Overnight, Han Yunxi kept distracting Long Feiye until he ran out of chances to let her drink tea. But in the end he finally knitted his brows and asked, “You don’t like Winterflakes?”
“I’ve eaten too much, so I’m too full to drink,” Han Yunxi had a reasonable excuse.
Long Feiye was about to press for more details when she caught his hand and walked away with a smile. “Long Feiye, if a day comes that tea and I both fall off a cliff at the same time, which one would you save first?”
Long Feiye smiled helplessly. “No need to fall off any cliffs. If you don’t like it, I’ll try swearing off tea starting tomorrow.”
“I’m only joking,” Han Yunxi laughed out loud. The couple had just reached their rooms when Xu Donglin showed up.
“Your Highness, Miss Mingxiang has arrived at Medical City.”
“Mm, we’ll meet up at the Poison Sect forbidden grounds’ Skypit tomorrow,” Long Feiye instructed.
Han Yunxi was surprised. “Why don’t you get Baili Mingxiang to come over here?”
Bai Yanqing had survived a stab wound to the heart, so Heaven knows if his body was as tough as a fortress. Even if Baili Mingxiang lured Bai Yanqing to her side, it was uncertain whether she could kill him with the Raging Flame Lotus!
But Long Feiye only said, “If Bai Yanqing’s undying body is already public news, will he need to kill Baili Mingxiang anymore?”
Han Yunxi now understood. Before, Bai Yanqing’s martial arts was about on par with Long Feiye’s, so he knew Baili Mingxiang could be Long Feiye’s dual cultivation candidate. Thus, he had to kill Baili Mingxiang before Long Feiye’s martial arts improved and increased the gap between them. But now that they had found out about his undying body, Bai Yanqing didn’t near to fear Long Feiye’s martial arts advancing. In any case, he didn’t need to hide the secret of his physique like before if they fought, but use his true powers in a measure of strength. No matter how powerful Long Feiye grew--even to the extent of the l.u.s.tbite energy’s third level--wasn’t he just as helpless to kill Bai Yanqing? In other words, Bai Yanqing shouldn’t have any reason to find trouble for Baili Mingxiang anymore!
“Could it be that you suspect the l.u.s.tbite energy…” Han Yunxi couldn’t believe it.
“The l.u.s.tbite energy is the strongest power in the world that can overcome all obstacles and destroy everything. Perhaps…” Long Feiye only wanted to probe it out. He himself wasn’t certain whether it was the answer. If Bai Yanqing found them and decided to target Baili Mingxiang without reserve just like before, then it would be highly suspicious.
“It’s worth testing out,” Han Yunxi nodded. She hoped that the Poison Sect’s forbidden grounds could give them some answers too. Shutting the door, Long Feiye and Han Yunxi forgot all discussion to do something else equally important. Under Long Feiye’s guidance for the past two months, Han Yunxi had already cultivated to the full ten levels of the Nirvana Heart Arts. Her needle arts were getting better and better as well, and she’d learned quite a bit of qinggong (lightness techniques) too. She was afraid of revealing her skills at Hundred Poisons Sect, so Long Feiye had still carried her around while she refrained from fighting. Now she could control the Nirvana energy, which meant that Long Feiye would start formally dual cultivating with her now.
The reason Han Yunxi cultivated this internal energy technique in the first place was to match Long Feiye, who had learned the same. It would be the foundation for their dual cultivation and the intermediary to make this work. The energies of yin and yang supplemented and complemented each other through this technique. Only then could they affect and improve each other. Meanwhile, Long Feiye’s l.u.s.tbite energy needed support from both yin and yang energies to improve faster. Thus, in this dual cultivation he took the lead while Han Yunxi acted as support.
Long Feiye used the support of Nirvana Heart Arts and the yinyang energy to move the l.u.s.tbite energy within him; Han Yunxi’s internal energy grew vigorous as a result. Once dual cultivation succeeded, she too, would be able to control the l.u.s.tbite energy at will, which would making learning any sword skills from Celestial Mountain Sword Sect easy.
“Ready? Once we start, we’ll need to cultivate for two hours everyday for the next three months without interruptions,” Long Feiye reminded her.
Han Yunxi asked, “What do we need to prepare? In any case, I’ll be relying on you for the rest of my life, so I won’t go anywhere.”
Long Feiye wanted to smile, but he only turned aside and coughed a few times. “Then let’s begin.” He choose a rather roomy, warm couch and took away the tea table on its surface. The two of them sat facing their partner and stared into each other’s eyes. Dual cultivation was to cultivate both the heart and body together. Cultivation of the body required the two to combine martial arts, while cultivation of the heart required them to have a tacit understanding from their very souls.
The two of them sat there quietly for an hour until both closed their eyes. Instead, they used their intuition to sense the other’s presence. Abruptly, both of them opened their eyes wide and shared a smile of understanding. As husband and wife, their feelings ran deep, so cultivation of the heart wasn’t very difficult. Long Feiye grabbed for his Profound Frost Sword hanging on the wall and handed it to Han Yunxi, leaving nothing but the scabbard in his hands.
“There’s only one sword, so I’ll have to trouble you with this one until I get Xu Donglin to find you a better one,” Long Feiye said.
“Alright, I’ll wait,” Han Yunxi was thrilled. She was always filled with expectation for this man’s gifts. Actually, she didn’t suffer any losses now, either. Long Feiye’s Profound Frost Sword hadn’t been touched by anyone else since he accepted it from the sword sect master. Han Yunxi was the first!
Duanmu Yao had tried her best to get this sword in the past, but she hadn’t even managed to touch it. As Long Feiye held the scabbard and Han Yunxi the blade, both of them began to cross weapons in the room. Han Yunxi was starting from zero, so Long Feiye just told her, “Just blocking is fine.”
Han Yunxi did as she was told. Inexplicably, she found that her blade began to gain energy. She didn’t know what was going on, but trusted Long Feiye utterly and followed his tempo. Eventually, her wild moves settled down to something more structured. Han Yunxi had excellent innate talent, so she quickly discovered the patterns of movement and turned into an active party. Her sword struck towards Long Feiye, who blocked it with the scabbard and accurately deflected the attack.
“You’ve almost caught up with my childhood years,” Long Feiye was delighted. Han Yunxi’s enlightenment skills were better than he expected.
“That’s because you teach well!” Han Yunxi grinned.
Long Feiye tossed the scabbard aside and began to teach Han Yunxi how to wield the blade with his hands on her. Many of his strikes looked flat, but Han Yunxi could clearly sense the sword qi circling around the blade, strong and thick.
“Transform the energy into qi, then qi into an awn,” Long Feiye muttered. “Yunxi, close your eyes. You don’t have to think about anything, I’ll guide you.” He had one hand on her waist and the other on her sword hand as he guided her.
It wasn’t clear what Long Feiye felt, but Han Yunxi felt like they were dancing. As his scent enveloped her, she didn’t even want to open her eyes, but just sink into this sensation forever.
The first dual cultivation session needed a rather long time. The duo worked until the middle of the night. Han Yunxi sat on the bed and clearly felt her dantian feeling warm. A strange yet familiar energy was resting within. She touched her stomach and smiled. “It’s very warm and comfortable.”
Long Feiye immediately reached over with his hand just as Han Yunxi regained her senses. She let him stroke her as well, but his hand seemed stuck on her stomach after it made contact. He had been half reclining before, but now had drawn very close to her body. By the time Han Yunxi realized what was going on, it was already too late. Long Feiye lightly pushed her and she toppled back onto the bed and its thick layer of blankets. He rode on top of her and looked down with a wicked smirk. Her legs had fully recovered, but he’d yet to dote on her properly yet.
Han Yunxi’s hands rested against Long Feiye’s body, blocking him. Unsatisfied, he was about to speak when she undid his robes! Long Feiye was surprised. Han Yunxi’s face was scarlet, but her movements grew even bolder. Every time she took the initiative, it was impossible not to go all the way to the end or to quit halfway.
As expected, they were supposed to set out first thing next morning, but Han Yunxi ended up sleeping until noon. Once she woke, she was so startled that she got off the bed without putting on her shoes. Long Feiye was reading his messages before looking unhappily at her toes. “Isn’t it cold? Put on your shoes.”
“It’s already noon, why didn’t you wake me up?!” Han Yunxi complained.
Long Feiye’s eyes went back to his secret missives. “You were so exhausted that it was better to sleep a little longer.”
Han Yunxi had just returned to the bed while she remembered how she’d begged him for mercy last night. Embarra.s.sment almost caused her to crash into the bed. She snuck a glance back and looked doubtfully at Long Feiye. It was bewildering. Didn’t this fellow ever get tired?
Although it was shameful, Han Yunxi didn’t regret it. She was currently striving hard for a secret goal of her own. After tidying up and eating a meal, Gu Beiyue arrived. They secretly rushed to the Skypit, only to realize Baili Mingxiang had been waiting there for hours.
“Your Highness, princess,” Baili Mingxiang greeted them both before nodded politely at Gu Beiyue. She a.s.sumed that she’d stay in the military until old age when she went back, but never expected to be summoned back and see them again. Her heart was quite fl.u.s.tered, but she didn’t show any of that on her face. Of course, even if she did--who would notice in the first place?
“Princess, any news of Little Yu’er?” That was her primary source of concern.
The Di Clan had been searching for Ning Cheng’s whereabouts nonstop, but so was Han Yunxi. Finding him meant finding Su Xiaoyu, too. Jun Yixie had the highest suspicion, but Long Feiye’s men had yet to uncover any news. It was hard to gain entry into any of the main strongholds of the army. Moreover, Jun Yixie had such a personality that it was impossible to believe he’d be able to keep calm with Ning Cheng in his hands! He should have shown up to save his master at Hundred Poisons Sect, too. Unfortunately, Han Yunxi didn’t know that Jun Yixie had already severed relations with his master, or else she wouldn’t have knocked him off her list of suspects.
“Let’s go, to the sacrificial altar,” Han Yunxi said. Last time they’d discovered it by accident at the underground palace. Thanks to a fissure in the earth, they’d fell into an abyss and found the place. Now they could go there directly to search for clues.
But what would they find?