Moments later, he felt a delicate ripple—a light, tinkling sensation—as though the other end were stirring from a deep focus. A second or two passed before he received her response:
Wan Ling: [Senior Brother… you’re here?]
Her voice was faint but carried a clear thread of excitement.
[Give me just a moment.]
Shen Yuan stood outside waiting for a while. A small smile formed on his face. Even through the system’s link, he could hear the warmth in her tone.
It reminded him of when he had just joined the sect and met her, looking up to him with wide, starry eyes.
He took a step forward, quietly waiting. He could sense the shifting of Qi behind the closed doors—slowing from a high-intensity surge to a gentler flow, signaling that Wan Ling was wrapping up her cultivation cycle.
Soon, the double doors slid open without a sound. Wan Ling stood in the doorway, her long green hair cascading over her shoulders.
The soft glow inside the chamber haloed her figure, accentuating her bright eyes and the faint trace of Light intent swirling about her like tiny motes of fireflies.
“Brother Yuan!” she greeted, smiling brightly. “I didn’t expect you to visit so soon.” Her voice was gentle, yet beneath that politeness lay genuine fondness.
Shen Yuan observed her changed demeanor. She looked calmer and more confident than before, as though her recent training had elevated not just her power but also her heart.
His lips curled into a soft smile filled with fondness. “I heard you’ve been training hard. I couldn’t resist dropping by to see how my dear Ling’er is doing.”
Wan Ling’s cheeks warmed faintly at the familiar sight, but her smile never wavered. “I’ve made some progress,” she said, stepping aside so he could enter. “But I still have a ways to go.”
Shen Yuan nodded, stepping into the chamber. Warm, soft light spilled across a series of low platforms, each inscribed with radiant sigils.
On one side, a raised platform held a meditation mat, small orbs of spirit stones hovered in neat formation—likely to refine her Light affinity further.
Closing the door gently behind him, Wan Ling gestured for him to sit. “I… was planning on taking a short break anyway.”
Her eyes sparkled with curiosity. “How about you, Brother Yuan? I heard you took Sister Qingyu with you for closed door seclusion.”
Shen Yuan’s lips twitched as he saw her curiously looking at him. “Ha… haha… Yeah, we were both in closed door seclusion, I was teaching her alchemy.”
They both slowly moved and sat down on the bed inside the chamber. “So, you personally taught her alchemy huh, alone inside the Dual Cultivation Chamber as well to save time?” she lightly asked.
‘Is she jealous?’ he quietly thought to himself.
“Yes, teaching her alchemy in such a short time was nearly impossible, so I used the Dual Cultivation Chamber.” He nodded his head.
“And you were gone for a week… so over half a year with her…” she said smilingly while looking directly at Shen Yuan.
Sweat formed on Shen Yuan’s forehead as he saw her smile. He moved forward and grabbed her hand. “Anyways, enough about other things, I came here to talk with you so let’s focus on us.”
Wan Ling’s expression softened slightly, and she leaned forward, placing her head on his chest. “I also want to be with you, even for a short bit.”
Shen Yuan sighed and wrapped his hand around her. “You can come with me, you know. No one will dare to raise questions if you want to live with me.”
“But you are always running all over the place. And now the Aurora Sect competition is coming. Only three weeks are left for that,” she quietly said.
Shen Yuan quietly thought about a few things,
‘Lan’er, what was the price of dual cultivating inside the Dual Cultivation Chambers? I remember the price for training alone was 10,000 Chaos Coins per day in the outside world with 1:30 time dilation,’ he asked inside his mind.
[It’s 10,000 Chaos Coins. Fixed price from now on whether you train alone or with others.]
‘Huh? I thought it would be cheaper since I’m using it for what it was made.’
[Can’t be bothered to make prices for each little thing.]
He shook his head internally and brought up the interface to check his Chaos Coins.
[Chaos Coins—5,270,000]
His eyes widened as he saw the amount of Chaos Coins gathered.
‘Holy shit, how do I have so many Chaos Coins?’
[You get a lot of Chaos Coins for first-time dual cultivating with your partner depending on your and her cultivation base. In this case, you get around 1 million, the same as what you got when you dual cultivated for the first time with Bing Rong and Huo Rong.]
‘Huh? Shouldn’t I get less then?’
[No, because your cultivation base has improved a lot since then, and she also has a special physique, so you harmonized with her, and you got this.]
‘I see, but this still doesn’t add—oh wait, I get Chaos Coins for dual cultivating with them as well.’
[Yes, and you went… quite long with her during that seven months of closed door cultivation.]
‘Cough, anyways, this helps me big time. I can use the system shop more in the future now.’ His lips curled into a grin as he glanced down to see Wan Ling still hugging him tightly.
He coughed slightly and softly asked, “Do you want to train in the Dual Cultivation Chambers for some time?”
Wan Ling looked up, hurriedly raising her head. “Truly? Can we spend time inside?”
Shen Yuan chuckled and nodded. “Yes, the Aurora Competition is still far away. We can spend a week inside easily.”
She jumped at him with happiness and nodded her head. “Yes, let’s go right now. I also want to train inside again.”
He nodded his head with a smile and stood up while patting her back. “Okay then, let’s enter.”
A portal swiftly manifested beside the two of them, leading straight to the main room of the Dual Cultivation Chamber.
“Let’s go.” He gently smiled and extended his hand toward her.
Wan Ling sweetly smiled before taking his hand and walking with him toward the portal, the swirling lights casting soft reflections across the chamber’s polished floor. She gripped his hand firmly, her eyes shining with anticipation.
Stepping through, they emerged into the familiar chamber. Runes etched on the walls reacted to their presence with a gentle hum.
As always, the air felt denser here, thrumming with concentrated Qi—courtesy of the chamber’s intricate formations designed to compress and dilate time.
Wan Ling glanced around, her lips curving into a warm smile. “This is your alchemy room, right? It hasn’t changed at all, yet it feels… different,” she murmured.
‘Lan’er, increase the time dilation to 60:1,’ he said to Yue Lan, looking at how excited Wan Ling was.
[Sure, that will be 50,000 Chaos Coins per day in the outside world.]
‘Good enough.’
“I remember entering here to see what this room was about. That’s when I talked with Yue Lan for the first time, and she told me a lot about you,” she said, looking around the room.
Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What did she tell you about me?”