"Now I’ve got to do the hard part," Riley murmured, smiling faintly to himself.
Despite the easy expression, there was a depth in his eyes—a countless number of years, burdens, and responsibilities rolling silently behind them.
He exhaled slowly, steadying his mind. Tomorrow... everything would change.
The next day, as dawn light ward the peaks of the clan’s mountains, Riley gathered all his wives and children in the grand courtyard.
The morning wind brushed past them, carrying the scent of blooming spirit-lotus.
"Where are we going, husband?" Aurora asked, her arms around his, her voice filled with curiosity and a hint of excitent.
His other wives stood around him—so confused, so amused, so trying to guess the surprise.
His children ran circles around the group, laughing freely.
Riley looked at all of them with a warmth few had ever seen from him.
"I have a revelation to show everyone," he said simply. "Sothing grand. Sothing important. It will surprise you... and maybe shock you."
He refused to say more.
They soon boarded a luxurious flying boat—one he rarely used unless the destination was significant.
The deck was wide and reinforced with divine materials, glowing faintly under the sunlight.
As they rose into the air, the entire clan watched from below, bowing respectfully, unsure but trusting their patriarch.
The vessel cut through clouds with ease.
For a while, the families enjoyed the scenic horizon; mountains shrank behind them, rivers beca thin silver lines, and drifting spirit beasts bowed their heads as the massive boat passed overhead.
Hours slipped by gently until the world around them... changed.
The sky began to distort, folding in on itself like ripples across a lake.
Strange luminescent lines spread outward from an invisible center.
The children pressed their faces to the glass railings.
"What’s happening?" one of them asked.
Riley watched calmly. "We’re entering another realm." The space around the ship twisted once more—and in an instant, they broke through.
A blinding radiance greeted them.
Below, an endless landscape of glowing formations and divine architecture stretched further than their senses could reach.
Towers reached into the heavens, bridges of light spanned miles, and celestial rivers floated in the air like flowing stars.
They had arrived at Heaven’s Gate City—the true center of this immortal realms, the place where only the highest beings once walked.
A city Riley had considered his ho.
And today, it thrived.
The city was in the middle of a grand festival.
Giant banners of light waved in the sky, bells chid lodically, and countless beings gathered across the plazas in joyous celebration.
Confetti of spiritual petals drifted down like rain.
When the flying boat descended from the clouds, a wave of awe swept through the populace.
"That’s—!"
"Is that Patriarch Riley?!"
The cheers began softly, like a spark... then erupted into a roaring storm of voices that shook the foundations of the city.
People shouted his na, bowed, cried, and raised heavenly lanterns into the air as if welcoming returning royalty.
The flying boat landed gently on the central plaza—a massive platform carved from a single slab of divine jade.
The doors slid open.
Riley’s wives stepped out first. Aurora’s long hair fluttered like silk.
His other wives followed gracefully, each radiating a noble aura.
Their children ran forward, eyes wide with wonder at the sheer scale of Heaven’s Gate City.
The crowd’s applause thundered louder, echoing through the sky.
Then Riley stepped out last.
The entire city fell into a sudden, breathless silence.
Tens of thousands of eyes fixed on him with reverence, awe, and fear.
His presence alone was enough to calm storms and split mountains, yet today his expression was soft... almost gentle.
He had co ho.
And he was finally ready to reveal the truth he had kept hidden for so long.
Veronica and the rest of Riley’s harem in this world welcod Aurora with genuine warmth.
It surprised Aurora and the rest—they had expected competition, jealousy, or cold formality.
Instead, she was t with soft smiles, curious glances, and gentle touches on her arm or shoulder as they greeted her one by one.
These won had lived with Riley for years; they understood his heart better than most, and Aurora’s presence simply ant another sister joining their family.
They went into their mansion and everyone was present there. All of Riley’s wives and six children.
He then began to speak and explain.
He didn’t gloss over the truth. He told them everything.
How the borders of their realm had nearly collapsed.
How Sunny had gathered a monstrous beast army and pushed their lands to the brink.
How Apollo’s realm was involved.
How Riley had used thods he had never intended to reveal—thods that stretched ti itself to its limits.
The won listened in stunned silence. So gasped. So covered their mouths.
And now they finally knew why.
They spoke for hours. Questions spilled endlessly:
"Were we really that close to disaster?"
"How long were you gone?"
"What happened to your divine soul?"
"What about our children? Our clan? The city?"
Riley answered each one patiently, even when pain flickered in his eyes.
He explained the ti freeze: how this entire realm had been suspended, untouched, preserved, so no one inside would suffer or decay.
To them, only five short years had passed. To him... far more.
He explained how his true body had finally arrived, rging with the true body that had been living among them.
Now, his existence was whole again—stronger, calr, more radiant than ever.
By the end, the won no longer felt fear. They felt relief. Pride. Awe.
So even cried openly, clinging to him as if they feared he’d vanish again.
But once the emotional storm settled...
A new atmosphere filled the room.
Soft. Warm. Electric.
Veronica was the first to step closer, her cheeks tinged rosy. Her heartbeat was almost audible in the quiet hall.
"Husband," she whispered, her voice trembling for a completely different reason now, "I... I think I’m ready to get pregnant as well."
One of the other wives let out a tiny breath and nodded. " too."
"And ."
"And also..."
One by one, every wife confessed the sa desire—each of them feeling the depth of longing they had ignored or endured during the long, uncertain years.
They wanted a child with him. They wanted to experience motherhood again, or for the first ti.
They wanted to strengthen their bond with him in the most ancient way possible.
Riley looked at all of them. Won he had fought for. Cried for. Returned for.
They surrounded him slowly, lovingly. So held his hands. So leaned against his shoulders.
Others touched his back, his chest, his hair—gentle, affectionate gestures filled with emotion rather than need.
That night, the chambers of Heaven’s Gate City glowed softly with lantern light.
Riley didn’t rush. He didn’t choose one over another.
He took his ti with each wife—listening to them, comforting them, holding them close, giving every woman the attention she deserved.
The city outside was silent and serene, but inside his palace there was laughter, whispered confessions, soft tears, and deep, heartfelt intimacy.
One by one, his wives drifted into peaceful sleep in his arms, embraced warmly, completely fulfilled.
And by dawn, as morning light filtered through the divine curtains, Riley sensed it clearly—new threads of life beginning to form within each of them.
Every single one of his wives now carried a spark of him.
And Heaven’s Gate City... felt more alive than ever before.
***
A few days later, the entire Heaven’s Gate City was alive with rumors, whispers, and excited discussions.
Word had spread at a speed even ssengers couldn’t match—Patriarch Riley had returned with six new wives and six children, all beautiful, all powerful, and all completely unknown.
No one expected sothing so dramatic. No one was prepared.
Naturally, it beca the talk of every street, every courtyard, every cultivation hall.
At the bustling Sky Lantern Market, where spiritual herbs floated on shelves made of pure qi, several cultivators leaned over a stall, speaking in hushed but eager tones.
"Six new wives and six children... Master Riley works fast," one man said, shaking his head with a grin full of envy. "I don’t even know where he found them."
"They’re probably from so faraway, hidden place," another guessed. "A secret realm, maybe? A lost celestial clan? I an—did you see the way they carried themselves?"
A woman polishing her sword chid in, unable to hold back her curiosity. "Lady Iris alone gave chills. When she walked past earlier, I felt like the air froze around my lungs."
"I felt it too!" another cultivator jumped in, raising his hands dramatically. "She wasn’t even looking at —just her presence alone had my legs shaking. If she actually focused her cultivation pressure on , I swear I would’ve fainted on the spot."
Across the city, similar conversations erupted.
At the Golden Spirit Pavilion, a group of young disciples exchanged rumors while pretending to train.
"I heard one of the children shattered a spiritual stone by accident."
"No way!"
"It’s true! Soone from the guard squad told !"
At the Jade Bell Restaurant, patrons leaned over their tables, whispering between bites.
"They say Aurora is breathtaking. So people think she’s not even human, but a higher being in disguise."
"Who knows? With Master Riley, anything’s possible."
Even in the high-level cultivation districts—areas where discussions were usually solemn and focused—the topic stole attention.
A pair of elders sighed as they watched the sky.
"Riley’s legacy grows again," one murmured. "Six new children blessed with his bloodline. The city will only flourish further."
"If their mothers are truly as powerful as the rumors say," the other replied, "then Heaven’s Gate City may beco the strongest city in the realms."
The excitent was contagious.
rchants prepared new banners to celebrate. Children played gas pretending to be Riley’s new kids.
Guards whispered among themselves whenever they saw a new wife pass by—every single one of them elegant, composed, and carrying a unique aura that no ordinary cultivator could imitate.
Speculation theories beca more ridiculous with every retelling:
"They might be ancient phoenixes taking human form!"
"No, no—goddesses from the Upper Heaven!"
"I heard they’re daughters of the Primordial Stars!"
Of course, no one truly knew.
But everyone wanted to.
And so the mystery grew, spreading through the city like a growing fla.
One thing was undeniable:
Heaven’s Gate City had not been this alive, this curious, or this excited in many years.
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