Chapter 71: 71
Chapter 71: Universal Paired Cultivation
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Kong Hou put her hand in Huan Zhong’s hand . This hand was large, and when the warm fingers closed, they would cover her hand completely . “Did you not just say that there will not be any problems temporarily?”
“Just temporarily,” Huan Zhong said . “The secret realm can change instantly, and one wrong step could cause any injury . ” Gripping Kong Hou’s hand, Huan Zhong took a step forward . “How is your skill at formations?”
“Just learned the beginning; I am still memorizing the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams map . I have never made a formation on my own . ” Kong Hou coordinated Huan Zhong’s steps . Huan Zhong’s legs were long, but he did not walk quickly . She could perfectly match his steps .
“Formations are not like other skills; it is better to learn slowly . “Just as he finished, Huan Zhong brandished the Dragon Roar Sword in his hand . A strange black bird fell from the sky, the body and head separated by the sword energy . Kong Hou peeked at this bird and found that the bird had two pairs of wings .
Stepping on the ground covered in dried leaves and tree branches which crackled, Kong Hou glanced at the small stream where flowers floated . Her index finger scratched in Huan Zhong’s palm . “Huan Zhong, this stream is strange . ”
There were no flower trees nearby, which meant the flower petals had fallen into the water from upstream . However, as the water flowed, some flowers would land on the shore or turn color in the water . Yet there were no flower petals lingering by the shores of the stream . The petals were all vibrantly colored and had not been soaked in water as they floated on the surface .
Huan Zhong stopped and looked at Kong Hou with appreciation . “Sometimes, beautiful scenery is a dangerous trap . ” The Dragon Roar Sword gave off a bright light in his hand . He swung, and a gale carried up dried leaves . The stream did not flow at all .
Kong Hou blinked . When she looked at the stream again, she found this was not a small stream, but a seemingly bottomless valley . If one was accidentally attracted by the beautiful scenery and stepped into the stream, even if they did not trip and become crippled, they would be bruised . That would destroy their beauty .
When the master of the secret realm left behind this secret realm, they must have spent some effort .
Feeling a chill run down her spine, Kong Hou grabbed Huan Zhong’s sleeve . “Huan Zhong, what is actually real in here?”
“Sometimes, your eyes will fool you, but your heart will not . ” Huan Zhong pulled Kong Hou to fly over the canyon . “What is false can never become true; if one observes closely, they will find the hints . Also, the master of this secret realm does not want people to die; they wanted to exercise the cultivators who came here, so every illusion will have a weakness . ”
“It seems that the original master of the secret realm was a good person . ” After Huan Zhong’s reminder, Kong Hou started to seriously observe the surroundings . She quickly found that at the fork in the path up ahead, the path to the north was true, and the one to the west was false .
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“The cultivators who are able to leave behind a secret realm in Lingyou World are all great powers who can ascend . The moment they ascend, they hope that more of their juniors can ascend . ” Huan Zhong looked around . “The worldly treasures in the secret realm are the gift of elders to their juniors . ”
The cultivation manuals passed down in the major sects were cultivation experiences accumulated over generations of great powers . They had been added to and edited hundreds of times . This was the valuable wealth that elders left behind .
“I understand . ” Kong Hou nodded . “Just like after someone gets rich, they will help their fellow villagers . ”
Huan Zhong: “…”
This analogy did not seem to be incorrect .
“I wonder where Elder Lin has been sent to . ” Kong Hou and Huan Zhong chose the correct path . She continued to look around, wanting to find traces of the Cloud Seeking Tree . Pavilion Master Sun found the Cloud Seeking Tree in the perimeter of the secret realm . Would the Cloud Seeking Tree still be in the perimeter?
“Lin Hu has the bloodline of ancient yao . The secret realm will not allow him to be together with us . ” The master of this secret realm must have been a great power from several thousand years ago . The yao cultivators of that time did not have a good relationship with human cultivators and they would frequently have conflicts .
The secret realm possessed a consciousness left behind by its master, and so it maintained the habits of several thousand years ago . So when Lin Hu was transported in, he would likely be transported alone to a certain place .
“So the secret realm is pushing out Elder Lin?” Kong Hou had never felt there was any use to Lin Hu’s almost imperceptible yao bloodline . Now, she knew, it could be used for being pushed out .
“Do not worry about him . He has great cultivation, has lived a long time, and has seen many things . Nothing will happen to him . ” Huan Zhong suddenly pushed his sword through a black snake that shot out from the grass . “Pay attention so you will not be injured . ”
“That . . ” Kong Hou looked at her hand which was being held . “Since there are not any fatal dangers, there should not be any problems . ” It should not be convenient for him to hold her hand like this .
“While there are no fatal dangers, if you are careless, you cannot avoid injury . ” Huan Zhong watched as the black snake turned into nothingness, his gaze becoming harsh . “If your eyes or face is wounded, it would be very difficult to heal . ”
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Wound to the face…
Kong Hou obediently walked next to Huan Zhong, and said sincerely, “Huan Zhong, it is fortunate you and I were transported to the same place . ”
Huan Zhong stopped and looked sideways at her . Within his sight, Kong Hou smiled, her eyes curving and her face fair-skinned and extremely pretty .
Kong Hou tilted her head and looked at Huan Zhong’s good-looking eyes . She felt that Huan Zhong’s hand which held her own was exceptionally warm, so warm it was hot .
The two searched around the surroundings and found no traces of the Cloud Seeking Tree . The sky gradually darkened . The secret realm would also have a sun and moon, clouds, mist, rain and snow . It was like another world .
“There is still a month . We can proceed slowly; there is no rush . ” Huan Zhong stopped and set up a boundary . “Let’s first rest here tonight . ”
This place was wide and suitable for rest .
“All right . ” Kong Hou took out two soft cushions from her storage ring . She handed one to Huan Zhong and threw the other to the ground before sitting cross-legged on it . Some small fingernail-sized red flowers were blooming by her feet . Kong Hou moved her cushion closer to Huan Zhong to avoid crushing them .
As Huan Zhong noticed her movement, his brow turned gentle . He took out some food to put on the table, and admired the flowers with Kong Hou as they ate . Not far from them, some spirit grasses grew, but they did not touch the grasses .
The spirit grasses swayed in the wind, swayed again, but could not attract the attention of the pair .
After eating, Kong Hou felt the spirit energy density here was high . It would be a waste not to meditate here, so she pulled Huan Zhong to meditate together . The pitiful spirit grasses swayed like fish swimming in water, the straight leaves turning into waves, but none of the pair even looked over .
Spirit energy gathered from all directions, surrounding Kong Hou and Huan Zhong and slowly permeating into their bodies . Maybe because the two both had pentad spirit bases, when they sat together, their draw of spirit energy was exceptionally great . Soon, the two of them were almost shrouded in spirit energy so dense it was tangible .
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Kong Hou could feel the spirit energy circulating inside her body . Other than the spirit energy that her own body had refined, there was another wave of spirit energy helping her cleanse her meridians . This stream of spirit energy was extremely strong but it did not go everywhere through her body . It followed her own spirit energy and slowly circulated through her body .
With this unfamiliar spirit energy, her body absorbed spirit energy so quickly that Kong Hou felt as though she was going mad .
When she opened her eyes again, the sun was hanging high in the sky . She turned to looked at Huan Zhong . It may have just been her illusion, but she felt that Huan Zhong’s complexion looked much better today .
Huan Zhong slowly opened his eyes and met Kong Hou’s gaze .
Yesterday night, due to coincidence, he and Kong Hou had performed an universal paired cultivation . Universal paired cultivation required harmony of the heavens, earth, and people . Two people possessing opportunity would sit together and very possibly cause the compounding of spirit energy . Each other’s spirit energy would circulate in both people’s meridians, and cultivation would advance much faster and easier .
Universal paired cultivation was different from the paired cultivation of men and women . The conditions were strict, and the number of cultivators who would have this opportunity was small . Many cultivators, in their entire life, would not encounter the person they had such a fate with . So the cultivation world did not mention this type of paired cultivation . The most frequently seen paired cultivation was primarily between couples .
Touching his spirit platform which did not emit any pain today, Huan Zhong’s gaze was complex . He had not expected that between him and Kong Hou there would also be this kind of karma .
“Huan Zhong, what happened?” Kong Hou stretched her arms, kicked her legs, and felt that this meditation had been very comfortable .
“This is the universal paired cultivation,” Huan Zhong said . “I had not expected this at all . ”
“Universal paired cultivation?” Kong Hou had once heard of this kind of cultivation method from Eldest Shixiong, but Eldest Shixiong said that this kind of cultivation was a matter of chance . Cultivators that could be mutually compatible and could draw world spirit energy were hard to find .
Hard to find… was just this easy?
“Maybe the secret realm’s spirit energy is so dense?” Kong Hou looked at Huan Zhong . “Let’s try again after leaving the spirit realm?”
“All right . ” Huan Zhong nodded and once again stretched his hand out to Kong Hou after standing . “We should go look around . ”
This time, Kong Hou did not ask him why . She directly put her hand in Huan Zhong’s palm . “We need to look—maybe the Cloud Seeking Tree is in the surroundings?”
“After walking a few steps, Kong Hou found the small herbs had produced very cute red fruits . She stopped and asked, “What kind of grass is this?”
“The rumors say that this is a kind of grass that can uproot itself from the soil and move to a place it likes before putting down roots and growing . ” Huan Zhong pointed at the small sprouts . “I’ve seen this kind of grass in books before; it seems to be called…”
“Ah!” A sharp shriek came from afar . The voice sounded like Ling Bo’s .
Kong Hou bent down and dug out the grasses with their soil and roots . She put them in her storage ring . “Huan Zhong, is this voice real or did the secret realm create it?”
“Come with me . ” Huan Zhong looked into the sky above the source of the scream . Spirit energy and yao energy were mixed together . Someone was fighting in the woods over there .
Kong Hou walked into the woods . She saw Ling Bo holding her lifebond sword, with unwiped blood on her face . She was protecting a woman behind her who was in a disheveled state .
The girl being protected seemed to be called… Jin Ling?
There were a dozen strange black birds surrounding them that appeared likely to eat them at any moment .
The battle would start at any moment .
“Do not step on my dress . ” Ling Bo pulled on her dress . “This is the newest style . ”