As she calmed down, they started cultivating in lotus positions, while a whirlpool of Spiritual, Yin, and Yang Qi surrounded them going into two smaller vortices absorbed into their bodies.
It was now a month since Wu Long’s last breakthrough and he was able to stabilize it since he now had a lot more Spiritual Qi than any practitioner at the same level in this fractured world. Thus he allowed his cultivation base to rise from the 7th to the 8th level of the Qi Gathering Realm. His requirements for raising his cultivation base were ridiculously high, so even with her Pure Yin Essence, her cultivation of a mere 2nd level Qi Manipulation Realm was not enough to raise his cultivation a level in one session.
But she had a special physique, much like Sui Luxiao had a special physique that allowed her Yin Qi to be of especially high quality, Hua Ziyan’s special physique allowed her Yin Qi to have a tenacious nature, allowing for it to interact and mutually stimulate each other with his Yang Qi a lot longer before being absorbed.
There was also the effect of this Peak of Unity, which was located at the eye of the Dragon Vein of this Spiritual Land, which enhanced cultivation on this mountain peak, hence most high-level people cultivated in these cave chambers.
Hua Ziyan wanted to clean him up after they finished, but with the act they started with, her jaw was really at its limit and did not allow her. She firmly decided to work on her stamina.
She nervously looked at Wu Long, not sure how satisfied he was, but he smiled at her gently and gave her a light kiss, indicating that he was happy with her performance, instantly relieving her and making her happy.
“Is something wrong?”
As she opened up the door and deactivated the formations concealing this room from the outside, Hua Ziyan headed for the exit but noticed that Wu Long was still standing there.
“No, it’s nothing, just looked around to see if I forgot something”
After he said that, they left the cave chamber.
“Heh, interesting”
As they separated, Wu Long looked at the now-distant Peak of Unity, and a chuckle came from him as an amused light appeared in his eyes.
—
On a peaceful evening, he sat with Ye Ling.
They did not talk, just looking at the distant scenery that was covered in a curtain of snow, turning the world into a peaceful and somehow pure place as the world gradually became darker, though the sun could not be seen setting directly in this weather. There was tranquility in their silence, as they just enjoyed being near each other. 𝒷𝓭ℴ𝓋𝓵.𝒸ℴ𝓶
They did not need any words, or conversation to be engaged in, as the simple emotional connection they had was enough for them to enjoy this time greatly. They spent every evening since they returned like this. In a peaceful bliss, sometimes in an embrace, sometimes just sitting side by side.
But on this day Wu Long did have something he needed to talk about, so he finally broke the silence after they have enjoyed ample amounts of this time.
“Ling’er, I need to travel outside the sect for some extensive time, do you think I can get the Palace Master’s approval?”
“Hmm, usually one needs at least to state a reason or take a mission, but I can try to persuade her”
She replied after pondering for some time. And he nodded, leaving this matter to her. He could simply leave ignoring the rules and somehow deal with it later, but since Ye Ling and Hua Ziyan were here, he did not want any complications so he was relatively well-behaved.
There was also something that now piqued his interest in the sect, so he was more inclined to be amiable with the rules.
—
Though it was not official, the sect had two departments, one was couples, who only cultivated with each other, and the other was mixers, who never adhered to one particular partner, constantly shifting between each other. This division was present in all levels of the sect from disciples to retainers, elders, and sect protectors.
The couple they brought from the capital has entered the couples department, easily adjusted, and now fits better in the sect than many veteran disciples. They rarely were seen though, presumably very busy.
But the sect was not peaceful, as there were waves from the revelation of Ye Ling’s identity and her appearance. The sect was still very busy discussing it when another news bombshell came out of nowhere. The Prime Disciple Hua Ziyan accepted a partner, and it was the fairly forgotten and unknown ‘useless handsome face’ Wu Long!
There were hundreds of hearts broken as some people who were more inclined to be in the couples department specifically did not pick a partner, only cultivating with temporary partners in hopes of being able to become an official partner with her. And even some who had partners had hidden hopes that were now shattered.
There were people who wanted to challenge Wu Long, but news from the team who traveled to the Imperial Capital with him quickly spread and quelled that fire, after they learned how many people he killed on his way back while saying something incomprehensible about generosity.
After all, they were mostly here for dual cultivation, and not many were actually even interested in learning martial arts.
Meanwhile at the Peak of Maturity, a considerably larger and less steep peak than the Peak of Unity, where the elders’ living quarters were located, there was a mansion on the top that belonged to the Vice Palace Master.
In one of the rooms of the mansion, two fairly handsome middle-aged men sat in armchairs, while there was a young man kowtowing not far from them.
“Hmph! Useless! I gave you such a good opportunity and you squandered it and even let some brat snatch it away!!!”
One of the middle-aged men had a furious look on his face.
“F-father, he is not someone I could…”
“Shut up!!!”
A thunderous roar interrupted the young man who raised his head slightly to explain, Zheng Huang.
His father, Grand Elder Zheng looked at his son with utter disappointment.
“Scram!”
He finally said, not bothering to look at the pathetic sight before him anymore.
As Zheng Huang scrambled away not daring to linger here, Grand Elder Zheng breathed a deep sigh of frustration and took a quick irritated sip of his wine.
“Junior Brother Zheng, you really are not changing at all, why the ruckus?”
The man in front of Grand Elder Zheng said in a tranquil tone after his peaceful sip of the wine.
“…Brother Liu, but our plans…”
Grand Elder Zheng said with some hesitation and a hint of guilt as it was his son who made the blunder.
“Do not worry, we never planned to do anything in the short term anyway… have some patience. It may be a loss to not get Hua Ziyan, but who knows if she will even inherit the Palace Master position and when it will happen, everything can change with enough time. Even mountains crumble after millennia”
The man said in an introspective tone of voice while looking at the bleaks of reflected light on the surface of the wine in the wine cup he was slightly twirling.
This was the Yin Yang Unity Palace Vice Palace Master, Liu Zuming. He was a relatively new Vice Palace Master, only being in this position for around 20 years, appointed after the abrupt death of the precious Vice Palace Master who was traveling outside the sect when he met his untimely demise.
He was also of the same generation of disciples as Grand Elder Zheng, only 2 years older than him in age. So they were both a little Wu Long did not know that previously, but Liu was a relatively common family name in the sect, it was given to those who had over a hundred years old.
Wu Long did not know that previously, but Liu was a relatively common family name in the sect, it was given to those who had complicated backgrounds and could not use their real family name by the sect master.
“Besides, most of the people in the sect are on the same page, and will be ready to take a step into the new era without being rigid and clinging to the era which is about to end…”
During his time in position, he gradually and very carefully expanded his authority, recently taking his former junior apprentice-brother into the fold as he reached a certain amount of influence.
“But this Wu Long, on the other hand… is a risk factor. Judging by what rumors say about his prowess he is already quite strong, though we cannot be certain since it comes from the mouths of mere disciples in front of whom every third uncle can be strong, but I prefer not to ignore smoke if there is even a possibility of fire, so given some time he may grow into an obstacle…”
Liu Zuming’s tone slightly changed, and Grand Elder Zheng immediately picked up on this.
“Of course, Brother Liu, do not worry, I will arrange everything”
He said, eager to make up for the previous blunder.