The three members of the family cooked together in the kitchen, Natalie and Grace both have their share of experience and grasped more of the fundamentals than Dan whose experience merely stemmed from his desperation to save money.
With the help of the two girls, Dan's cooking became smoother and it took him half the time needed to complete his entire dinner course. After setting everything up and waiting for Juliet's arrival, Dan glanced at the two girls and said, "Both of you, can you hand over those jade bottles to me?"
Natalie and Grace glanced at each other with Natalie speaking up first, "Dear, you do know that a child is one of the cornerstones of a family, we've been trying so hard but I still wasn't able to conceive, maybe this can help me get pregnant."
Dan darted his gaze over at Grace and found that the latter looked determined and resolved. Shaking his head, he said, "Putting Natalie aside, I don't think that Grace should become pregnant as soon as possible, she's still too young and pregnancy burdens the body..."
Natalie and Grace's expression brightened, they could feel the concern that Dan held towards Grace and the latter felt satisfied and gratified about his words. Nevertheless, Grace remained adamant and never returned the jade bottle, saying that she'll decide whether she wanted to be pregnant or not.
This spelled bad news for Dan for being intimate with them would become a massive Russian roulette but instead of gambling your life, Dan's freedom was the gambling stake.
"I understand, I understand your thoughts, but I don't really want a child right now. Remember that I'm bound to have enemies and having a child would increase the number of my weaknesses, at least wait until I feel comfortable that I could protect the two of you and my future children..." Dan expressed his honest thoughts for he understood that honesty was one of the best policies when it comes to relationships.
The two girls stared at each other, clearly stunned. Wryly smiling, they hand over the two jade bottles and Dan received them with a smile.
Natalie glanced at Grace for a moment before saying, "I'll be handing you over to Sister Grace, tonight, though she's still recovering, I didn't expect that she has quite the appetite that she even pleaded me to help her...Dan, you must satisfy her but remember that her body is still recovering so hold back a little and let her control the pace..."
Her words shocked the two and Grace exploded into a furious blush as she immediately went forward and voiced her complaints, "Sis! How could you say that to him!"
Natalie merely shrugged, "Seeing him being so honest about his thought, us wives should also clearly express our desire, after all, people cannot read minds and Dan is the same..." With this, she distanced herself from Grace and assumed a sly smile.
Dan bitterly smiled when he thought about Natalie's strange personality when it comes to that matters, he feels like she's too outgoing and carefree regarding that thing between men and women. Clicking his tongue, he embraced them together amidst their stunned cries and said.
"Natalie, I know that you want it too so each of you gets five minutes each..." Stretching both of his arms out, he tore the robes of the two girls, bent the two over the table and simultaneously satisfied them with his mystical techniques.
When Juliet returned home, the three were still engaged in their session. Dan instructed the System beforehand to check for any approaching life signatures and when Juliet stepped a foot on the front yard, Dan immediately detected it and warned the girls.
Grace begrudgingly detached herself from him before walking away with Natalie in a hurry. Receiving Juliet from the entrance, the little girl embraced her father and Dan went on father mode and showered her with kisses and head pats.
Juliet entered the dining room and found all of her favorite dishes. The delighted Juliet looked enticed and as soon as Dan gave her the approval to eat, the little girl wolfed down everything before her as she started talking about what happened on her first day of school.
Since Juliet was also a cultivator, Dan didn't mind seeing her eating too much food for her age. Cultivators needed more energy than mortals so such occurrence was normal.
"Papa, I saw made two friends today and I also got praises from the teacher!" Juliet bragged with innocent pride and Dan praised her with a smile. Several minutes later, Juliet started wondering about where both of her mothers went and Dan awkwardly smiled and made some excuses that she miraculously accepted.
Roughly ten minutes later, the two women returned, Grace's flushed countenance looked refreshed, but Natalie's visage looked crimson than before. Her ragged breathing indicated arousal but why was it that Grace looked satisfied?
Dan raised an eyebrow and turned towards Natalie. Natalie replied under her breath with a smile, "I used the techniques that you frequently used against me, I just didn't expect that it would be that effective..."
Dan's figure froze, techniques that I frequently used against her? Could it be that she's referring about the hand-techniques that I patiently cultivated for a decade, back in my previous life? No wonder Grace looks so blissful and satisfied.
Dan felt regret that he didn't witness the action between his two wives. But oh well, he could just ask them to do it when they're together. Dan shrugged and the arrival of the two, the family was completed and they started discussing among each other with Juliet's first day of school as the focus.
At night, the unsatisfied Natalie crawled on his bed, intent on satisfying herself. Clicking his tongue, Dan knew that he wouldn't be able to get any sleep tonight. But since that was his responsibility as her husband, he had to comply and thoroughly battered her. Only when daybreak arrived did Natalie fell asleep on his bare chest, looking serene and satisfied.
Morning arrived and the first scene that the family saw was George bringing with him a huge tub filled with boiling hot, yet strangely cold medicinal concoction. The medicinal bath bubbled and emanated a fierce heat, but it would intermittently change into a freezing cavern.
Staring at George with confused expressions, the former explained, "I especially concocted this for the sake of the Young Mistress Grace. I heard everything from Mathias, and I doubt that you would've declined his offer so I made the pre-emptive decision of concocting this medicinal bath..." George lightly smiled and Grace inquired.
"For me? What would happen if I dip myself into that bath..." Grace looked hesitant, in reality, how could anyone just easily accept taking a bath in such strange waters. Resplendent colors filled the bath and the fierce heatwave that it gave off prickled the skin of the four.
Juliet threw Grace a concerned look and the other two also did the same. They could only hope that she could endure the pain that she was about to undergo.
"This medicinal bath serves to temper the Young Mistress' body because she still couldn't cultivate, her body is that of a mortal and is extremely frail. So that she could survive the attacks of her enemies, she needs a tempered body that is stronger than steel..." George patiently explained and Natalie chimed in.
"What would happen to her once she enters that bath, will she feel intense pain?"
George replied using the softest tone possible: "Of course, she would. Tempering one's body needs one to endure a series of intense pain that would qualitatively change one's body if they managed to endure it, not only that utmost concentration is required because the Young Mistress' needs to circulate the medicinal fluid inside her body."
"The feeling is akin to having molten iron running through one's veins and most people that underwent such trial killed themselves in a matter of seconds..." George's eyes flashed with a vicious light, "That's how vicious it is..."
Grace and Natalie's expression went pale. Juliet tightly embraced Dan's neck while the latter gulped a mouthful of saliva. From George's description, he made it look like once Grace entered that bath, she would definitely not survive.
"Grace, you don't have to follow George's suggestion, we can always find other ways to temper your body, you don't need to experience such pains just to increase your constitution..." Dan chimed in concern.
A cold light flashed through George's eyes and he scolded, "Young master, I know that you're concerned about your wife but if she cannot endure such a simple trial, then what qualifications does she have to follow by your side? Just because she's beautiful? What a joke! Everyone looks the same when they're dead! In the end, we're just a bunch of skeletons!"
Dan was taken aback by George's sudden outburst. Opening his mouth to speak, he tightly clenched his fists and didn't continue his rebuttal. George's words were sound and logical. On the path towards the peak, innumerable life and death battles, trials and hardships were normal for a cultivator with such an ambition.
If Grace couldn't even survive in her first trial, what use would she have in the future?
Grace bit her lower lip, she realized this fact herself and she knew that she had to make her own decision. Lifting her head, she stared into George's eyes and with a resolved shout, she said, "I'll be taking the medicinal bath, I hope that Senior can guide me..."
George was stunned, he expected that Grace would reject his proposal. Lifting his lips, he remembered Grace's childhood and what she experienced a small smile lifted on his face, "Interesting... since you're that determined, It would be disrespectful if I denied your request..."
"Come forward and take all of your clothes," George commanded and Grace trembled for a moment before undoing her robes. The robes draped on her body fell on the ground, revealing her snowy-white skin and her curvaceous curves.
George remained indifferent despite having a stark-naked beauty before him. Instructing her to walk forward, Dan, Natalie, and Juliet stared at her in concern. Grace turned towards them and reassured them with a smile as she placed her foot inside the bath.
Upon contact, the skin of her toes sizzled and an intense pain surged from her foot towards her brain, stunning her for a moment. Holding her cries of agony, Grace gnashed her teeth and directly jumped on the bath.
Splash!
The medicinal liquid splashed around and in that instant, Grace felt an incomparably hot liquid invading her body through her pores digging into her veins and mixing with her blood. The heatwave that it brought along pervaded every pore of her body as it surged through her limbs, organs, and even her brain...Every cell of her body felt the same intense pain, prompting a scream that could be regarded as ghastly.
"AAAHHH!!!"
Grace's scream tore her vocal cords and she went hoarse. Natalie and Juliet buried themselves within Dan's chest while Dan stared at Grace's figure with worry visible on his face along with a fervent wish that she could survive this trial.
Grace's fair skin slowly reddened, a crackling sound akin to frying vegetables surged inside her muscles as every part of her body were continuously subjected to an inhumane tempering. Her reddened skin turned crimson before revealing numerous cracks.
At this moment, Grace fell into a state of trance, memories surged inside her mind, all contained all the hardships that she endured to reach the happiness that she currently felt. Staring at the lone figure of her sister who gradually disappeared into smoke, Grace's heart felt a pain that was even stronger than the pain that her fleshly body felt.
"When my sister disappeared...I felt extreme pain in my heart and soul, such physical pain such as this couldn't possibly compare to that!"
Grace's forehead shone in a light of dark and ice intertwined. The medicinal liquid formed a vortex around her as Grace wildly absorbed everything that she could in an effort to temper her body in the fastest way possible.
The crimson color of her skin turned into cracks that spread throughout her body before shattering, revealing snowy-white skin that looked as tender as a baby.
Pa, pa, pa!
Snapping sounds echoed within Grace's body. It was the sound of her bones repeatedly crushed and reformed!
The inhumane pain was something that the two girls on Dan's chest couldn't imagine. With tears streaming down their cheeks, they tightly embraced Dan's body. Rubbing their heads, Dan revealed the same light in his eyes as he stared at Grace.
At this moment, Grace's face looked purple, however this time, she didn't even scream. Her countenance revealed terrifying composure and determination. With eyes widened in shock, Dan wondered in his mind.
Just how much willpower did she require to prevent herself from screaming in pain?!
George raised his head with eyes filled with shock, at first, he underestimated Grace and had thoughts of rescuing her from the medicinal bath once everything went awry. However, he didn't expect that she would be able to endure a round of tempering and even hold back her scream!
Seeing her skin being completely burnt black with cracking sounds continuously echoing out from her body, paired with her expression that remained tranquil and serene. George wildly laughed and said, "Good...Good...Good!"
The medicinal bath she was in slowly dissipated and within several breaths, the water was nowhere to be seen with Grace encased in a cocoon made from her blood itself.
"Grace, she..."
Natalie whimpered and Juliet started crying out loud, "Release Mama! Uncle, help Mama!" She cried out towards George but the latter maintained his line of sight at the cocoon.
Crack...
A loud cracking sound echoed from the cocoon and under the four's stunned gazes, the cocoon shattered; revealing the figure of Grace whose skin looked fairer and tender than before. Lifting her eyelids, her eyes flashed with a vicious light of darkness and ice.
Her eyebrows became sharp and the aura that surrounded her was of noble arrogance, an arrogance that mere mortals couldn't possibly surpass. Gazing at Dan and Natalie's direction, the Goddess from the Nine Heavens herself cried out in a scream of relief.
"Dan, Sister Natalie, I did it!" She stood up while stark-naked and ran towards the two, tightly embracing them and crying her eyes out, venting all of the pain, frustrations and the immense pressure that she felt on their chests.
George deposited the bathtub inside his independent space and stared at Grace, Natalie, and Dan with a satisfied, yet weird smile on his face.
"The husband is a monster, but the two wives are even greater of a monster than the husband! With these three, it's impossible for the clan to stagnate..."
"This is the first time that I feel anticipation about the future..." George shook his head and lightly laughed, retreating from the Fragrant Peak Pavilion, his gradually turned transparent before vanishing into nothingness.