Stop fooling around

Su Yao took the Jade Slip, pressed it to her brow, and began studying it carefully.

Fang Hong surveyed the stone chamber, feeling somewhat dissatisfied.

For a grand Nascent Soul sect, the cultivation quarters it provided its disciples were far too shabby.

A moment later, Su Yao lowered the Jade Slip, her delicate brows knitting slightly. After some thought, she told Fang Hong, "I have a potted Enlightenment Flower. It can temporarily improve our comprehension and help us understand this art."

This was a secret she carried. Under any circumstances other than these, she would never have readily told anyone about it. Even her elder sister, Su Wan, knew nothing of it.

Fang Hong's eyes lit up. Just as I thought.

Su Yao had the "Heavenly Yi Noble" in her destiny, with abundant blessings and fortune and the aid of benefactors. Did she indeed possess some immortal opportunity?

No wonder she had comprehended the Jadechen Thunder-Attracting Art in just one day during the Shangqing Sect's entrance examination!

So back at the Shangqing Sect, I was cheating, while she had cheat codes.

Keeping his expression unchanged, Fang Hong nodded. "Why not bring it out and give it a try?"

Su Yao immediately took a potted spiritual plant about a foot tall from her storage sachet.

The spiritual plant resembled a plum tree shrunk dozens of times over, with a dozen or so unusual crimson blossoms on its branches. The moment she brought it out, a faint, delicate fragrance spread, refreshing their senses.

As the fragrance entered his nose, Fang Hong immediately felt waves of coolness welling up in his sea of consciousness, and his soul entered an indescribably wondrous state.

He immediately sat cross-legged on the ground and recalled the contents of Dragon-Phoenix Guidance he had just read.

Like clouds parting to reveal the moon, passages he had previously found obscure and difficult suddenly became clear and easy to understand. With barely a turn of thought, he grasped their mysteries.

Amid his inward surprise, he began devoting himself fully to comprehending the art.

Su Yao did the same.

The two sat cross-legged on the ground with the potted Enlightenment Flower between them, their eyes closed in meditation as they immersed themselves in the mysteries of this secret dual-cultivation art.

Dragon-Phoenix Guidance drew upon the serene imagery of "a dragon holding a pearl in its mouth, a phoenix singing in harmony," embodying the dragon's deep, majestic bearing and the phoenix's graceful elegance.

Once mastered, it could not only advance both partners' cultivation but also had the remarkable effects of restoring magical power and healing stubborn, longstanding ailments.

Several hours later.

Su Yao opened her eyes first. As she looked at Fang Hong's exceptionally handsome face opposite her, a faint blush rose on her lovely face before clarity returned to her gaze.

Fang Hong remained immersed in comprehension.

Su Yao waited silently for another hour before he finally finished.

His gaze fell on the Enlightenment Flower, and he saw that one of its spiritual blossoms had withered.

"Have you understood it completely?" He raised his eyes to Su Yao.

Pressing her lips together, Su Yao shook her head. "There are still parts I don't understand, but I just can't grasp them."

Fang Hong felt much the same. "Same here."

He cleared his throat and looked at Su Yao with a burning gaze, voicing his thoughts. "Knowledge gained on paper always feels shallow. It seems we'll have to experience it in practice and work it out as we go."

"Yes." Su Yao blushed slightly, not daring to meet his eyes.

She silently took a meditation cushion from her storage sachet and said with an air of nonchalance, "I'm ready. We can start whenever you like."

Fang Hong looked at the meditation cushion, torn between laughter and tears, his face full of distaste. "On that?"

Su Yao rolled her eyes at him and said irritably, "What else would we do?"

"Wait a moment."

Fang Hong shook his head and sank his Divine Sense into his storage pouch, searching through it.

He had killed more than twenty cultivators of his own rank in the secret realm, and their storage pouches held all manner of things.

Before long, he found something.

Spiritual light flashed inside the chamber, and a nine-foot-square slab of mutton-fat white jade appeared.

The square slab was a foot thick, its surface flat, lustrous, and smooth. It appeared to be a jade blank meant for carving a large decorative screen.

Next, he took out two bolts of brand-new silk fabric. Warm, soft, and silky to the touch, they were a rich, pure violet-blue, with a faint spiritual glow within. They were probably materials some female cultivator from an aristocratic clan had intended to make dresses from.

He spread several thick layers of silk over the square jade slab, only stopping once he felt it was soft and comfortable enough.

Then he patted the jade bed and gave Su Yao a pleased smile. "Look, now this is more like it..."

Su Yao glanced at her meditation cushion and pursed her lips.

Fang Hong turned and blew out the red candle. The stone chamber immediately sank into darkness, with only the faint glow of the sealing talisman on the stone door remaining.

This was the darkness effect from the psychology of his previous life.

In dim surroundings, the darker the light, the easier it was for people to lower their guard, open their hearts, and develop closeness and trust toward others.

Darkness amplified emotions and diminished reason, making it easy to develop an "illusion of romantic attraction."

He went over, took Su Yao's hand, and led her to sit beside the jade bed. Then he removed her spotless embroidered shoes and silk socks and held her beautiful, pale feet. Finding the young woman's skin smooth and delicate, her beauty natural, he could not resist toying with them.

He could not help imagining those slender feet behind his back, their lovely toes slightly curled upward and their insteps hooked together.

Su Yao curled her snowy, lustrous toes and drew her feet back, chiding him, "Stop fooling around."

Fang Hong rose and moved closer, cupping her lovely face in the darkness before kissing her tender red lips.

After a few token pushes with her hands, Su Yao slowly relaxed, and her arms willingly wound around his neck.

An hour later.

The red candle in the stone chamber quietly lit up, its wavering flame adding a touch of intimate warmth.

Su Yao sat up, a thoughtful expression on her face.

Her long, raven-black hair, once flowing like a waterfall, was now casually gathered into a bun. A few strands fell over her forehead, lending her considerable charm.

The blush had yet to fade from her fair, lovely face, and in the candlelight, she looked all the more radiant and captivating.

"What is it?"

Fang Hong lay languidly on the jade bed, his head resting on his arms as he asked.

Su Yao seemed to have gained an insight. At his question, she replied, "I need to contemplate it some more."

With that, she ignored Fang Hong and sat cross-legged in meditation. A three-petaled plum blossom mark appeared between her brows.

A short while later, she suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze brilliant. "I understand now. Cultivating this art requires the merging of 'feeling, magical power, body, and spirit.' We achieved the latter three. Only 'feeling' was missing."

She glanced at the red dragon-and-phoenix candle and said softly, "During cultivation, we should meet each other's eyes, be united in affection, visualize the dragon and phoenix, and resonate with heaven and earth. Only then can we succeed!"

As she spoke, the plum blossom mark between her brows slowly faded again.

Fang Hong thought it over and found it quite reasonable. "Then shall we try again?"

This time, he did not blow out the candle.

Seven days later.

The stone door slowly opened.

Fang Hong and Su Yao walked out at an unhurried pace.

Both their auras had grown considerably stronger. Fang Hong had broken through to the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, while Su Yao had even overcome the minor bottleneck into late-stage Qi Refining, reaching the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

They had fully comprehended the secret art of Dragon-Phoenix Guidance on their first day in seclusion and successfully cultivated it.

To avoid emerging too early and attracting unnecessary attention, they had chosen to keep a low profile and continued cultivating for several more days.

As expected of a secret art originating from the Yin-Yang Sect's defining legacy, it was truly wondrous beyond compare.

During their cultivation, manifestations of a dragon and phoenix had appeared inside the stone chamber, gathering dense spiritual energy from heaven and earth and producing the rare sight of "spiritual energy turning to rain."

Seizing this opportunity, they had each broken through their cultivation bottlenecks in one stroke, greatly increasing their strength.

As they reached the end of the passage, Su Yao suddenly spoke, her tone somewhat tentative. "What are you going to tell my sister?"

Looking entirely open and unashamed, Fang Hong smiled faintly. "Since things have come to this, naturally I'll tell her the truth and dissolve the engagement. What do you think?"

Su Yao raised her hand and gently slipped it around his, her gaze tender as she answered softly, "I'll do as you say."