Dual Cultivation God Returns

Wu Long initially thought, that he would be able to obtain the Fire Rune relatively fast, even faster than the Wood Rune.

Not only did he understand the fire attribute far more due to studying Alchemy Dao, but he also already had Lightning, the power commonly called the Heavenly Fire.

But all of his attempts at comprehending, and thus obtaining the Fire Rune up to now, ended in failure.

And only now, he understood why – he was missing a step, or simply overlooking it.

He tried to obtain the Fire Rune, without first possessing the Heat Rune.

This was the reason he was so dumbfounded after recognizing the Heat Rune, which turned out to be already in his possession, ever since he obtained the Sound Rune.

After accidentally producing heat with vibration, and then comparing it to heat generated by Lightning, it caused him to more closely examine how the Lightning actually produces heat, and compare it with the heat he obtained with vibration.

To his surprise, he found that Heat was, in its essence, vibration, although it was a bit more complex than just vibration.

The Heat Rune, however, was not the same Rune as the Sound Rune, but he could feel it was closely connected, as both the Heat Rune, and the Sound Rune, as well as, surprisingly, the Wind Rune, followed close trajectories when circling around his Grandmist Core, seemingly forming an intricate pattern in correlation to each other.

‘Interesting… so there is indeed a logic to the movement and grouping of the Dao Runes’, he thought, confirming it wasn’t random after all.

At the same time when he gained the Heat Rune, however, he understood that he couldn’t have obtained the Fire Rune without also first obtaining the Wood Rune, since fire needs a fuel to burn.

Thus, at fundamental level, his Fire Qi had to start as Wood Qi, combined with Heat Qi.

This brought him to a new understanding of the Dao Runes overall, and allowed him to finally grasp the Fire Rune.

—

Wu Long returned to the Desolate Fortress, in an extremely good mood, which was noticed by his ladies.

And then, he could see a scene that spread warmth in his chest. The eyes of his beauties lit up with happiness, just from the fact he was visibly in a good mood. That alone was enough to make them happy. And it made him happy in return.

He rushed to their sides, warmly welcomed.

There was a small area within the fortress, enveloped by a separate inner wall, that isolated it from all other parts of the fortress, with a few buildings, and a beautiful courtyard within.

This was the private area of the Wu Family, a feature present almost everywhere that the Eternal Duality Valley had its presence.

The whole Dao Family retired into that private area to spend time together, leaving the defenses and control of the fortress to be truly, fully independent for the first time.

Though, they still remained here until the Grand Formation would be completely operational, just in case.

“Wu Long… do you need… help healing?”, Gong Liwei asked as they arrived.

She was not sure if he would need it since she knew that refining injuries with Chaos Refining Body Tempering Art was far more beneficial to him.

At the same time, she didn’t want to just watch without doing anything if she could help him.

But in a surprise development, to not only her but everyone, he nodded with a smile, “Mm, thank you, Liwei. I’ll rely on you”

She widened her eyes, receiving this unexpected answer, causing him to chuckle, and explain.

Since part of his injuries, resulting from the Sustained-Charge Lightning, were self-inflicted, he did not benefit from them unlike the internal injuries from clashing with an opponent far outclassing him in power.

He added, “I’ll guide your Healing Qi to the self-inflicted damage, if you follow my Spiritual Qi currents. Though it’ll require quite a bit of concentration and work, are you up for it?”

Her eyes lit up with both joy and determination, as she nodded, “Yes, please let me do it!”

Yu Huan produced some Medicine Pills from her Spatial Ring, which Wu Long took so there would already be some Medicinal Qi within him, which Gong Liwei could use during treatment.

He smiled, and sat down in a lotus position, as did she, behind him, placing both of her palms on his back and closing her eyes.

Luo Mingyu smiled, and sitting in a meditative pose, expanded her Dao Intent to help Gong Liwei, while Gong Cui sat down with her Zither, intending to help as well.

“Hmm”, Hua Ziyan made a low humm, as she suddenly had an idea, watching the two palms with which Gong Liwei touched Wu Long, ‘If I can use Dual Cultivation to help Wu Long recover his Spiritual Qi… then surely by the same logic, I can probably come up with a Dual Cultivation technique that would allow Sister Liwei to heal him more efficiently during Dual Cultivation’

Her initial impulse was, that maybe Gong Liwei could channel more of her Healing Qi toward Wu Long if the surface area of contact between them was wider.

Of course, it wasn’t really something necessary, but it was nevertheless, an intriguing thought application for Dual Cultivation, as well as expanded choices, which wasn’t a bad thing.

Especially considering that the healing process this time around lasted for nearly half a day, for a number of reasons.

Partially because Gong Liwei was only a starting Medicine Dao practitioner, partially because she had to carefully heal specific areas following Wu Long’s lead, which was an unusual process that required getting used to.

But it was also true, that Dual Cultivation held a possibility of enhancing this process, as the intimate contact and connection would greatly boost Gong Liwei’s ability to heal him.

While he was healed, Wu Long also circulated Chaos Refining Body Tempering Art, refining the injuries sustained in the fight, which were quite extensive as well.

When the healing was done, Wei Lan was also finished with dinner, helped by Song Lingfei, Cao Mei and Cao Xiang.

They sat down for a peaceful, but definitely not quiet, family meal, full of laughter and conversations.

“Hmm, the success rate for the 3rd-tier Heaven Turning Pill seems to be one in three to four batches of ingredients for now… though I think I can gradually raise it”, Yu Huan noted to Bi Rui’s question.

“That’s already amazing though, Huan’er!”, Bi Rui exclaimed, “I may not know much about Alchemy, but I at least know that you should be in the third Major Realm of the Great Realm, to produce pills of the third tier of a grade”

“Hahaha, with the techniques Wu Long gave me, and the Earth Flame, I’d say it’s only given”, Yu Huan shyly shook her head.

“I think you are being too humble Sister Yu Huan. Techniques and Earth Flame are tools, and not everyone who has great tools can become a great master. Besides, we all heard from Wu Long how amazing you are”, Luo Mingyu didn’t let Yu Huan write off her contribution.

“Indeed, while it is good to not be overconfident beyond capabilities, justified confidence backed by real skills helps instead”, Nie Xiwang nodded in agreement.

“In other words, Sister Yu Huan is amazing!”, Gong Cui concluded, exclaiming her praise at the end, causing supporting cheers to rise around the table.

Yu Huan’s face turned first rosy, and quickly red, as she lowered it a bit, at a loss of words.

Bi Rui’s smile grew wider, nudging Yu Huan with her shoulder with mischievous, and at the same time joyful look in her eyes, as laughter resounded around the table.

“Hmm, so we’re first going to use the Heaven Turning Pills internally, right?”, Sui Luxiao asked Wu Long after some time, when the commotion settled down.

“No, unless someone’s truly stuck in their cultivation, it is better to advance without using the Heaven Turning Pills”, Wu Long shook his head.

As the beauties showed surprised expressions, Cao Xiang asked the question on their minds, “Why? Are there some kind of side effects?”

“Not overtly, no”, Wu Long shook his head, “But it creates an implicit mental dependence on pills to advance, which can become a block to advance on your own”

“Makes sense, if you advance with a pill quite easily, and then get stuck when trying to overcome the next bottleneck, it may create a subconscious association between advancing and an Alchemy Pill”, Nie Xiwang lightly traced her chin with her delicate fingers in thought.

“Hmm, cultivation is first and foremost spiritual, so mental state and mindset plays a great role in advancing… if there was such a subconscious problem, pills that help advancing should certainly be treated with caution…”, Luo Mingyu nodded in agreement.

Madam Liang added, “There is also a suspicion, that natural advance is more beneficial in long-term, although it is still just suspicion since no real studies were done on that after the Alchemy Association announced their ‘independent study’ on the subject with no significant findings”

The way she said ‘independent study’, puffing a loud of smoke after, told everyone all they needed to know about it.

“Though there are those who only rely on Alchemy Pills to push their cultivation, and don’t balance it with their own achievements or diligent hard work. And it is not a small portion of the population of the entire Seven Boundless Worlds”, Wu Long added with a chuckle.

“Ah yes, the ‘Porcelain Cultivators’ huh”, Liang Yuhan chuckled, puffing out another streak of slightly sweet-smelling herbal smoke.

“Porcelain Cultivators?”, Hua Ziyan asked curiously.

“That’s how those people are called, because all of their cultivation basically comes from porcelain bottles for Alchemy Pills”, Ye Ling explained.

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“And in their case, it is clear as night and day… they may possess a certain cultivation nominally, but in real terms, they are far weaker and less capable”, Madam Liang supplemented the explanation.

“They are, to an extent, a result of the Alchemy Association’s grip on the cultivation society”, Ye Ling noted, since Alchemy Association was able to birth a whole portion of society dependent on them.

“And are also the ones strengthening and perpetuating that grip, in a perverse cycle”, Laing Yuhan nodded.

Seeing a question, and a certain doubt forming in Yu Huan’s eyes, Wu Long added, “Alchemy, like everything, is capable of both amazing things and harmful things. It all depends on its use and application. We just need to be able to use its benefits without falling into its pitfalls”

She smiled, reassured by his words before any insecurity was even formed in her mind.

Meanwhile, Wu Long continued, “It is still a great pill for those like that Inner Court Elder, for example, who are stuck, reaching the limits of their natural talent, but do not have the courage or will to try and take on risk to possibly advance further. People whose entire life aspirations are basically limited to achieving the next Major Realm. Although that is not the only way. Of course, there are other situations as well. In short, it is a good last resort for some which does not become poison for them”

“Meaning, it has value”, Sui Luxiao understood where he was going with this.

“Indeed, a great one. But it’s better to closely control the amount sold, at least at one location. Not to mention, that for now Huan’er is the only one who can refine 3rd and 2nd tier Heaven Turning Pills, and I’d rather she didn’t spend too much time on them”, he chuckled, “So once we start producing them, I believe we can start the plan of an Auction House under the Soaring Feather Trading Company”

Sui Luxiao nodded, “Mm, the auction model would allow us to control the amounts and earn maximum profits. I beleive with the 3rd-tier Heaven Turning Pill as the most valuable product only sold once a year, 1 of 2nd-tier and 10 of 1st-tier per month, I guess would be an apt amount. This would only require Sister Yu Huan to produce one 3rd-tier and twelve 2nd-tier pills per year, and at the same time will make the auction popular at the same time”

“Won’t that ruffle up the Alchemy Association’s feathers though?”, Madam Liang asked.

“Heh, who cares if it does? Besides, as I learned not long ago, it seems the part of the association in these regions has internal struggles at the moment, so they’ll struggle to concentrate on us”, Wu Long shrugged his shoulders, “Our trading rivals on the Soft Meadow Continent, though, will feel the impact right away, but then again, that’s the idea”

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