CHAPTER 373: EPISODE 40.4 NO ROOM FOR DOUBTS!

In the modern age, omegas were no longer treated as fragile ornaments or expendable citizens. The awakening of powers had rewritten society’s hierarchy—at least in theory. Strength was now determined by mana, intellect, and discipline, not by pheromones or gender.

And yet, some truths remained unchanged. Nature still drew its invisible lines. Even the strongest omegas were bound by the limits of their biology—instincts that clouded their clarity, bodies that bent under strain long before their will ever broke.

Chairman Mao knew this. He had seen countless omega awakeners struggle, each one pushing against the same wall of physical limitation. Each one is either hindered by their heat cycle or pregnancy.

That was why, when he demanded that Shen Yuan sustain a large-scale illusion for at least an hour, he knew he was asking too much.

He, himself, could not have done it. Not without risking collapse. Thus, how much more for a pregnant omega?

However...

Chairman Mao let out a silent sigh, careful not to be noticed by Bai Tingfeng, who was watching Shen Yuan throughout the struggle.

He couldn’t help but have a little hope that Shen Yuan would be able to do the impossible.

"Fuck you!"

Chairman Mao’s train of thought shattered at the sound of Shen Yuan’s furious grunt.

In the middle of the stadium, flames raged like living serpents around him. Shen Yuan sat cross-legged, drenched in sweat, hands raised as the wild metal sphere thrashed within the inferno. The air shimmered from the heat.

Thirteen minutes. That was how long he’d lasted this round—and every second showed. His breathing came uneven and sharp, shoulders trembling as the blue fire sputtered and flared in his palms.

The S-class omega—always immaculate, always composed—was now stripped down to raw determination. Hair plastered to his temples, lips drawn in a snarl, eyes burning brighter than his own flames. Chairman Mao had seen Shen Yuan in countless battles, but never like this.

Never so human. Never so alive.

’So this is his limit, huh?’ Mao thought grimly. The sight tugged something unfamiliar in his chest. To last for this long is already an impressive feat. This attempt, plus the previous ones, totalled an hour of extreme focus and struggles.

Other mages wouldn’t last.

’The conditions I set may not have been met, but Shen Yuan proved his reliability,’ Chairman Mao mused.

He didn’t have the heart to watch Shen Yuan collapse, so he came up with an abrupt decision. With a quiet exhale, he lifted his hand to signal the end.

"Alright—"

But before he could move, a firm hand clamped onto his wrist.

Startled, Mao turned. Bai Tingfeng’s expression was unreadable. His gaze fixed unwaveringly on his husband in the arena.

"What are you doing?" Mao demanded.

Of all people, Bai Tingfeng should have been the first to call for a stop. The man practically wrapped Shen Yuan in bubble wrap whenever he sneezed. But now, he wasn’t moving to protect him. he was stopping Chairman Mao from doing so!

"Look closer," Bai Tingfeng said quietly. His voice carried the steadiness of someone who knew. "Do you really think you can stop him?"

Chairman Mao hesitated, eyes flicking back to the field. Shen Yuan’s expression had changed—no longer desperation, but something sharper, more dangerous.

The red flush on his cheeks wasn’t exhaustion—it was focus. His grin, small and wild, sent a shiver down Mao’s spine.

He couldn’t help it. Instinctively, Mao’s mana stirred. His black eyes turned crystalline blue, glinting like fractured ice. Azure Eyes—activate.

For a moment, the world stilled. Then, the truth unfolded before him.

What had looked like a simple ring of fire was anything but.

Within that flickering circle, thousands of thin, luminescent threads wove through the air—delicate lines of mana intersecting and splitting apart, spiralling in an intricate dance. They curved and reformed endlessly, forming an unseen architecture of power. It was like watching a chrysanthemum bloom in slow motion—beautiful, precise, and terrifying.

The old chairman could see how the initially violent, repulsive force of the training ball submitted to Shen Yuan’s delicate power play.

Chairman Mao’s throat went dry. "Holy—"

He barely stopped himself from uttering profanity. His composure cracked anyway.

Those lines weren’t decoration—they were pathways, conduits through which Shen Yuan guided the repulsive force of the training ball. Every filament of mana calculated, redirected, and balanced the wild repulsive energy like a grand equation written in flame.

He remembered when he had attempted this same test. He’d used a thick sphere of wind to trap the ball, spinning it in containment to suppress its erratic energy. It had worked for thirty disciplined minutes.

Until he released it.

Then it had exploded like a grenade. The ricochet destroyed half his dojo.

He had thought that was the pinnacle of magical control.

Now, watching Shen Yuan, he realized he’d been wrong. Terribly wrong.

Because where Mao used brute containment, Shen Yuan used grace. The flames did not suppress the ball—they danced with it.

And for the first time in a very long while, the old chairman felt something he hadn’t felt since his youth—awe.

His eyes greedily took in the ethereal display of magical powers.

"Son of a bitch," Now, Chairman Mao could no longer stop himself from saying profanity. His eyes are shining bright like a lit light bulb, and the amazed smile on his lips was too obvious for even a kindergartener to sketch perfectly.

On the side, Bai Tingfeng was utterly confused. This cussing should be a good thing, no?

Yet, he still asked, "What is it, Chairman Mao?"

Chairman Mao hitched his breath then uttered slowly, "Your husband... he is doing more than magic control." He explained what he witnessed in great detail to Bai Tingfeng. "Such intricate and subtle control... Even I can’t do this. I think no one else could do this."

The old chairman whipped his head at Bai Tingfeng, as if he had lost his mind. "What is up with Shen Yuan? Normally, he was this troublemaker who would always be one of the potential causes of my death, but how come he is like a prodigy now?"

"Ha!" Let out an amused huff that gradually turned into proud laughter.

Of course, magic control is nothing for his impressive husband! He is the nine-tailed celestial fox spirit!

Bai Tingfeng feels bad that Chairman Mao was oblivious to the truth, like an idiot, but on the other hand, he cannot help but want to goad the old chairman.

"Chairman Mao," Bai Tingfeng said in a low voice, like when he was educating Yanyan. "My husband may have a fiery temperament and all over the place sometimes; however, deep inside, he was layer and layers of brilliance."

"Being pregnant does not impede him. Rather, it is his motivation to become even more badass!"

Chairman Mao opened and closed his mouth.

What the fuck?

He was asking a reasonable question, and the answer he received was a nasty bragging about their love?!

Chairman Mao’s armpits felt itchy. He wanted to lift his arms in resignation.

’You guys won! You have the power and love to last for multiple lifetimes,’ Chairman Mao screamed inside his head.

He was about to turn his head and continue his observation on Shen Yuan when suddenly, he was startled by a familiar thing that was charging towards his face.

"Fuck!" Chairman Mao’s sailor’s mouth attacked again. This time, following the rhythm of his racing heart, his body instinctively took a step back when he even realized what was going on.

When he did, Chairman Mao looked like he was about to die from hypertension.

"What is wrong with you, Shen Yuan?!" Chairman Mao yelled, holding his drumming chest.

With his Azure Eyes, he could see it! The brat controlled the metal ball to accelerate in his direction!

"Just say if you’ve already given up! I will properly take that ball using my hand!"

"Huh?" The sweaty and haggard Shen Yuan acted innocent. He even blinked his expressive eyes for maximum effect. "I am not giving up, though? I am done."

"Ha?" This time, it was Chairman Mao’s turn to crease his forehead. Then all of a sudden, the sharp, piercing sound of his timer rang.

Toot! Toot! Toot!

Chairman Mao blinked, stupid.

Shen Yuan just puckered his lips like a duck and shrugged his shoulders. Then, without warning, he recalled the little mana fibres that control the Ben Wa ball.

It landed with a loud thump on the ground.

"There you go. I fulfilled the condition of keeping that Ben Wa ball using magic for 30 minutes, so that should prove my competence." His entirety may be a mess, but that doesn’t stop him from walking towards the two alphas in a very model-like grace.

"This means that I will be participating in the operation as planned," He stopped in front of Chairman Mao, then sassily snapped his finger right on the old chairman’s face. "This is set in stone. I am doing it."

He then stood in front of Chairman Mao and Bai Tingfeng and cockily crossed his arms over his chest, smirking. It’s as if he were waiting for dissent or disagreement from the two.

At this point, Chairman Mao no longer has doubts. "You’re in." He offered his hand.

Smiling Bai Tingfeng watched on the side as his husband huffed with satisfaction before he accepted it.

But before the two could even shake their hands, Shen Yuan’s stomach grumbled.

"Fuck..." And the beautiful smile of the fox disappeared. He really suffered a lot today!