The cultivation world stretched across vast continents, divided by realms of power that every soul sought to climb. Qi Refining built the foundation, Foundation Establishment solidified the path, Gold Core ignited the inner furnace, Nascent Soul birthed the true self, and Divine Transformation promised transcendence. In this world, female cultivators outnumbered males by a wide margin, yet the few men who walked the path of cultivation were often unmatched in talent and ferocity. Among them stood a peculiar tradition: a male cultivator could mark a female cultivator as his personal slave by spanking her bare bottom, a ritual that linked their spiritual energies and accelerated the cultivation of both parties. Most women despised the practice, viewing it as a degradation of their dignity. But tradition was tradition, and the strong wrote the rules.
Celestial Lord Xuanfa had no surname anyone remembered. He was known only by his title, a name spoken in whispers and fear across the four seas. He wore black training clothes that clung to his tall, muscular frame, his face cold and handsome as carved jade. His eyes held no warmth, only the sharp gleam of a blade forever unsheathed. At the Nascent Soul Great Perfection, he stood among the strongest in the world, wielding finger techniques that could shatter mountains and tear the sky. But what he truly loved—what set his blood stirring—was the curve of a woman's backside beneath his palm, the sound of a sharp slap echoing through a hall, the sight of pale skin turning crimson under his discipline. He kept his promises. He always followed through.
It began with a single disciple of the Immortal Cloud Sect, a pure-white cloud of a girl who had stumbled into Xuanfa's territory during a herb-gathering mission. She had been careless, trampling a rare spirit grass that Xuanfa had been nurturing for a century. When his enforcer brought her before him, trembling and tearful, Xuanfa had simply looked at her and said, "Your sect will pay for your foolishness. I will go to the Immortal Cloud Sect myself, and I will spank every female cultivator's bottom until it blooms like a peony."
The disciple had screamed and begged, but Xuanfa had already turned away, his robes swirling behind him. He did not strike her. He wanted her to carry the message, to spread the terror.
Three days later, Xuanfa arrived at the gates of the Immortal Cloud Sect.
The sect perched on a floating peak wrapped in white mist, its pavilions carved from cloudstone and jade. All-female, with a lineage stretching back three thousand years, the Immortal Cloud Sect prided itself on its purity and discipline. But now, the disciples gathered in the courtyard, their faces pale, their hands clutching their swords. Word had spread. The Celestial Lord was coming. The man who spanked women for sport.
Shen Mengyue stood at the front, her black and white Daoist robes flowing around her tall, graceful figure. Her long black hair reached her waist, strands catching the wind like silk threads. Her face was both ethereal and enchanting, with the fair skin of a young woman and the allure of a mature one. She was the sect master, a Nascent Soul mid-stage cultivator, and she had sworn to protect her disciples with her life.
"Celestial Lord Xuanfa," she said, her voice cool and steady, though her heart hammered in her chest. "I apologize for my disciple's negligence. The spirit grass will be replaced tenfold. There is no need for such drastic measures."
Xuanfa stood at the entrance of the sect gate, his arms behind his back, his black robes stark against the white mist. His expression did not change. "Replace the grass?" he said, his voice low and flat. "A hundred years of growth cannot be replaced. Your sect's disrespect must be repaid in full. You will all bend over and receive your punishment."
Shen Mengyue's eyes narrowed. She had heard of his reputation, but she had never faced him. She was no weakling. "I cannot allow that," she said. "If you insist, then you must face me first."
A murmur ran through the disciples. Some gasped, others clenched their fists. Shen Mengyue raised a hand to silence them. She drew her sword—a slender blade of pale blue crystal that hummed with spiritual energy. "I will not let you shame my sect."
Xuanfa tilted his head, a ghost of something that might have been interest flickering across his face. "Then fight."
The battle erupted like a thunderclap.
Shen Mengyue moved first, her sword tracing an arc of azure light that split the mist and screamed toward Xuanfa's chest. He raised a single finger, black energy spiraling around it, and tapped the blade. The impact sent a shockwave rippling outward, cracking the stone beneath their feet. Shen Mengyue's arm numbed, but she pressed forward, her techniques flowing like water—sword rain, moon slash, falling petals of ice.
Xuanfa did not move from his spot. He stood like a mountain, deflecting each strike with casual flicks of his fingers, his eyes never leaving her face. She was strong, he acknowledged. Beautiful too. Her robes fluttered as she spun, her hair whipping behind her, her expression fierce and determined. But she was only mid-stage, and he was Great Perfection. The gap was not just a matter of power; it was a chasm.
After thirty exchanges, Shen Mengyue was breathing hard, sweat beading on her brow. She had thrown everything at him—her strongest sword art, her soul-binding technique, even a forbidden spell that drained her lifespan. He had blocked it all. And he had not even used seventy percent of his strength.
"My turn," Xuanfa said.
He raised his hand, fingers curling into a claw, and thrust forward. Black energy shot from his fingertips, coiling into a dragon that roared through the air. Shen Mengyue raised her sword to parry, but the dragon shattered the blade into a thousand shards, then slammed into her chest. She flew backward, crashing into the stone pillars of the main hall, her body leaving a crater in the wall. She slid to the ground, gasping, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
The disciples screamed. Some rushed forward, but Shen Mengyue raised a trembling hand. "Stop," she croaked. "Do not engage."
Xuanfa walked toward her, his footsteps echoing in the sudden silence. He stopped a pace away, looking down at her as she lay on the cracked stone, her robes torn and dusty, her long hair splayed around her. Her eyes were wide, not with pain but with terror. She had never been so utterly defeated. He had dismantled her like a child breaking a toy.
"You resisted," Xuanfa said, his voice flat and cold. "You attacked me. I would have been lenient, but now the punishment is increased." He paused, letting the words sink in. "The entire Immortal Cloud Sect has resisted. Therefore, every female cultivator here—from the youngest outer disciple to the sect master herself—will be spanked one hundred times daily with Dark Wood Boards for three years."
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. Dark Wood Boards were instruments of discipline, infused with spiritual energy that made each strike burn like fire and ache for hours. One hundred times a day. For three years. It was not just punishment; it was humiliation, a sentence that would shatter their pride and reduce their sect to a laughingstock.
Shen Mengyue's face drained of color. She struggled to rise, her arms shaking, but Xuanfa placed a foot on her chest, pressing her back down. "Do not move," he said. "You will begin today. All of you. Strip and bend over."
"No," Shen Mengyue whispered, but her voice cracked. She looked up at him, her eyes filled with a desperate plea. "Please. I will submit. I will accept any punishment myself. But spare my disciples. They are innocent."
Xuanfa gazed at her, his expression unreadable. "Innocent?" He shook his head slowly. "They belong to your sect. Your sect offended me. Your sect resisted. They share your fate." He lifted his foot and stepped back. "Bring the boards."
The disciples wept. Some fell to their knees, begging. Others stood frozen, their faces masks of horror. Shen Mengyue closed her eyes, a single tear sliding down her cheek. She had failed them. She had faced the strongest in the world and lost, and now her sisters would pay the price.
Xuanfa turned and walked to the center of the courtyard, his back straight, his hands clasped behind him. The first Dark Wood Board was brought forward, black and heavy, carved with runes that pulsed with faint light. He took it, testing its weight, then looked at the disciples.
"Line up," he commanded. "You will each receive your hundred. Do not make me repeat myself."
The punishment of the Immortal Cloud Sect had begun. And the cultivation world would soon hear of it—a tale of a sect brought low, of a sect master stripped of her dignity, and of the cold, merciless lord who took pleasure in every sharp crack of wood against flesh.