Chapter 614: Not Strictly Speaking, Dual Cultivation
White Paper Immortal City.
Qingchi and Jiao Ma (Ning Zhuo) walked side by side into the secret chamber.
“You think they can succeed?” Jiao Ma’s father asked with a face full of worry.
Standing beside him were Qingyan, Li Xiangshang, and Wen Ruanyu.
Li Xiangshang sighed. “Refining army morale into a military branch is extremely difficult. Jiao Ma and Qingchi are both too young. How skilled are they at artifact refining in ordinary times?”
Jiao Ma’s father shook his head slightly, the worry on his face deepening.
Qingyan said, “Even if it’s difficult and the hope is slim, what else can we do? At this point, we can only brace ourselves and go through with it.”
Wen Ruanyu, however, chuckled. “I, on the contrary, think the two of them will succeed!”
Three pairs of eyes immediately turned toward him, seeking an explanation.
Wen Ruanyu only laughed again and said nothing further, assuming an unfathomable expression.
Ning Zhuo looked around the secret chamber.
This was the chamber the City Lord had voluntarily lent out, normally reserved for his personal use. It contained a time-acceleration formation of naturally high specification.
After surveying the chamber, Ning Zhuo began channeling spiritual sense to inspect the various facilities within, focusing especially on the time-acceleration formation.
Qingchi, however, turned her gaze toward Ning Zhuo, her heart filled with happiness.
“To be alone in a room with Little Ma, refining a military branch together—this feeling is truly wonderful!”
“With Little Ma by my side this time, I will definitely succeed!”
“As long as the military branch is refined, even if White Paper Immortal City is drowned by the ghost tide in the future, I can retreat together with Little Ma.”
Qingchi was filled with determination and anticipation for the future.
After several inspections and finding nothing amiss, Ning Zhuo asked Qingchi to check as well.
But she could not understand the formations at all. She had to consult relevant Jade Slips and receive explanations from Ning Zhuo before she learned how to operate them.
After a brief rest, the two sat cross-legged and officially began refining the treasure.
With a thought from Ning Zhuo, the formation activated.
Space rippled, transparent waves passing through the air. Where there had been nothing before, a small mountain of green sandalwood now appeared.
The hundred-year bark gleamed with a bronze-like luster, exuding an ancient and weighty aura. On the cross-sections, amber-like resin slowly seeped outward.
“Let’s begin,” Ning Zhuo said, looking at Qingchi.
Qingchi responded with a firm nod. Releasing her spiritual sense and channeling her mana, she began processing the hundred-year green sandalwood.
Qingchi was the host of the army morale, so every step of the refinement had to be led by her.
Even with Li Xiangshang’s “rotten fish padding the count” talent lowering the standard by about thirty percent, the sheer quantity of green sandalwood was still enormous for Qingchi alone.
If she were to refine it independently, it might take two or three years.
But here, in this cultivation chamber, with the assistance of the formations and Ning Zhuo, she could save ninety-nine percent of her effort.
And with the time-acceleration formation, the refinement time was drastically shortened.
Whoosh!
Clusters of green flames suddenly arose within the formation, forming a blazing fire.
The green firelight instantly filled the entire chamber.
The intensity of the flames startled even Qingchi.
“What a big fire!” She immediately tried to handle the green sandalwood.
But Ning Zhuo stopped her. “Wait. Lower the flame first.”
“Okay.” Qingchi obeyed him at once.
The fire quickly diminished to less than half its previous intensity.
Ning Zhuo transmitted through spiritual sense, “Slow down the adjustment. Increase it slightly.”
With his profound attainment in the Fire Attribute and solid foundation in artifact refining, he controlled the situation better than Qingchi.
Once the green flames were adjusted to the proper intensity, Ning Zhuo began feeding the green sandalwood into the fire one after another for processing.
He handled the auxiliary work; Qingchi directed the refinement.
The Ghost Clan少女’s mana steadily declined, sweat soon forming at the tip of her nose.
She focused entirely on controlling the formation.
Within the blazing green flames, the green sandalwood melted like bronze, turning into pools of wood pulp.
When all the green sandalwood had melted into pulp, Ning Zhuo immediately took out Chenzhou Cinnabar.
The cinnabar sprinkled into the pulp, adding countless purple specks into the dark green mixture.
Qingchi panted heavily. Her spiritual sense was nearly depleted.
“Conserve your strength. I’ll help you,” Ning Zhuo said.
He took over, his expression shifting slightly.
The burden of refinement was far heavier than he had anticipated.
Fortunately, Ning Zhuo’s soul foundation was as strong as a million human souls. His Sea of Consciousness was cultivated with one of the Three Sect Supreme Techniques, the Mirror Platform Spirit Technique. His spiritual sense far surpassed those of the same level.
Moments later, he completed this step.
One hundred thousand jin of wood pulp condensed into semi-transparent green jade marrow. The marrow coiled in rings like tree growth rings, with countless purple-black specks scattered within, like a galaxy.
Qingchi seized the chance to catch her breath and had already recovered more than half.
She looked at Ning Zhuo gratefully and transmitted, “Little Ma, it’s all thanks to you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have even passed the first step.”
Ning Zhuo glanced at her, reassessing her. At least her artifact refining skill was stronger than he had expected.
“Continue. You are the host of the army morale. The final refining actions must be completed by you.”
“Mhm!” Qingchi nodded, bit the tip of her tongue, and spat out a mouthful of her life-bound essence blood.
The essence blood fell into the jade marrow and transformed into a streak of blood light, permeating through it.
Within a few breaths, the entire jade marrow emitted blood light.
As the blood light rapidly weakened, Qingchi hesitated.
“Qingchi!” Ning Zhuo shouted.
She gritted her teeth. “Little Ma… I can’t activate it.”
Ning Zhuo immediately took over, pouring a large amount of spiritual sense into the formation disk and activating the talisman imprinting formation within.
In an instant, ten thousand talisman phantoms descended into the blood-lit jade marrow.
The jade marrow collapsed and transformed into stacks of green-purple paper money.
Following the same method, Ning Zhuo imprinted again and again, ten times in total, producing one hundred thousand green-purple notes.
A small pile of jade marrow remained.
“This time I’ll do it,” Qingchi said unwilling to give up.
Ning Zhuo released control.
Though difficult, Qingchi managed to produce more than three thousand additional green-purple notes.
“It’s so hard. Refining even one military branch is truly too difficult,” Qingchi’s confidence suffered a heavy blow.
“I gave it my all and couldn’t even manage one imprint.”
“Little Ma, how is your spiritual sense so strong?”
Ning Zhuo shook his head. “Now isn’t the time to delve into that.”
His expression turned grave. “At this rate, we may fail in the next step.”
Qingchi nodded. “I can rely on you for the earlier steps. But when it comes to burning incense, I must act within my Sea of Consciousness. I can’t rely on you there.”
“Damn it!”
She clenched her teeth, extremely unwilling as she sensed impending failure.
Ning Zhuo gazed at her and transmitted, “I still have one method. But you must open yourself completely and let me act. Whether it’s controlling your body or entering your Sea of Consciousness Dantian, you must lower all defenses and cooperate fully.”
Qingchi froze for a moment, then revealed a shy and sweet smile. “Little Ma, you can do anything you want to me. Come.”
Ning Zhuo: …
At that moment, his emotions grew complicated.
Qingchi urged, “What are you waiting for? Hurry.”
Ning Zhuo sighed, steadied his emotions, and suddenly unleashed his trump card.
Divine Ability—Life Hanging by a Thread!
With his current ability, he could use it on a peak Golden Core cultivator. Qingchi was merely at the Foundation Establishment Stage and could not resist.
Nor did she intend to resist. Her trust in Jiao Ma might well rival Sun Lingtong’s trust in Ning Zhuo.
Thus, Life Hanging by a Thread connected instantly without the slightest obstruction.
Ning Zhuo divided his mind into three tasks.
First, he controlled Qingchi through Life Hanging by a Thread.
Second, he poured his spiritual sense into her Sea of Consciousness.
Third, he continued manipulating the formation for the next step.
South Sea Agarwood burned, forming purple smoke like dragons.
The smoke dragons entered Qingchi’s Sea of Consciousness, releasing dense purple smoke like raging waves.
The heart-like army morale rose into the Sea of Consciousness, absorbing the purple smoke.
After absorbing a certain amount, the army morale suddenly exploded, turning into countless green light points scattered within the vast purple smoke.
At that moment, both Ning Zhuo and Qingchi heard the sounds of battle—armor clashing, weapons colliding, shouts, war drums.
Blood streamed from Ning Zhuo’s nostrils as he exerted himself to the limit.
Qingchi also did her utmost, though her help was negligible.
The battle sounds gradually faded. The green light points dispersed farther and farther.
They must not drift too far apart!
Beyond a certain distance, the green lights would separate completely and cease to be part of the army morale.
At the critical moment, Ning Zhuo burned the freshly refined green-purple notes.
The smoke from the burning paper entered Qingchi’s Sea of Consciousness.
Within this smoke, the green light points seemed summoned and reconverged into a complete army morale.
Unlike before, the new army morale was more solid and at least fifty percent larger.
It absorbed the purple smoke again, exploded again, and underwent transformation.
Ning Zhuo waited, burned more notes, and reconsolidated the army morale again and again.
After burning one hundred thousand green-purple notes, the army morale had transformed entirely.
The entire heart was as large as a carriage, solid like coral crystal, semi-transparent, with green-purple veins running through it.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Each heartbeat released an airwave filled with battlefield killing intent.
The previous chaotic battle sounds had vanished.
At this point, the army morale had essentially transformed into a military branch.
Ning Zhuo stared at it and willed.
The next moment, he forcibly drew the military branch out of Qingchi’s Sea of Consciousness.
But upon entering his own Sea of Consciousness, it immediately produced a powerful pulling force and returned to Qingchi’s Sea of Consciousness Dantian.
Ning Zhuo sighed inwardly.
“I participated deeply in the refinement and gained some control over the military branch, but I still cannot surpass Qingchi’s influence.”
“If more members of the Jiao Family join the army and wholeheartedly support me, perhaps one day my control may exceed hers.”
“However, this military branch does not match my Sea of Consciousness. It truly belongs in Qingchi’s.”
Qingchi’s main cultivation method trained her Middle Dantian Sea of Qi. This refinement had greatly transformed her Sea of Consciousness through green-purple smoke, making it suitable for the military branch.
Ning Zhuo’s Sea of Consciousness already housed his main cultivation method. Forcing it would harm him and drastically reduce success probability.
He withdrew his thoughts and gently called, “Wake up.”
Qingchi had already fainted midway.
The chamber’s healing formations automatically activated, protecting her body and soul.
When awakened, Qingchi saw the military branch in her Sea of Consciousness. “Little Ma, you did it!”
“Not yet. There’s still the final step,” Ning Zhuo reminded.
The chamber’s floor tiles opened, revealing a massive underground well.
Yin Qi surged within like a roaring river.
After resting and restoring herself to peak condition, Qingchi leapt into the well with the embryonic military branch.
The Yin Qi formed a vortex around her, flooding her body.
The embryonic military branch absorbed vast amounts of Yin Qi.
Qingchi soon shivered violently from the cold, but her extraordinary willpower allowed her to endure silently.
Ning Zhuo observed her while desperately recovering himself.
The situation quickly worsened.
As the military branch absorbed Yin Qi, Qingchi had to endure the washing of it.
Though she was Ghost Clan and naturally rich in Yin Qi, she was only at Foundation Establishment Stage. The Yin Qi was too vast.
Her face turned ghastly, fangs sprouting, claws growing, hair lengthening wildly. Her human appearance faded as ghostly traits manifested.
“If this continues, will she fully transform into a ghost?” Ning Zhuo wondered.
That would not do!
He decisively exhaled a great surge of Yang Qi.
Through Life Hanging by a Thread, the Yang Qi entered Qingchi precisely.
Warm currents flowed through her body. Her clarity returned. Ghostly traits receded until she returned to normal.
“Little Ma, you! I… are we dual cultivating?!” Qingchi asked in shock and delight.
“Do not be distracted,” Ning Zhuo said coldly. “Continue refining the military branch.”
“O-oh, okay!” Qingchi agreed eagerly.
The freezing Yin Qi now felt lovable to her.
“If not for the Yin Qi pressing me, how would Little Ma dual cultivate with me?!”
“Heavens, we’re dual cultivating!!!”
Her heart raced with unprecedented happiness.
After an unknown length of time, the military branch was finally complete.
“Finally done.” Ning Zhuo felt utterly exhausted.
Qingchi, however, felt reluctant for it to end.
Ning Zhuo pulled her out and solemnly instructed her not to reveal the specific process.
He also added, “Do not overthink it. This was not strictly dual cultivation. We did not exchange Yuan Yang or Yuan Yin.”
Qingchi immediately asked, “Then when will we exchange?”
Ning Zhuo: …