"As you command, Young Master!" A faint blush crept across Mu Peiling's cheeks as she replied in a soft voice.
"Go back and pack your things. Pick one of the subsidiary peaks and set up a cave dwelling there. This is a restriction token for the surrounding grand formation — carry it on you and you can pass freely through the barriers I've laid. Once everything is arranged, I'll place the Soul-Locking Technique on you, and you'll formally become my concubine. But let me say something unpleasant up front. I don't care whether you had some sweetheart or ideal husband before this. Now that you've agreed to be my concubine, you'll sever all such ties completely. If I find out you're still secretly entangled with anyone, don't blame me for being harsh. If you want to back out, there's still time." Han Li withdrew his brazen gaze, produced a purple jade token from his body, and set it on the table, his voice turning cold.
"Peiling entered the sect at a young age and has devoted herself entirely to cultivation ever since — how could I possibly have a sweetheart? Besides, now that I've made up my mind, I certainly won't waver." Without a moment's hesitation, the alluringly cold woman extended her slender hand and deftly took the jade token.
Han Li nodded at this and said nothing further. He then summoned a giant ape puppet and had it escort Mu Peiling out of the main hall.
The woman's eyes flickered with surprise upon seeing the puppet — both at how formidable it appeared and at her puzzlement over why the white-clad maid from that day was nowhere to be found.
However, she knew better than to pry into certain matters, so she obediently asked nothing at all and followed the puppet out of the cave dwelling.
"Master, you intend to take this woman as a concubine as a form of punishment — so why did you agree to the thirty-year deadline? Do you have some other plan?" The moment the alluringly cold woman was gone, a corner of the seemingly empty hall shimmered, and Silver Moon emerged. She had already reverted to her white fox form.
"Of course I have a plan. In truth, even without her request, I wouldn't have touched a hair on her head before she reached Core Formation." Han Li didn't deny it, answering in a bland tone.
"Oh? Why is that?" The white fox hopped onto the table in front of Han Li, her pair of jet-black eyes spinning about lively, which, combined with her snow-white fur, made her look utterly adorable.
Han Li glanced at her and offered a faint smile, seemingly in quite a good mood.
He didn't answer right away. Instead, he produced a pink jade slip from his waist and placed it on the table.
"Do you remember the storage pouch I obtained from that young master of the Six Paths of Reincarnation? This jade slip was found inside it. I studied it afterward, and it actually contains several demonic-path dual cultivation techniques."
Silver Moon blinked, momentarily stunned. She looked down at the jade slip, then raised her head to peer at Han Li, a trace of suspicion showing on her face.
She knew that since Han Li had brought the matter up, he would explain in due course.
Sure enough, after lightly running a finger across the surface of the pink jade slip, Han Li began speaking in an unhurried voice:
"The other secret arts recorded on this jade slip are nothing special. They're somewhat stronger than ordinary dual cultivation techniques, but not by all that much. However, two particular secret arts in there are truly extraordinary. One is called the 'Dragon-Guiding Art,' and it's designed specifically for Core Formation cultivators. It allows a male Core Formation cultivator to continually harvest the primordial yin essence of female cultivators with special constitutions, thereby causing his cultivation to surge forward dramatically. The downside is that it causes considerable damage to the female cultivator's vitality. Because of this, the more concubines a male cultivator using this technique keeps, the better. The Six Paths heir I encountered that day had numerous Foundation Establishment female cultivators at his side — he must have been practicing this technique. Otherwise, no matter how exceptional his talent, it would have been impossible for him to reach late-stage Core Formation at such a young age. He didn't have a mysterious little bottle that could mature spirit herbs."
"The other secret art, the 'Phoenix Reversal Cultivation Method,' is a dual cultivation technique designed specifically for Nascent Soul cultivators. It works in the opposite way from the Dragon-Guiding Art — it's meant to be cultivated simultaneously by a Core Formation woman who retains her virginity. Once the woman has cultivated this technique to a deep level, the male cultivator can then employ the secret art to forcibly break through a cultivation bottleneck at the very moment he takes her primordial yin. Naturally, this requires the woman's full cooperation, and her cultivation cannot be too low."
"The Dragon-Guiding Art! The Phoenix Reversal Cultivation Method! Could dual cultivation techniques really be that powerful? You don't think it's exaggerated, do you?" The little fox blinked, finding it hard to believe.
"My initial reaction was the same as yours — I thought, how could techniques this powerful have gone completely unheard of? But later, at the very end of each technique's description, I found the names of the people who created them, and I was immediately seventy or eighty percent convinced." Han Li sighed softly and continued.
"Oh! Could it be that..." Silver Moon let out a soft exclamation, seeming to realize something.
"You've guessed correctly. Both of these dual cultivation secret arts were created by the Six Paths Supreme of Reincarnation. Since this person reached late-stage Nascent Soul and was hailed as the foremost practitioner of the demonic path in the Scattered Star Seas, these two techniques should be no ordinary matters — they ought to be highly effective. Otherwise, that Six Paths heir wouldn't have kept the jade slip in his storage pouch, never letting it out of his sight." Han Li's voice was grave.
"You mean, Master, you intend for this woman to cultivate..." The white fox tilted her fluffy little head, asking hesitantly.
"That's right. I plan to have her cultivate the Phoenix Reversal Cultivation Method alongside her main technique after she reaches Core Formation. Then, when I hit a bottleneck in my own cultivation, I can give it a try. Once you enter the Nascent Soul stage, there simply aren't that many pills left to aid your cultivation, so progress naturally becomes agonizingly slow. Just look at Nascent Soul cultivators — nine out of ten are stuck at the early stage, and those who make it to mid-stage are few and far between. That tells you everything about how difficult it is to break through bottlenecks in the Nascent Soul stage. So whether this method actually works or not, I have to try it."