When I opened my eyes, sure enough—Bidong again.

It was that chamber with stone tablets engraved with the reliefs of spirit beasts.

The place where you could open the door and upgrade your “children.”

I’d already completed the registration process before, so this clearly meant it was time to perform an upgrade.

“Been a while.”

Ever since my cultivation level had reached the point where I could enter this place deliberately, I hadn’t actually bothered coming here on my own.

That was because I was still thinking carefully about their evolutions.

If it were just a matter of wives getting beauty treatments, I wouldn’t hesitate—but the evolution of my children was another matter entirely. It was about their future.

This wasn’t something you decided lightly.

With my wives, I was going to be with them for life, so even if an “upgrade” went wrong, I’d take responsibility.

I mean, sure, I like full chests—but if they ended up flat—well, there’s nothing you can do. Once you’ve promised a lifetime together, you take responsibility no matter what.

But my spirit beasts... even though I wanted to keep them forever, they might eventually become independent.

They could start their own families, or, being wild creatures, they might leave when mating season came.

They might even have to survive in the wild after my death.

So their evolutions were something I had to weigh very carefully.

A child’s career path is important, and a bad upgrade could be a huge disadvantage in the wild.

If you made them too large, their energy efficiency would drop. If you enlarged the jaws too much, it could be inconvenient in everyday life.

Even stags with magnificent antlers sometimes end up dying because their antlers get caught in trees.

If my wives’ breasts get bigger, the only one in danger of dying is me—of happiness. But when it comes to the body or abilities of my kids, I have to be deliberate.

I walked a slow circle around the center of the chamber, examining my surroundings—until I spotted a single tablet shimmering.

When I got closer, I saw Hwa-eun, Gun Hye-rin, and the princess engraved there.

Creatures of the same “type” were grouped onto one tablet, so with the princess added, their depiction had changed—and now, for the first time, it was in color.

“Now it’s in color, huh?”

Hwa-eun was in the center, emanating a greenish aura. Gun Hye-rin was to her left, radiating a black energy.

The princess stood to her right, sword lowered, gazing up at the sky.

Above each figure were five crystal-like gems.

Only the princess’s gems were shining—five of them, pulsing with light.

It seemed to mean that her cultivation had advanced enough for an upgrade.

Still, before checking her status, I touched Gun Hye-rin’s head on the tablet first.

Tap.

She hadn’t been upgraded yet, after all.

Since she’d been registered before the princess, I figured I’d follow that order.

Four of the five gems above Gun Hye-rin’s head began to glow.

From that, I instantly understood—the number of lit gems represented the current state of that part of the body.

Maybe because my mastery of the Beast-Heart Technique had advanced, I could now clearly read the condition of each registered “creature.”

As the gems lit, details like injuries and health surfaced in my mind.

Huh? She’s not as dim as she sometimes acts... actually, this is good. So why does she act frustrating sometimes?

Her intelligence was in no way poor—quite the opposite.

If one gem meant “average,” she had four gems glowing—that was well above normal.

Five meant “genius,” so she was in the “exceptionally smart” range.

Then a term surfaced in my mind: Enlightenment Enhancement.

It seemed to be an option to increase her overall intellect.

Her intelligence wasn’t low, but... for Hye-rin, it felt like a very needed ability.

A person could be brilliant in martial arts but still... occasionally lack a certain something.

'This is a really tempting upgrade...'

If I picked the chest upgrade, both of us would feel “pressure.”

Her, from the added weight. Me, from the moments when she’d do something frustrating.

But if I picked this, her chest would be “lighter,” and so would the burden on my own heart.

Of course, happiness might take a slight dip.

I hesitated, but upgrading means considering all conditions.

Next, I touched her arm—different options appeared than with Hwa-eun.

An active ability: to gather a massive force into her fist and explode it outward.

“Oh?”

Apparently, the upgrade options depended on one’s learned martial arts and constitution.

Touching her foot showed an ability that struck the ground with energy every step.

Her leg: enhanced leg strength—able to sweep fast enough to cut like a blade.

It seemed Hye-rin’s body leaned toward breaking, blasting, and slicing.

Touching her lower abdomen showed an option to reinforce the dantian, cloaking her in a powerful aura.

Now there were only two choices left.

I paused, glancing around, and muttered an excuse.

“Ahem... it’s not like I’m touching her actual body—it’s just a tablet. And even if it were her body, a husband can touch his wife.”

We hadn’t officially had the wedding yet, but we’d already agreed between ourselves, so...

With that shameless excuse, I lowered my hand—and, just as Hye-rin had boasted, found her “perfectly clean.”

What’s more, five gems were glowing there.

“What the hell does it mean when this has five gems?”

I was curious, but nothing in this part seemed to have a “strengthen” option, so I quickly moved my hand upward.

Sure enough, the same choice appeared as with Hwa-eun: enhance skin beauty and feminine charm.

I wasn’t about to turn my wife into a killing machine, and giving her extra destructive power would just make martial artists more wary of her.

But if the Sect Leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult became more beautiful, people might relax their guard a bit.

So, for a very reasonable reason, I chose the same option as Hwa-eun.

Honestly, all that “Three-Chests” talk earlier had been a joke anyway.

'Yep, this is the noble choice.'

As I selected the area to enhance, I felt the tablet’s engraving change in real time.

The “chest star” became five gems.

Then I moved on to the princess.

As with Hye-rin, I started at the head.

Her comprehension level: four gems, same as Hye-rin’s.

But her upgrade option was surprisingly different—dynamic vision enhancement.

“The princess gets vision enhancement instead of intelligence, huh? Well, she’s already more than smart enough... maybe even sly.”

Her arms: reflex enhancement.

Her legs and feet: agility and quick-step upgrades.

It seemed that, thanks to her swordsmanship training, she leaned toward agility and reaction speed.

So while Hye-rin’s upgrades focused on active techniques, the princess’s leaned toward passive enhancements.

Following the same order, my hand moved—

—and I couldn’t help but marvel.

Because I had just discovered an ancient, curious truth.

“Well, well... so the royal harems of the ancient Central Plains practiced Brazilian waxing, huh?”

Hye-rin was all-natural, but the princess... clearly maintained herself.

It seemed even in the ancient imperial court of the Central Plains, meticulous personal grooming for hygiene was practiced.

I thought that perhaps, historically, Brazilian waxing should actually be called Chinese waxing—and, as expected, I chose the same upgrade for all three wives.

Equal love meant equal upgrades.

“Ah, so the choice for household peace is complete.”

It was just as I was about to leave the mental realm after making my choices that something caught my eye.

“Hm?”

The stone tablet belonging to Yo-hwa was nearby, and I tilted my head.

Yo-hwa’s tablet had changed in a completely different way compared to the others.

The other tablets were only different in that they now had color, but Yo-hwa’s looked significantly altered.

“Wait... why is the spider body...”

Her tablet was split diagonally.

On the left was Yo-hwa in her original form. On the right, she was depicted with a golden body—likely the result of evolving into a Golden-Faced Spider.

But on the right, the spider body beneath her pedipalps was gone.

Instead, she stood with a natural human lower body planted on the ground, with eight spider legs sprouting from her back.

“What’s this? Can she transform like this?”

I pressed the tablet in surprise to check her body’s condition, but no detailed information about this “right-side” form appeared.

***

When I opened my eyes, Gun Hye-rin was looking at me with a satisfied expression. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

There was a certain confidence to her look. Well, I suppose she had reason to be confident.

“Master, you’re awake?”

“What about the princess—no, Ji-ryeon?”

“She’s just entered the rebirth stage. It’s proceeding smoothly; there’s no need to worry.”

I followed Hye-rin’s gaze and saw the princess, sitting cross-legged and naked, her back to me.

The cloth she’d had wrapped around her upper body had been removed as the rebirth process began.

Droplets of black liquid dripped from her skin.

Even the straw beneath her was slightly blackened, and an unpleasant odor of expelled impurities wafted from her.

Her shoulders sloped smoothly, her waist was narrow, her long hair fell in a cascade.

I couldn’t see the front of her, but I didn’t need to—I could tell. The outline at the side was clear enough.

It looked like her upgrade was progressing well.

“What about Hwa-eun?”

I thought all three wives had completed their upgrades, but then realized Hwa-eun wasn’t present.

When I asked, I was told she’d gone to fetch clothes.

“She said she was going to get new clothes for herself and the princess from the Tang family estate.”

“But... they already have clothes, don’t they?”

I tilted my head.

Both the princess and Hye-rin had clothing already.

Hye-rin glanced down at her own chest with an embarrassed look.

“Well... my current clothes don’t really fit anymore.”

“Ah...”

Her martial attire was now stretched to its absolute limit over her chest.

While clothes in the Central Plains usually wrapped and tied at the chest, allowing for some room, there was a limit. With this much change in size, you either needed new garments or major alterations.

I nodded, but then remembered the image I’d seen of Yo-hwa on her stone tablet in the mental realm, and thought I should check on her—just as I started to stand up.

Something tugged at my waist, making me sit back down.

I looked down to see Hye-rin’s hand gripping my robe.

Avoiding my gaze, she spoke softly.

“Um... about that... the initiation...”

“Oh, right.”

I pulled her into my arms, and her face flushed red.

“Master...”

Looking up at me, she met my eyes. I gave her a sheepish smile.

“Uh... sorry for scolding you so often. I’ll treat you better from now on.”

She just nodded, lowering her head slightly—then tilted her chin up for a kiss.

Smooch.

At the same time, I confirmed that the chest enhancement had been very successful indeed.

***

The princess’s rebirth finished two days later.

When she had bathed and dressed, we headed into the forest to hunt the silverfish spirit beast. As we walked, the princess kept running her hand over her chest.

“It’s going to take me a while to get used to this new body.”

It seemed her post-rebirth physique felt unfamiliar.

Beside her, Hye-rin nodded.

“It’s understandable. With the increase in bust size, her overall body balance has changed, so it’ll take time to adapt.”

“Ahem.”

I cleared my throat for no real reason—just then, Yo-hwa’s voice sounded in my head.

Heehee. “Brother, should I start setting it here?”

‘She doesn’t seem to have any problems.’

Her words made me recall the events from a few days ago.

Back then, after checking the stone tablet in Bidong and kissing Hye-rin, I had gone to check on Yo-hwa—but found nothing else about her had changed.

Yo-hwa’s voice came again.

Heeheehee. “Brother?”

“Ah, sorry.”

I shook off my thoughts, glanced around, and nodded.

After all, this was the location I had marked earlier—where the silverfish spirit beast had vanished.

“Yes, Yo-hwa. Let’s start.”

Heehee! “Understood!”

In an instant, her threads began shooting out, blanketing the spot where the silverfish spirit beast had disappeared.

It was time to catch the creature.