Mad Tyranny

Inside the Portable Abode, the phonograph had built a fire, with Red Lotus roasting over it.

"I won't make things difficult for you. Find a way to cure my husband, and we'll let this matter pass!"

Red Lotus spread her petals within the flames and rubbed her scorched base. "I've thought this over carefully. It's not that there isn't a way. I'm just afraid you won't trust me."

The phonograph added some charcoal to the fire. "Tell me first."

Red Lotus covered her base and spoke faster. "Being bathed in Heavenly Light meant gaining Dao Affinity, and now there's an excess of Dao Affinity.

"It must be channeled away.

"There are two ways to channel it. One is to open more Dao Gates. That is the fastest method, but Li Qi has already opened quite a few Dao Gates. If he keeps opening them, he may suffer backlash. That won't do. So we must take the other path: use popularity to channel it."

The phonograph poked at the fire with a burning stick. "Using popularity to channel Dao Affinity—wouldn't that mean advancing?

"My husband has just advanced to the Fourth Layer Above the Clouds. If he advances another layer, he probably won't be able to bear it, will he?"

Red Lotus spoke even faster. "If he advances as a House Cultivator again, he definitely won't be able to withstand it. But advancing as a Travel Cultivator might work!"

The phonograph glanced at Hong Ying.

Facing a mirror, Hong Ying applied lipstick. Tear tracks streaked her cheeks, yet a smile lingered on her lips as she murmured softly, "He called me Wife. He called me that twice, a full two times. I'm content. I'll be content for the rest of my life—"

The phonograph sighed, took a fan, and fanned the