when the guard called out, "Miss Wu, the Dwarf Kingdom is right ahead."

"I will call you later," Wu muttered into the Communication Crystal before ending the call. She ran up to the window and her eyes widened.

Everything was burning!