Proud Sword Soaring Clouds

Furthermore, Penzes New City had a vast habitat specially reserved for them!

Speaking of the new city, its sheer size made countless people think Ling Xiao was a madman. Perhaps on the entire Eastern Continent, there would never be another city so massive!

From high above, the new city looked like a rectangular box. The main gate faced south. It was narrower from north to south, about fifty li, while from east to west, it was an astonishing one hundred li!

A city of this scale would definitely take a very long time to complete. The fact that a few women had managed to erect one-third of the city walls in just a few months had already left everyone dumbfounded. It gave them a whole new understanding of Ling Xiao’s immense financial resources.

As for the name of Penzes New City, Ling Xiao had decided on it long ago. Since it was almost impossible to return to his original world, he needed something to remember it by.

"Let’s call it Shushan."

Ling Xiao had said this to Huangpu Yue back when he first decided to build the city. At the time, Huangpu Yue’s eyes had twinkled with a peculiar light, and she had readily agreed.

The vast majority of the great city’s layout was designed by Huangpu Yue. This woman, who was not one of Ling Xiao’s lovers, gradually entered his inner circle as a friend. Even Huangpu Yue herself found it a little strange. ’Ling Xiao... why does he trust me so much? After all, I’m still a member of the Huangpu Clan!’

It wasn’t until this time, when Ling Xiao arrived at the Marquis’s Mansion with a large group of astonishingly powerful non-humans, that Huangpu Yue had a realization. It turned out that the things she valued were, in his eyes, not even worth mentioning. However, the fact that Ling Xiao hid nothing from her still made Huangpu Yue feel like a true confidante. Moreover, deep down, Huangpu Yue felt an inexplicable closeness to Ling Xiao. Some things can be buried in one’s heart, never to be spoken of for a lifetime, but some feelings cannot be concealed for even a moment. Lately, whenever Huangpu Yue closed her eyes, Ling Xiao’s handsome, refined face would always appear.

"That womanizer! This time he actually brought back another girl... Ah, no, he must have known all along that Song Mingyue was a woman!" Huangpu Yue said to the mirror. Her reflection’s cheeks were flushed, and her narrow, phoenix-like eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

"I must be crazy. How many women he finds is none of my damn business." Huangpu Yue puffed out her cheeks and sat down, cupping her face in her fair hands. Her eyes gradually grew hazy again. ’Right now, he’s probably... in which woman’s room?’ she wondered.

...

Ling Xiao looked at Ye Zi before him, a hint of guilt on his face. He said, "Ye Zi, I..."

Ye Wen Ni was straddling Ling Xiao’s lap in an extremely intimate posture. Her arms were draped over his shoulders, and her star-bright eyes gazed into his as she gently pressed a slender finger to his lips.

"I know. It was just an accident."

A faint blush appeared on Ye Zi’s face. Then she said, "Ling Xiao, I want to increase my strength."

"Uh... well, you’re already about to break through to become a Demon Swordsman. Your strength is already quite formidable among your peers!" Ling Xiao’s hands rested on the armrests of his chair as he felt the way Ye Zi’s body made his... blood flow faster.

"Don’t placate me. I want to increase my strength like Song Mingyue did." Ye Zi’s face was full of shyness as she spoke, but her attitude was extremely determined. "I want it now!"

The feelings between Ling Xiao and Ye Zi had long since reached a natural culmination. Faced with Ye Zi’s initiative, Ling Xiao truly couldn’t find any words of refusal. Besides, he already felt guilty, so after she finished speaking, he reached out and wrapped his arm around her astonishingly supple, slender waist. He whispered, "There are some things you may never be able to understand, but, Ye Zi... are you willing to stay with me always? No matter what happens, don’t be surprised, don’t be afraid. Just follow me, and walk this path to the end. Are you willing?"

Ye Wen Ni gently raised her head, drew back her arms, and nestled against Ling Xiao’s chest like a delicate bird. She murmured, "My whole being, my whole heart, has long been yours. I came from a poor background. To me, just being alive was an incredible luxury. Meeting you is the greatest fortune of my life. As long as you don’t fail me or abandon me, how could Ye Zi... not be willing to follow you forever? Whether this life lasts for a year or a hundred years, I will always be yours! To live together and share a grave in death—what is there to fear in dying? As long as I can always be by your side, Ye Zi isn’t even afraid of death. What else is there to fear?"

"Having you all is my greatest fortune!"

Ling Xiao closed his eyes and pulled Ye Zi into his arms, holding her tightly. His state of mind suddenly entered a profound and mysterious state. It wasn’t that he was about to advance in cultivation; rather, his understanding of the Dao suddenly blossomed with countless new insights!

It was as if countless fragments of the Celestial Dao had drifted down and settled upon Ling Xiao’s heart. Although his mind was now filled with many new things, it would still take time and effort to pick them up one by one and organize them.

But this still filled Ling Xiao with pleasant surprise. The Great Dao has a myriad of paths. Almost every cultivator will insist that their own path is the one true Great Dao. They will either scorn, condemn, or disdain other Daoist Techniques, believing that others’ paths... are all utter nonsense!

In fact, such people’s original intentions are already corrupt. They don’t even possess a Daoxin, so how could they discuss the Dao impartially? Those who glimpse a sliver of a Celestial Secret and then audaciously claim to have mastered the Great Dao are even more ridiculous.

The true Dao... perhaps aside from the legendary embodiment of the Celestial Dao, Ancestor Hongjun, not even the Saints would dare to claim that their Dao was definitively the Great Dao!

As Ling Xiao’s thoughts raced, Ye Zi, who had been tormented by a mixture of shyness, nervousness, and anticipation, suddenly felt an atmosphere that brought an incomparable calm to her mind and spirit.

It seemed as if her entire heart was suddenly immersed in an extremely profound and mysterious state, and all her feelings of nervousness and shyness instantly transformed into a tranquil joy.

At this moment, it was as if Ye Zi could truly feel the intentions of Ling Xiao’s heart. In the incomparably peaceful darkness, their two hearts gradually drew closer and closer.

Ling Xiao was in the middle of comprehending those spiritual fragments of the Celestial Dao when he suddenly sensed that Ye Zi had actually entered his state of being. For a moment, he was both surprised and delighted. At the same time, he carefully guided Ye Zi’s fragile Daoxin, helping her to cautiously perceive this state.

At the same time, Ling Xiao’s voice echoed softly in Ye Zi’s mind, "Follow me and recite the following incantation..."

The highest level of Dual Cultivation was, in fact, this kind of spiritual cultivation of the soul!

Physical cultivation involved exchanging Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to raise one’s tangible cultivation base. But Soul Dual Cultivation... that trained one’s state of mind! At lower levels of strength, one might not feel the benefits of Soul Dual Cultivation. But after reaching the Golden Core Stage, trying to improve one’s state of mind was a path that even Ling Xiao had to navigate by feeling his way forward. Therefore, it went without saying just how astonishing the benefits were.

The requirements for Soul Dual Cultivation were extremely high. First, the two individuals had to be of one mind and share a profound emotional connection—this was the most basic requirement. Then, both parties needed to have an extremely strong ability to perceive the Celestial Dao. In other words... what Cultivators called a Spirit Root!

This, for Ling Xiao’s former sect-mates from Shushan, didn’t seem like a particularly difficult matter. But that was because the disciples of Shushan were already one-in-ten-thousand talents of exceptional aptitude. To find such a person in the Mortal World required immense serendipity.

Because finding a person with a Spirit Root might not be difficult. But finding a woman with a Spirit Root was somewhat harder. And to find a woman with a Spirit Root who could also fall in love with you—the odds of that... were harder still!

And Ye Zi, as it turned out, possessed a Spirit Root!

As Ye Zi recited the incantation after Ling Xiao, a faint aura enveloped the space above them.

Countless profound and wondrous mysteries, as Ye Zi completely opened her mind and spirit, were deeply branded upon her heart.