When Meng Shuying leaned closer, there was a trace of clear moisture on her lips, and her eyes sparkled like the brightest star in the sky.
Thinking it was all over, Su Luowei silently exhaled, her curled toes slowly relaxing.
But suddenly, Meng Shuying looked up and locked eyes with Su Luowei, who had just opened her eyes. Her eyes were misty, the corners tinged red, with unshed tears trembling on her lashes.
Meng Shuying reached out, rubbing Su Luowei's calf, which had gone numb from being too tense. With her other hand, she gently pulled away the quilt that Su Luowei had been clutching. She noticed a wet spot on the corner of the quilt, realizing why Su Luowei had been holding it so tightly. She had bitten the quilt corner to keep herself from making any noise.
She hadn't heard a single sound from Su Luowei, thinking she wasn't doing well enough.
Realizing the truth, Meng Shuying felt a surge of satisfaction, like a traveler finally reaching their destination or a starving person suddenly finding a feast laid before them.
She licked her lips and pulled out the hairpin from her hair, letting her long locks cascade down like a waterfall. "Senior Sister, you were so rough earlier; you hurt me."
Su Luowei trembled, just about to speak when Meng Shuying continued, "Back in the Ten Directions Blessed Land, you were so gentle."
Back then? What time was that?
Su Luowei's mind was hazy, and it took her a moment to recall.
Meng Shuying already knew…
"That time… it was an accident, and I had no other choice…" Su Luowei's voice was soft, starting off calm but rising abruptly at the end as she felt a hand teasing her, fingers gently circling as if stirring honey, slow and deliberate.
Yet Meng Shuying kept a straight face.
"Whether it was an accident or not, Senior Sister, since you did that to me, you should take responsibility."
She licked her lips and kissed Su Luowei.
Recalling what her lips had touched earlier, Su Luowei flinched. Misinterpreting this as a sign she was cold, Meng Shuying paused to pull the quilt over Su Luowei's bare shoulders, then slipped under the covers herself, wrapping her arms around her.
Under the quilt, there was a small, gentle rise, like being placed into a slow-roasting fire, making Su Luowei feel drowsy.
Inexperienced in these matters, she didn't know how to resist, and her tears flowed instinctively.
Meng Shuying applied every technique she had honed over the years, leading Su Luowei to new heights.
Mountains and peaks, each one taller than the last, alternating between storms and sunshine.
The debt of 180 years was finally being repaid in full.
A rare storm raged on Mount Yanmo, with torrential rain drumming against the roof tiles, drowning out any other sound from inside.
As the storm passed, the sun peeked through the thin paper window. Su Luowei noticed the rain had stopped.
Outside, the peach blossoms had shed many petals during the storm, now lying in the muddy ground.
Inside, the two were far from dry. Despite Meng Shuying bathing her twice, they soon became messy again.
The two lay entwined, with Meng Shuying tenderly kissing Su Luowei's forehead, then her tear-streaked eyes, soft eyelids, and straight nose. Finally, she lingered on her lips, savoring her sweetness.
Thinking Meng Shuying was about to start again, Su Luowei bit her lip to refuse, but then she heard Meng Shuying ask in a low voice, "Senior Sister, is there really no spiritual energy in your body?"
Of course not! That was why she was too weak to resist and could only let Meng Shuying have her way.
If she were in her original body, with her former cultivation, Meng Shuying wouldn't have had such an easy time.
Several times she had tried to untie Meng Shuying's belt when she wasn't paying attention, only to be caught each time. Meng Shuying would then pin her hands above her head, making things worse.
She would even force Su Luowei to watch. Su Luowei had called her a "bastard" many times, but she never tired of it.
Frustrated, Su Luowei shot her a glare, pulling the quilt tightly around her neck and chest, hiding the marks left behind.
But Meng Shuying wasn't ready to let her go, leaning in to kiss her again when she didn't respond.
Su Luowei, unable to take it anymore, finally admitted, "Not just my body, even my spiritual sea is empty, and my golden core is gone."
Her eyes brightened with a hint of hope as she looked at Meng Shuying. Did she know what was going on?
Even after all their intimate moments, Meng Shuying still felt it wasn't enough. She quietly reached out, her face serious, and explained, "Because your golden core shattered back then, even though I used a secret technique to return your soul, the core couldn't be restored. But it's alright; I have a way."
Her solution was herself.
She had been dealing with a poison in her system, and after losing half of her divine bone, it had worsened, eroding her cultivation, causing her great distress.
Later, the leader of the Joyous Sect discovered she was the same cultivator from before and offered a solution to her poison.
But the price was that Meng Shuying had to become his dual cultivation partner.
Of course, Meng Shuying refused.
So, she destroyed the Joyous Sect, killed its leader, and found an ancient text in his bag. Only then did she learn that the poison came from a secret technique called the "Art of Affection," created by the Joyous God.
This technique had two parts.
The first part taught how to use affection poison to weaken an enemy's cultivation, causing them immense pain.
The second part instructed how to refine the affection poison into an affection gu, a process during which the afflicted person could stabilize their cultivation and even ascend to greater heights through the secret technique.
If an ordinary person saw this technique, they would think it was just a method to control someone's mind.
First, it pushed the victim into despair, making them watch as their cultivation slowly drained away, helpless. Then, just as they were about to fall into the abyss, it offered them a lifeline, telling them that if they surrendered their pride and submitted to the poisoner, they would be given the antidote.
But Meng Shuying, already a Xiaocheng cultivator with a deep understanding of Daoist techniques, saw the true maliciousness of this method.
The Art of Affection wasn't just a mind-control technique; its real purpose was to turn the victim into a furnace, allowing the controller to absorb their cultivation during dual cultivation.
The afflicted person refining themselves into an affection gu was just a way to buy time. It seemed their cultivation was locked in, allowing them to progress faster, but they had actually become a furnace. The controller could then use a special technique during dual cultivation to easily absorb half of the furnace's cultivation.
This was the most insidious aspect of the Art of Affection.
Even after abandoning all pride and submitting to their enemy, there was still no escape.
This was why the Joyous Sect leader wanted to become Meng Shuying's dual cultivation partner. If she refined the poison into a gu, he could easily gain half of her cultivation as a Xiaocheng cultivator.
Meng Shuying hadn't shared any of this with Su Luowei because her situation was different from those who had been poisoned before.
The dual cultivation technique was in her mind, and no one else knew about it. As long as she didn't reveal it, no one could steal her cultivation.
She gently brushed her thumb over Su Luowei's chin, the idea that had been simmering in her mind since the day she found the Art of Affection now fully formed.
"Senior Sister, I have a way to help you restore your cultivation, even surpassing your previous level."
"In my travels, I came across a unique technique in a now-destroyed sect."
Su Luowei blinked, unsure why Meng Shuying was bringing this up.
They had just been tangled together, and now she was suddenly talking about cultivation?
After a moment's thought, considering the situation, Su Luowei realized that this technique was probably not a "proper" one.
She stared at Meng Shuying for a while, and memories of dual cultivation techniques she had accidentally glimpsed in old books flashed through her mind. The next moment, her face turned a light shade of red.
She was already barely dressed, so the flush spread quickly, like pink blossoms blooming in pure white snow.
She lowered her head, burying her face in Meng Shuying's chest, her voice barely above a whisper, "Okay, I'm willing."
The technique wasn't complicated to perform. Meng Shuying explained it once, and Su Luowei memorized it. As the technique activated, a warm current flowed from Meng Shuying's body into Su Luowei's. It circled through her body, flowing through her limbs and bones before gathering in her spiritual sea.
Her spiritual sea was empty, but the warm current gradually condensed into a small entity, eventually forming a tiny golden core.
The golden core sat on a lotus throne, its small face resembling Meng Shuying's, exuding an air of majesty, contrasting sharply with their entwined bodies, making Su Luowei feel a tinge of shame.
To have a tiny version of Meng Shuying in her most intimate place was a strange feeling. It was like exposing herself completely, with all her pleasure and pain entrusted to Meng Shuying, even her life in her hands.
Only someone she completely trusted could she entrust with such responsibility.
Su Luowei silently recited the incantation, and soon saw a green sprout emerging in her once-barren spiritual sea.
As the technique continued, the sprout grew into a sapling, then a tree with branches. The tiny golden core that looked like Meng Shuying continued to gather energy, finally transforming into a peach tree in full bloom.
Su Luowei's aura grew stronger with the tree's growth, from the early stages of foundation-building to completion, then to the golden core stage. After the golden core stage was completed, a flash of lightning streaked across her spiritual sea, and the largest peach blossom at the top of the tree suddenly bore a small fruit.
The fruit fell to the ground and transformed into a tiny golden core. The core's face was identical to Su Luowei's, with a mysterious mark on its forehead.
That mark was the symbol of their Daoist bond.
They now shared the most intimate connection possible in this world.
Nothing could ever separate them again.