That afternoon, in his backyard, hidden from the hustle and bustle of the city, Wei Yan seemed to move in a strange rhythm. He practiced martial arts with incredibly slow movements, as if he were slicing through thick water or bearing thousands of tons of weight on each joint. However, beneath the languid pace, the air around him seemed to vibrate violently, indicating that every inch of his movement carried a pressure of energy capable of crushing steel.
The silence of the training session was shattered when the gate opened, revealing Shen Ruolin and Li Yuantong, who stepped in with contrasting auras—one elegant with corporate charm, the other stern with the authority of an underground ruler. Wei Yan paused, then greeted them with a sigh of relief before pulling Ruolin and Yuantong into a warm embrace. He gave each of them a deep, passionate French kiss, a kiss that melted away all their fatigue from a day of fighting in the outside world.
"Ah, I almost forgot what it felt like to breathe if I didn't come home to you soon," Shen Ruolin whispered after breaking their embrace, her cold face now flushed with warmth.
"Yonghe feels so boring today. I just want to go back soon and make sure my husband doesn't forget the scent of my perfume," Li Yuantong added as she rested her head on Wei Yan's shoulder, her arms still around the man's waist.
Wei Yan smiled faintly, gently stroking their hair. "How could I forget? You are the pillars of my world. However, there's something you should know. We have a new sister inside."
Hearing this, Ruolin raised her eyebrows, a sly yet enthusiastic glint in her eyes. "Oh? So there's another new flower in your garden? Who is it this time?"
"Come on, see for yourself. Let's go home," Wei Yan replied curtly. He closed his eyes, and in an instant, reality warped around them. The gates of the Myriad Void Pagoda opened, absorbing the three of them into a much more magnificent dimension filled with pure, soothing energy.
As soon as they stepped foot in the pagoda's main hall, a warm atmosphere immediately greeted them. There, the other wives had already gathered, and in their midst stood Liu Caixi, looking slightly anxious but captivated by the beauty of the place.
"Sister!" Ruolin and Yuantong exclaimed almost simultaneously as they ran to hug the other wives. The atmosphere immediately filled with laughter and longing conversation.
"Caixi, come here," Wei Yan called softly. He put his arm around Liu Caixi's shoulders and introduced her to the two new arrivals. "Ruolin, Yuantong, this is Liu Caixi. She's a piece of destiny that just joined us."
Li Yuantong fixed Caixi with a sharp gaze that then softened into a genuine smile. "Welcome to this family, Caixi. Don't be afraid, here you'll never be alone again. If anyone dares to bother you out there, just tell me, and I'll make sure they disappear from the map."
Liu Caixi bowed slightly, her eyes glistening with tears at the warmth. "Thank you, Brother Yuantong, Sister Ruolin. I... I'm still trying to make sense of all this, but being here feels like I've finally found the right place."
Shen Ruolin chuckled teasingly, "Don't worry, dear. We'll teach you how to 'handle' this man so he doesn't get too naughty. Isn't that right, Husband?"
Wei Yan simply shook his head at his wives' antics. Inside this pagoda dimension, all the hustle and bustle of grand plans and the pressures of the outside world seemed to disappear, replaced by the warmth of a family he had built with blood, tears, and promises across dimensions. Here, he wasn't just the master of destiny; he was a husband returning home.
"Since we're all gathered, let's head to the main palace," Wei Yan said, his tone suddenly turning serious, breaking the warmth of the momentary reunion. "There's something brewing in the fabric of destiny, and I'd like to discuss it with you all."
At that instruction, the relaxed aura in the room instantly evaporated, replaced by a disciplined alacrity. They stepped through a long corridor shrouded in a mist of pure energy toward the center of gravity of the dimension: the Myriad Void Main Palace.
This palace was a magnificent, interdimensional architectural masterpiece, with sky-high jade pillars carved with reliefs depicting the history of the millions of civilizations the pagoda had witnessed. The ceiling wasn't made of stone, but rather a direct projection of rotating galaxies, providing a natural illumination that was both majestic and eerie. The floor was black crystal, reflecting their shadows with crystal clarity, as if they were walking on frozen water.
The atmosphere within the palace was silent and sacred, like the throne room of an eternal emperor who ruled over a thousand worlds. Each of their footsteps echoed, creating a rhythm that emphasized the place's authority.
Wei Yan waved his hand in the air. With one elegant movement, the energy in the center of the great hall condensed and formed a giant round table made of ancient, indestructible agarwood. Around it, high chairs carved with dragons and phoenixes appeared, exactly the number of those present.
Wei Yan took his seat in the center, while his wives took their respective seats with focused gazes. Above the table, Wei Yan conjured a holographic projection of the Yonghe globe surrounded by golden lines—the threads of destiny beginning to tangle.
"Sit down," Wei Yan commanded gently but firmly. He waved his hand, conjuring a holographic projection above the table, depicting a complex web of light over Yonghe City. "When I went to school earlier, I saw the fabric of reality begin to fluctuate. The various colors of destiny fragments began to scatter randomly, indicating that Heavenly Law has descended and begun to permeate the very fabric of this city."
Hearing this explanation, the atmosphere in the main palace grew extremely heavy. Shen Ruolin placed her fingers on her chin with a sharp gaze, while the other wives felt an invisible pressure from the gravity of Wei Yan's words. Li Yuantong, usually the most perceptive when it came to conflict, crossed his arms in front of his chest, clad in his black gown. His eyes glinted with wariness as he broke the silence with a short but pointed question.
"Who is your first target, my husband?"
"I don't know," Wei Yan replied calmly, but his gaze penetrated the light projection before him. "How many targets will appear? I can't say for sure now, but their numbers will certainly increase in the future as the fragments become more active in their search for hosts."
Wei Yan leaned back, his expression turning grave as he scanned his wives' faces one by one. "There's a fundamental reason why all this is happening now, and why our movements must be far more precise than before," he continued. Yao Moli, who had been listening with a frown, finally spoke. "What is it, Husband? Why do you seem so wary of these variables?"
"We will face serious problems with the laws of fate in the future," Wei Yan took a deep breath, as if weighing the weight of the secret he was about to reveal. "Simply put, we live in a novel. This world you consider real has a narrative line that has been determined by the 'Author' through the Heavenly Laws. In the original narrative, I was supposed to be just an insignificant supporting character, while people like Lin Fan were protagonists destined to have everything—including you. My presence as an anomaly that snatched away their destiny has triggered a backlash from the universe; the fragments of destiny I saw earlier are this world's way of 'correcting' the flow to get back on track. We are no longer just fighting humans, we are fighting against the universe's own scenario."
"Who is Lin Fan?" Li Yuantong asked, his eyes narrowed as if marking a name on his to-do list.
"He was the first to hold the ultimate destiny," Wei Yan replied evenly, "and going forward, he will likely remain one of the ultimate destiny holders who will be pushed by the laws of this world to rise to the top."
"Anyone else?" Shen Ruolin interjected, her fingers tapping on the agarwood table in a calm yet calculating, businesslike rhythm.
"Yes," Wei Yan replied curtly.
"Like what?" Yao Moli asked curiously.
"Some are the center of their own story, a sort of protagonist within their own sphere, and others accompany that center as important companions," Wei Yan explained, shifting the light projection to reveal several points of energy of different colors.
"Companions? You mean women?" Ruolin asked with a faint, meaningful smile, followed by unanimous glances from the other wives.
"Yes," Wei Yan answered without hesitation.
At this confirmation, the women in the room chuckled softly. The previously tense atmosphere was slightly eased by their elegant yet subtle laughter. "Really, your 'fisherman' nature isn't an exaggeration, my husband. Your net seems designed to reach every corner of the pond," one of them teased.
Wei Yan didn't argue; instead, he responded with a very pragmatic view. "How could it not be? In my eyes, everything is business. In this chaotic web of fate, a woman with a fragment of destiny can be an invaluable investment asset, a balancer of energy, and even a reflection of our status and power before the laws of the universe."
The women nodded in understanding; to them, Wei Yan's pragmatism was the foundation that had built their strength thus far. Li Yuantong then remembered Shen Ruolin's report and asked curiously, "Then what about the one million donation and Yonghe National High School? Is that also part of your asset investment strategy, Husband?"
Wei Yan took a deep breath of the air rich with pure energy inside the hall, his eyes gazing into the distance. "I've diverted the fate energy there into random directions, especially the threads of fate of the women who are our acquired assets. I deliberately obscured their paths to protect them from the entanglements of the future written by this world's original scenario. That way, I can secure them undetected by Heavenly Law," he explained in a calm yet deceptive tone.
He then smiled faintly, a smile that suggested he was enjoying this dimensional chess game. "As for that one million... think of it as the cost of building a private pool, or rather a 'circus'. I want to create a stage where I can sit quietly watching the drama unfold like a cockfight between the protagonists, while I continue to 'foster', 'train', and 'enlighten' our assets so that they transcend the limits of their own destiny."