An Unexpected Dual Cultivation

In the past, Liu Ding had always skillfully used the Seven Stars Steps to send the Meridian Courts he needed to clear forward to be struck.

But this time, caught completely off guard, the Changqiang and Yaoshu Meridian Courts at the start of his Governing Vessel were directly attacked. They were practically the first and second gates of the Governing Vessel. It was like a city gate being breached. In an instant, the soul energy he had been carefully circulating surged forward with unstoppable force, shooting straight into the sky.

"Ah!" Liu Ding cried out, but the soul energy struck the Yamen Meridian Court, leaving him unable to make a sound. Then the soul energy flooded into the Baihui Meridian Court. The pain made him clutch his head and roll all over the ground.

Only Sun Wukong suffering the Tightening-Crown Spell could probably understand that feeling. It was simply unbearable.

He was in such agony, yet Liu Tao sat peacefully in meditation, looking as though she had entered a tranquil trance. Liu Ding was so furious that smoke nearly came out of his seven orifices. That little tyrant had struck so ruthlessly, yet she did not even spare him a glance. The moment the excruciating pain eased, he rolled over and shoved Liu Tao to the ground.

"You want to spank me? Then you can enjoy it too!"

Overwhelmed by violent emotions, Liu Ding nearly lost his reason. With a rip, he tore off Liu Tao's skirt, exposing her plump rear. His large hand showed no mercy as it delivered a hard slap right at the Changqiang and Yaoshu Meridian Courts.

Slap!

The extraordinarily suggestive sound of flesh striking flesh stunned them both.

"Ah!" Only after a moment did Liu Tao scream belatedly. Setting aside the humiliation, the Soul Power she had just gathered to break through was instantly scattered by that slap. She was about to go mad, shaking her head wildly, her hair in disarray, like a woman in the throes of hysteria.

Only then did Liu Ding realize that he had truly gone too far. Even if he wanted to retaliate, he should not have torn off a girl's skirt. Seeing his hand still pressed there, he hastily pulled it back and jumped to his feet, repeatedly saying, "I didn't mean to."

Yet the moment he stood up, the crazed Liu Tao sent another flying kick at him from the ground, aimed directly at his family jewels. His legs went weak with fright. His family jewels narrowly escaped destruction, but her toe landed squarely on the Huiyin Meridian Court at the beginning of his Ren Meridian.

With a ripping pain, the soul energy gathered in the Ren Meridian instantly surged upward from there, flooding forth in a rush.

As a result, the soul energy in the Ren and Governing Meridians became like two locomotives charging at each other, colliding fiercely at the Chengjiang Meridian Court at the end of the Ren Meridian and the Duiduan Meridian Court at the end of the Governing Vessel.

Boom!

A powerful wave of soul energy immediately burst forth like a rushing waterfall crashing against rocks a hundred zhang below, scattering wildly in every direction. His limbs, bones, and Twelve Meridians were all stirred into towering waves by a butterfly effect.

What Liu Ding had not expected was that a feeling of advancement, like enormous waves reaching the heavens, came surging over him. After a brief daze, he realized that he could not miss this opportunity. He immediately sat cross-legged and gathered a vortex of soul energy.

"You little hooligan, you bastard! I'll kill you!" Liu Tao was still raging. She no longer cared about maintaining a lady's image and threw herself at him.

Yet despite such a fierce pounce, Liu Ding was not knocked down. He remained seated like a bell in meditation, allowing Liu Tao's frenzied little fists to rain down on him.

Bang, bang, bang!

Like war drums, every blow of her delicate fists against Liu Ding's body actually helped him clear the Meridian Courts throughout his body.

The soul energy within Liu Ding was simply too overbearing. It battered him so fiercely that he felt as though his body were about to explode. Yet Liu Tao's mad barrage of punches carried away the excessive soul energy clogging him up, making him feel much better.

"Keep it up. Don't stop," Liu Ding said with satisfaction, sounding like an utter hooligan.

"I'm going to lose my mind!" Liu Tao went berserk. Seeing that her fists could do nothing to Liu Ding, she actually threw back her head like a madwoman and smashed it down at him.

Pop!

Strangely, such a violent collision produced such an odd sound.

Little did they know that when Liu Tao threw her head forward, the Shenting points on their foreheads directly stuck together. The two streams of soul energy, one yin and one yang, immediately passed through their Shenting points, linking and merging their Ren and Governing Meridians into an unending circulation through both their bodies.

The instant their soul energies fused, Liu Tao felt her delicate body go limp. Her arms wrapped tightly around Liu Ding, and her entire body was practically sitting on his lap, nestled in his embrace.

She also felt that her breakthrough into the Five Soulforging Cauldrons realm had reached its critical point. Even though she was flushed with shame, she could no longer care.

Boom!

Almost simultaneously, the two of them broke through the bottleneck of Four Cauldrons. The soul energy drifting around their bodies began to sink into their seas of qi, forming ring after ring of vortices.

After a trembling climax of breaking through, they had both exhausted their strength and collapsed onto the ground.

Letting out a breath, Liu Ding could not hide the joy in his heart. "I finally broke into the Five Soulforging Cauldrons realm."

A moment later, Liu Tao's weak voice came over. "You are not allowed to tell anyone about what happened today, especially Liu Ji."

"What does it have to do with Liu Ji?" Liu Ding frowned unhappily.

"I like him. If you let him know we were so intimate, I'll kill you." Seeing Liu Ding drenched all over, then looking at her own delicate body, with her soaked clothes clinging tightly to her skin and faintly revealing what lay beneath, she hurriedly turned away.

Liu Ding curled his lip. "Since we helped each other out, I'll give you one piece of advice: Liu Ji is not worth liking."

Liu Tao rose to her feet and coldly glanced at Liu Ding, who was still on the ground. "Without my help, you could never have broken through to Five Soulforging Cauldrons. As for him, he broke through to Six Soulforging Cauldrons before turning sixteen. Tell me, what do you have that compares to him?"

Contrary to what Liu Tao expected, Liu Ding was not discouraged. After she said that, he suddenly raised his head. His little face was covered in sweat, his cheeks puffed out, his teeth clenched, and his fists tightly balled.

He had merely made use of Liu Tao to clear his blocked Meridian Courts because she was readily available. If he revealed his condition, Liu Ding believed there would still be plenty of people in the clan willing to help him clear his Meridian Courts. Liu Tao's contemptuous words had trampled directly on his dignity.

"Y-you... what are you trying to do?" Liu Tao was frightened by Liu Ding's expression and involuntarily retreated several steps.

That idiotic dream from the mortal world swept through his mind again, making Liu Ding's chest feel faintly blocked. But he would not do anything idiotic again. He said coldly, "I have no interest in who you like. When I said I wanted to tease you, I only wanted to provoke you into helping me clear my body. My only goal was to advance to Five Soulforging Cauldrons. Don't flatter yourself."

"You!" Liu Tao snapped out of her fear and immediately felt humiliated again. She raised her head. "Hmph, you make it sound so nice, but you're just incapable. The gap between you and Liu Ji is as vast as heaven and earth. Not only will you never have me, you won't even have Liu Zhi."

"After the Sect Master battle, you won't have her either."

After throwing out those words, Liu Tao immediately became guarded, afraid that Liu Ding would rise in fury. Yet to her surprise, rather than getting angry, Liu Ding laughed. "Miss Liu Tao, I've already given you all the advice I should regarding your narrow vision. Liu Ji has cultivated all these years and only just broke through to Six Soulforging Cauldrons. I, Liu Ding, had a damaged soul for twelve years, and I have only truly cultivated for a few months, yet I have already broken through to Five Soulforging Cauldrons. Why should the one beneath the heavens be anything other than that so-called genius you keep talking about?"

Liu Ding's words seemed to be nothing but facts. Liu Tao's small mouth moved, but for a moment she could not find anything to say. After a long while, she huffed, "Then I'd like to see how impressive you become in the future."

At last, she gritted her teeth and said, "Forget the distant future. If you can defeat Liu Ji in the Sect Master contest, I, Liu Tao, will be willing to serve you for the rest of my life."