Chapter 134: Scripture of Ultimate Yin for Virgin Maidens

"Dual cultivation!"

"What?!"

Sun Ruowei’s voice instantly shot up by more than a full octave.

"Shh! Keep it down. Gossip isn’t meant for three ears. We’ll just whisper it between us."

"It’s really dual cultivation?"

Sun Ruowei lowered her voice—but was still utterly stunned.

"Would I lie to you about something like this? It’s truly dual cultivation. Not even the slightest bit fake. Like the saying goes—‘Extreme yin gives rise to nothing, extreme yang cannot grow.’ Bai Qiulan is extreme yin, and Lu Ye is extreme yang. The difference is that Bai Qiulan was born with her physique, while Lu Ye’s was developed later."

"No wonder I noticed a trace of seduction coming off Bai Qiulan recently. Damn—could it be they already...?"

As she spoke, Sun Ruowei even started gesturing, repeatedly tapping her two thumbs together.

"Apparently, they haven’t yet. Bai Qiulan doesn’t seem able to accept that kind of relationship, so the Chaotic Yin Poison has kept flaring up, leading to her current state."

"So that’s what it is!"

In that moment, Sun Ruowei felt as if she’d spent an entire day under the blazing summer sun, only to return home to an air-conditioned room set at twenty degrees—and collapse on the sofa with a giant chunk of chilled watermelon in her hands.

So satisfying, her body literally shivered with delight.

"Bai Qiulan really is such an old-fashioned prude... but what about Lu Ye? He’s not willing either?"

Bai Qiulan was a peerless beauty—especially that figure. She could practically outshine 99.99% of all women under heaven. Even Sun Ruowei herself felt jealous.

There’s no way Lu Ye wouldn’t be willing, right?

And besides—men always liked a bit of taboo.

For Bai Qiulan, ethics and propriety might mean everything. But for Lu Ye, it probably had a very different kind of appeal.

"Lu Ye’s not willing either. You know what Bai Qiulan is like. If Lu Ye actually committed such a crime against his master, wouldn’t Bai ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) Qiulan just end up hating him forever?"

"But even so, wouldn’t that still be better than standing by and watching her die?"

"Who’s to say? What if Bai Qiulan actually would rather die—or worse, if she resents him for it, and turns on him in revenge? Wouldn’t that make Lu Ye completely innocent but still end up suffering?"

"Impossible!"

Sun Ruowei refused to believe it.

"You sure?"

Sun Ruowei...

"I guess I can’t really say for certain..."

"So this dual cultivation—does it have to be Lu Ye? Couldn’t someone else do it? What about the Sect Master?" Sun Ruowei asked curiously.

Shen Xitong couldn’t help rolling her eyes.

"This technique can only be handled by a very small number of people. If Liu Changfeng tried to detox Bai Qiulan, he’d probably die on the spot."

"For real?"

"Of course it’s real! I only eat gossip that’s sweet and ripe—I don’t touch low-grade fruit!"

"Why’s that?"

"Because the cultivation method was created by Lu Ye himself. Wait, let me think through the structure of the technique."

Shen Xitong tilted her head, deep in thought.

Sun Ruowei watched with pure curiosity.

"If the method were altered, I think women might be able to use it. But... it’d be very painful."

Sun Ruowei’s jaw dropped. "Two women—dual cultivate?!"

How was that supposed to work?

"Two women wouldn’t really count as dual cultivation. The original technique uses the vital yang fire of life and blood to neutralize Chaotic Yin Poison. If it were a woman, I think it’d rely on heart fire instead to balance it out..."

"Women can really do it?"

Sun Ruowei was getting excited.

"Nope. The technique causes extreme pain. Most people couldn’t take it. You definitely couldn’t. That Yue Hongling, though—she might be able to handle it," Shen Xitong said.

"Huh? I’m about to reach the Dao Integration Realm, and Hongling only just hit the Nascent Void Realm. I can’t take it, but she can?" Sun Ruowei was visibly confused.

"Lu Ye, Yue Hongling, Bai Qiulan, and even Shangguan Huanling—those four all have huge secrets hidden in them. I haven’t quite figured it out yet. But I think you and I should investigate properly. Let’s eat well, and eat enough!"

Sun Ruowei nodded furiously. She, too, could sense that all of them were carrying massive secrets.

"Then I’ll transmit the technique to you now. You can let Yue Hongling try it. Of course... you could try it too."

Sun Ruowei hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"Alright, let’s give it a shot!"

This technique was one that Shen Xitong had deduced herself. Previously, Lu Ye had only calculated methods for dual cultivation or for Bai Qiulan to resolve the Chaotic Yin Poison on her own. He had never considered that a woman might also be able to help Bai Qiulan detoxify.

But Shen Xitong had now derived it.

The only catch was—it might be a bit painful. The worst side effect would just be some weakness afterward.

The interesting part was: once this technique was activated...

Bai Qiulan would be the one in control—starting and stopping the technique at will.

The user would be completely passive.

Shen Xitong gave it a name: Scripture of Ultimate Yin for Virgin Maidens.

In Daoist terminology, chànǚ (姹女, "virgin maiden") refers to mercury.

And mercury... was highly toxic!

"This name..." Sun Ruowei hesitated.

"That’s what it’s called, deal with it. I’ve got some things to take care of, so I’m off. Remember, don’t practice that technique yourself. I’ll contact you via sound-transmitting stone sometime to chat, okay? Bye-bye!"

"Uh... bye..."

Shen Xitong’s figure turned into a swirl of multicolored spiritual light and vanished into the void.

Sun Ruowei remained where she stood.

Looking at the jade slip in her hand, she closed her eyes and examined it with her divine sense.

Profound!

It felt like a profound kind of mystical art.

Though it was called a scripture, it wasn’t actually a cultivation technique, but a secret art.

A proper, formal secret art.

So... should she still go find Lu Ye?

Thinking about what Shen Xitong had said—dual cultivation... Bai Qiulan wasn’t willing. Lu Ye wasn’t either. So what were they supposed to dual cultivate?

Better to bring this secret art back first, let Bai Qiulan study it, and also let Yue Hongling take a look.

As for whether she herself should try cultivating it...

She’d see how things went.

Sun Ruowei returned to the courtyard where Bai Qiulan was resting.

"Everyone—I saw Shen Xitong!"

Before she could say anything more, Shangguan Huanling suddenly exploded.

"You saw her too?! Wait, what the hell? Yue Hongling saw her. Bai Qiulan saw her. Now even you saw her?! Why haven’t I seen her?!"

Shangguan Huanling was furious.

What was this supposed to mean?

Discrimination!

The three others...

"That’s not the point. The point is—she gave me a technique. Said that a woman could also resolve the Chaotic Yin Poison in Bai Qiulan’s body. I brought the method back."

"Impossible!"

Yue Hongling was the first to react with disbelief.

"That woman is green tea to the core, venomous and heartless! Like hell she’d be kind enough to bring back a technique to detoxify Master! She probably wants us dead!" Yue Hongling said angrily.

Sun Ruowei grew curious.

"Why exactly are you all so hostile toward her? Do you really have that deep a grudge?"

Didn’t they only meet Shen Xitong for the first time before that big battle?

Why hate her this much? What—did she steal your man?

That couldn’t be it either. Lu Ye treated both his master and junior sisters like crap. There’s no way he counted as their man, right?

Totally baffling.