Walking together, whenever Lu Li’s gaze fell on Jiang Yuebai, she would slightly lower her head, revealing her trembling eyelashes.
When she looked up again, there was a soft, fragile smile.
“The Yin Yang Sect is truly frightening.”
Along the way, Lu Li also caught sight of many senior sisters walking hand in hand.
He wondered whether they were really women or if it was the result of cultivating the technique.
“By the way, Junior Lu, I wanted to ask… have you engaged in dual cultivation with Junior Sister Qing Luo?”
Jiang Yuebai asked softly.
“Never.”
“I see… then, junior disciple, do you understand the methods of dual cultivation?”
Jiang Yuebai arrived at the peak and gently patted the bench of the pavilion.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll explain a little to you?”
“Please instruct me, senior sister.”
“No need to be so polite. When I saw you yesterday, you were only at Qi Refining Layer 2. But today, you’re already a Layer 3 cultivator.”
Jiang Yuebai glanced over and let out a long sigh.
“A high-grade spirit root is truly extraordinary. In ten days or half a month, I’ll have to call you senior brother.”
“But for now, you are still my senior sister.”
Lu Li sat beside Jiang Yuebai, smelling the faint floral fragrance, and couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
“Senior sister… heh…”
Jiang Yuebai looked up at the painting of celestial maidens ascending, her feet shifting slightly, stirring her blue skirt.
“Let’s talk about Yin Yang Sect’s dual cultivation.”
“The dual cultivation techniques of the world require a couple to cultivate a special method together, increasing their cultivation by twenty to thirty percent.”
As Jiang Yuebai spoke, she reached out and caught a falling petal.
“But the Yin Yang Sect can increase cultivation speed by a full fifty percent, regardless of what technique the other person cultivates.”
“Such a huge boost?”
Lu Li, feeling somewhat unsettled, hadn’t paid much attention to the written records on dual cultivation.
But now, he could sense the power of the technique.
“But if that’s the case, the Yin Yang Sect should be full of strong cultivators.”
“Because our Yin Yang Sect aims to help disciples advance as much as possible… though I don’t like that.”
A cold voice sounded from the stairs below, and then a woman with cold eyes, wearing a light blue dress, floated up.
“Junior Sister Jiang, have you learned to dress up today? Changed your ways, trying to seduce men?”
“This is my personal choice, it has nothing to do with Senior Sister Shen.”
Jiang Yuebai’s expression turned serious.
“Rather, Senior Sister Shen Zhaoxue, what business do you have here?”
“I want to meet this prodigy of the Yin Yang Sect.”
Shen Zhaoxue calmly extended her hand.
“Shen Family, Shen Zhaoxue, Layer 12 cultivator. I would like to invite Junior Lu to join our family.”
“You!”
Jiang Yuebai stood up suddenly.
“What? Even though the Yin Yang Sect’s technique can change one’s nature and heart, has it changed yours so much that you’re willing to humiliate yourself?”
Shen Zhaoxue’s expression remained calm.
“Junior Lu, I’m serious. Our Shen Family has a Golden Core cultivator guarding us. If you join, your future will be boundless.”
“Is that so… but I think, Senior Sister Shen, before talking, you should respect me and Senior Sister Jiang.”
Lu Li did not extend his hand; instead, he looked at the now squinting Shen Zhaoxue.
“Otherwise, I’m worried about what kind of treatment I’d receive if I joined a family like that.”
“Very interesting, but the world of immortal cultivation is about survival of the fittest. With my Layer 12 cultivation, speaking to Jiang Yuebai at Layer 11 like this is perfectly fine.”
Shen Zhaoxue gave a contemptuous smile, and a faint chill slowly spread from her.
The cold divine sense swept over Lu Li.
“Your cultivation… truly impressive. You entered Layer 3 on your second day.”
“But the path of cultivation has a chasm between each layer.”
Shen Zhaoxue turned around.
“Junior Sister Jiang, tell your little junior about the monthly competition… But well, his Pure Yang Qi and his person will both be mine.”
After leaving those words, Shen Zhaoxue floated away, just as she had floated in.
“…Thank you, Junior Lu…”
Jiang Yuebai looked at the frozen, crushed petals on the ground.
“But Senior Sister Shen is at Layer 12 Qi Refining, already the peak.”
“Perhaps so. The cultivation world might be about survival of the fittest.”
Lu Li gently patted Jiang Yuebai’s shoulder.
“But Senior Sister Jiang, I still think some things cannot be changed.”
“Like etiquette?”
Jiang Yuebai let out a bitter laugh.
“I haven’t heard that said in a long time.”
“Yes, it’s very important.”
Lu Li nodded. When he was young, his parents had taught him that.
Strength, indeed, was important. But above that, if one had nothing but strength, it would ultimately lead to destruction.
“However, I’m curious about the monthly competition. What is it like?”
Lu Li looked at the slowly melting white frost at his feet.
“I just joined, and I have to fight Senior Sister Shen at Layer 12?”
“You… you don’t know anything, yet you said that in front of her.”
Jiang Yuebai smiled helplessly, looking at Lu Li’s calm and determined gaze, and for a moment, she was lost in thought.
“Senior sister?”
“Ah… sorry, I was thinking about my past.”
Jiang Yuebai shook her head, the hairpin making a crisp sound, and strands of hair falling from her temples disturbed her thoughts.
In the past, Jiang Yuebai, as the sole child of the Jiang Family, possessed a spiritual root.
She was naturally glorious and confident that she could step onto the path of immortal cultivation and dominate eternity.
But now, her family was in jeopardy, and she was the highest cultivator in the clan, yet she had to humble herself.
Lu Li’s appearance had slightly eased the pent-up emotions in Jiang Yuebai’s heart.
“Let me tell you the rules of our Yin Yang Sect’s competition.”
Jiang Yuebai looked up, her expression much more relaxed.
“If you haven’t entered Qi Refining within this month, you won’t need to participate…”
“But I not only entered, I’m already at Layer 3.”
Lu Li nodded.
“From what Senior Sister Shen said, we’ll be competing together, right?”
“That’s right. This is a way for our Yin Yang Sect to stimulate talent. A Layer 1 Qi Refining disciple can encounter a Layer 12 senior sister.”
As Jiang Yuebai spoke, she counted on her fingers, listing the high-cultivation disciples of the Yin Yang Sect.
“In the past few months, Senior Sister Shen has been ranked first. So she has used many junior sisters as cauldrons.”
“Although I’m curious how they do that with both being women.”
Lu Li thought for a moment but couldn’t find an answer.
“Well, it’s not difficult.”
Jiang Yuebai picked up a twig from the ground and drew a special double-headed instrument in the dirt.
“…Sorry, I spoke too much.”
“It’s not too much. You might even go there in the future…”
“No, no, absolutely not!”
“Very well, let’s get back to the competition.”
Jiang Yuebai flipped her wrist, and a gentle breeze blew away the marks on the dirt.
“After dual cultivating with a spirit artifact, the dominant person can absorb seventy percent of the world’s spiritual energy, and the accompanying person gets thirty percent.”
“Then plus the Yin Yang Sect’s technique, dual cultivation, and both being women… thinking about it, progress must be fast.”
After a simple calculation in his mind, Lu Li marveled again.
Although the technique was strange and the competitions frequent, the Yin Yang Sect was ranked as one of the three sects, indeed having its own uniqueness.
“Yes, this method can cultivate the strong, while the weak can desperately display their strength.”
Jiang Yuebai nodded.
“At the same time, they won’t lose everything from failure. Because when a strong person chooses to dual cultivate, they must bring the weak one along.”
“That’s a very good method of equal distribution.”
“Yes, some senior and junior sisters have formed bonds through dual cultivation… the subtle flavor of it… ah, I won’t explain it to you for now.”
Jiang Yuebai waved her hand.
“But, junior disciple, there are twenty-eight days left until the end of the month. Can you cultivate to Qi Refining Layer 12?”
“Perhaps… I can.”
Lu Li thought of his speed of two days per three layers, and a warm power surged in his heart.
“Good, then for the remaining time, I’ll practice with you.”
Jiang Yuebai lowered her head, her earlobes slightly red.
“I know some techniques similar to dual cultivation. I wonder if you’d like…”
“He doesn’t want to!”
A crisp sound cut through the air as Qing Luo landed, riding her Light Gauze, and joined the two, slightly out of breath.