Because I won't be able to get my thing up with anyone else, except her...

Except her…

Bai Qingyue's distasteful words kept repeating in his mother's ears, echoing in his cold emotionless voice. She rose from her seat, wanting to run down and slap the unruly whelp, however the shock from the words only caused her to stagger and fall back into the throne.

How was she supposed to respond to such a preposterous claim?!

Mother and son entered a staring match. It felt to her almost as if she was staring at her own reflection. While Bai Qingyue may have received the traditional white coat from his paternal family, not to mention his insufferable character flaws from his deserting father. Hong Meigui could say with complete certainty that in all other aspects he took after her, they shared the same bewitching golden eyes and moonlight skin.

Both Hong Meigui and the previous Sovereign Lord were attractive looking gods, as the rest of their kind commonly was. Bai Qingyue's father had a formidable commanding presence exuding charm and Hong Meigui was the enthralling, bewitching type. She was certainly the female embodiment of the fox spirits one only heard of in fairytales. After being exposed to their beauty, mortals would become captivated, no longer able to look upon anyone else ever again.

Seeing her bleeding son on the ground, still looking just as enthralling as she, only vexed Hong Meigui all the more.

What was beauty even good for? What good was it to work hard and strive for any kind of achievement, when all it ever amounted to in the end was loneliness?

It was that same nonsensical reason 'he' spouted, that she was not 'his' true intended. Her husband couldn't even bear to touch her.

Visions of the past clouded her mind and filled her with agony. Hong Meigui's eyes glinted with madness as she materialized a long leather whip in her hands, raised it high over her head and then viciously lashed at her kneeling son's back.

As if she would let her son repeat his father's mistakes! She thought maniacally, whipping him again.

Bai Qingyue did not utter a single sound, realizing his mother was so far gone, any form of speech would only be in vain.

"Stupid child, I do all this for your own good! What do you mean "her"?! That stray mortal you decided to pick up? Would you have ill bred pups scurrying within our sacred palace halls? I will not permit you to follow in your father's footsteps!" Hong Meigui's shrill voice resounded off the walls, the precious metals within them ringing out as a responsive chorus to her scorn.

The back of Bai Qingyue's robe was shredded away by the lashes. The sewed in crest of the nine tailed fox scattered to dust. Again and again, she struck, tearing his flesh into an unrecognizable sheet of red and white.

Eventually, he couldn't help himself and let out a low groan. With his mother's aggressive qi pummeling him unto the ground and the whip striking deeper and deeper into his flesh, he ended up vomiting stomach juices mixed with his blood.

Hong Meigui didn't let up.

"You must forget about her. I will never allow it, you hear?!"

Her foolish son's failed tribulation and vulnerable condition would allow Hong Meigui to govern for thousands of years before he would be able to suppress her once more. By then, he would have no choice but to settle down with her maternal clan's princess, Lady Chun.

"Mother is doing all this for your sake, you must understand!"

Bai Qingyue allowed her to vent the madness within her. He took it upon his body. That was the least he could do. Because after tonight, he would no longer be able to call himself a filial son.

Sovereign Lords were not only born stronger in order to lead the "herd", they were also trained rigorously from birth. Their upbringing refined them like a jade cut that had been polished to perfection.

Unfortunately, His mother was right. Having lost more than half of his cultivation left Bai Qingyue unable to overpower her. However, a true tactician does not rely on a single method alone.

Recalling how he "lost" his power, the pain he felt had lessened as he grew numb.

To be more precise, Bai Qingyue didn't lose his powers. He had given them away. He was still unable to believe how such failure had turned into a stroke of luck, only to collapse into tragedy.

The Bai people had been surviving for aeons in solitude without having found their other half, he was considered young by their clan's definition. And yet, against all odds, he had found his fated person.

The moment he first laid eyes on her, it was near impossible for him to look away. When he recognized her, he finally understood why his father had left. It was as though the girl imprinted her existence on his soul and he was unable to breathe without her.

Her touch, her scent, her voice. Everything about her called to him. When they were together, sharing their intimacy, he could feel his damaged dantian begin to heal. With every caress exchanged, he grew more powerful, and he knew that she was the only answer to his troubles.

His internal energy recovered so swiftly that he was convinced, by the time they would join their bodies as one, he would be able to restore all of his lost cultivation.

Not that he would protest if they needed to put more effort into the restoration...

When he carried Li Meirong out of the burning brothel's remains, Bai Qingyue found a pond in a forest, thick with spiritual essence. He placed the unconscious Li Meirong in the water and attempted to bathe her. Once a small percentage of his cultivation had been restored, he made quick work of summoning a few servants to the mortal realm and have them cater to his wife's needs instead.

He later regretted calling them. He had been foolishly unaware at the time of his mother's schemes, she was monitoring his every move, using several of the attendants as spies.

Regarding the sleeping mortal woman adorned in the ceremonial robe representing the head wife of the Bai Clan filled him with a sudden burst of pride. She would probably be frightened, a little mortal girl joining the ranks of gods. But he would handle her with tender care and explain all that needed explaining in due time.

When they were both cleaned and groomed, he cradled Li Meirong back in his arms and ascended.

The attempt failed miserably. The barrier separating the realms barred Li Meirong from transferring. He soon realized that as a mere mortal, his wife would be unable to ascend into higher planes of existence.

She would need thousands of years to cultivate into a celestial being.

Bai Qingyue shook his head. There was no way he could wait so long.

He chose to provide the girl with whatever cultivation remained within him in order to speed the process along. She received the aura of a god.

It might have been a loop in the system in order to bypass thousands of years for a mortal to ascend, but she was his woman. So what if he gave her his cultivation? It was his to give and he could choose to do with his internal energy whatever he pleased.

The plan wasn't a bad one. After the ascension, Bai Qingyue planned to cultivate with his bride together and replenish his inner powers.

Having given her his remaining cultivation, she should have been able to ascend, or so he assumed

Yet it was at that moment when Hong Meigui, his very own mother snatched him from the mortal realm at his weakest moment and imprisoned him. Separating between him and his intended.

Bai Qingyue was knocked out cold. By the time he woke up, his wife wasn't by his side anymore. He was left confined in the palace, unable to retaliate.

He had to bide his time carefully until he could confront Hong Meigui.