Yin Yang Harmonization

"There's still time before we meet up with Tang Yuan and the others. Let me help you regulate your spiritual energy?" Lu Feng had always kept Jiang Ruoyun's difficulties in mind.

Jiang Ruoyun's heart leaped with joy. Not only had both of them stabilized their realms long ago, they had each made further progress, giving her far more confidence.

Thinking of the imminent harmonization of their spiritual energy, Jiang Ruoyun's cheeks could not help flushing red.

"Xiao Rou, go outside and guard the door. Don't let anyone disturb us," Jiang Ruoyun instructed.

Xiao Rou nodded obediently without asking too many questions. She walked out and gently closed the door behind her.

It had been fine while Xiao Rou was there, but the instant she left, the atmosphere in the room became somewhat awkward. A lone man and woman sharing a room, and in an inn at that—it was inevitable that they would feel a little restrained.

"Let's go to the bed."

Jiang Ruoyun said it casually, signaling for Lu Feng to sit cross-legged on the bed for the harmonization. Yet under the circumstances, her words sounded terribly suggestive.

Seeing Lu Feng's blank expression, Jiang Ruoyun explained shyly, "It's not what you think. I mean, the harmonization won't take a short time, and the bed is softer and more comfortable."

The more she explained, the more muddled it became. Seeing how nervous Jiang Ruoyun looked, Lu Feng said with a smile, "I wasn't thinking anything."

"Hmph." Jiang Ruoyun pouted and gave Lu Feng a push. Once she calmed down, her expression gradually turned serious.

"It is no small matter for another person's spiritual energy to enter one's body. If mishandled, it can clash within the body and cause one to burst apart and die. It will not only affect me—you will be implicated as well."

Jiang Ruoyun looked at Lu Feng solemnly.

A confident smile hung on Lu Feng's face. "When I was in the Two Soul Realm a few days ago, I already dared to agree to help you harmonize your spiritual energy. Now that I'm in the Three Soul Realm, why would I change my mind?"

As he spoke, he climbed onto the bed and sat cross-legged on one side.

The mattress beneath him was exceptionally soft and warm.

Jiang Ruoyun was slightly moved and grateful at Lu Feng's words. Memories of everything they had experienced together on Azure Mushroom Mountain over the past few days surfaced in her mind: the night beside the stream, wild fruit, grilled fish, stars, darkness...

All of a sudden, Jiang Ruoyun stared directly at Lu Feng as though she were looking at a monster.

"Didn't you only break through to the Two Soul Realm a few days ago?!"

"How did you suddenly reach the Three Soul Realm again last night?"

Jiang Ruoyun was filled with confusion, her astonishment beyond words.

Lu Feng did not know how to answer. According to Old Bai, the Seven Souls Array depended entirely on opportunity. Some people could not comprehend even one array in their entire lives, while others could comprehend several in a single day.

Perhaps it also had something to do with Lu Feng enduring the pressure of life and death again and again these past few days.

"Is that not allowed?" Lu Feng smiled oddly and did not explain much. Raising a hand, he gestured for Jiang Ruoyun to sit opposite him.

Jiang Ruoyun seemed somewhat bashful. Only after a long while did she climb onto the bed and sit cross-legged facing Lu Feng.

There was no stray thought in Lu Feng's eyes. Instead, they held a trace of gravity as he solemnly told Jiang Ruoyun, "Yin Yang Harmonization requires both body and mind to be relaxed, without the slightest resistance. I will draw out an appropriate amount of the Yin Softness spiritual energy in your body and coordinate it with the Yang Hardness spiritual energy within mine, thereby nourishing your meridians."

Jiang Ruoyun nodded and obediently raised both hands, pressing them against Lu Feng's.

The moment their four palms met, it felt as though a current surged through her entire body. Jiang Ruoyun instinctively wanted to pull back, but Lu Feng stopped her.

"Calm your heart, steady your breath, and feel every thread of spiritual energy flowing."

Lu Feng spoke seriously as he slowly guided the spiritual energy within his body through his right arm, sending it from his right palm into Jiang Ruoyun's left palm.

"Relax. Don't resist."

Lu Feng hurriedly reminded her when he sensed that the spiritual energy flowing through Jiang Ruoyun's body was encountering resistance.

Jiang Ruoyun immediately relaxed. The spiritual energy in her arm retreated an inch, yielding a passage for the spiritual energy Lu Feng had guided over.

Although Lu Feng cultivated the Array Dao and was not especially powerful, his spiritual energy was exceptionally hard and forceful, utterly unlike Jiang Ruoyun's softer spiritual energy.

When this hardness and softness came into contact, both of them could not help feeling uncomfortable, unable to fully control the spiritual energy as it merged.

"Try controlling that strand of Yang Hardness energy from me, while I control that strand of Yin Softness energy from you."

Lu Feng spoke, and the two of them then worked in tacit understanding, one drawing and one guiding. After several twists and turns, they finally managed to temporarily calm the clashing hard and soft spiritual energy.

"I'm starting to nourish your meridians. Pay close attention and cooperate," Lu Feng said, controlling the spiritual energy flowing toward Jiang Ruoyun's wrist as it surged into her major meridians.

Hardness and softness complemented each other; yin and yang harmonized. At this moment, the spiritual energy merged between them was the purest spiritual energy within their bodies, as well as the most overbearing. The slightest carelessness could cause either of them to burst apart and die.

As Lu Feng's spiritual energy flowed in, the blush on Jiang Ruoyun's face refused to fade. That strand of spiritual energy that did not belong to her, as it opened and nourished her meridians, felt as though she were being caressed. It made her even more uncomfortable than its forceful impact.

After more than an hour, Lu Feng finally circulated the spiritual energy through her entire body, ending this harmonization.

Lu Feng discovered in astonishment that Jiang Ruoyun's meridians were actually several times more complex than an ordinary person's. He could not help guessing that it was due to the special cultivation technique she practiced.

When the spiritual energy flowing from his right hand returned through his left, completing a cycle, both Lu Feng and Jiang Ruoyun froze.

The returning spiritual energy had actually been purified considerably. Though its quantity had not changed much, the quality of every strand had risen greatly.

The spiritual energy once consumed by a single move could now sustain several moves.

"Harmonization actually has such benefits?" Jiang Ruoyun was overjoyed as she examined her current state.

"My Three Soul Realm is already complete. Even the fourth soul has begun to loosen."

Jiang Ruoyun spoke happily. Although her complexion had returned to normal, a rosy tint could still be seen on her face.

Lu Feng congratulated her, then stood and stepped away from the bed. As he watched the afterglow of the setting sun spill into the room and illuminate Jiang Ruoyun's crimson cheeks, he could not help staring blankly.

Bathed in the fading glow of dusk, Jiang Ruoyun carried a trace of holiness. Her smile felt so clean, so pure.

In that instant, she was simply too beautiful for words.

"Ahem~" Jiang Ruoyun coughed softly. Feeling Lu Feng's foolishly fixed gaze, sweetness rose in her heart, and she lowered her head.

Lu Feng came back to himself and laughed to hide his embarrassment. "It's about time. Let's go to Gathering Fragrance Garden and wait for Tang Yuan and the others."

Jiang Ruoyun raised her head, got up, sat on the edge of the bed, and put on her shoes and stockings.

Xiao Rou had been waiting outside the door. Hearing movement, she opened it and walked in.

"Young Miss... you two..."

Xiao Rou's mouth fell open in surprise as she looked at the slightly messy bed, then at the faint flush on Jiang Ruoyun's face...

She seemed to understand something on her own.

"Don't misunderstand," Jiang Ruoyun hurriedly explained.

Xiao Rou glanced over and noticed that Jiang Ruoyun had not even put on her shoes and stockings properly. Her suspicions immediately became even firmer.

When Lu Feng and the other two left the inn and arrived at Gathering Fragrance Garden, Tang Yuan and Yan Mingchi were already waiting at a window-side table.

Tang Yuan was still dressed in a black robe, concealing his beastified arm.

"Over here..." Tang Yuan called out to the three of them as they entered.

Lu Feng walked over, found a seat, and immediately asked, "What is the situation at Cheng Manor and Ma Manor?"

Tang Yuan's expression was somewhat grave. "Our guess was right. Cheng Zhishu and Ma Haofeng were indeed both harmed to varying degrees. Cheng Zhishu was more seriously injured. He was struck by a blade, the wound stretching from his left shoulder all the way to the ribs beneath his right chest. He nearly lost his life. Ma Haofeng, meanwhile, was poisoned and has been bedridden ever since. He is still barely clinging to life."

Yan Mingchi, seated beside him, nodded with an equally grave expression. At first, when he heard that someone was secretly plotting against the Eight Manors, he had dismissed it with a snort. But now that he had personally heard of all these incidents that had already occurred, he had no choice but to believe it.

Lu Feng had just been about to ask another question when he saw the shop assistant carrying over the dishes. He paused, then continued after the food had been served. "Did you find out where Cheng Zhishu and Ma Haofeng were injured?"

Tang Yuan's purpose in this trip had not only been to confirm that they were injured, but also to discover the locations of their injuries. If the locations where everyone had been harmed were laid out together, they might be able to determine the area where the group behind it all was hiding.

Tang Yuan nodded and said seriously, "Cheng Zhishu was ambushed in the middle of the night while returning to Cheng Manor. According to his account, the people who ambushed him possessed at least the strength of the Six Soul Realm."

Lu Feng was startled. A Six Soul Realm cultivator was someone on Old Master Yan's level. In all of Azure Dragon Town, there were not even enough to count on both hands.

"What about Ma Haofeng?" Lu Feng continued.

An awkward smile appeared on Yan Mingchi's face as he cut in first. "That kid is just like Yan He—lecherous and sleazy. On the night he was attacked, he was in the pleasure district east of the city. His roots were nearly cut off."

Jiang Ruoyun burst out laughing. "He even told you about something so humiliating?"

Tang Yuan smiled. "He was barely alive. How could he have told us? We asked around everywhere and only found out after going to that pleasure district."

A thoughtful look flashed across Lu Feng's face. The places where these people had met with misfortune practically covered the entirety of Azure Dragon Town. There was no clue to be found at all.

Still, their guess could now be confirmed. Someone was indeed hiding in the shadows, plotting against the Eight Manors. They just did not know what this group wanted.

Lu Feng had already asked Tang Yuan and Jiang Ruoyun, but there was no shared treasure among the Eight Manors worth coveting.

"Any leads from Qu Estate and Shi Manor?" Tang Yuan asked while picking up food from the table.

"The general situation at Qu Estate is more or less the same." Lu Feng slowly told Tang Yuan and Yan Mingchi the information he had gathered at Qu Estate.

"What about Shi Manor?" Tang Yuan asked after Lu Feng finished.

Lu Feng took a sip of water. "I have not had the opportunity to investigate yet, but I have already arranged with Old Man Shi to visit his manor tomorrow and discuss some matters."

Tang Yuan drained the wine in his cup and sighed. "Hopefully Shi Manor will provide some clues."

"Looking over those who have suffered harm to varying degrees so far, most were set up and ambushed. Qu Estate alone is the exception—they were harmed by Poisonous Miasma Qi in the mountains," Lu Feng said as he sorted through his thoughts.

"You suspect Qu Estate is involved?" Yan Mingchi asked in shock.

Tang Yuan interrupted, "Probably not. Brother Lu Feng likely means he suspects that mountain ridge filled with Poisonous Miasma Qi."

Lu Feng nodded in agreement with Tang Yuan's words.

"Then tomorrow, we'll go take a look at that mountain ridge," Yan Mingchi said eagerly.

"Tomorrow, we will still split up. You two will go to Shi Manor, while Brother Yan and I will go to Sky Wolf Mausoleum," Tang Yuan suggested.

"Be careful of the miasma," Lu Feng said with a nod.