"Really that magical?"
Li Yaner thought for a moment and said,
"Could it be that both families have some unique physical traits that make them especially suited for dual cultivation as husband and wife?"
Gu Shi Yi scoffed coldly,
"All this talk of special constitutions is nothing but nonsense meant to deceive those who don't know the truth..."
He suddenly stopped speaking, turned to open the door to look left and right, closed the door again, then leaned in to whisper to Li Yaner and Big Boss,
"Behind this Twin Sages City lies a mountain called Twin Sages Mountain, the city is named after the mountain. But a thousand years ago, this mountain was not called Twin Sages Mountain, it used to be known as Demon Burial Ridge... An old Taoist priest, having nothing better to do, found this out during his idle inquiries after arriving here..."
Before hiding in the mountains with Gu Shi Yi, the old Taoist priest had spent several months in Twin Sages City. He heard that there was a Spiritual Spring in Twin Sages Mountain where the two elders of the Twin Sages cultivated, and he wished to sneak a peek to see if that spring could mask the aura of the Tongxuan Bright Mirror. However, that place was home to two Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators—how could he, a mere mortal, enter it?
But with the old Taoist priest's stubborn character, he would not rest until his goal was achieved. For this, he disguised himself as a servant who did odd jobs, worked laboriously for three months at the Zhong Family, then used some tricks to make the several servants who took turns going to the mountain to serve the Twin Sages fall ill, one after the other. The Zhong Family, being a Great Cultivation Family, didn't perceive the old Taoist priest's machinations and allowed him to replace one of the servants and enter the mountain.
After staying in the mountain for half a month, the old Taoist priest came back to Gu Shi Yi, who had been hiding in the city the whole time, and said,
"Tch! I thought it was some kind of Cave Heaven and Blessed Land with a naturally formed Spiritual Spring. That place isn't anything like a Spiritual Spring; it was clearly a burial site for Demons from a battle involving Immortals in ancient times..."
During the Primeval era, when Immortals fought, the Demon Clan didn't just stand by idly; they naturally joined in the fray too. With the passing of time, few mortals knew of the events from those distant years, but the old Taoist priest, having traveled through the Itinerant World for a long time, had seen and heard plenty, which is why he realized something was off as soon as he went there,
"That place should be the burial ground for a high-grade member of the Demon Clan's corpse. But after so many years, its body has already decomposed and no longer exists. However, the land still retains some traces of demonic transformation. If it were possible for any respectable cultivators to emerge from such a place, the Daoist would take his head off and let them use it as a ball to kick around..."
The old Taoist priest said with a chilly laugh,
"I sneaked into that secret realm in the middle of the night and took a look around; it's full of passageways, all carved out by the corrosive forces of the high-grade Demon's demonic qi during its death throes. Each one plunges a hundred zhang deep, leading all the way down to the bowels of the earth. Although the demonic qi has long since dispersed, my mortal body dared not to enter lightly. But I found lots of writing on one of the cave walls. After a closer look, it seemed to describe a Demon Technique for dual cultivation..."
"So... they could keep producing pairs of Nascent Soul Cultivators because they practiced Demon Techniques?"
Gu Shi Yi was quick on the uptake, the old Taoist priest had only said the first half before she understood right away!
The old Taoist priest nodded with pride,
"Worthy of a disciple I taught... But I suspect there is something wrong with that technique. During those half months I was in there, I noticed out of the twenty people who went in with me, three have disappeared..."
Startled, Gu Shi Yi thought for a moment and said,
"Demon Techniques practiced by members of the Human Race, how could there not be problems? No need for suspicion, it's most likely their doing!"
This kind of Great Cultivation Family treats human lives like weeds, and in normal times, it's a regular occurrence for them to deal with a few people at their own whims. And if they were practicing Demon Techniques, to lose only three people in half a month, it shows they were being extremely cautious!
The old Taoist priest agreed,
"I think so too!"
However, the investigation by the master and disciple ended there. As a mortal, the old Taoist priest didn't want to get involved in the affairs of the Great Cultivation Sects. Now that he discovered the secrets of Twin Sages City, should he wait for others to come and silence him?
So, the old Taoist priest took his disciple and fled!
From this, one could see that even without a Spirit Root, the old Taoist priest was truly a unique genius. He, a mere mortal relying on a bit of Taoist Techniques, managed to go in and out of a Great Cultivation Family's secret realm undetected. If his thoughts hadn't deviated in the past, and he had calmly cultivated within his sect, he would have become the foremost person of the Tongxuan Sect by now, perhaps even more formidable than his cheap senior nephew. Unfortunately, he let treasures blind him and ended up on the run for many years, wasting his prodigious talents!
Gu Shi Yi shared the big secret behind Twin Sages City with her close friend and then concluded,
"So you see, whatever that Yin Family's young lady's marriage solicitation is, it seems fishy no matter how you look at it..."