Chapter 128: This Is Dual Cultivation

Chapter 128: This Is Dual Cultivation

Zhao Changhe had never known what this meant before, but after just learning the detailed explanation from the golden leaf, he now truly understood.

Dual cultivation is not narrowly about engaging in that act; theoretically, even if you input a stream of true qi into the other person with your hand, and they return it to you, it can be called a form of dual cultivation—this is the broadest concept.

But when it comes to the narrow meaning of yin-yang union, it’s not transmitted through the hands; there must be a Tai Chi intertwining for union—there ought to be some kind of intertwining, an opening, through which you exchange and transfer back and forth.

The mouth is, of course, the most typical opening on the human body.

And naturally, there is another…

It’s best if both upper and lower are connected, then it becomes Tai Chi.

This is indeed the most orthodox theory, not a crude joke.

But how did Yue Hongling know this? Where did she get her theoretical knowledge of dual cultivation?

Yet at this moment, Zhao Changhe’s mind was in a fog, and he didn’t think about these things. Somewhat dazed, he slowly opened his mouth and soon clearly felt a stream of pure qi entering his body. It wasn’t necessarily stronger than the earlier finger transmission, but it notably contained yin energy that the finger transmission had lacked.

The union of yin and yang was right here.

Just as he tried to circulate the Ultimate Bliss Technique to guide this yin energy into fusion, the door was kicked open again, and another Yue Hongling leaped in.

The Yue Hongling who was kissing him stamped her foot, flew out through the window like a dart, and fled.

Zhao Changhe: “???”

Yue Hongling wanted to give chase, but worried about Zhao Changhe’s condition, she dared not leave. She stomped and cursed: “If I ever catch you again, disguised as me, fooling around with a man, I’ll hunt you to the ends of the earth and take your wretched life!”

From outside the window came a tinkling laugh: “Just a kiss, nothing more, what’s the big deal? I think if it were you, you’d probably do much the same…”

The voice drifted away, the last few words already indistinct.

Yue Hongling grabbed Zhao Changhe by the collar: “The qi she passed to you—don’t you dare circulate it, do you hear me? Wake up!”

Zhao Changhe’s muddled mind was truly jolted awake by the fright. The qi in his mouth dissipated directly, and he dared not guide it into his body at all.

In truth, based on the thorough dissection shown by the celestial book just now, if he had actually started dual cultivation, the odds might have been higher that this celestial maiden would end up under his control… Of course, that assumed Zhao Changhe was lucid. In this dazed state, he would have been doomed, and Yue Hongling’s interruption was extremely timely.

This enchantress truly left no opening, taking advantage of his confused state, where he couldn’t tell truth from falsehood, to disguise herself as Yue Hongling and tempt him into control! And she used a chaste approach, unlikely to spark the doubt that “Yue Hongling shouldn’t be this wanton,” making it easy to believe.

Could it be proven that both the celestial maiden and Zhao Changhe felt that if it were just a kiss to pass qi, Yue Hongling doing it, though surprising, wasn’t entirely incomprehensible?

Yue Hongling saw at once what Zhao Changhe was thinking and angrily grabbed him: “She said I’d do much the same—do you believe that?”

Zhao Changhe said weakly, “I don’t know, I have no strength to judge. Just… knock me out and be done with it.”

“So you know I could knock you out, rather than fearing you’d lose your mind and be reckless?”

“…” She had indeed been alerted by that angry shout and come rushing over…

“Sit cross-legged.” Yue Hongling arranged him into a cross-legged position, then sat behind him and struck his back with her palm.

An immense true qi surged forth, far stronger than the effect of the fake’s earlier finger.

Only now, in hindsight, did Zhao Changhe realize that the true qi level of the real Yue Hongling should not be measured by the methods of the one who had delayed him earlier, nor could it compare to the fake who had been defeated by him. If he had been lucid, he should have known something was wrong long ago…

This time, the effect was much stronger. Zhao Changhe could clearly feel that the wildness in his dantian and the blood energy throughout his body seemed to be soothed like a “there, there,” and much of the restless killing aura was calmed, with immediate results.

The strength of the second level of the Hidden Dragon was far beyond what any ordinary celestial maiden could mimic.

“Thank you,” Zhao Changhe said weakly, but a faint trace of regret flickered in his heart.

If it had been real just now, how wonderful that would have been…

Just as he thought this, he heard Yue Hongling’s somewhat hesitant voice: “You… really learned the Ultimate Bliss Technique? How so fast?”

Zhao Changhe said feebly, “I’ve always been quick at martial arts; I’ve never encountered a technique I found hard to understand, especially… this kind… that men like.”

Yue Hongling spat, hesitated for a moment, then said, “Then guide my true qi right now… and run that technique. That should work, right?”

Sure enough, the real Yue Hongling had no idea what dual cultivation meant. Zhao Changhe sighed: “Maybe, barely, but don’t take your hand off my back. It requires mutual exchange back and forth to have meaning; otherwise, it’s called draining you.”

Yue Hongling: “…”

So that fake had wanted to kiss him endlessly, not just pass a single breath?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.

She said irritably, “Then just cultivate! I’m still feeding you true qi.”

Before she finished speaking, her expression shifted slightly.

She could clearly feel that after her true qi entered Zhao Changhe’s body, it no longer followed her control as before but was quickly absorbed and merged by Zhao Changhe’s true qi into a single stream. She completely lost control of her own true qi.

If this was draining, it truly was, though not to the point of damaging her foundation; the lost true qi could be recovered through practice.

Yue Hongling thought for a moment, keeping her hands on his back, curious to see what non-draining harmonious dual cultivation was like.

As she thought this, a faint blush crept onto her face.

So this was dual cultivation—she had voluntarily asked him to do it…

No wonder Zhao Changhe felt that if it had really been her kissing, it would be understandable… How many opportunities had there been before? If he had wanted to kiss, would she have refused?

Yue Hongling didn’t know. In hindsight, she could naturally say, “No, no, I wouldn’t,” but at the moment, who could tell…

Until now, she had voluntarily told him to “dual cultivate,” and what she did was hardly more reserved than the fake.

Zhao Changhe had no time to ponder her thoughts. He slowly tried to guide her true qi to intertwine with his own yang energy. Though it lacked the distinct yin-yang contact sensation from the celestial maiden’s mouth-to-mouth qi transfer, it still had an effect.

A woman’s true qi was, after all, a woman’s true qi. Even if she practiced the same technique as a man, the qi she cultivated would naturally contain yin nature.

This was a principle of heaven.

Tang Wanzhuang had said that extreme rigidity is easily broken, and fullness cannot last long. This applied not only to his combat techniques but also to cultivation itself. A vigorous, hot-blooded man, cultivating blood-killing power, training sinew and bone strength, with an internal technique said to be upright and vast, was in truth a domineering “all under heaven belongs to the king” tyranny—too rigid.

If he didn’t also cultivate a gentle technique, the next best option was… more dual cultivation. Only that could neutralize and smooth over the overly sharp and fierce edges, achieving a balance of hardness and softness.

Thus, as Yue Hongling’s true qi merged with his, it not only stabilized his restless true qi and blood-killing aura but also nourished the minor meridian damage caused by the forceful stretching earlier, and finally solidified his newly broken-through cultivation, strengthening the true qi at the fourth level of the Mystic Barrier, no longer just a beginner at that level.

This one instance of not-yet-truly “dual cultivation” had already yielded results beyond expectations.

And it wasn’t over; he still had to send this neutralized, altered qi back to Yue Hongling.

Yue Hongling soon felt the qi returning from his back.

How to describe it… She had originally thought her own true qi could be considered strong and fierce, but such things were always relative. Compared to Zhao Changhe’s, hers was yin.

In the true qi that Zhao Changhe sent back after merging yin and yang, Yue Hongling truly experienced what “yang hardness” meant—it was a blazing sun, a heavy mountain range, an indestructible tyranny.

And so, within her own inherent fierceness and sharpness, there was now an added layer of heaviness. The setting sun’s afterglow reflecting on the river was not necessarily all melancholy; there was also a vast, boundless desolation.

Zhao Changhe opened his eyes, and Yue Hongling withdrew her delicate hands.

For a moment, both were immersed in experiencing this new intent, silent and wordless.

Was this dual cultivation?

And such a chaste form of dual cultivation at that… yet its effects were already so evident, even seeming to aid Yue Hongling in breaking through the ninth level of the Mystic Barrier.

But at this moment, what Yue Hongling thought about was not whether she could reach the ninth level, but that even this chaste dual cultivation was still dual cultivation, and they were sitting on the same bed, so close together.

No words needed to be spoken; the atmosphere naturally became tender and intimate.

Yue Hongling could no longer bear it. She leaped off the bed: “You seem fine, so that’s enough… This technique, this technique is acceptable, not as sinister as I imagined…”

Just as she was flustered and about to flee, her body tensed, and she was suddenly caught around the waist and arms, held tightly together.

He held her so tightly that Yue Hongling instinctively struggled, a sharp pain shooting through her shoulder, yet she could not break free for a moment.

Her body tensed, and she gritted her teeth: "Zhao Changhe, don't take an inch when given a mile. Do you really think this is dual cultivation?"

Zhao Changhe held her close, murmuring in a daze: "I want to hold you, I've always wanted to—on horseback, in the stronghold, in the secret passage, after it was over, and even more so now… I don't want to hold back anymore. Let me hold you, just hold you…"

As Yue Hongling listened, she slowly relaxed her struggle, allowing him to hold her in silence.

Sensing that he indeed made no further move, she let out a sigh and said softly: "We wanderers of the martial world aren't bound by so many rules. A hug is nothing—there, there, be good."

The first half seemed to convince herself, the second half a warning to him.

Yet Zhao Changhe did not reply, nor did he do anything else; he simply held her.

Yue Hongling finally fell silent, standing still in his embrace, and no sound was heard in the room.