Knock, knock.

After tempting the receptionist with the sweet promises, I still had to leave for the room by myself. No matter how eager she was to accept my proposition, she still had her current work to do, and leaving in the middle of her shift not only would potentially brew some troubles but most importantly, it would draw a lot of unwanted attention. With how swiftly she would grow under my guidance, doing things calmly stood at the priority!

Back in the room, we only managed to clear the place before the knocking announced that someone came to visit. Just as expected, the receptionist seemed to pull some strings and end her shift quicker than she was supposed to.

As I opened the door, I could see her slim figure and her slightly shaking legs. It was no wonder that she was scared a bit since my promises sounded a bit too great to be real. Contemplating how her dark, violet hair enveloped her deeply tanned face, I couldn't help but congratulate myself in my heart. While Eve's skin was pale as snow with her long, golden hair only augmenting this side of the colour palette, this receptionist was like her complete opposite!

"Come in."

Standing to the side, I allowed her to pass me and enter the room. Before she made her first step, I could see a hint of hesitation in her eyes, but as soon as her long legs carried her forward, she put a resolute expression and dismissed all unnecessary thoughts.

"You are actually keeping the room clean!"

After scanning the place, she exclaimed with a slight surprise. I guess cleaning the place was a good idea to make the first good impression on her.

"Oh, come on! Relax! We are not some kind of monsters!"

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Eve laughed lightly. Just this small action of hers was enough to dissolve the heavy atmosphere that this girl brought up with her.

"I'm Eve, and this lovely and kind man is my fiancee, Bart. How should we call you?"

"Lucia, it's nice to meet you."

Bowing awkwardly, she introduced herself. Seeing how I gestured her to sit, she followed my mute order while looking warily how I sat nearby Eve on the bed.

"I will get right to the point. If you want me to back my words with action, I can help you reach for the next stage instantly. But as soon as you will be down to laying a fully-fledged promise of keeping the information and techniques to yourself and obedience, I will need to crack your entire cultivation down, to let you start over properly, making your growth only hider your future. I will leave the choice for you."

While scanning her aura before, I saw that while she was at soul hazard realm, she was actually far weaker than she could be if she cultivated along with the will of the world, instead of going against it! The stress accumulated in her body from constantly clashing with the world energy severely limited her potential to reach for greater heights! With that in mind, helping her to make the leap to the mind menace realm would only make it harder to recultivate previous stages!

"I-I will... I will trust you."

Seeing how I get straight to the point and revealed my intention right away, she seemed to make up her mind and opened her arms wide in a gesture of surrender.

"Okay then, take down your outer clothing. I need to get as close to your dantian as possible."

Not wasting any time, I moved to the bath to wash my hands, while she undressed her outer robes with slightly shaky hands. Seeing how worried and embarrassed she was, Eve instantly hopped out of the bed and helped her to take down the outer layer of her clothes while making sure that her undergarments covering her supple breasts - way bigger than what Eve could pride herself with! - didn't fall off.

Seeing that everything was ready and done, I made her kneel on her knees on the floor, while sitting cross-legged behind her. With my hands on her spine just a hand over her bottom, I started dictating the words of a promise.

"I will never reveal the secrets bestowed upon me."

Hearing her repeat my words, I felt a slight vibration of her energy within her tiny pool of mana.

"I will follow every direct order of my master as long as it's not harmful to me."

Once again, her bright red lips repeated the words that I told. I could even feel her slightly jiggle when she heard the second part of my sentence. I guess she thought that I would demand uncontested obedience? What a damn world it is for the people to instantly arrive at such lengths!

"I swear on my cultivation and life."

With the promise finished, I didn't wait even a single second more.

"Relax, and don't try to keep my energy at bay. If I want to let you grow properly, I need to get rid of all the impurities at first."

Seeing her nod her head, I infused a tiny thread of my mana into her body, only to start collapsing all her inner routes, while forcing all of her energy stored in her flesh back to the dantian. As soon as this task was finished, I forcefully created a single, wide path in her abdomen, only to push all the energy outside, while collapsing the passage as soon as my energy expelled the remaining bits of her cultivation. Just with that, she turned to an ordinary mortal!

I guess this moment was insanely terrifying for her. Considering how she managed to reach the middle stage of the mortal realm just with her sheer effort, losing it all in a single moment had to be a devastating hit for her! Not willing to let her despair, I started slowly covering her entire body with a thin shroud of my own mana. Only when this part of the job was done, I concentrated a bit more of it before her lips.

"Listen to me now. I know that you learned that cultivation is about going against the will of the heavens. Forget about all of that. You will start by breathing in and out as if you wanted to nourish the tips of your toes with this breath."

Turning my head around, I spoke to Eve.

"Dear, go and fill the bathtub with the water to the brim. Make the water as hot as you possibly can, okay?"

Seeing how my beloved didn't linger even for a moment, I turned my attention back to the Lucia in front of me. Seeing that the air that she was breathing was already slightly infused with a thin layer of my energy, I pressed lightly on her back, as if trying to squeeze her dantian to contract.

"Begin!"