Wan Ling steadied her breathing, her eyes narrowing as she remembered all the things Shen Yuan had taught her.
“Whenever you’re ready,” he murmured, lowering his stance.
She dashed forward, her sword gleaming with a faint Radiant aura, remnants of her newly consolidated Light Intent. Shen Yuan sidestepped calmly, deflecting her strike with minimal effort. The clang of metal rang sharply in the enclosed room.
Wan Ling reacted quickly, shifting her approach—each swing weaving in a subtle flash of Light Qi designed to momentarily blind or distract. Shen Yuan countered calmly; he gently swung his sword to perfectly intercept or redirect her moves.
Despite her now higher cultivation base, the gap seemed to have increased between them.
“That faint flash technique is good,” Shen Yuan commented, gently diverting her blade with the flat side of his sword. “But if you rely too heavily on it, an opponent who trains against illusions or bright attacks won’t be fazed.”
She nodded her head, trying to learn from him. “Alright… then I’ll try something else.” She swung her sword again, amplifying the sword’s momentum with a swirl of Qi that formed a small burst of radiance near the tip.
It shot forward like a short-range thrust of light—enough to force a temporary distance between them.
Shen Yuan allowed the radiant thrust to hit him directly before stepping back. “Not bad,” he praised, flicking his blade downward to dispel the leftover energy. “That technique has potential. Keep refining it so it’s sharper and quicker.”
Wan Ling smiled helplessly seeing him take her attack head-on before taking mental notes on how to improve further.
Soon, they began sparring again. Each exchange helped improve Wan Ling’s foundation. Gradually, she felt herself improving slowly but surely.
Even if she couldn’t keep up with Shen Yuan’s monstrous strength, his presence alone helped her to push forward.
…
Days in the Dual Cultivation Chamber passed by like that—lengthy sword practice with occasional rests. Sometimes, they switched to practicing footwork or finger techniques.
When they weren’t training, they cultivated side by side, helping Wan Ling stabilize her fourth core, or Shen Yuan himself focused on refining his Qi to form new cores.
Or in their free time, they dual cultivated, indulging in each other’s bodies for hours or sometimes days. They explored new positions every so often, and Shen Yuan came to know that Wan Ling was quite adventurous.
Little by little, Wan Ling’s cultivation base improved together with her confidence in herself as well as her adoration for Shen Yuan.
…
Their “days” inside the chamber continued on until, at last, the time they’d decided to stay approached its end.
Shen Yuan looked at the system panel to see how much time was left before a week passed in the outside world.
“It’s about time we wrapped up,” he gently said, looking at Wan Ling, who was resting on top of him.
They had just finished a ‘session’ and were resting peacefully. “We’ve spent quite a while in here. If we stay any longer, the Sect Leader might go look for Mom and others, and the time to depart is also coming.”
Wan Ling pouted hearing his words, tightening her thighs around his nether region. She said, “But we only spent so little time.”
Shen Yuan laughed and lightly spanked her ass. “Haha, stop messing around.”
She grinned playfully and moved up a little and began kissing him. Shen Yuan moved his hand and placed it on her ass. Experience tales at empire
…
After another day of ‘training,’ both of them stood in the room, looking neat and fresh.
“You really are something, huh.” Shen Yuan smiled and patted her head.
“Hehe, because of you. You are really irresistible.” She mischievously said.
Shen Yuan smiled and looked around the room, which they had properly cleaned this time as Wan Ling didn’t want to leave it messy behind.
“Look who has become cheeky in this time.” He turned to her and lightly pinched her nose.
She laughed happily and grabbed his hand. “And that’s thanks to you.”
Shen Yuan’s lips curled up into a gentle smile. He sighed and said, “It’s about time we exit. Only doing closed-door cultivation to improve is not good as well. You need challenges.”
She nodded, letting out a small sigh. “Right. We can’t miss the competition.” Then, looking around the chamber one last time, she added, “At least we made the most of our stay.”
He nodded. “Lan’er, mind opening the exit?”
[Sure sure.]
Her voice sounded in the chamber as a portal materialized in front of them.
Shen Yuan smiled and gently grabbed her hand before walking out of the portal with her.
…
The two of them exited the portal and went back inside Wan Ling’s cultivation chamber. It was still dimly lit with flickering candles as they had left it.
“Looks like no one entered it in the last week,” he muttered, looking around the chamber.
Wan Ling nodded her head. “Hehe, looks like the Sect Leader knew you would be spending quite a bit of time here.”
Shen Yuan helplessly shook his head. “I really spoiled you too much in the past year.”
She turned to him and gave a light kiss on his cheek. “Yes, and I love you for it.”
He smiled hearing her words. “Now, you can’t say that I don’t spend time with you. Oh, and another thing, move into my courtyard when you leave this place. I’m planning on having all of you move into my mansion.”
Her eyes lit up. “You mean EVERYONE? Sister Qingyu, Master Bing Rong, Senio—”
Shen Yuan cut her off and nodded. “Yes, all of them. As well as Chen Yue and Zhao Lian. They should also learn more from you since the gap is this big now.”
She nodded her head and quietly asked, “Will you leave now?”
Shen Yuan smiled and lifted her head up a little before softly kissing her lips. “Yes, I need to see what else is there to do before we all set off for the competition.”
“Haa… guess I will meet with you later then.” She moved forward and gave him a deep hug.
Shen Yuan smiled and hugged her back; they stayed like that for a bit.
…
[You really enjoyed yourself quite a bit this time, huh.]
Yue Lan echoed inside his head.
“For sure,” Shen Yuan smirked in response. “I enjoyed myself a lot this time. And I also worked hard.”
[That’s a given. You just can’t sit back and take a rest. You are already at the peak of Extreme Origin Core Realm with ten cores in total. It’s really is something how you managed to achieve this much in like two weeks.]
“Nearly 2 years,” he lightly said.
[But it’s only been a little over 2 weeks in the outside world.]
“Can’t argue over that.” He smiled, thinking how much further he had come in so little time.
[And Mei Hua’s face was something to look at. She thought you both went at it for a whole week when you were with Ling’er.]
Shen Yuan looked around him, the tall hills and flowing river painted his surroundings like a picture. He had just exited the Sect Leader Hall after talking with Mei Hua about the selection of disciples who would go for the Aurora Competition.