Chapter 164: Dual Dragon Dual Cultivation, Secrets of the Nine Heavens

As Chiyin was lost in thought, a ripple of spiritual energy emanated from outside her door.

"Senior Sister Chiyin! It is me, Lu Qian."

Lu Qian's voice came through the protective formation.

"Lu Qian? Why are you here so late?" Chiyin asked, puzzled.

Chiyin preferred tranquility. There were not even any attendants or dao-soldiers inside her immortal cave, and she ordinarily disliked socializing with other practitioners.

With that thought, Chiyin draped a white fox-fur cloak over her shoulders.

This very cloak had been a gift from Lu Qian just days ago.

The immortal cave's gate opened automatically.

Chiyin leaned against the main seat in the grand hall, smiling slightly as she looked at Lu Qian:

"Has Junior Brother encountered a bottleneck? Do not worry; the fastest record for mastering this art in our sect is four months, and even Senior Sister here took five months."

The Primordial One True Water possessed countless transformations, and its entry barrier was several times higher than that of other lineages.

Otherwise, the Grand Tutor of Winter Officials would not have had a mere eighteen disciples.

"Reporting to Senior Sister, I have already achieved great mastery of the Primordial One True Water's Qi-Refining chapter," Lu Qian said with a smile.

"Do not mock me; you have only been practicing for two months." Chiyin cast a sideways glance at Lu Qian.

"If you do not believe me, look!" Lu Qian extended his index finger, at the tip of which a droplet of formless true water condensed.

"Oh? Have at you!"

Chiyin was slightly startled. Waving her delicate hand, she released a strand of scorching true fire.

This fire was transformed from the Primordial One True Water, and its power was roughly equivalent to the mid-to-late stage of Qi-Refining.

Lu Qian let out a soft shout and likewise unleashed a strand of true fire of the exact same nature.

Bang!

The two strands of true fire collided, bursting into brilliant sparks.

Chiyin's eyes widened slightly as she said, "To achieve great mastery of the Qi-Refining chapter in two months—even with a foundation to build upon—can be considered truly genius. Junior Brother, you might as well switch your primary cultivation to the Primordial One True Water."

By fully cultivating all three hundred and sixty-five acupuncture points with the Primordial One True Water, one could enter the Dao-Foundation stage to form the Formless Dharma Body and possess Formless Dharma Power.

One could even concurrently cultivate other techniques.

For instance, Chiyin concurrently cultivated the Supreme Golden-Lock Interlocking Escaping True Formula.

Upon entering the Dao-Foundation stage, she would possess five kinds of Dharma bodies: Heaven, Earth, Dragon, Tiger, and Human.

"We shall speak of that later."

His own primary cultivation was the Yellow Springs Scripture Diagram.

It was a genuine lineage of the Yellow Springs Emperor, capable of reaching as high as the Tribulation of the Elixir.

Moreover, he still had opportunities to find subsequent inheritances in the future, giving him immense developmental potential.

The Primordial One True Water was indeed remarkable, but its future potential remained an unknown variable.

This technique could only be treated as a secondary cultivation.

Lu Qian had discovered that transforming the Primordial One True Water into the Oblivion Water and practicing both simultaneously yielded superb results.

"Right, I wish to transform the True Dragon into a Flood Dragon. I wonder what guidance Junior Brother might offer?" Chiyin suddenly asked.

"I cannot explain it very well myself."

In this, Lu Qian was not lying; he had also rather muddledly acquired a strand of the Fish-Dragon True Intent.

It was by unintentionally comprehending the Fish-Dragon's philosophy of plundering all things for one's own use, of seizing a thread of heavenly destiny and standing alone as the solitary victor,

that he had been able to complete this Scroll of the Flood Dragon Crouching in the Yellow Springs.

The process itself had been hazy and indistinct.

"A thread of heavenly destiny, standing alone as the solitary victor... What an overbearing philosophy."

Chiyin furrowed her brow slightly. Hailing from the Myriad Ages Yin Tomb, she was not particularly repulsed by such an overbearing mindset.

However, comprehending this true intent was rather difficult, and imagining it out of thin air was simply impossible.

"How about I have my Yin-spirit leave my body and attach itself to your Yin-spirit for us to comprehend it together?" Lu Qian suggested.

Remembering the scene from that day, a wave of shyness welled up in Chiyin, and she spat lightly, "That hardly seems appropriate. What scheme are you hatching this time, you little rascal?"

"What scheme could I possibly have? Senior Sister, do not doubt me; this is merely for Yin-spirit comprehension."

The prerequisite for spiritual communion was physical union.

The degree of intimacy from last time could, at best, be considered close-range contact.

Chiyin thought for a moment and said, "Very well."

With that, the two of them sat cross-legged opposite each other.

Swish!

A dark green Yin-spirit left the body, transforming into a Flood Dragon.

Chiyin restrained her breath and focused her mind. After a moment, a pristine and beautiful Yin-spirit, identical in appearance to her, flew out.

It instantly turned into a white beam of light and landed upon the Flood Dragon Yin-spirit.

Chiyin immediately felt a wave of warm, scorching heat.

Her Yin-spirit felt as though it were soaking in warm water, and she almost cried out softly in comfort.

Although she was a few years older than Lu Qian, she had spent all these years in single-minded, bitter cultivation and had never had such intimate contact with a member of the opposite sex.

Opposite her, Lu Qian similarly sensed a cool, refreshing aura washing over him.

The circulation of the Oblivion True Water within his body sped up considerably.

Subsequently, their true qi permeated each other, mutually complementing one another.

The Flood Dragon transformed by Lu Qian soared above the clouds and mist, its Flood Dragon aura fully displayed.

Chiyin gradually entered a state of deep concentration, comprehending the true intent of the Flood Dragon.

The white dragon retreated in form, its antlers vanishing.

In their place emerged a fierce and terrifying white Flood Dragon.

Maintaining this state throughout the entire night,

their Yin-spirits finally returned to their physical bodies.

After withdrawing their techniques, Chiyin's expression appeared somewhat unnatural.

This kind of Yin-spirit contact was far more intimate than skin-to-skin touch.

"You have already grasped its form; to truly understand its intent, you still need to comprehend it much more," Lu Qian said.

He was not one to offer unprovoked favors or foolishly rush forward to help someone simply because they were in trouble.

This session of joint cultivation had brought immense benefits to himself; having realized this advantage last time, he had now actively offered his help.

Practicing with a Yin-spirit of comparable cultivation realm was far faster than with the two Yin-moon sisters.

And this was not even dual cultivation.

If they were to engage in dual cultivation, the speed of advancement would likely be even faster.

Perhaps within a few months, the Oblivion Water would step into the realm of great mastery.

"Very well." Chiyin straightened her expression, dropping the subject. "I shall take you to see Master now. With your mastery of the Primordial One True Water, you can be officially accepted as a disciple."

"Thank you, Senior Sister," Lu Qian cupped his fists and said.

At last, he would be able to refine stellar qi.

He had not forgotten the purpose of his coming here.

Mount Black was still in a period of expansion, and there were numerous vital matters awaiting his handling.

Returning as quickly as possible was the correct course of action.

Chiyin waved her hand, and her Yin-spirit transformed into a streak of escaping light, appearing a dozen miles away in the blink of an eye.

Lu Qian's Flood Dragon lashed its tail, closely following behind.

After flying several miles,

a thousand-foot-tall tower came into view.

The greater part of the tower's body stood proudly within the clouds, resembling a towering giant looking down from above.

It was currently nighttime, and the moonlight spilled onto the tower's peak, where it was absorbed by a protective array.

The two arrived at the teleportation formation at the top of the tower.

With a flash of light, they appeared at the base of Mount Baishou.

Beneath the night sky, Mount Baishou resembled an old Daoist priest with white hair.

Possessing an immortal aura and a profound, unfathomable presence.

As the two flew past a precipice, the corner of Lu Qian's eye caught a trace of chilling, bloody Qi.

Subconsciously glancing over, he beheld the scene before him and could not help freezing slightly in a daze.

Beneath the cliff, shrouded in dark clouds, were countless humanoid monsters with deer antlers and sheep hooves.

The deer-antlered monsters were escorting cart after cart of goods.

Stacked corpses filled the carts, and some of the wooden cages on the carts even held living humans, as well as young boys and girls.

The total number easily exceeded one hundred thousand.

The moonlight shone upon the faces of the deer-antlered monsters, their pitch-black visages appearing somewhat ferocious and terrifying.

Humans were being treated like lambs to the slaughter, driven into ice caves that resembled the jaws of demons.

On the shady side of Mount Baishou lay rolling fields of Yin-farmland, upon which grew bizarre plants such as human-face flowers, ginseng fruit, and other malevolent flora.

This scale was far more vast than anything he had witnessed in the Myriad Illusions Island or even the Profound Nether Temple.

"This is..." Lu Qian asked, puzzled.

"These are offerings, winter offerings..."

Beside Lu Qian, a Daoist with a beard and hair as white as snow had appeared out of nowhere.

The Daoist stood with his hands behind his back, suspended in mid-air as a fierce gale fluttered his robes.

"Greetings, Master," the two saluted.

"Rise. It seems you are puzzled as to why we kill people just like heterodox evil sects."

The Grand Tutor of Winter Officials gazed at Lu Qian with pitch-black eyes.

Before Lu Qian could answer, the Grand Tutor of Winter Officials continued unprompted:

"These are materials for the rain-bringing formation and the winter formation. Aside from the young boys and girls, the majority are convicted criminals, and a small portion are prisoners of war."

There were dozens of mortal kingdoms within the sphere of influence of the cultivator factions.

They would not interfere in the wars between mortal nations; when populations grew too dense, they would even instigate wars, using vast numbers of corpses and prisoners for cultivation every year.

They were not above exploiting mortals, but they did not act as crudely as heterodox sects.

Instead, they watered and fertilized the land, then selectively harvested a portion.

"The entire Southern Spirit Realm is far too barren. Tens of thousands of years of plundering by cultivators, coupled with the rapidly expanding population of practitioners over the past millennium, have made this realm unbearable."

The world and its spiritual energy had become so barren that it could no longer sustain the normal rotation of spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

"So the entire Southern Spirit Realm is like this." Lu Qian suddenly understood.

Previously, whether at the Profound Nether Temple or Myriad Illusions Island, all four seasons were roughly the same.

He had originally thought it was due to geographical location, but now he realized it was caused by the plundering of cultivators.

This had depleted the region's spiritual veins and earth-qi, preventing the normal cycle of the four seasons.

With this thought, Lu Qian suddenly recalled the man's official title: Grand Tutor of Winter Officials. Could it be...