The afternoon duels continued at a steady pace. Lin Qingcheng remained by Chen Wentian's side. They sat close together and conversed secretively, occasionally sharing giggles and laughs. Occasionally, their hands would even fight with each other.
"Aiya. Chengcheng is so unfair, keeping master all to herself." Su Xue muttered softly, mostly to herself.
All of the other disciples could see the attention Lin Qingcheng was getting. This elicited many different responses and jealousy was one of them.
Su Yue nudged her twin, "Sis, she is the first disciple. What's the point of complaining? It's natural for the first disciple to be by their master's side."
Although she said this, Su Yue also felt the same as Su Xue. She would have much preferred to be the one sitting beside Chen Wentian, receiving all of his attention. Su Xue and Su Yue were used to being easygoing and broad-minded because they always had to follow their elder sisters. But this didn't mean they didn't have their own desires, desires to be recognized and praised by their master.
They had managed to live a good life so far like this but they weren't quite satisfied. They didn't want to always follow, they wanted to achieve something on their own. This was why they had started exploring some interests separate from their elder sisters such as winemaking. They also held hopes of impressing their master at the Convocation with their improved skills and cultivation progress before they had to resort to the effective but boring delaying tactic.
"I know that. I can still complain, can't I?" Su Xue grumbled.
Su Yue sighed and leaned back into her seat, silently agreeing.
A few rounds later, Lin Qingcheng was challenged by an energetic but no-named cultivator from an unremarkable sect. After she left, Su Xue and Su Yue breathed sighs of relief and together, glanced backward at Chen Wentian. To their delight, he was unoccupied. He had not called Zhou Ziyun, Wu Qianyu, or anyone else to his side.
They looked at each other and nodded resolutely, encouraging each other. They silently stood up from their seats, climbed the short steps, and slipped in beside their master on either side.
"Hmm?" Chen Wentian looked at them in turn quizzically.
"Master…" Su Xue spoke coyly, her voice low and intimate, "Are you enjoying the convocation?"
Chen Wentian held back a smirk. He knew what they were doing but he continued to play dumb. "A little, I guess. A bit boring, I would say."
Su Yue's eyes brightened, "Then, I hope with our company, master won't feel so bored."
Seeing their eager faces and having overheard their private complaints, Chen Wentian couldn't quite hold back any longer. He grinned widely and wrapped his arms around their shoulders, pulling them closer.
"Silly girls, there is a very important reason I had Chengcheng beside me for a long time. Do you want to know why?" He asked.
They shook their heads at the same time.
"Well…" He said, his voice becoming barely a whisper, "I was actually helping her cultivate secretly."
"Cultivate? How does she cultivate?" Su Xue asked.
It was something that none of them knew, exactly how Lin Qingcheng was able to cultivate so quickly. She had to have some unique power but Su Xue and Su Yue had no idea what it was.
Chen Wentian chuckled and shook his head, "I'm sorry, I cannot reveal her unique ability. But working with her has given me an inspiration, an idea to help you and your sisters so that you can cultivate outside of our regular sessions?"
The twins blushed and Su Yue spoke up, "Master, we had no such thoughts, I promise! We just wanted to keep you company."
He smirked, knowing he had already caught their interest. He held up a finger to his lips and then spoke to them using spiritual energy, "Xue'er, Yue'er, I have thought about this matter for a long time. I can't always be with you and your sisters to cultivate using the frozen netherworld jade. This has delayed your cultivation progress and I am very regretful. If it wasn't for me, you both could have been at the 9th Level of the Spirit Initiate Realm already."
"Master, we don't blame you, how can we blame you?" Su Xue insisted, tugging at his sleeve.
He nodded and shushed her again, "Listen, I have devised a method for you to cultivate without me, in broad daylight, or anywhere you want. It may shock you, it may be distasteful, but I hope you can keep an open mind."
He waited for them to nod their heads and continued, "Your dual attribute body is special. You can cultivate both fire and ice at the same time. You can use resources of both elements, balancing them out inside your body and absorbing both at the same time. Based on this concept, our special method of dual-cultivation that we've always done is highly effective. Combining the power of the frozen netherworld jade and my blue dragon flames, you can receive a huge amount of spiritual energy in one go. But as I have said, I can't always be around you so I can't always help you cultivate. Therefore, I have come up with a second method that is substantially weaker but that you can take with you and perform without me."
He retrieved two sets of items from his spatial bag. They were identical and each had one red orb and one blue orb the size of large grapes attached to each other with a fine gold chain. There was another longer chain attached to one end which led to a golden loop.
"This one is an aquamarine pearl and this one is a lava pearl. Both are valuable spiritual crystals that contain a substantial amount of ice and fire spiritual energy. Take it, one set for you and one set for you."
Su Xue and Su Yue held the strange contraption in their hands, feeling the icy and flaming energies radiate off the surface. Although they were weak compared to the frozen netherworld jade, they were superior to ordinary spiritual crystals by several grades.
"You are wondering how to use them? It's quite simple. Since I cannot always be by your side, these orbs will take my place. They are meant to go inside you where they will continue to emit ice and flame energy until they are depleted. Utilizing Summer and Winter's Eternal Sutra, you can control and meld these elements together throughout the day."
He paused after dropping the explanation and observed their faces rapidly shift in color. They went from blue with discomfort to red with embarrassment. He almost laughed as they both glared at him with accusing eyes.
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