It was past eleven in the evening when the Pang family, the Ma family, and the Li family all left with their respective sons and daughters…
Given the late hour, Wan Yunting asked Master Ma Jianguo and Aunt Huang Xiue to stay the night. He would personally drive them home the next day. Thus, he arranged for them to stay in a bedroom on the first floor, with Aunt Lan preparing their bedding…
Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, and Wan'er also stayed. They slept in a bedroom on the basement level. Wan'er, the little girl, insisted on sleeping with him. After bathing her, Wan Yunting brought her back to his own bedroom. He lay against the headboard, telling her stories and coaxing her to sleep for half an hour before she finally drifted off.
Wan Yunting then went to take a bath. When he came out, he saw that Li Shuyun had arrived in his room at some point. She was sitting by the bed, looking at the sleeping Wan'er, her small hand caressing the child's adorable face…
“How did you get in here?”
Wan Yunting, wearing only a pair of shorts and bare-chested, came out wiping his hair with a towel. He saw Li Shuyun sitting by the bed but felt no awkwardness.
She looked at him calmly. Just as she was about to speak, Wan Yunting hushed her, his voice low, “Keep your voice down. Don't wake Wan'er. We can talk outside.”
Li Shuyun nodded slightly and gracefully got up, following Wan Yunting out of the bedroom into the living room. The lights were off downstairs. The elders and Second Brother’s couple were asleep. She wasn't sure if Lu Xiaodie, who was staying on the third floor, was asleep yet…
“Should I go to my room, or another room?”
Li Shuyun cut straight to the chase.
“Let’s go to your room.”
Wan Yunting smiled helplessly, knowing that the girl had moved in to conveniently practice dual cultivation with him.
The two entered the adjacent bedroom. Wan Yunting closed the door and turned to see Li Shuyun had already taken off her nightgown…
Wan Yunting’s expression froze. He tossed aside the towel he had used to dry his hair and casually said, “Are you still stuck at the late stage of Dark Energy?”
“Mhm.”
Li Shuyun sat on the bed, facing him. Her pretty face still flushed slightly.
“Alright, tonight I’ll teach you a different dual cultivation technique. It might help you break through to the early stage of Hua Jin,” Wan Yunting said with a smile.
“What technique?”
Li Shuyun’s heart stirred, and her eyes lit up. Clearly, for this martial arts enthusiast, other matters were not as important.
“Wushuang Yin Yang Gongfa.”
As Wan Yunting spoke, he went up and held her hand. “I’ll teach you the incantations first, and then follow along with me…”
Thus, the two began practicing the Wushuang Yin Yang Gongfa…
In a bedroom on the third floor, Lu Xiaodie, wearing pajamas, was leaning against the headboard, holding her laptop and studying the sword techniques Wan Yunting had taught her that day, as well as his concepts of swordsmanship. She suddenly sat up, murmuring, “If I infuse my qi into the sword and combine it with the moves, wouldn’t the power be even greater?”
Lu Xiaodie was murmuring to herself, contemplating the application of qi and its combination with sword moves, but she couldn't quite figure it out.
“Forget it, I’ll go down and ask my younger brother. Maybe he knows…”
So, Lu Xiaodie got out of bed, put on her slippers, and holding her laptop, left the room and hurried downstairs. She went straight to Wan Yunting’s room on the second floor. Seeing the door ajar, she directly entered and called out softly, “Younger Brother Wan, are you asleep?”
A light was still on in the room. Lu Xiaodie saw that the room was empty. As she reached the bedside, she noticed Wan’er sleeping soundly but couldn't see Wan Yunting.
Lu Xiaodie was puzzled. Perhaps he was bathing? She checked the bathroom but he wasn't there either. This confused her. She carefully tiptoed out of the room to avoid waking the sleeping Wan'er…
“Where did this Younger Brother Wan go? He’s not sleeping in his room this late.”
Lu Xiaodie stood at the doorway, peering into the dim living room on the second floor, wondering where Wan Yunting had gone.
Suddenly, she noticed that the door to the adjacent bedroom was open, with a light spilling out. Lu Xiaodie knew this was Li Shuyun’s room. She wondered if Wan Yunting was in her room.
So, Lu Xiaodie quickened her pace. Just as she was about to push the door open and call out, the sounds coming from the room made her immediately stop in her tracks. Peering through the gap in the door, she saw what was happening inside, causing Lu Xiaodie’s peach blossom eyes to widen…
“Oh my god, how can Younger Brother Wan be with Shuyun…!”
Lu Xiaodie’s mouth hung open, her eyes wide as she watched the scene unfolding inside. Her heart churned like a stormy sea, finding it hard to believe it was these two…
“Huh, wait, they’re not… they’re practicing!”
Realizing her mistake, Lu Xiaodie’s eyes widened as she saw that Wan Yunting and Li Shuyun were currently practicing. This shocked her, and she thought to herself, “Is this the dual cultivation method he mentioned this morning?”
Because Wan Yunting had mentioned the Wushuang Yin Yang Gongfa to her in the morning, and seeing him and Li Shuyun now, Lu Xiaodie was immediately convinced they were practicing dual cultivation. She thought in surprise, “I didn’t expect them to practice dual cultivation together…”
Lu Xiaodie, her face flushed, felt a strange sensation. Finally, she couldn’t help herself and quickly turned around and ran back to the third floor…
Meanwhile, Wan Yunting and Li Shuyun, immersed in their dual cultivation, naturally didn’t notice that Lu Xiaodie had been peeking through the door for a good ten minutes…
“Hoo…”
In the early hours of the morning, around four o’clock, Wan Yunting finished his practice and exhaled a turbid breath. He asked Li Shuyun, who was in front of him, “How do you feel?”
Li Shuyun slowly opened her beautiful eyes and said, “Is this the early stage of Hua Jin?”
Wan Yunting smiled. “The early stage of Hua Jin is much more profound than Dark Energy. It emphasizes the qi within the dantian. The circulation and use of qi are quite sophisticated. Don’t worry about these things now; you can study and understand them gradually later.”
Li Shuyun nodded, feeling a surge of excitement. She couldn’t believe that after only a few hours of dual cultivation with him, she had broken through from the late stage of Dark Energy to the early stage of Hua Jin.
“Alright, you should rest. I’ll head back now.”
As Wan Yunting said this, he prepared to get out of bed and leave. However, Li Shuyun reached out and grabbed his arm. Her pretty face was flushed, and her gaze was a little shy as she looked at him, saying softly, “Just sleep here.”
Wan Yunting’s expression faltered. He shook his head and chuckled, “Wan’er is still sleeping in the room. I’m afraid she’ll cry if she wakes up and can’t find me. I should…”
Before he could finish, Li Shuyun leaned in and kissed him, then slowly lay down…
At six o’clock in the morning, Wan Yunting stealthily emerged from Li Shuyun’s room and darted back to his own. Seeing Wan’er still sleeping soundly on the bed, having not woken up at all last night, he breathed a sigh of relief. He then took a shower and, upon coming out, found Li Shuyun standing at the doorway. She was wearing a practice outfit and said softly, “Do you want to sleep?”
Seeing her like this, Wan Yunting knew she wanted to practice. He waved his hand and said, “Go to the third floor and find Sister Lu. Wan’er is here, so I won’t go to the mountaintop to meditate.”
“Okay.”
Li Shuyun didn’t say anything more. Wan Yunting asked her to close the door and then went to the bed, gently touching Wan’er’s tender and cute little face with a smile. He planned to take her to see Big Sister at the prison today…
Just as Li Shuyun was about to head to the third floor, Lu Xiaodie came downstairs wearing a tracksuit, holding a long sword. “Oh, Shuyun, you’re up so early too? Are you going to practice?”
“Yes, I want to go to the back mountain to meditate,” Li Shuyun replied with a slight smile.
“Perfect. I went there yesterday. I’ll take you. By the way, where’s Younger Brother Wan? Isn’t he up yet?”
Lu Xiaodie glanced at the room next to Wan Yunting’s bedroom, the guest room where Li Shuyun was staying. She said, “He’s sleeping with Wan’er, so he won’t be joining us for practice.”
“Oh, I see.”
Lu Xiaodie gave her a knowing smile and nodded. “I understand, I understand. Let’s go then.”
Li Shuyun, naturally unaware of her implication, didn't dwell on it. The two went downstairs, out through the backyard, and quickly ran up the sacred mountain. Upon reaching the summit, Lu Xiaodie and Li Shuyun were both breathless. Lu Xiaodie said, “Still too weak. Younger Brother Wan didn’t even break a sweat yesterday morning. I really don’t know how he practices.”
“He… he said he’s already at the middle stage of Martial Dao Dan Jin.”
Li Shuyun also panted. She had been surprised when she heard him mention the middle stage of Dan Jin last night, especially since Wan Yunting had only been at the Hua Jin realm when they were in Malaysia.
“Sister Lu, you’re at the late stage of Hua Jin now. Can you guide me on circulating my dantian qi?” Li Shuyun asked as they both sat cross-legged facing east.
Lu Xiaodie glanced at her and smiled. “Aren’t you at the late stage of Dark Energy? At this stage, you don’t need to specifically focus on qi. Let’s wait until you break through to Hua Jin.”
“I’ve already broken through to the early stage of Hua Jin,” Li Shuyun said slowly.
“What? You broke through?”
Lu Xiaodie stared at her in disbelief, exclaiming, “Could it be that your dual cultivation last night helped you break through from the late stage of Dark Energy to the early stage of Hua Jin?”
Li Shuyun’s expression faltered at this remark, but she remained calm. She asked, “Sister Lu, how do you know about my dual cultivation with him?”
Lu Xiaodie covered her mouth, mentally chiding herself for slipping up so quickly. She chuckled sheepishly. “Last night, I went down to discuss sword techniques with Younger Brother Wan and found you two in the room… um, dual cultivating. But I saw it by accident. Sorry about that…”
“It’s alright.”
Li Shuyun seemed very nonchalant about the matter, nodding. “Yes, we dual cultivated last night. He helped me break through to the early stage of Hua Jin.”
Lu Xiaodie was astonished. She couldn’t help but ask, “Can dual cultivation truly increase one’s internal energy so quickly?”
Li Shuyun nodded. “Yes. When I first met Yunting, I was only at the early stage of Dark Energy. After dual cultivating with him, I reached the late stage of Dark Energy.”
This completely stunned Lu Xiaodie. She had heard Wan Yunting mention it yesterday. When she was at the Hengshan Sect before, she had also heard her master explain dual cultivation techniques. However, in her master’s words, dual cultivation was an immoral practice, a crooked path, so she had naturally warned them against practicing it. Moreover, the Hengshan Sect did not have any dual cultivation techniques.
But now, Li Shuyun had broken through from the late stage of Dark Energy to the early stage of Hua Jin after just one night of dual cultivation with Wan Yunting. This made Lu Xiaodie extremely surprised by the rapid increase in power that dual cultivation could bring. She felt a bit tempted.
“By the way, Shuyun, I’m very curious. What’s your relationship with Younger Brother Wan? Are you boyfriend and girlfriend?” Lu Xiaodie then asked her with a strange look.
Li Shuyun remained very calm, shaking her head. “No, we just have a dual cultivation relationship. There are no romantic feelings between us; it’s purely mutual practice!”
This left Lu Xiaodie utterly bewildered. She looked at Li Shuyun with incomprehensible eyes. “There’s such a relationship?”
This was quite a shock to Lu Xiaodie’s worldview. She sighed, “I thought I was already quite obsessed with martial arts, but I didn’t expect you, girl, to be even more fanatical than me…”