Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 1318: Chapter 1314: Leak

Xiao Ruoling glared at her in mock anger.

She stuck out her tongue. ”Okay, okay, I shouldn’t have said that.”

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”Then we’ll see whether we can break the precedent or not.”

”Hard—” Shen Hanyue sighed.

”Junior Sister, shut up!” Xiao Ruoling scolded.

”Alright, I’ll shut up then.” Shen Hanyue sighed coquettishly.

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head with a smile. ”If you put it that way, I’ve implicated my lady.”

”Hus—band—!” Xiao Ruoling said in playful anger. ”Listen to Junior Sister spouting nonsense.”

”Right, right, right, I’m talking nonsense.” Shen Hanyue said.

Xiao Ruoling slanted a glance at her. ”If you keep talking nonsense, I won’t take you along to cultivate!”

Shen Hanyue’s smile instantly blossomed like a flower. ”Senior Sister, it’s my fault, I’m babbling nonsense.”

She then smiled at Chu Zhiyuan. ”Young Master, this kind of thing might stump others, but it won’t stump you. You’ll definitely think of a way.”

Chu Zhiyuan said with a smile, ”Let’s hope so.”

”Then let’s continue cultivating.” Chu Zhiyuan said. ”Let’s try to go one step further before your trial.”

”That’s impossible.” Shen Hanyue said. ”How could it be that fast?”

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”Let’s give it a try.”

”...Fine.” Shen Hanyue looked at Xiao Ruoling. ”Senior Sister, can we still practice?”

”Come on.” Xiao Ruoling said.

After making one more breakthrough, their spirits were lifted, and they could continue cultivating.

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”When you’re Operating, try to slack off as much as you can, don’t focus too hard. I’ll do the pushing.”

”What do you mean?” Shen Hanyue didn’t understand.

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”The Taoye Marrow Cleansing Technique burns through the mind too much, so you can’t maintain it for long. Your current Realm is enough that even without Concentrating to drive it, nothing will go wrong... Try relaxing your minds. If you were using ninety percent of your spirit before, now use sixty, or even thirty percent.”

”Like this...” Shen Hanyue looked thoughtful.

Xiao Ruoling said, ”Then let’s try it.”

Their palms pressed together, and Chu Zhiyuan placed both palms on Xiao Ruoling’s back.

Through the thin gauze robe, the smooth, resilient muscles of her back were clearly transmitted into his palms, like pressing against a piece of warm jade.

He activated the Taihao Jade Void Scripture, and a blazing, pure breath instantly gushed out from the vortex in his Dantian, scorching his five viscera and six organs.

The blazing breath poured into her back through his left palm, while an icy aura came back through his right palm.

It was like mixing ice water into boiling water, instantly dragging down the temperature. It was still burning, but far less than before.

Chu Zhiyuan revealed a smile.

The Taoye Marrow Cleansing Technique had indeed advanced another layer, changing from cool to icy cold.

With the addition of the two women’s combined breath, it became even thicker and fuller, further suppressing the blazing breath and greatly reducing the burning sensation in the body.

The blazing breath continuously poured into Xiao Ruoling’s body, driving the icy aura to circulate faster along with it.

They tried to relax their Heart and Spirit, letting the blazing breath come in and drive their own breath.

From originally using ninety percent of their spirit, they relaxed to eighty, then seventy, sixty... all the way down to thirty percent.

Faintly present, faintly absent, there and not there.

In this state, the expenditure of spirit could almost be ignored.

With spare room in their minds, they started speculating how much spirit Chu Zhiyuan was actually burning, and how long he could hold out.

One person driving the True Yuan of three, and it was True Yuan outside his own body at that—the expenditure had to be terrifying and absolutely couldn’t last.

Yet as time flowed by, they grew increasingly doubtful of their own judgment.

Could it be that he wasn’t spending spirit either?

...

A wisp of morning light shone into the small courtyard, falling upon the three of them.

The morning mist was like thin silk, endlessly coiling above the little courtyard.

They sat there solemn as statues of Buddhas, motionless.

As soon as the mist came near, it was blocked by an invisible force and scattered away.

Chu Zhiyuan suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze bright and sharp as lightning.

The two women still had their eyelids slightly lowered, motionless, immersed in a strange state.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled.

His idea was correct: by relaxing the spirit, they could lengthen the time spent on Cultivation.

Their spirits had originally only been able to endure one to two hours; now they almost wouldn’t be exhausted at all.

And continuous, unbroken cultivation pushed the Taoye Marrow Cleansing Technique forward far better than practicing in fits and starts.

Through Super Sense, he observed their subtle changes and felt that before the trial nine days from now, they could advance another First Realm.

With the Taoye Marrow Cleansing Technique improved, its merged breath with the Taihao Jade Void Scripture grew even more potent, with a much stronger body-strengthening effect.

As his body strengthened, he felt a little closer to that door.

Shen Hanyue slowly woke, her bright eyes hazy, like mist and like a dream.

Xiao Ruoling woke as well, her clear eyes bright. She said softly, ”Husband, are you alright?”

Chu Zhiyuan said with a smile, ”I’m very well.”

”That cost too much spirit.” Xiao Ruoling sighed. ”We were the ones slacking off.”

By the end of the practice, they’d grown drowsy and drifted off to sleep without realizing.

Now it felt just like waking from a deep, satisfying sleep, their minds clear and refreshed.

No fatigue from training at all, yet all the gains from training—truly wonderful beyond words.

Chu Zhiyuan said with a smile, ”Practicing like this lets you go longer, and the results are better.”

”It really is amazing.” Shen Hanyue said excitedly. ”Senior Sister, I feel like this equals a month of my normal practice.”

”Mm, about that.” Xiao Ruoling nodded lightly.

Chu Zhiyuan said with a smile, ”If we train like this for a few days, you’ll be able to advance one more level before the trial, right?”

”...We can.” Shen Hanyue thought for a moment, then nodded hard, eyes blazing. ”Young Master, shall we go again?”

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head and pulled out the Heaven-Reaching Order from his sleeve. At this moment, the Heaven-Reaching Order was flashing.

A white light flickered inside it, bright and dim, like breathing.

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”That’s Senior Brother calling me back.”

”Husband, go quickly.” Xiao Ruoling said.

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”When I get back, we’ll continue cultivating.”

”Alright.” Xiao Ruoling nodded.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled, waved at them, and vanished in a flash.

”Senior Sister, the Young Master really is amazing.” Shen Hanyue sighed with feeling.

Xiao Ruoling shot her a white look right on cue.

Shen Hanyue giggled. ”Yes, yes, yes, I’m being nosy again. But some things really can’t be kept from the Young Master. He should know.”

”Busybody!” Xiao Ruoling snorted. ”I’ll tell him myself. Right now is a critical time for him—how can he be distracted?”

”Senior Sister, it’s a critical time for you too.” Shen Hanyue said. ”You’re about to take the trial and then head to the Outer Realm Battlefield.”

”Enough, practice!” Xiao Ruoling cut her off. ”No more talking.”

”Got it.” Shen Hanyue agreed. ”I won’t say anything at all, okay?”

Xiao Ruoling glared at her fiercely.

...

Chu Zhiyuan appeared outside the main hall of the Heaven-Reaching Sect and saw Zhang Ji Yuan and Ning Dongge standing with their hands clasped behind their backs, gazing at the boundless sky.

”Senior Brothers.” Chu Zhiyuan cupped his fists. ”What’s going on?”

Zhang Ji Yuan said, ”Little Junior Brother, we’ve received word that a new Grotto Heaven has appeared.”

Chu Zhiyuan’s sword-like brows arched as he showed his surprise. ”A new Grotto Heaven?”

But inwardly, he tensed.

Could the news have leaked?

Zhang Ji Yuan said, ”This Grotto Heaven involves an ancient secret and must not be missed.”

Chu Zhiyuan’s spirit stirred. ”Brother Zhang, what kind of ancient secret does it involve?”

”The secret of the Divine Race.” Zhang Ji Yuan said slowly. ”We might be able to find out why the Divine Race suddenly vanished, why they completely disappeared overnight.”

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”Is it a Grotto Heaven belonging to the Divine Race?”

”Hard to say.” Zhang Ji Yuan said. ”There might even be real Divine Race beings there. So this time we must investigate thoroughly and absolutely cannot let it slip by.”

Chu Zhiyuan nodded solemnly. ”Where is it?”

”We don’t know yet.” Zhang Ji Yuan shook his head. ”The Profound Yin Palace likely does.”

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”Brother Zhang, are you asking me to go ask my wife?”

He sighed inwardly.

So it really had leaked out.

There’s no wall in the world that doesn’t let wind through. If he could know, others could too.

Zhang Ji Yuan said, ”Your lady might not know such top secrets, and even if she did, she couldn’t tell you. We still have to dig it out by our own skill.”

”How do we dig?” Chu Zhiyuan asked.

Ning Dongge said, ”There’s a secret technique the three of us can use together to find the location of the new Grotto Heaven. Hurry and learn it.”