Chapter 115: Chapter 115
At this point, Auntie Yimin had gotten to them and seeing Xiaoli in such a state, she furrowed her brows.
She pushed Hei to the side and checked on Xiaoli herself.
When she found that there was nothing wrong, she turned a sharp gaze to Hei.
"What did you do to her?"
"I attempted to synchronise our circulation paths through the mixing of our yin and yang essences."
Hei bowed.
"I didn't expect such a thing to occur. Please forgive my negligence."
At this point, Auntie Yimin's strength was leaking from her body. She was only a step away from breaking through to the minute realm, so her aura was fearsome.
"You made Xiaoli practice a dual cultivation technique with you?"
If such a thing were to happen, then Xiaoli's chance of finding a good husband in the future would be ruined. And what's worse, it would've happened while she was taking care of Xiaoli on her parent's behalf. How would she face them when they returned?
"I did."
Auntie Yimin gritted her teeth in anger. Even if he had done such a thing, that was one issue. But he was also shameless enough to admit it right in front of her.
She gently laid Xiaoli down and stood up, her hair raising as she glared at Hei.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself."
"There is no excuse."
"Then let those be your last words!"
Auntie Yimin dashed forward and launched a heavy fist.
She had already heard about how powerful this boy was from Xiaoli, so she didn't hold back at all. But truthfully speaking, she knew that she had no chance of defeating him. Still, she couldn't just let this go.
To her surprise, her fist landed solidly and sent the boy crashing into the window.
As he hit it, the formations protecting the room revealed themselves and prevented the window from breaking.
He then fell to the floor, but Auntie Yimin wasn't going to give him a moment of rest.
She ran forward and kicked his stomach before he could land, sending him upwards to the ceiling.
She used the rebound to send a fist to his face as he fell back to the ground, sending him back to the window.
While he was there, she pressed him with a barrage of fists, each one landing solidly with a heavy thud.
"Ninety-Nine Impacts, Northern Fist!"
Now that she had him in a state where he couldn't get away, she unleashed the technique she was most proficient in, aiming for his vitals with ninety-nine vicious blows.
A water-like substance flowed from the mask. This substance radiated a strong aura and caused the natural qi nearby to retreat. It wasn't a special kind of water, nor was it saliva. No. It was Hei's blood being spilt as he took the full brunt of Auntie Yimin's attacks without defending himself at all.
"Skull Crushing Knee!"
After her ninety-nine consecutive hits, Auntie Yimin grabbed the back of his head and brought her knee to the mask, causing more clear blood to flow.
Auntie Yimin wasn't finished. She was far from it.
"Sky-Fall Dance!"
She let Hei's body fall to the ground and stamped on his head repeatedly, refusing to let up until he was dead.
As this was happening, Xiaoli was slowly coming to.
She could hear muffled sounds as she regained her senses, and when she looked over to the source, her eyes opened wide in shock.
"STOP!"
It was as if Auntie Yimin couldn't hear her words at all. She continued her attacks without the slightest pause.
As Xiaoli witnessed the mighty masked one being trampled underfoot, she could imagine what had happened. Auntie Yimin may have been strong, but there was no way she would be any sort of threat to him. He wasn't resisting. He was accepting a punishment because of her.
She ran up to Auntie Yimin and pulled at her arms, begging her to stop, but she noticed the crazed look in her eyes.
"Asura State!"
There was a legend among the juniors, that the reason Auntie Yimin kept herself locked up in the library was that she was a battle maniac. She would lose herself in the heat of battle, refusing to stop until her opponent was vanquished. It seemed she never expected to raise her hands in the library, but such a situation had occurred today.
Xiaoli tried several times to reason with Auntie Yimin, but she wasn't receptive to any of it.
As she watched the masked one continue to suffer heavy hits, she could only think of one thing to do.
She jumped in front of Auntie Yimin and caged Hei's body with her own, protecting him with her back.
Auntie Yimin didn't seem to recognise Xiaoli as the girl she had a hand in raising, but merely as an obstacle. She raised her foot and sent it down to Xiaoli's back.
Xiaoli clenched her teeth and braced for the impact with her eyes closed. But even after a while, the pain she was expecting didn't appear.
"Are you alright, Miss Xiaoli? There aren't any problems with your body?"
"Problems? Shouldn't I be asking you that? I'm just fine."
Hei breathed a sigh of relief internally. What would he have done if Xiaoli had suffered some permanent damage beyond what he was able to detect?
Xiaoli remembered that Auntie Yimin was currently on a rampage, so she looked up to see what had happened.
What she saw, was Auntie Yimin's foot right above her back, held firmly in place by the masked one's hand. Auntie Yimin was struggling to free herself.
She turned back to the masked one.
"Why didn't you stop her earlier?"
"Earlier, I was her target, and I deserved the punishment, but she has now turned her anger on you. I can't allow you to be hurt for my sake."
"Why would you deserve punishment? You didn't do anything wrong. It's because I-"
"It was my fault for not considering such a possibility."
Xiaoli smiled, but Hei was in a compromising position right now.
"I'm not able to move freely while you're on top of me like this."
"Ah!"
Xiaoli immediately got up and straightened her clothes, Hei got up shortly afterwards.
He released Auntie Yimin's foot and she resumed her attacks. But this time, Hei defended himself, making sure to minimise the recoil Auntie Yimin suffered.
Since she had attacked Xiaoli, Hei assumed there was something off about Auntie Yimin, and seeing her like this confirmed it.
"Soaring Eagle Claw!"
Auntie Yimin launched another attack, which Hei blocked.
"Swallow Return Reverse Kick!"
She sent a spinning hook kick to Hei's head, which he also blocked with ease.
"Falcon Punch!"
She launched a fist accompanied by a glowing orange aura at Hei's abdomen, but similarly, he caught it and the aura dissipated.
Xiaoli watched as all of this happened and noticed that the clear substance that had been flowing from the mask was returning to it.
It was a strange sight.
Hei turned to Xiaoli.
"What's wrong with your Auntie Yimin? She doesn't seem to be herself."
"I'm not too sure, but I heard she has a unique physique which causes her to lose her reason while in battle. They say she won't stop until the enemy is defeated, or she runs out of qi."
"I see."
Hei had just the remedy for this.
He released a large amount of his qi into the study, and since it was null element qi, it drove all the elemental qi out of the area.
It wasn't long before Auntie Yimin used up all of her reserves and stumbled weakly as she tried to continue her attacks.
Xiaoli ran up to her and supported her.
"Auntie Yimin, it's me, Xiaoli!"
"Xiaoli? You're okay?"
"Mm. I'm fine."
"Ugh. Why is the qi so thin in here? It's like we're in a cultivation wasteland."
Xiaoli hadn't noticed this as she hadn't been using her qi, but when she tried to cycle her cultivation technique, she realised just how barren this place had become.
"That's right, where's that boy? If I don't teach him a good lesson today-"
"No, Auntie Yimin. There's no need to teach any lessons."
"But your purity. He-"
"Eh?"
Xiaoli inspected her own body and didn't find any problems with her pure yin core.
"My purity is intact, Auntie Yimin."
"How is that possible? He already told me that you two practised a dual cultivation technique."
Auntie Yimin lowered her glasses and looked into Xiaoli's abdomen where the yin core resided.
After seeing it, she opened her eyes wide and turned her gaze to Hei.
"Didn't you tell me that the two of you mixed your yin and yang essences?"
"I did."
"Then…"
Xiaoli's face turned red.
"It can hardly be called a dual cultivation technique, Auntie Yimin. All we did was hold hands."
"Oh?"
Auntie Yimin was surprised to hear this. It seemed that she had jumped to conclusions.
Since Xiaoli hadn't suffered any harm, there was only one thing to do.
She bowed in front of Hei.
"I have acted rashly today. Please accept my apologies."
Hei helped her up.
"There wasn't any harm done, so there's no need to apologise."
Auntie Yimin and Xiaoli both gave him odd looks.
No harm done? Hadn't Auntie Yimin beaten him to a pulp just then?
"Come to think of it, why are you up and about so soon after all that?"
Auntie Yimin wasn't sure what happened, but she remembered the initial moments and was sure she had done some real damage. Yet, here he was, standing there as if none of that had actually happened.
"You aren't the only one with a unique physique."
Auntie Yimin sighed and shook her head.
"Yours lets you walk around like you're invincible, while mine turns me into a crazed maniac. The Heavens really like to play tricks on this lady."
"Perhaps your curse is a blessing in disguise."
"If only. I've had to struggle to keep my sanity all these years and it's only becoming more difficult."
"Is it a problem that has become progressively worse over time or was this worsening triggered by something in particular?"
"It's always been like this. At first, I was just a bit too violent as a child, but as I grew up, the severity of the outbursts increased. Eventually, it reached a point where I completely lose myself."
"Are the outbursts something you actively resist or are they triggered by external factors?"
"I actively resist them, but being angered seems to make it harder to resist."
"Then it may be that you have a high affinity with natural qi."
"A high affinity?"
"Mm. I'm the same, and I must constantly use my qi to prevent it from building up too much. And if I try to cultivate…"
Hei moved his circulation paths a fraction.
-Boom.
All of the null element qi he had released earlier rushed back into his body.
But that wasn't the end of it.
All of the fires within the Zhu Clan went out at that moment, the fire element qi rushing madly to the library. The same was true for the water reservoirs, which threatened to overflow as the water tried to escape. Out of nowhere, a cyclone enveloped the library, and the winds rushed in, converging in this one room, blowing Auntie Yimin's and Xiaoli's hair all over the place. Even the library itself was creaking as the metal beams reinforcing it tried to get closer to Hei. And last but not least, the earth beneath them was trembling in excitement as the earth element qi was finally able to see it's friend again.
In one instant, the Zhu Clan was relatively calm, and in the next, it was complete pandemonium.
Hei stopped his cultivation, and the earth was saddened. The water in the reservoirs pouted as it returned to tranquillity, and the winds lingered for a moment before dissipating with a sad sound. The fire was the most upset. It wasn't as if it could just light itself again. Lastly, was the metal, which seemed to be asking if Hei was sure. Perhaps the entire building would have collapsed if he acquiesced.
When everything returned to normal, Auntie Yimin and Xiaoli looked at Hei with blank expressions. At this point, they couldn't care less about their dishevelled appearances. They shared the same thoughts.
Was such a thing possible? It wasn't possible, right?
Chapter 116: Chapter 116
Hei continued his explanation as if none of that had happened.
"And so, maybe the cause for the increase in the severity of your outbursts is your unwillingness to utilise your qi."
"I see. Then you're telling me that I should fight more?"
"You may find it helpful. Though, it's probably best if your opponent is your enemy. If they're your ally, they should be strong enough that you can't harm them."
"I see. I'll think about it."
Auntie Yimin thought the idea was an interesting one. To think it could have simply been that she was born to fight. All her life, she had been told that she was a bit too violent and that it was unladylike, so she tried to suppress her urges, but if all she needed to do was have a few sparring matches from time to time in order to satisfy them, then that was for the best.
Auntie Yimin turned to the desk, which was oddly enough, exactly the same as it had been when she came in. There wasn't a sheet of paper out of place, even after all of that disruption.
She walked over to it and took a look at the technique which was written down on the paper in front of the chair.
"Is this the technique you were practising? It's really done through holding hands?"
"Any kind of physical contact is sufficient. Though, it seems there are still some major issues to iron out."
"I'll say."
Auntie Yimin turned to Xiaoli who had just finished straightening herself up.
"Now that everything is calm, I can see that you look a little different."
"Oh?"
Xiaoli extended her arms and twisted her upper body as she inspected her exterior.
"How so?"
"Hmm."
Auntie Yimin lowered her glasses and gave Xiaoli a once-over.
"Xiaoli… Were you at the fourth layer when you came in today?"
"Hm? What are you talking about? You checked for yourself. I'm still in the third layer."
Auntie Yimin shook her head.
"Look again."
Xiaoli did as she said and was surprised by the results.
"I've broken through? How?"
Both Auntie Yimin and Xiaoli turned to Hei. Auntie Yimin looked down at the sheet of paper once more.
"Are these the results of this technique?"
"It should be so."
Auntie Yimin let out a bright smile.
"Then why don't the two of you keep at it?"
"W-wait. Auntie Yimin. Don't you remember what just happened? If we try again-"
"Nonsense. I'm sure our guest here can make the appropriate adjustments. He did say he was in the fine-tuning phase, didn't he? It's only to be expected that there were a few minor issues."
"Minor issues? But he said they were major-"
"Then I'll leave you to it."
Before Xiaoli could say anything else, Auntie Yimin had already closed the door. She was excited to see the chance of one of the young ladies finally rising up.
It was a shame that she was being pulled up by a boy though. But beggars couldn't be choosers.
Back in the study, Hei looked at Xiaoli, who had her hand extended to the door and her mouth open.
He went to sit back on his chair and rested his head on his hand as he tapped his pen on the paper.
"We will only continue if you are willing. You don't need to mind your Auntie Yimin's wishes when it comes to your wellbeing."
After speaking, Hei's focus returned to the technique, but it wasn't long before he heard Yuying's voice.
[Who would have thought that a trip to the library would result in a fight? And that part where things went crazy was cool too. Keep it up.]
[It isn't as if I was looking for any of that to occur.]
[Whether you were looking for it or not, it was really interesting. I'm just wondering how it will fit into the movie.]
[I'll leave it to you.]
[Mm. So, what was the cause of that just now?]
[I'm thinking it was because the synchronisation took place too quickly. I should have slowed the circulation of the mixed essences as the circulation paths became more similar.]
[I see. But why was it one-sided? Only Xiaoli seemed to suffer the backlash while you were perfectly fine. Or were you just able to bear with it?]
[I didn't suffer any backlash. It is likely due to the technique I cultivate.]
[And what would that be? Maybe I've heard of it.]
[You haven't. To say it's a technique I created myself wouldn't be completely erroneous, so the chances of you knowing anything about it are remote.]
[You made your own cultivation technique? What were you practising before?]
[I've only ever practised this technique.]
[… I'm not going to ask any more questions about that.]
[That's probably for the best.]
[So, what are you going to do if she doesn't want to continue? Will you ask Auntie Yimin?]
[That also works. Though, she may suffer another one of those episodes if it were to be done right now.]
[You know, if I were there, I would offer to help.]
[That's good to know. How much would you charge?]
[Evil Slaying.]
[Perhaps your prices are a bit too high…]
[Don't be like that.]
[You know, any woman will do, it doesn't matter which one. And Miss Xiaoli had volunteered to do it for free. Why then, would your assistance be worth the exchange of Evil Slaying?]
[But you already gave them Evil Slaying. It's like you paid them in advance.]
[I suppose one could look at it that way.]
[Anyway, it seems she's made up her mind.]
Hei noticed Xiaoli walking over in his spiritual perception.
"What will it be?"
"Let's continue."
"Are you sure?"
"Mm."
"Very well."
Hei held his hand out, and Xiaoli placed hers on top.
He began the process once more, this time paying more attention to the changes in Xiaoli's circulation paths. As they became closer to his, he slowed the circulation of the mixed essences, and as expected, the rate at which Xiaoli's circulation paths were shifting decreased.
At the point at which Xiaoli's circulation paths were almost perfectly matched with his own, he stopped the technique and observed in more detail.
"Are you experiencing any discomfort?"
"No. Just the warmth and tingling."
"I see. Then, I'll continue."
"Mm."
Hei moved the mixed essences very slowly, stopping at even the slightest shift in Xiaoli's circulation paths and checking that her state was still within acceptable parameters.
In that way, Hei proceeded cautiously.
"There! I'm feeling something different now."
Hei paused the technique and focused on the contact area between their hands. At this point, Xiaoli's circulation paths were extremely close to his own, a little more movement and they would connect.
"What are you feeling?"
"It's like lightning. The tingling has become a lot stronger."
"I see. Is it unbearable?"
"No. I can endure it."
"Then let's maintain this state. Tell me if you experience any changes."
"Mm."
The two remained still for a while.
"The tingling is back to normal now."
Hei resumed the technique, but not long later, Xiaoli had more feedback.
"It's back again."
This kind of cycle continued until the circulation paths were one step away from connecting.
"It's back to normal now. We can continue."
"At this point, our circulation paths are about to fully synchronise. You may experience the same thing again."
"I'm prepared for it this time. I won't jump again."
"Are you sure?"
"Mm."
"Very well."
Hei cycled the technique one last time and their circulation paths joined together, creating a single system.
"!"
Xiaoli's body tensed. It felt like she was being struck by tribulation lightning. Her mental preparations almost rendered useless.
Hei moved his hand back to break their connection, aiming to separate their essences in the process, but Xiaoli clasped it with her own.
"Don't… let go."
"But-"
"I… can… handle… it."
"Are you sure?"
Xiaoli was getting tired of this. He was too attentive. Even speaking was becoming difficult, so she didn't want the conversation to continue.
"Mm."
"Very well."
Hei watched as Xiaoli's face transition from pale to red then back again, all while keeping a close eye on her overall condition and making sure to avoid contaminating either of their pure cores.
Sweat began to bead up on her forehead, and her veins revealed themselves.
"Are you sure you want to continue? I can make some more adjustments and we can try again."
Xiaoli shook her head. She couldn't even speak any more as she tried to cope with this situation.
"…"
Hei turned to the jade floating beside him.
[Is she being unreasonable?]
[No idea.]
[I see.]
Hei continued to monitor the situation for a while.
"Fwoo. It's getting better now."
Xiaoli was now able to speak again, but her body was still experiencing a lot of stress.
Fortunately for her, it wasn't too long before her condition returned to normal.
She wiped the sweat off of her forehead.
"Okay, the lightning's gone. There isn't even tingling any more, only warmth."
"I see."
There was a long silence of them holding hands and looking at each other.
Xiaoli decided to speak.
"What now?"
"I'm not sure. This has already gone beyond my expectations. The technique shouldn't have caused any of these occurrences."
"So, are you going to adjust it then?"
"That's the only way."
Hei turned back to the technique and pulled his hand back to rest his head on it, but Xiaoli didn't let go.
He turned to her and tilted his head.
"I'm afraid if we break the connection, I'll have to go through all that again, and I'd rather not. Please bear with me for a while."
"I see."
Hei still moved his elbow back to the table and rested his head on his hand.
Well, it wasn't exactly his hand that he was resting his head on, it was Xiaoli's, which was on top of his.
"…"
Xiaoli watched in silence as he tapped his pen on the paper and continued as if nothing was strange about the situation.
After a few cycles of writing things down and tapping his pen on the paper, Hei came up with a suitable adjustment to his original technique, which took into consideration what he had learned in this trial with Xiaoli.
"Are you ready to continue?"
"Hm? We're going to stay like this?"
"Yes. I would like to jot down your feedback as we go, so please bear with me for a little while."
"Okay… Then, let's continue."
"Alright. I'm going to give you a little more of my yang essence and take a little more of your yin. Don't worry about your pure core, I'll be sure not to corrupt it."
"Mm."
"Tell me your experiences as we go."
"Mm."
Hei then started to slowly increase the rate of mixture between their yin and yang essences.
"It's getting warmer."
"Mm."
"It's still getting warmer."
"Mm."
"It's hot."
"Then let's pause here."
Even after a while, Xiaoli still felt it was hot.
"Then perhaps this is the maximum rate possible between us."
There was still some unmixed essence left within both of their bodies, but over 50 percent was successfully mixed.
"Then I'll start increasing the speed of circulation."
"Mm."
As Hei started moving the mixed essences faster throughout their bodies, Xiaoli noticed several things.
"The natural qi seems to be leaking into my spirit roots on its own. This is so strange. Oh, and it's not as hot as before, so I think you can increase the amount of mixed essence."
"Then I'll do that."
This continued until all of the essences in both of their bodies had been mixed successfully, and what was more important was that there were no signs of the pure cores being at risk of contamination. The essences flowed cleanly around them without much effort on Hei's part.
At this point, natural qi was flowing into Xiaoli as if she were intentionally cultivating, but she was doing absolutely nothing. It was a very interesting sensation.
"Then I think this can be considered a success."
Hei marked down his findings on a new sheet of paper. There were still some details to iron out, but the technique was in a functional state.
He was about to let go of Xiaoli's hand when she proposed an idea.
"What if we increased the speed even more?"
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
0 Power
stone 
Paragraph comment