Cultivating Together

Inside the room, Little Doctor and Su Zhao sat facing each other.

Little Doctor's face was slightly flushed. Her hands rested on her knees, her fingertips unconsciously twisting the corner of her clothes.

Su Zhao was much more at ease. He smiled at her. "Xian'er, are you ready?"

"Y-yes, I'm ready."

Little Doctor answered softly, her voice carrying both a trace of nervousness and anticipation.

Su Zhao smiled and held out his hands.

Following his example, Little Doctor extended both hands as well. Their palms lightly pressed together, warmth and coolness intertwining the instant they touched.

"Circulate the cultivation technique at the same time!"

Su Zhao said in a low voice.

They closed their eyes simultaneously. The instant their techniques began circulating, a wisp of pale purple Calamity Poison power emerged from Little Doctor's left hand and flowed through their joined palms into Su Zhao's body. At the same time, Su Zhao released the Origin Poison within his body from his own left hand, sending it into Little Doctor's meridians along the opposite path.

This was the method Su Zhao had always wanted to try.

The Origin Poison of a Calamity Poison Body would continue to grow stronger along with one's cultivation. However, the poison within a Calamity Poison Body could not be used by its owner to improve their own cultivation, just as a person could not lift themselves up.

Yet if there was another person with a Calamity Poison Body, they could use their own Origin Poison to assist the other, using their poison power to help the other cultivate.

And the reverse was true as well.

This was the unique method of "dual cultivation" between Calamity Poison Bodies.

With their eyes slightly closed, both of them felt a powerful poison enter through their palms, flow along their meridians into their dantians, and transform into pure Dou Qi cultivation under the instinctive conversion of their Calamity Poison Bodies before being refined and absorbed through their techniques.

It worked!!

Little Doctor abruptly opened her eyes, surprise filling her beautiful gaze. "I never thought... the Calamity Poison in our bodies could actually raise each other's cultivation! Doesn't that mean we'll never have to worry about being unable to find powerful poisons again?"

Su Zhao was equally excited. He nodded heavily. "That's right! And as our cultivation rises, the Origin Poison in our bodies will grow even stronger. Even after we reach profound realms, we can still use this method to quickly raise our cultivation."

Unable to resist curling his lips into a grin, he looked at Little Doctor teasingly. "Xian'er, we really are a match made in heaven. Look, our dual cultivation is much faster than cultivating alone."

Little Doctor's face instantly turned red. She turned her head away and deliberately put on a stern expression. "Hmph, aren't you pleased with yourself! Hurry up and cultivate!"

Su Zhao chuckled and stopped teasing her. He closed his eyes again and entered a meditative state. Teasing little Xian'er every day truly brought endless joy.

In the blink of an eye, a year passed.

A year was enough to change many things, with Su Zhao and Little Doctor's cultivation being the most obvious.

After unlocking the cultivation method of "dual cultivation," the speed of their advancement could only be described as astonishing.

The exchange of Origin Poison between Calamity Poison Bodies was like two raging torrents washing over each other, and every session of dual cultivation brought a clear improvement.

In just one year, Su Zhao had raised his cultivation to a four-star Dou Spirit.

Little Doctor was not far behind either, reaching one-star Dou Spirit.

Upon reaching the Dou Spirit realm, the system had rewarded him with two Realm-Breaking Gift Packs in total.

The Realm-Breaking Gift Pack for breaking through to Grand Dou Master had rewarded him with a Heavenly Abyss Cauldron. After learning more about it, he discovered that the Heavenly Abyss Cauldron was far more than an ordinary medicinal cauldron. It was more like a magical artifact: not only could it refine medicine, it could also be used in battle.

Su Zhao had tried it before. As long as he continuously poured Dou Qi into it, the Heavenly Abyss Cauldron could grow incomparably huge. It was quite suitable for smashing people as well.

The Realm-Breaking Gift Pack for breaking through to Dou Spirit had rewarded him with a small world called the Little Sumeru Realm.

The Little Sumeru Realm was filled with incomparably abundant heaven-and-earth spiritual energy and was immensely vast. It was nearly no different from the outside world, and it was bound to Su Zhao. With a single thought, he could open or close it. It could be considered his own independent backyard, except this backyard was a little too large. In special circumstances, he could even enter it to take shelter.

Of course, Su Zhao did not know whether a Dou Saint could forcibly enter the Little Sumeru Realm.

After all, Dou Saints already possessed the ability to independently create space. But after thinking it over carefully, entering the Little Sumeru Realm should not be so simple. It was, after all, a world rewarded by the system—so enormous, so stable, and bound only to him. In theory, unless one's strength had truly reached an unfathomable level, only he could open it.

Perhaps it was also because, during the process of absorbing poison, part of Little Doctor's Origin Poison would be slightly burned away and consumed under the suppression of Su Zhao's Fire Spirit Physique. That was why his cultivation progress had gradually been caught up to by Little Doctor.

However, Su Zhao did not mind. Being able to improve was a good thing; speed was secondary.

During their dual cultivation, they also discovered another surprising matter: Su Zhao's Fire Spirit Physique seemed to have an effect on Little Doctor's Calamity Poison Body as well.

After every session of dual cultivation, Little Doctor could feel as though her Calamity Poison Body had been suppressed somewhat.

Logically, as her cultivation grew deeper, the first outbreak of her Calamity Poison Body should have drawn ever closer. Yet the anticipated eruption had not arrived. Instead, the faint sense of losing control had been suppressed even further.

Su Zhao guessed that, during their dual cultivation, some of his fire-attributed Dou Qi had also passed into her body, thereby suppressing some of the poison power within Little Doctor.

However, this degree of suppression was nowhere near enough. It would only delay the eruption of the Calamity Poison Body; it could not completely help Little Doctor control it.

Even so, merely delaying the outbreak was already an unexpected delight.

Over the course of that year, Su Zhao also began teaching Qing Lin how to cultivate.

Qing Lin truly deserved to be called a genius blessed with Three-Floral Jade Snake Pupils. Her cultivation progressed extremely quickly, and in only one year, she had reached the eighth stage of Dou Qi.

On average, she advanced nearly one stage every month. At this pace, she should break through to Dou Practitioner in another two months.

Su Zhao had already begun planning to help Qing Lin awaken her Three-Floral Jade Snake Pupils once she broke through to Dou Practitioner.

As for Qing Shuang, Su Zhao naturally taught her cultivation as well.

However, perhaps due to the limits of her talent, even though Su Zhao had prepared medicinal liquid similar to Foundation Establishment Spiritual Liquid to aid her cultivation during the Dou Qi stage, she had only reached the fourth stage of Dou Qi after a year.

Qing Shuang herself did not insist on more. She merely said that being able to cultivate at all was already an enormous blessing.

That day, Su Zhao led everyone out of Desert City.

He was finally preparing to absorb the Green Lotus Core Flame.

He could not absorb a Heavenly Flame within Desert City. The disturbance would surely be enormous and might attract too much attention. If he was not careful, innocent civilians might even be affected.

The best place was an uninhabited area deep within the desert.

After leaving Desert City, Su Zhao summoned the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King and its child.

It was Qing Lin's first time seeing the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King. When she first saw that enormous beast, she was truly startled and hid behind Little Doctor, not daring to come out.

But after Su Zhao and Little Doctor explained things to her, she quickly adapted. She even boldly reached out and stroked the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's dense layer of purple fur.

Soon afterward, the group found a secluded canyon in the desert.