Han Yunxi was a little concerned about the child in her womb, too. She clutched the Moye sword with both hands as she looked questioningly at Long Feiye. This was a risk! She’d let him decide.
Long Feiye’s brows were tightly knitted as he looked into the distance. There, the heavily wounded Bai Yanqing had been trussed up like a zongzi by Gu Qishao. Multipl vines were currently flying into the air.
He abruptly decided by placing his hand over Han Yunxi’s. “I’ll help you via dual cultivation.”
Dual cultivation?
He wants to do that while I’m quelling the Moye sword spirit?
This…
“Excellent idea!” Gu Beiyue was delighted. He could finally back off and watch from a distance.
“Just listen to me,” Long Feiye murmured. He held onto Han Yunxi from behind and placed both hands over hers on the sword. Like their previous sessions, dual cultivation began with the heart, so they quietly began to sense each other’s existence and breathing. Unlike other times, Han Yunxi was using Phoenix energy instead of Celestial Mountain’s Nirvana Heart energy. As thick waves of it circled around the Moye sword, it was soon supplemented by Long Feiye’s Lustbite energy. The two forces seem alive as they intertwined with each other like a pair of lovers.
The strong Moye spirit seemed affected by the two energies as it slowly calmed down. Soon enough, Long Feiye released Han Yunxi and the Moye sword gave a jolt. As Long Feiye moved to touch her again, Han Yunxi muttered, “It’s fine, I can do it!”
Only then did Long Feiye stop worrying. He took out his Ganjiang sword and flipped next to Han Yunxi. Gesturing with a gaze, he saw her nod in return and attacked. Han Yunxi was now split between quelling the Moye sword spirit and dealing with Long Feiye.
It was much harder than the past, but she could still wield her new sword. With two hands, she blocked Long Feiye’s blow with a clang. Although both swords were strong, Moye was quick to waver beneath the strike like a submissive subject!
Thrilled, Han Yunxi released one hand and began to make sweeping slashes at Long Feiye, who returned the blows. It seemed like they were fighting, but it was also akin to a dance. They varied between attacking and parrying while Gu Beiyue watched with a warm smile form the sidelines. Seeing the princess like this confirmed that she had gotten past the worst of it to quell her sword spirit. Technically speaking, it was probably His Highness’s Ganjiang sword’s help that did it, or else it might not have succeeded. If His Highness ever wanted to use the Moye sword in the future, it’d be a simple affair.
Of course, the reverse wasn’t true for the princess and the Ganjiang sword. Even if she cultivated to the full extent of her Phoenix energy, she’d still be a far cry from His Highness’s strength. Still, Gu Beiyue knew that the princess was the only person in the world capable of quelling His Highness.
While Gu Beiyue was lost in thought, Gu Qishao suddenly shouted at him, “Gu Beiyue, throw me some rations, I’m so hungry!”
Gu Beiyue looked over and couldn’t help laughing out loud. Gu Qishao was carrying the tied-up Bai Yanqing on his back. He’d even gagged the man’s mouth with vines, leaving nothing to see but his eyes. Gu Beiyue had no qualms bringing over Gu Qishao’s bamboo basket.
Thrilled at the sight of food, Gu Qishao sat down with his back to the dueling couple, leaving Bai Yanqing with a full view of Long Feiye and Han Yunxi’s sword dance. He could tell the two were on the final, most crucial stage of their dual cultivation and only felt stifled at the sight. His heart was going to explode! Yet he couldn’t say a word, much less move to stop them.
Gu Qishao had given him an excellent view to witness it all!
Gu Qishao was rather reluctant to eat any of the food, but he’d used a lot of blood to nurture his vines and need nutrients to avoid fainting from hunger. Since the supplies were reserved for Poison lass, he only ate a bit. He couldn’t resist making conversation with Bai Yanqing either.
“Old thing, are you hungry? It’s pretty miserable to starve but not be able to die.”
“Old thing, why are you so useless? You spent all that effort to stop Poison lass’s dual cultivation, but she’s dual cultivating right in front of you now. Why aren’t you stopping them? Go on, hurry up!”
“Aye…Old thing, do you have any motivation after ending up like this? Is it interesting? Isn’t it better to die? Oh right, I forgot you can’t die.”
“Old thing, I’m really afraid of pain, you know? Are you? I’ve always wondered if our skin is really so immaculate? Will it recover from any kind of injury?” As Gu Qishao prattled on, he grew serious. “This old man can’t heal as fast as you. Hey, if I castrate you, will you recover?”
Bai Yanqing’s body shuddered at the words as he broke out in cold sweat.
Gu Qishao laughed out loud. “Tsk tsk tsk, I’m a genius!” He’d forgotten that it was a certain woman who’d brought up castration first.
Bai Yanqing was both physically and mentally attacked! He forgot all about Long Feiye and Han Yunxi as he fearfully dreaded the types of humiliation awaiting him after their dual cultivation was done!
At last, he was afraid!
At last…he wished for death!
If…if Long Feiye completes his cultivation with the Lustbite energy, he should just kill me with one sword!
It was the Lustbite energy that killed off the snow wolves in the past. This mysterious power was different from the Phoenix energy, which remained hidden inside one’s body. Its entire existence was a secret art. Although people could try to cultivate it, there was no chance that they’d all succeed. After its knowledge fell into the East Qin royalty’s hands, nobody succeeded in its cultivation besides Long Feiye, the first!
—
Long Feiye and Han Yunxi spent the entire night cultivating while Bai Yanqing was caught between dread and a desire for death. This was the most wretched, pitiful punishment for him.
After the night was over, Gu Qishao had already asked Gu Beiyue for ten bags of rations and two jugs of water. If they hadn’t brought so many supplies, he would have eaten them all out. This was simply because his body couldn’t hold out. Even if he had to finish off all the food, he needed to maintain the vines and his own energy while Long Feiye and Han Yunxi were dual cultivating. Gu Qishao had never felt so hungry in his life. He felt as if something was sucking his energy dry and making him exhausted. He had never grown so many vines successively over the course of a few days either, so he’d never experienced such a thing. Nor did he know what to do.
His only recourse was to eat, eat, and eat!
Gu Beiyue was clear on how much Gu Qishao treasured their rations. He guessed that something must be wrong with Gu Qishao’s body, or else he’d never be so ravenous! As he fed the man food, he privately began to worry. They hadn’t found a way out of this sealed dimension yet, so what if they were stuck here for a couple months or even longer? He, Long Feiye, and Gu Qishao had all experienced closed door cultivation in the past. They could adjust their bodies to require a minimum of subsistence and hold out for three months or more.
But the pregnant princess wouldn’t be able to stand such harsh cultivation methods.
Naturally, Gu Qishao had the same worries, but whenever he sensed the vines growing lax, he was forced to endure the guilt and keep eating rations. Gu Beiyue glanced at Long Feiye and knew they would need another two hours to finish. Without hesitation, he reached for Gu Qishao’s mouth and said, “Qishao, I’ll have to trouble you.”
Gu Qishao knew what he meant and knitted his brows in hesitation.
“The princess can’t afford to starve, much less our family’s little master. It’s fine. After two more hours, they’ll be done.” Gu Beiyue smiled warmly. “Just take one bite, no worries.”
Gu Qishao had no other choice. Seeing Gu Beiyue smile, he grinned back and said, “How could I waste a chance like this? Gu Beiyue, bear with the pain!”
Gu Beiyue only smiled wordlessly back.
Gu Qishao then bit fiercely down on Gu Beiyue’s flesh. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to drink his blood. He had no idea if the blood would help, but at least it’d stave off starvation and weakness. Currently, Long Feiye and Han Yunxi were caught up in the final stages of their dual cultivation and had no time to notice what they were doing.
By the time Gu Qishao released Gu Beiyue, the latter’s arm was left with a blatant mark of mangled blood and flesh that made for a chilling sight against his skin. Gu Beiyue glanced at it and knew it’d leave a scar.
All of Gu Qishao’s suffering and guilt were embedded in that bite. He made a big show of licking the blood from the edges of his lip as he chuckled, “I’ve left a mark on you so you can remember me by in case I die.”
Gu Beiyue gave a start before breaking into a faint smile. He joked, “You better live. When my future wife misunderstands this mark, you’ll need to help me with the explanation.”
Gu Qishao roared with laughter. “Gu Beiyue, Poison lass is the only girl who’s a worthy match for you! You won’t have any wife!”
“I will,” Gu Beiyue said calmly. It was hard to tell whether he was joking or resigned, but Gu Qishao didn’t believe him.
In the end, Gu Beiyue’s guess was correct. His blood was enough to sustain Gu Qisaho for a while. Two hours later, Long Feiye and Han Yunxi sheathed their swords and slowly descended to the ground. Gu Beiyue quickly brought over the rations. The princess must be exhausted after fighting all night.
Gu Qishao stood up with a lazy stretch before running over to join them. Only now did Han Yunxi and Long Feiye notice Bai Yanqing on his back. They didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Even the solemn Long Feiye had a grin on his face.
Gu Beiyue was fast, so he reached the couple’s side while Gu Qishao was still running to catch up.
“Princess, Your Highness, did everything go well?” Gu Beiyue asked.
Long Feiye nodded. He tightened his grip on his sword as formless energy surged outwards. Gu Qishao unconsciously backed away from the sheer aura of strength.
“This is the true Lustbite energy, the most powerful energy in the world,” Long Feiye declared. It had already swallowed up all of his Nirvana Hearts energy within him.
Thrilled, Gu Beiyue was about to speak when Han Yunxi grabbed Long Feiye’s hand and exclaimed, “Lil Thing…”
Before she could finish, her vision went black as she fainted. At the same time, Gu Qishao stopped as Bai Yanqing struggled out of his vines. But the man was soon knocked to the ground by a sudden force. In the next instant, a huge snow wolf appeared out of thin air.
Lil Thing had emerged!
But its eyes were filled with hate…directed at Long Feiye!
