The so-called yin and yang energy obviously wasn"t referring to the natural yin and yang qi that circulated around heaven and earth. Nope, they were referring to the male yang and female yin energy. This was essentially the infamous Double Cultivation or Shuang Xiu if you understood Chinese, where a male pract.i.tioner and a female pract.i.tioner…well, had s.e.x in order to cultivate.

Yeah, why not be blunt and say it as it is? There was no point in beating the bush or hiding it, since everyone should know what I"m talking about. It was s.e.x between a heteros.e.xual couple, and by sharing the male yang energy with the female pract.i.tioner and sharing the female yin energy with the male pract.i.tioner, both partners could deepen not just their relationship but their cultivation, reaching heights previously unimaginable. Yes, both heights of pleasure and power. A win-win situation for both parties, no matter how you looked at it.

Unfortunately, I wasn"t the type to think with the lower half of my body. Just because it turned into this situation didn"t mean I would just surrender to l.u.s.t and f.u.c.k whatever beautiful girl throws herself at me. I had my principles, and I wasn"t like those h.o.r.n.y b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who were probably yelling in the comments about me being a beta male or being h.o.m.os.e.xual (which I most certainly was not, but even if I was, there was absolutely nothing wrong with it and it really was none of their businesses). Let"s be honest, you don"t go around sleeping with every beautiful woman who approaches you just becase you can. Being mentally thirty, I was a lot more responsible and moralistic than that. I could consider the emotional consequences and how morally wrong it was.

Those readers advocating **** or sleeping around indiscriminately as long as the woman was beautiful (or as long as the other party was a woman) really ought to consider seriously what they were saying, or at least take a good, long look in the mirror.

Besides, there was also my relationship with Tang Qi Hong to consider. Even if we weren"t officially dating, I still had feelings for her, and I wasn"t going to ignore my conscience and sleep around with other girls. Cheating was still cheating, infidelity was still infidelity, whether you were officially going out or not. I couldn"t, in my right mind, claim that I was in love with Tang Qi Hong, then go have s.e.x with another girl.

It was hypocritical, immoral and a clear betrayal of everything I stood for.

Even so, I couldn"t help sneaking a peek at Ling Qing Zhu. Not because she was gorgeous to the extreme, but because I was concerned about her wellbeing. No, I am not making excuses to ogle her shapely body. I really am telling the truth…

…okay…I wasn"t a saint after all. I was still a straight guy with a healthy mind and body. But just looking wasn"t cheating. Right?

She looked fine, so for a moment I doubted what I had just read. Glancing at the text, I affirmed that the owner of the ancient tomb had really relied on Double Cultivation to advance to the Nascent Soul Stage. I frowned when I studied the small script, and suddenly realized that the owner of the ancient tomb had hidden them away, almost out of plain sight, on purpose. Normally, n.o.body would think to study the coffin and look for these ancient texts, not unless they were an archeologist. Or a historian like me – good thing I was a literature and history major in my previous life. I would have been interested in reading whatever I caught sight of, anyway.

But isn"t this a big problem?

Ling Qing Zhu had went and absorbed the Nascent Soul Heart without even reading the text and realizing that she needed to…uh, do it to cultivate…because if she didn"t and completely skipped the Double Cultivation step, she would end up being destroyed by the very energy she consumed.

This guy…he"s doing this on purpose, isn"t he? Even after he died, he still wants to play such pranks on people…

Shaking my head at the tomb owner"s mischief, I couldn"t help but smile wryly. Whatever happened to Ling Qing Zhu was none of my business. In fact, I had best get the h.e.l.l out of here before she realized what happened.

On the other hand, Ling Qing Zhu was still maintaining a serene and calm posture as she sat down in her corner and meditated, clearly cultivating without any trace of danger. Perhaps I was mistaken and there was no risk that her body would be destroyed by the energy she had absorbed. After all, I had done something similar and absorbed over a hundred people"s qi at once. Despite the risk of the immense avalanche of qi would kill me by rupturing me from the inside out, I had survived. And I even succeeded in a.s.similating all that qi, though it took me two whole years to do so. That was two years well spent.

Even if I went around hunting for magical beasts or demonic creatures to consume as the readers suggested, they would not have helped me advance my strength by much. The amount of qi they offered was pit.i.tful. While it was true that I might gain some of their attributes, it was very much a lottery. For one thing, there weren"t any attributes from magical beasts that would have helped me make up for the difference in amounts of qi between me and my peers. And for another, I couldn"t choose what attribute I absorbed. I only gained a single characteristic per species – and that was when I was lucky. Most of the times, I didn"t even gain any attribute from the magical beasts I consumed. For example, I didn"t gain any attributes from the Lunar Rabbit or Ghost Bear, or even the Cobra that I ate during my time in the abyss of Sen Lin Forest.

This was obviously to prevent abuse of such a potentially overpowered ability where I ended up gaining thousands of abilities, only for most of them to be forgotten and never mentioned again as the story went on. You know, like how the author of Eternal Reverence often bragged about Li Fu Chen mastering hundreds, if not thousands of sword techniques, but in the end n.o.body even remembered one percent of them. For every meteor sword or black iron sword he constantly relied on, there were dozens of other sword techniques left forgotten and never mentioned again.

I didn"t want this to be the same situation, hence the restriction on my so-called consumption ability. That was also why I couldn"t go around absorbing every Tom, d.i.c.k and Harry"s qi with my Heaven and Earth Absorption either. The drawbacks were there to ensure I didn"t become some overpowered G.o.dlike b.a.s.t.a.r.d who could kill someone with a single touch. Where was the fun, or even realism in that sort of stories?

"Don"t you think you"re going off track here?" Qi Lin growled, irritated by my excessive monologue. I realized I had been off in my world for too long, and nodded my head apologetically.

"Sorry."

"Don"t apologize to me!" Qi Lin snapped. "So what are you going to do? You managed to get a martial arts manual from the coffin. Aren"t you going to check it out?"

"Yeah, I will…"

I was about to retrieve the martial arts manual I had just acquired from my spatial device when I was interrupted by a huge explosion.

Bang!

"What…?!"

I blinked and spun around when the thunderous roar of a qi shockwave rippled through the air. Trying to maintain my footing as I was buffeted by the shockwaves, I peered through my gla.s.ses and saw that the violent shockwave of qi was emanating from none other than Ling Qing Zhu. To be more precise, it was being emitted from her gorgeous body.

"Oh boy…I knew it…"

I groaned and shook my head as I studied her, while at the same time I was making my way toward the exit as quickly as I could.

Inside the crimson aura of flaming qi, Ling Qing Zhu"s exposed skin, which was formerly as white as snow, had reddened. Within seconds, torrents of extremely pure yin qi erupted from her body, almost like a volcano that had just awaken. The flames grew stronger, blazing into a h.e.l.lish inferno that froze the ground around her.

Ling Qing Zhu, being a natural prodigy, immediately realized that something was amiss. Her eyes flickered open and then narrowed coldly in intense concentration. She raised her hands and unleashed an incredibly strong stream of qi that forcibly suppressed the rampaging pure yin qi that continued to ravage both her and her surroundings.

The crimson aura flickered and raged, even as torrents of wild, berserk azure yin qi broke free from Ling Qing Zhu"s body. She struggled to suppress them, her body wracked in pain as she desperately fought to rein them in.

Wow, impressive.

Nodding in approval, I continued to tiptoe toward the exit while still being enamored by the view. The girl"s strength was truly amazing. If it had been anyone else, she (or he) would have been incinerated by the pure yin qi within seconds. Yet this girl not only survived, but even managed to suppress the incredible amount of frosty pure yin qi.

I had to admire her tenacity and talent.

Unfortunately, Ling Qing Zhu only succeeded in buying herself more time. Even though she was currently at a stalemate with the rampaging pure yin qi, she wouldn"t be able to hold out for much longer, especially since the Nascent Soul Heart was the essence of a Nascent Soul Stage pract.i.tioner. As much as I didn"t believe in all these bulls.h.i.t stages, it was evident that a Nascent Soul Stage pract.i.tioner had more qi than whatever stage Ling Qing Zhu was (I think it was the Pure Spirit Stage, if I remember correctly), so it would win through sheer quant.i.ty alone no matter how much of a genius she was. Apparently there was a sheer gap in terms of quant.i.ty. Even a s.p.a.ce Marine in Terminator armor could be brought down by hundreds of screaming Cultists armed only with brutal a.s.sault weapons and autopistols.

In other words, it was only a matter of time.

As I thought, it was only a few minutes before Ling Qing Zhu finally succ.u.mbed to the berserk pure yin qi, which brutally ripped apart her defensive crimson aura and blazed around her in an azure glow. She cried out as her body was enveloped by a layer of extremely pure yin qi.

Normally, this would be very beneficial to Ling Qing Zhu, but as they always said, too much of a good thing would be bad. Just like oxygen, you know? Did you know you could get oxygen poisoning if you inhaled too much pure oxygen? Or water toxicity if you consume too much water? The fact of the matter is that Ling Qing Zhu basically overdosed on the pure yin qi. If she was unable to dispel this pure yin qi, it would continue to acc.u.mulate in her body and eventually transform into a pure yin qi that would incinerate her body from inside out.

"Did you know this would happen?!" Ling Qing Zhu shouted at me. Why the f.u.c.k are you blaming me? You were the one who demanded that I not contest you for the Nascent Soul heart in the first place! You reap what you sow!

However, I didn"t shout that. I merely shook my head and plastered the best expression of innocence as I could while continuing my journey toward the door. Where the h.e.l.l was the door anyway? I had been moving for so long and I still couldn"t find the exit. Did it disappear?

"Ugh! What"s going on?"

Ling Qing Zhu seemed to have a clue as to what was happening, but she rose to her feet and gracefully dashed over to the coffin to confirm anyway. When she finally saw the text, she snarled furiously in an icy voice.

"How shameless!"

Raising her snow-white hand, she unleashed a potent blast of qi, which took the shape of a gigantic palm that crushed the stone coffin of the Nascent Soul Stage pract.i.tioner to dust and rubble.

Boom!

My jaw dropped as I watched the stone coffin and the skeleton within get obliterated by Ling Qing Zhu"s technique. Throwing my hands up into the air, I couldn"t help but yell.

"Oi! You were the one who selfishly took his Nascent Soul Heart for yourself, and after absorbing it, you ungratefully destroyed his coffin and body! Don"t you think you"re going too far?!"

Ling Qing Zhu turned to me icily, and I was reminded from her murderous gaze that she was actually from a demonic sect. of course she would be ruthless and domineering, taking whatever she wanted as long as she possessed the strength to claim it.

Raising both my hands in feigned surrender, I cautiously backed off. Where the f.u.c.k was that exit? I sure as h.e.l.l didn"t want to remain in the same room as this crazy girl. There was a high chance she would crush me to death if I so much as annoyed her.

Which I already did, apparently, but I wasn"t very keen on finding out the limits of her tolerance. Best to play nice for now…

Hmm?

While I did so, I couldn"t help but notice a faint spark of qi igniting within the debris of the stone coffin. It was very faint, but it certainly was there. I glanced at it curiously, wondering what it was. Was it the remains of the poor Nascent Soul Stage pract.i.tioner"s body?

Unfortunately, I wasn"t given much time to examine the remains of the coffin. A sudden change in Ling Qing Zhu"s body drew my attention back to her. After she destroyed the stone coffin with a palm strike, her gorgeous figure began to tremble intensely. I could sense what seemed like a ball of fire gradually expanding in the core of her body, consuming her qi. For some reason, even from this distance, I could feel the chilly waves of qi emanating from that fireball, almost like a star just about to go supernova. Her own qi was beginning to freeze as well.

Once that ball went supernova, Ling Qing Zhu would die, being burned from the inside out.

A real pity, but as talented as she was, it was clear that she was still no match for the remnants of a Nascent Soul Stage pract.i.tioner. It was funny…the guy was dead, and yet he was still somehow stronger than her.

Well, I couldn"t blame her. Even though the owner of the ancient tomb was dead, the essence left behind by him was still the culmination of his cultivation, left behind and preserved by arcane forces before his own lifeforce expired. It was bound to be this powerful. And poor Ling Qing Zhu didn"t have the benefit of artificial qi like the orthodox martial artists who enrolled in Wu Ling Academy, so she couldn"t overpower the essence of the Nascent Soul Heart with brute force either. I wondered if the people from Wu Ling Academy could.

Artificial qi was so convenient.

Ling Qing Zhu"s eyes gleamed desperately. A few seconds later, she gritted her teeth (come on, man, how the f.u.c.k would she have silver-like teeth? You do realize how odd that would look, right? And it would seem as if she had lost all her teeth and needed them replaced by metal ones, which would actually make her uglier) and turned toward the only person around.

Namely, me.

I was still looking for the exit, and was dismayed to find that the door I had entered through had completely disappeared. No wonder I couldn"t find it even after searching for so long. What the h.e.l.l was with this s.p.a.ce?

"Where do you think you"re going?" she demanded. I turned and shrugged.

"I"m done with my exploration. I"m looking for the exit."

Ling Qing Zhu narrowed her eyes, but despite the flames of the pure yang qi ravaging her body, she maintained her composure.

"Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

"Lady, I"ve spent like thirty minutes in this room, and it"s practically empty." I gestured around the chamber to emphasize my point. "Since there"s nothing for me to take, I might as well leave and look for treasure elsewhere in the ancient tomb."

"You know what"s going on, don"t you?" Ling Qing Zhu didn"t believe anything I said, and asked in an icy cold voice. I shrugged.

"Whatever do you mean?"

Ling Qing Zhu gritted her teeth, but she couldn"t know for sure that I was pretending to be ignorant.

"Do you know what"s wrong with the Nascent Soul Heart?"

"Why?" I asked innocently. "Is there anything wrong with it? You"re the one who consumed it, you tell me." I tilted my head for more effect. "Actually, what are you doing? Aren"t you supposed to be cultivating and a.s.similating all that qi? Why did you suddenly stop and destroy the coffin? Like I said, you"re being ungrateful! Grabbing his Nascent Soul Heart, and then destroying his coffin and body! Even if you"re a demonic sect disciple, that"s going too far!"

Ling Qing Zhu"s face flushed, as if she recalled the text on the side of the coffin. She understood that this whole predicament was her fault. She hadn"t bothered to check the coffin for the fine print (always read the fine print before signing a contract, people!). If she had been more patient and cautious and done that, she wouldn"t be in such a sorry state.

It was hard to feel sorry for her.

"Sir Fei Wu."

Ling Qing Zhu managed to suppress her rage, despite the pure azure yin qi intensifying around her. As she stared at me, her originally icy voice melted, having taken on a tinge of warmth and gentleness.

"What?"

I was immediately on my guard. There was only one reason why her att.i.tude toward me would change.

She definitely wanted something from me.

"I wish to borrow the yang qi from inside your body. After this matter is resolved, I will compensate you appropriately."

Ling Qing Zhu"s voice was soft, but I heard every word clearly. Especially because I knew she wouldn"t just give in and engage in Double Cultivation, especially with a stranger she had only just met for the first time today.

"And how do you intend to do that?" I asked carefully. Obviously reality wasn"t so kind as to deliver a hot girl wanting to have s.e.x with me like this. And even if it did, I wish to remain loyal to Tang Qi Hong. "I already have a fiancée, so I"m afraid I won"t be able to help you with anything."

There was no way I would agree to anything. And I had a feeling that this girl had no intention of offering her body to me anyway.

"Sir, you don"t have to worry. I do not require you to have s.e.xual intercourse with me in order to obtain yang qi. I have other means."

With that, Ling Qing Zhu chuckled slightly, but I could see her clench her fists when she heard my rejection.

"Kid, be careful," Qi Lin warned, suddenly showing up out of nowhere. Where have you been the entire time, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d?! Why were you so quiet until now? "This girl intends to forcibly absorb the yang qi from your body. If she succeeds, she"ll damage your cultivation foundations and leave longterm side effects."

I told you reality wouldn"t be so convenient. Who would so luckily stumble into a situation where a beauty like her would just throw herself into his arms?

"A pity…if she is willing to do it the usual way, then both parties will benefit. But this young lady is obviously too virtuous and too pure, and even young geniuses such as Lei Yong Chun would find it difficult to move her heart. Of course she has no intention of doing it with you."

"I have no intention of doing anything with her either," I replied, annoyed. Shaking my head, I sighed. "But if she thinks she can just take whatever she wants because she"s strong, she"s got another one coming!"

"Heh, really?" Qi Lin chuckled, but I ignored him. Instead, I bowed toward Ling Qing Zhu.

"Miss Ling Qing Zhu, please look for someone else. I am most definitely not suitable at all. You should approach Lei Yong Chun or any of the others outside."

"You!!!"

Ling Qing Zhu"s expression turned furious when she heard my reponse. To be honest, I had no idea why the h.e.l.l Ling Qing Zhu was offended. All I did was offer her much better alternatives. Surely the yang qi in Lei Yong Chun, Li Chun Long, or Jiang Jun Hao would be much better than mine.

"Sir Fei Wu. I promise you, regardless of how great your loss, I will definitely compensate you several times over."

Despite her fury, Ling Qing Zhu managed to maintain her composure and behave in a civilized manner that was at odds with her demonic sect background. Perhaps demonic sects weren"t as evil as the Martial Arts Alliance made them out to be. She gently took a deep breath before she spoke again, doing her best to soften her tone.

"I"m sorry. But no amount of compensation is enough for me to sacrifice my cultivation solely for your benefit."

Ling Qing Zhu stiffened and her eyes narrowed. I backed away from her and pressed my back against the wall, feeling for a switch, anything that would make the f.u.c.king door appear again. Nothing. I was trapped with this crazy, self-centered b.i.t.c.h, who only thought of her own benefits.

I guess I have no choice but to break my way out of this cave with brute force.

Gathering qi into my hand, I struck the stone wall. Several cracks appeared, but obviously the wall held firm. It would take me quite a long time and a lot of attacks before I could smash my way out, and Ling Qing Zhu was obviously not going to give me the time.

Her eyes had already turned ice-cold when she saw my attempt. It was unfortunate, but based on her current condition, she couldn"t afford to wait any longer. She immediately retrieved her lotus flower and waved her hand. Several crimson lights of chains erupted from the lotus flower and surged toward my position, as if trying to tie me up.

"Since Sir Fei Wu does not wish to cooperate, then please forgive me for coercing you."

"Oh no. I should be the one who apologize for leaving you to die."

I smiled wryly before stomping my leg. Before the crimson chains could reach me, a wall of ice materialized between me and them, and the chains merely collided with my glacial barrier before being deflected harmlessly.

"!!"

Ling Qing Zhu didn"t expect me to be able to repel her attack. Come on, I might not be as powerful as Lin Dong and I certainly didn"t possess plot armor of his magnitude, but I was far from helpless. An attack or two, I could certainly deflect it.

"Let"s be honest, if our positions were reversed and I ask you for your yin qi, would you give it to me?" I asked behind my frost barrier. Ling Qing Zhu"s brow furrowed.

Her silence was enough to portray her answer.

I snorted. "See? How hypocritical. All you martial artists want are benefits for yourselves. You don"t care about the other people you trample upon as you climb toward the so-called peak of the martial way. You have completely forgotten what it means to be a martial artist."

To be fair, though, Ling Qing Zhu was from a demonic sect, so she wouldn"t even believe in those martial artists" principles.

"The strong take from the weak. If you"re weaker than your opponent, then you will lose everything to her. That"s what the martial way is about."

As I expected, Ling Qing Zhu spouted the standard lines of just about every stupid xianxia character, protagonist or not, out there. I groaned and slapped my forehead.

"Oh, come on! Don"t tell me you really believe such bulls.h.i.t like the strong eat the weak, or survival of the fittest?! Reality doesn"t work that way. No man is an island. Strength comes with responsibility. Just because you"re strong doesn"t mean you do whatever you want. If you kill all the farmers, who"s going to grow crops for you?"

"There is no sense in debating with you."

Ling Qing Zhu"s voice was chilly. She unleashed another flower petal from her lotus, which glowed crimson with qi before it detonated across my glacial wall. Just before she could look triumphantly at the destruction of my ice barrier, I used Jin to dash through the billowing fog and delivered a ruthless kick to her midriff.

"Ugh!"

Ling Qing Zhu was sent hurtling across the air, crashing into a wall and slumping down, blood dribbling down her mouth. She looked up at me in shock.

"Sorry," I told her. "I don"t care if you"re a girl. I"m an advocate of gender equality. As long as you"re my enemy, as long as you try to hurt me, I"ll fight back and hit you with everything I"ve got. Even if you"re a girl."

"I don"t think that"s what she"s shocked about," Qi Lin muttered. I glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, really?"

Qi Lin sighed. "She"s just surprised that you overpowered her. She didn"t think you would be this strong." He smiled. "As expected of the guy who fought almost on par with my disciple in last year"s school tournament."

Of course Qi Lin would have watched that match, so he was aware of my loss to Zhu Jiao in last year"s finals. Speaking of which, where was Zhu Jiao? He should be the one having this miraculous encounter, not me.

"Just who are you?" Ling Qing Zhu demanded as she shakily got to her feet, trying to suppress the raging pure yin qi at the same time. I c.o.c.ked my head to the side and stared at her as if she had asked a stupid question. Which she had, actually.

"I"m Fei Wu. I"m pretty sure I already introduced myself. And you"ve been addressing me by my name this entire time."

"That"s not what I meant!" Ling Qing Zhu snapped. "I"ve never heard of someone from the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect being this powerful!"

Oh, so she remembered I was from the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. probably when I decoded and reprogrammed the Spirit Engraving of the barrier that was protecting the ancient tomb from explorers outside.

"Well, now you have."

Ling Qing Zhu gritted her teeth, and in a flash, she transformed her crimson lotus flower into a crimson sword, the blade blazing ferociously.

"Ho…"

I smiled as I reached inside my spatial device for my newly acquired treasure weapon.

"Time to test this new sword out."

"Wait!"

"Huh?"

I glanced at Qi Lin, caught off guard by his exclamation. Scratching my head, I wondered what he wanted me to wait for…

…and then I understood. It was faint, but I could sense something in the distance. Not very far away, given that it was within the chamber, but quite some length away from where Ling Qing Zhu and I were fighting.

It was the glowing red light that I had sensed in the coffin earlier.

"Hmm? That"s…!"

"??"

Ling Qing Zhu blinked when she noticed that I was no longer staring at her. Following the direction of my glance, she turned toward the broken remains of the stone coffin.

"Aw, man…what the h.e.l.l are the two of you doing?!"

The voice came from the glowing red light, which was now hovering over the broken remnants of the stone coffin. In a few seconds, the red light rapidly expanded and took a humanoid shape before transforming fully into the visage of a stylish man who seemed to be in his thirties.

The illusion of the stylish man spread his hands, a mischievous smile stretching across his good-looking face, and then uttered the most hippie slogan ever.

"Make love, not war!"