Being born into a family with money was a lucky break, but karma predominantly affects luck. Use that wealthy family to do nefarious things, and it isn’t just the perpetrator that is affected but the source of money. Luck can bring fortune or calamity.

~Morrigan, The Mysterious Goddess of Fate

Crow walked out of the back room, which he’d taken over as a private bedroom for him and Zoe. Not that it mattered because her sisters joined them at random. The problem with an empathetic coven was that the moment Zoe was aroused, they were all aroused.

Minnie was always in the room and more adventurous than Zoe. Crow wondered where she got all the stamina because she was always ready to go. And she was always helping him take care of Zoe. It took a long time for his other wives to share the bed together, but these women weren’t afraid to share or service each other.

For Crow, the experience was surreal. For Zoe, she felt gratified and relieved that the man she chose didn’t show revulsion toward the tainted women of her coven. It affected Zoe tremendously, feeling her sisters getting raped and forced beyond their limits—to the point they wanted to die. If it wasn’t for the coven, they might have ceased to exist in this world.

Crow was patient with them because he felt their hesitation. He never once became aggressive with them and allowed them to find their comfort level first. Minnie was the exception because she seemed to like rough play.

The week they spent down in this place was on the bed or cultivating. Because of the sex, they all noticed an increase in their cultivation. Crow also felt a sizable jump in his Source and wondered if the martial cultivation method that Song Lin gave him had some passive dual-cultivation benefits.

“We have to go back today,” Zoe said. “It’s time for our next obligation, and if we don’t show up, there will be questions we won’t be able to answer.”

“Alright,” Crow responded, but while he collected his things, he left the beds behind. In the future, he knew he couldn’t take Zoe away just yet, so he left the beds for their benefit.

While they explored the back exit, no one bothered to explore the third hall that Crow warned them about. Not even Crow felt it was worth exploring it because an instinct told him if he did, death would follow. None of them went into the temple, either, because they feared getting noticed.

During this time, Crow’s rebuild was solid enough that he didn’t fear anyone at his level. He wasn’t back to his original strength, but that was only because he wasn’t sure how to quantify his new powers. He’d need to experience them through combat.

After packing up, they all left the temple early in the morning when no one was around. The gate was already open, but no guard was present.

“Crow,” Zoe whispered. “Your face!”

It startled Crow for a moment, but he turned back to face the women, and they surrounded him. He bit his tongue, trying to contain the pain of his body and face contorting. Once more, he became Sione but really felt uncomfortable in this persona. It wasn’t instinctual, but because he didn’t want to show affection to women using a face that wasn’t his. Maybe it was stupid reasoning, but he worried they’d get used to affection from a stranger’s face instead of him.

It also made him realize he wasn’t as strong of heart as he thought. Another man’s face made him jealous even if he was the man under it. Maybe he was always jealous and selfish, but he wouldn’t give up any of his women unless they genuinely wanted to leave him.

The entire way to his dorm, they hadn’t seen another soul.

“Where is everyone?” Minnie asked in a soft voice—afraid the noise might stir up demons that were better off left sleeping.

“That’s a good question,” Zoe replied in an even softer voice.

Crow long sensed the anomaly and knew that people were gathering at some place near the center of the sect. Pointing in that direction, he asked, “what’s over there?”

“Nothing?” Minnie said but wasn’t sure. “Well, there is an arena over there, but it was destroyed over ten years ago, so no one uses that one.”

“That’s not true,” another sister claimed. “They use it for public executions, cultivation lessons, and sometimes when people want to make announcements.”

“That’s where everyone is,” Crow informed them.

“Strange… Oh! No, it can’t be,” Zoe muttered, but her cheerful disposition dried up immediately. The arena belonged to the Hex Witches, and one of their rituals destroyed it. It wasn’t rebuilt because whatever they did absorbed all the ambient mana in the area, making it impossible to rebuild. Even the formations trying to contain it were stripped and eroded.

Zoe took off running, and the others followed. Crow didn’t feel any impending danger, so he wasn’t sure what they were worried about. However, seeing Zoe’s face, he was still alarmed.

Reaching the husk of what looked like a magnificent building, he hissed in shock. The remnants of the walls were charred—at least the sections that weren’t blasted into oblivion. A stage was still intact, although the arena floor was not. The explosion destroyed half, but there were still plenty of places to sit. The assembly before them was mostly full.

The only gripe Crow had was that there were only a few places to enter, so everyone noticed them the moment they walked in.

“The guests of honor have arrived!” Vale shouted. “Now unhand my fiance!”

“Fuck off, Scar-face,” Crow shouted back while the crowd sucked in their breath and held it while waiting for the shit storm to start. Vale’s mouth twitched, and the smile fell off his face.

“I warned you. Since you refused to listen, we’ll apply sect law. Senior? What’s the punishment for touching another man’s fiance?” Vale asked the old man standing next to him.

“Castration.” An icy voice breathed out, and his flowing white beard rippled from the sound, but the old man didn’t move in the slightest.

“Zoe?” Crow grinned at their little show. “What’s the sect law for a man touching another man’s wife?”

“Death.” Zoe delivered the punishment in a flat voice, causing everyone to shiver.

“What nonsense are you talking about?” White-beard asked, his eyes narrowing as he stared daggers at Crow.

“Zoe is my wife, and as High Priestess of her coven, all her sisters are also my wives. Our wedding ritual is irreversible,” Crow laughed while hugging Zoe close. “Now, please kill that man for daring to covet my wife. That lecherous scum even dares do it in a public venue this large. If his sister disciples hadn’t joked about how tiny his balls were, I’d have thought they were the size of the moon.”

Dozens of people in the crowd were snickering, and even Zoe and her sisters couldn’t resist giggling.

“Wh-who gave you the right?” Vale asked. “Our branch elders decided on our engagement two days ago.”

“Wow, even agreeing to force her into a marriage when she was already married. We married five days ago. You should understand—making them all my women takes time. So we’ve been busy and haven’t had time to announce it,” Crow chuckled and pinched Zoe’s cheek lightly. She glanced over at him with a big smile on her flushed face. “And why would you want to suck away the vitality and beauty of my little priestess? Just go back to using up the ugly sluts in your group of sexually depraved nymphomaniacs—no one wants them anyway. Then again, I’m not even sure the cows would fuck you. Honestly, wear a mask because you are disgusting to look at.”

Most of the crowd chuckled this time, unable to contain their laughter. Why Vale became a dual-cultivator is beyond anyone’s understanding because no one would willingly want that ugly ass on top of them.

The problem was that Vale forced himself on most of the women he conquered, and no one could do anything about it. Vale’s father wasn’t easy to deal with because he was the assistant of a powerful councilman within the sect. While Vales’s father had no official powers, he did have backing and connections. It made Vale a headache for anyone to deal with.