Crouching before Jaenera, Konrad lifted her chin while holding her gaze within his.
"Alas, a man of high aspirations doesn't delay important matters for a moment of pleasure. Were I not in a hurry, I would have surely invited you to -dinner.-"
Although she didn't grasp the meaning of "dinner" within Konrad's words, the tone backed with the mischievous look in his eyes made his lecherous intent relatively clear.
"Surely, it would be my honor to sit at your excellency's table and taste your -dishes.- A shame that I do not have the honor."
She replied with a blank, impassive face that gave no insight into her inner thoughts. Although they'd ingested the orchids, Konrad had yet to rewire them. Therefore, scant defiance remained.
His lips curled into a smile.
"I suppose you think whatever demonic ability I used on you cannot escape your factions' detection test. Therefore, as soon as you return, your elders can free you of my control.
I advise you to think again. Seek within your memory pool an answer to what I fed you."
Hearing this, Jaenera's eyes widened while fear shone in the eyes of all the others. Only Vozir remained impassible.
"Phantasm…a phantasm orchid?"
"Bingo. Merges with your flesh, blood, and soul. Seamless and untraceable tool of enslavement. Therefore, if you expect your trivial setups to be able to detect the change…you're bound to be disappointed. Well…unless you're hiding Gods in your dungeons. Are you?"
Konrad replied while holding his hands on either side of his waist.
Rage and indignation flashed within Jaenera's eyes before she tapped in her self-control abilities to suppress them.
"Are you a phantasm lord, or a lust embodiment? What is a demon of your caliber doing in a mortal world? Who summoned you?!"
"Phantasm lord and soon to be lust embodiment. As for the rest…that's…a spoiler. Can't answer that.
"You're clever. I like. In the future, we will definitely have much to discuss."
The teasing tone within Konrad's words only served to aggravate Jaenera. His eyes then shifted toward Miraz, who floundered on his knees.
"Yo, cousin, why the gloom? Not happy to see me?"
Having browsed through the captives' memories, Konrad now knew all their statuses in detail. The realization that Miraz was another one of his cousins broadening his smile.
Hearing this, the shivering Miraz almost dropped onto the ground.
"Konrad, why are you making things difficult for me? At the end of the day, your mother is my aunt. Though you're not surnamed Serkar, half your blood comes from us. If only for aunt and grandfather's face, can't you show some consideration?"
The aggrieved Miraz sobbed. Since things had reached this point, concealing the truth served no purpose. Now, the others finally understood the reason behind Miraz's peculiar attitude following Konrad's appearance.
"Correction, half my blood used to come from you. That half as long since been turned into pure demonic blood. But don't worry, though petty, I'm a person that deeply cares for kinship. How could I mistreat a cousin?"
Konrad's words caused his harem ladies to sneer and shake their heads in disapproval. Truly, he constantly redefined the meaning of shamelessness.
Recalling Eysan's gruesome fate, Diyana sighed.
"In any case, it's time for you all to go."
Konrad waved his hands, activating the orchids' powers to rewire the team leaders and disciples into faithful servants.
They then found the exit circles and left the tower.
"As the gourmet of lechers, I'm surprised you let such prime goods go without sampling."
Iliana commented.
"The setting is not tantalizing enough. Taking her beneath her father's nose will be more…rewarding. Oh and, I heard her mother is known as one of the Infernal Cult's top three beauties.
Ahhh…moms and their daughters."
Konrad sighed and turned heels, his words causing black lines to form on the ladies' foreheads.
But as he turned toward the circle leading to the next floor, seriousness returned to his gaze.
"Let's go."
Then, following Konrad's lead, the team departed for the next floor, landing in a submarine world that prevented normal breathing.
This time, all dangers were forcefully obliterated by Konrad at breakneck speed. The team effortlessly cleaved through the submarine world, snatching all inheritances and treasures before moving on to the next.
On the fifth floor, an icy maze whose temperature could freeze the average high-level Semi-Saint to death in mere seconds awaited. Supplementing Konrad's force ward with their owns and using Origin Sight to see through the maze's tricks, the team crossed it without much delay, crushed the jade guards and Guardian, snatched all treasures and inheritances, then moved on to the sixth floor.
But this time, awed by what they felt, they were forced to stop.
On the sixth floor, dozens of gargantuan tornados littered the area. But no destructive power lied in them. Only startling fluctuations of time force rippled, alerting the bystanders of the drastic time acceleration within those tornados.
Even without them, standing on the sixth floor alone, time was already flowing twice faster than before.
As for the tornados, the time within them was tenfold faster! This added to the tower's own thirty-six-fold rate meant that 360 days in a tornado would be equal to one in the outside world!
"A treasure trove. This…is a real treasure trove. Each of you pick a time tornado to occupy. I will seclude myself for three years to practice formations and cultivate my Infernal Soul Devouring Art to the third level.
You girls should stay for the remainder of our stay. I will fetch you when it's time to leave."
Konrad ordered, and though unwilling to part, they understood his intentions and didn't cause problems.
Each picked a tornado and dived within to begin a new session of secluded cultivation.
Having obtained the complete set of Formation Codes on previous floors, Konrad planned to use the opportunity to learn and polish his skills in that department.
And while he didn't forget to pursue his sublimations, his focus remained on Formations and the Infernal Soul Devouring Art's third layer.
The reason was simple. Better than anyone, he knew his current sublimation speed abysmally short. Without perfecting his Dao heart, even with three years, his progress would not be extraordinary.
On the contrary, as long as he amassed a large quantity of holy force, after enduring the seventh floor's Tribulation Valley, his cultivation would improve by leaps and bounds and could directly rise to the summit of the Semi-Holy Rank.
Therefore, he split his time between the comprehension of the formation arts, of the Infernal Soul Devouring Art's third layer, and on refining a massive quantity of holy crystals to enhance his Holy Force.
Thus, three years passed.
