Untouched by Dust Amid the Dust

"They're so beautiful."

Zhu Yin gazed at the strange creatures, lost in thought.

"Extreme Yin, thank you. Thank you for not forcing me into dual cultivation. These six months on the island have been the easiest I've had since the Lineage was destroyed. But days like these can't last forever. We both have things to do, so let's not waste any more time. Let's begin tonight."

Song Wen nodded. "All right."

The two rose and returned to the cave dwelling.

Song Wen activated the defensive, concealment, and Spirit-Gathering Formations. Then he untied his belt and removed his clothes, baring his solid chest.

At the sight, a trace of shyness crept into Zhu Yin's eyes, and a faint blush quietly spread across her cheeks.

After a moment's hesitation, she gritted her teeth and undressed as well.

They sat cross-legged facing each other, calmed their minds, and began circulating their spiritual power along the pathways prescribed by the Yin-Yang Harmony Art.

A moment later, mouth to mouth and aperture to aperture, they began cultivating.

The process of dual cultivation was not as pleasurable as one might imagine.

The Yin-Yang Harmony Art was an orthodox Daoist technique, vastly different from deviant arts that pursued desire and plundered yin essence or primordial yang.

It required both cultivators to be "amid desire yet free of desire, dwelling in dust yet untouched by dust," rather than simply seeking physical stimulation.

Song Wen entered that state with ease. For Zhu Yin, who had never experienced intimacy before, it took considerably longer.

As the Yin-Yang Harmony Art prescribed, they joined forty-nine times over the next forty-nine days.

During that time, wisps of pure yin essence rose from the perineum, passed through the coccyx, spine, jade pillow, and other points, then descended along the conception vessel into Song Wen's