Dual Cultivation

Lin Yi had entered a state of complete "flow," wholly unaware of what was happening around him. Even if he had known, he would have paid it no heed.

He instinctively practiced in the way that used the least energy, which allowed him to train for far longer than ordinary people.

Bang!

A muffled punch rang out with a sonic boom.

Lin Yi's eyes cleared as he slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

From noon until afternoon, he had practiced for three whole hours.

[Long Rainbow Technique (Second Layer)]

[Proficiency: 103/500]

In a single afternoon, his proficiency in the Long Rainbow Technique had risen by more than a hundred points.

In just one afternoon, he had successfully broken through the first layer of the Martial Way: the Skin Pass!

If anyone else heard of this progress, they would be scared to death.

After all, even for someone with Grade A Bone Structure, the fastest record for breaking through the Skin Pass was five days.

Lin Yi had Hu Ma's cultivation experience to thank. His current training was little more than retracing the path he had already walked.

Naturally, he was much faster.

Lin Yi estimated that if he relied solely on his own cultivation from now on, it might take him less than ten days

to break through to the third layer of the Long Rainbow Technique and reach the third pass of the Martial Way, the Blood Pass.

He looked into the distance and calculated that it was already just past six in the evening. The last rays of the setting sun still lingered in the sky.

Feeling the emptiness in his stomach and the hunger for energy in every cell of his body,

Lin Yi stopped practicing and left the martial arts school, intending to buy something to eat nearby.

"Shopkeeper, three jin of braised beef and five sesame flatbreads!"

Lin Yi called out to the shopkeeper.

He had just sat down

when a figure appeared beside him.

"Shopkeeper, a bowl of beef noodles, please."

The newcomer had handsome features, skin as white as jade, phoenix eyes and peach-blossom pupils, and a slender build. He wore a veiled hat and a white brocade robe, looking every inch a young nobleman.

It was Yu Qinglian, disguised as a man.

Lin Yi froze.

"What are you doing here?"

"Wait, how did you find me?"

"Hehe."

Yu Qinglian gave him a sly smile, took a bronze mirror from her sleeve, and handed it to Lin Yi. Then she pointed at his neck.

Lin Yi froze again. He took the mirror and hurriedly looked. Among the few scattered red marks on his neck, one stood out. It looked like a red lotus.

"What's this?"

Yu Qinglian pouted and whispered,

"The Flower Insertion Seal. It's a technique of my Infatuation Path that can be used to track someone."

"Can't be helped. You said you'd come find me, but I didn't know when, so I came looking for you instead."

Lin Yi replied helplessly,

"I can't come today."

Yu Qinglian's face flushed bright red. Under the table, she stomped hard on Lin Yi's foot, then leaned close to his ear and gritted her teeth.

"What do you take me for? Some lust-crazed woman who can't get enough?"

"I never said that." Lin Yi spread his hands.

"Lin Yi!" Yu Qinglian bristled like a hissing cat.

Lin Yi knew that if he kept teasing her, she would really get angry.

So he decided to soothe her ruffled feathers. He glanced around and saw that no one was paying attention to them.

Then, with a swift movement, he pressed a kiss to Yu Qinglian's lips.

Yu Qinglian froze. Her anger vanished at once, and her ears grew faintly hot. She quietly turned her head away, no longer looking at Lin Yi.

"Ah, honored guests, here's your food..."

The waiter brought their dishes to the table.

Lin Yi couldn't hold back.

He was too hungry.

Every cell in his body was crying out to him, telling him how hungry he was.

He immediately began to wolf down the food.

Yu Qinglian ate her noodles in small, elegant bites, occasionally feeding Lin Yi a few slices of beef from her bowl.

After they had eaten their fill,

"So, you've started cultivating the Martial Way?" Yu Qinglian asked.

"Mm." Lin Yi nodded. "After all, the Martial Way is currently the most common path of qi cultivation, and it greatly improves combat strength."

The Corpse Puppet Path Lin Yi cultivated

was much like being a wizard: in the early stages, he had almost no close-combat strength.

Cultivating the Martial Way could help him avoid being taken out by a decapitation tactic.

"I know a way to replenish your depleted qi and blood after each training session," Yu Qinglian said.

Lin Yi's eyes lit up.

If anyone asked what troubled Lin Yi most right now, the answer was surely replenishing his qi and blood after they ran low.

Qi and blood were stored in the bones, much like a Martial Artist's mana.

They had to be replenished after each training session before he could continue.

With Lin Yi's Grade B Bone Structure, his qi and blood needed half a day to recover after being depleted, so he could train twice a day.

Someone with Grade A Bone Structure could train five times a day.

If Lin Yi could increase his recovery speed, he could greatly accelerate his progress.

"What's the method?" Lin Yi asked curiously.

Yu Qinglian gave a smug little hum.

"Do you remember which path of qi cultivation I practice...?"

"The Infatuation Path. Naturally, the method is dual cultivation..."

Lin Yi went to Yu Qinglian's residence.

To his surprise,

her home was right near the martial arts school.

The houses near the martial arts school were practically like homes in a school district—every inch worth its weight in gold.

Inside the room,

Yu Qinglian explained,

"A Martial Artist's recovery mainly depends on replenishing qi and blood. The qi and blood are stimulated by the yang essence throughout the body, which is why most Martial Artists are men."

"But since ancient times, yin and yang have always balanced, restrained, and transformed one another."

"If we cultivate together, you can draw a portion of my yin essence each day and convert it into yang essence... thus speeding up your recovery."

By the end, Yu Qinglian's face had reddened a little.

They had agreed that she would only come to see him today.

But somehow, after meeting up, they had ended up in a room together again.

Though, that feeling really was quite nice...

Lin Yi thought it over for a moment and decided it made sense.

But the proof was in the pudding.

Lin Yi said, "I've memorized the method. Let's begin..."

"Mm..." Yu Qinglian murmured, already wrapping her arms around Lin Yi's neck.

An hour later,

Lin Yi felt the qi and blood surging within him and couldn't help but feel delighted.

"With this, I can cultivate four times a day if we do this twice a day..."

"Twice a day?!"

Beside him, Yu Qinglian, limp with exhaustion, gave Lin Yi an admonishing look.

"You selfish, ungrateful little thing..."

"At most, once a day. Don't I need to recover too?"

Lin Yi was speechless.

After a long pause, Lin Yi hesitantly asked, "Why are you so good to me...?"

Lin Yi was puzzled.

In his previous life, he had been an orphan.

In this life, his mother had tried to kill him as soon as he was born.

Later, he had felt something like a home only with the Lin Clan, but even that had been mixed with a faint sense that something was not quite genuine.

At first, he had only wanted to make use of Yu Qinglian.

He had never expected her to treat him so well now.

"You're mine..." Yu Qinglian muttered softly.

Lin Yi gave her a very strange feeling.

There was a peculiar sense of raising him, as though he were her younger brother, her son, and her lover all at once... She couldn't help wanting to treat him a little better.

"Huh?" Lin Yi had heard her clearly, but wasn't sure.

Yu Qinglian gave a soft hum. "I'm good to you, but you'll have to repay me later... You still have to help me get revenge, understand?"

Lin Yi leaned over and rubbed his forehead against Yu Qinglian's, then softly murmured, "Mm."

Yu Qinglian contentedly closed her eyes, like a lazy cat.