Dual cultivation was not a strange phenomenon in this world. Rather, it was very well known to be a highly effective method of cultivation that simply became lost in the vast river of history.
While it was strongly associated with the Lust Path, unlike some of the more demonic spirits found within that path, the dual cultivation spirit was somewhat of a more accepted one.
There were incredibly popular cultivators throughout the ages who used it, channeling its profound energies in both righteous and demonic ways.
Legends spoke of a time when a Rank five emperor in the Central Expanse utilized Dual Cultivation to build a massive domain. It was famously known across the lands that he had won the favors of a Rank 7 Love Immortal, the great Gu Mun Ji, taking her as his dual cultivation partner.
But the mortal realm is paved with greed, and theirs became a tragic story of bitter betrayal. The Rank 7 immortal fell deeply in love with this ambitious emperor, supporting his cultivation and elevating his realm.
Yet, the emperor grew fiercely jealous of her overwhelming power. He conspired with a few other shadowy immortals, stealing everything in her life, ultimately claiming her own life in a brutal ambush.
The dynasty this treacherous emperor built was long gone. Even his name was erased by the winds of time.
The only thing that remained in the records of history was the name of the Immortal who was betrayed, a permanent reminder that even a mighty Immortal is not safe from the intoxicating and dangerous feelings of love and lust.
Right now, far from the ancient legends of the Central Expanse, Hua Ke was carrying the soft, burning body of Cui Cui. He gently laid her down onto a makeshift hay bed deep inside the cave they were currently staying in.
It was not a single, isolated cave. Instead, it was a massive, sprawling system of caverns they had managed to find near the base of the Cang Wu mountain.
It was always like this in these untamed regions, with many cave systems resembling giant stone beehives carved into the earth. The Dong Village refugees had enough caves for all the villagers to stay without cramping together.
Naturally, Hua Ke had a separate, spacious cave entirely to himself.
None of the mortals dared to sleep anywhere near a spirit master like him.
The servitude and the deep inferiority complex were so far etched onto their very souls that they did not even see Hua Ke as a human being similar to them. Instead, to their mortal eyes, he was a superior existence walking among them, always two steps above their lowly existence.
Inside the dim, quiet confines of Hua Ke’s cave, Cui Cui was entirely consumed by a foreign heat. Her body was getting hotter and hotter the closer Hua Ke was to her. Her delicate skin was flushed a deep crimson, and she muttered with her eyes fluttering open in a hazy, weird manner.
"Young master... I feel hot. Please... help me. Please take off my top," she begged, her voice a fragile whisper echoing off the stone walls.
She was clearly not in her right sense of mind for her to mutter such a scandalous thing.
In this world, only a recognized husband was allowed to see the bare top of a woman. Her delirious words carried a very different meaning in this context, signaling in every sense that she completely belonged to Hua Ke.
Hua Ke was not completely resistant to this display.
He was a young man, after all, and he clearly understood why this massive difference in their states was happening.
In the case of the dual cultivation spirit taking root here, the distribution of spirit essence was not an equal share. He was a Rank 1 upper stage spirit master, carrying a foundation of spirit essence.
Up until recently, Cui Cui was just a mortal. Because of her lack of cultivation base, she was feeling the intense, overwhelming effects of the spirit far more violently than Hua Ke was. This story is hosted at g.com.
Her mortal flesh was reacting to the sudden surge of profound energy.
Hua Ke got closer to Cui Cui, kneeling beside the hay bed. He reached out and gently caressed her burning cheek.
"Cui Cui," he muttered, his voice low and soothing. "You have been given a gift by the heavens."
He was not going to hide things from her. Why would he? Cui Cui was a beautiful, pure girl he truly admired. There was absolutely no reason to lie to her about something as monumental as this.
He had only faked his name, calling himself Wang Ke to the villagers, for his own personal safety. But this situation directly concerned Cui Cui and her future. She had to know the truth of her changing destiny.
However, Cui Cui was clearly not in a state to understand a single word he was saying.
Her breathing was heavy and ragged. As she lay down on the hay, she began instinctively sniffing toward Hua Ke, drawn entirely by the primal pull of the dual cultivation spirit linking them together and her own lust activated by it.
Hua Ke continued to explain about the rare dual cultivation spirit resting inside her right now, detailing how it was forcefully opening her soul and forging her spirit essence, but his words fell on deaf ears.
Suddenly, Cui Cui started to touch herself.
The heat inside her body was too much to bear. Her delicate hands moved over her own form, desperately seeking relief from the burning sensation.
Even through the fabric of her coarse village clothes, the sight was incredibly erotic. She groaned softly, her fingers finding her own nipples and turning them roughly through the cloth.
She arched her back, thrusting her hips upward into the empty air, her slender fingers pressing down right above her virgin vagina as she chased the overwhelming sensations the spirit essence was forcing upon her.
Seeing this raw, uninhibited display, Hua Ke felt his own blood boil.
A heavy arousal surged through him, and he popped a hard erection against his robes. He sat closely next to her, his eyes entirely captivated as he watched her touch her own nipples, making the fabric peak with her desperate tweaks.
Her hips continued to thrust in a rhythmic, intoxicating motion.
Hua Ke bent down, his face hovering inches from hers. He started to smell Cui Cui, taking in the sweet, intoxicating feminine scent mixed with the rich aroma of newly awakened spirit essence.
"Sweet," he muttered, his voice husky.
He finally let go of his own restraint. He leaned in and started to crazily sniff and kiss the soft, damp skin of Cui Cui’s neck.
She let out a sharp gasp of pleasure as his lips made contact. While she was eagerly touching herself, she reached out and grabbed his strong hand. With a desperate pull, she used his hand to travel down her heated body.
Hua Ke did not resist. He slid his hand inside the rough fabric of Cui Cui’s top.
His fingers found her soft, bare skin and he firmly grabbed her nipple, starting to play with it, rolling the sensitive peak between his thumb and forefinger. Cui Cui cried out, arching her back further into his touch.
While engaging in this deeply intimate act, Hua Ke could distinctly feel his own spirit essence rapidly depleting, flowing out of his soul and directly into her.
At the exact same time, he could feel that Cui Cui’s dormant soul was slowly forming, absorbing his spirit essence to build her own foundation. A genuine smile crept onto his face in the dimly lit cave.
Meanwhile, outside the cavern entrance, Qing Qing was pacing frantically, walking left and right in the dirt directly in front of Hua Ke’s cave. The dry earth crunched under his rough sandals with every anxious step.
He knew better than to barge into the private cave of a spirit master. That was a direct death sentence for a mere mortal. But at the same time, his beloved sister was inside with him.
He was clearly suspicious of this mysterious spirit master who called himself Wang Ke. Why was a noble, powerful spirit master so unusually interested in his sister and in them?
She was just a poor mortal girl from a ruined village. There was absolutely no way it was for something good or pure. In Qing Qing’s mind, spirit masters were more dangerous than wild beasts.
While spirit masters occasionally protected them, most of the time they would pose the greatest threat to mortals like them.
Fei Fei, the head of the Dong Village, had just heard the alarming news that Cui Cui had fainted and that Wang Dong had carried her inside his personal cave.
Rushing over with a heavy heart, he arrived near the cave entrance and immediately saw his son Qing Qing already there, pacing like a trapped animal.
Upon seeing their father arrive, Qing Qing immediately stopped his pacing and walked up to him, his eyes wide with desperate panic.
"Father, please," Qing Qing muttered, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and anger. "Please go inside and see what is going on with sister. He has her in there. We cannot just wait out here."
Fei Fei did not hesitate for a second, a stark contrast to Qing Qing’s fearful display.
He might have harshly scolded Qing Qing in front of Wang Ke previously for publicly saying the rebellious things on his mind, but Fei Fei secretly had his own deep doubts about this Wang Ke.
Being the experienced head of the village comes with a certain vital wisdom for a mortal.
He clearly understood the unspoken rules of the world, and he knew in his gut that there was something highly irregular going on between this powerful spirit master and his defenseless daughter.
Fei Fei tightened his fists. He was a father first and a village head second. He was about to risk it all, willing to throw away his own life to go inside that cave.
He took a heavy step forward toward the dark entrance of the cave.
Suddenly, a chilling sound echoed through the night air.
*Awooooooo.*
Loud, bloodcurdling wolf howls pierced through the stillness of the Cang Wu mountain base. The sound was not just a single beast, but a massive pack howling in unison, their voices echoing off the stone walls of the beehive caves.
Fei Fei froze mid step. All the color instantly drained from his weathered face. His blood ran completely cold, the anger and determination evaporating into pure, unadulterated terror.
He knew exactly whose wolves those howls belonged to. Every villager in the region knew that cursed sound.
He slowly turned his head to look at the dark tree line beyond their camp, his lips trembling as he muttered a single, dreaded name with absolute fear etched into every line of his face.
"Ji Ma Ko."