My Arts Evolve When Perfected

Jiang Qiu held Xue, feeling their body heat, scorching like fire. Their hearts were racing, and before they had time to think, their consciousnesses gently merged like a stream of warm water.

In their embrace, enveloped by the warm pool water, their souls were submerged. Their minds grew quiet, and they suddenly felt their souls entering another, vaster world.

Jiang Qiu’s consciousness opened its eyes. The Xue before him seemed to have shed her mask, yet her soul was still indistinct. They couldn’t see each other’s faces.

But an incredibly familiar sensation from the embrace welled up from deep within him, as if he had been transported back decades...

In their soul forms, Xue wore no mask, and neither did he. They were laid bare to one another, merging together. A warm sensation passed between their lips, as if something was filtering from one into the other.

In an unprecedented fashion, his Realm began to skyrocket. A surge of power erupted upwards. Xue’s Soul acted like a conduit, stealing power from a much higher dimension and channeling all of it into Jiang Qiu’s Soul.

HUMMM—

A subtle sound echoed as the bottleneck shattered.

"Senior Brother, I feel like I can summon immense power. All it costs is a bit of my lifespan..."

Her gentle voice brushed past his ear, carrying no hint of sadness. Instead, there was a touch of relief—relief that she had value, that she wasn’t useless.

Jiang Qiu’s hands, wrapped around her back, tightened slightly, pulling them closer. "Yes. Don’t use it unless you have no other choice."

No physical union occurred during their bath. Jiang Qiu and Xue had only been in contact for a moment before their consciousnesses began interacting in a special space.

Along with this, Jiang Qiu felt a new link form within his Soul. It was like a key that could directly unlock Xue’s potential.

Indeed, even now, he was still unable to perceive the true nature of Xue’s Soul, but he could gradually sense the surging power that resided within it.

This power would be activated as long as Xue consumed her lifespan.

And what’s more, he had stepped into the Dharma Realm...

Nearly three years passed in the blink of an eye. Jiang Qiu and Xue spent most of their time on their Cultivation, bathing in the pool every day, as this was the most effective way to increase their strength in the Dharma Realm.

Only in their spare time would they absorb the Nether Dark Spirit Charm from the Nether Dark Ore.

After all, for Xue, absorbing the Nether Dark Ore was as simple as drinking water. She could effortlessly replenish the nutrients needed for her Realm to advance.

"Senior Brother, the Sect’s grand competition is just a few days away. Do you think I’ll be the strongest one there? Will I be able to take first place and compete for the position of Saintess?"

In the pool, Xue crossed her arms over her chest, letting her long, dark hair spread across the water’s surface. Her exposed shoulders were like hills of white jade, and with her face tilted up, she revealed a swan-like neck.

Over these three years, she had another rapid growth spurt. Her physical development had even surpassed Bell Fish’s, but this was likely not her limit.

The pink parts of her grew pinker, the white parts whiter. She was like a piece of unpolished jade, wiped clean of dust, so perfect one couldn’t help but want to take a bite.

Her eyes had grown much deeper as well. Her mask, with its pattern of white flowers on a blue background, reflected a faint, cool aura, making her seem like a Fairy, weathered by countless storms, who had descended upon the mortal realm.

Jiang Qiu sat beside her, lounging with his limbs stretched out. His head rested against the jade-tiled edge of the pool behind him, his eyes closed as he felt the rising steam cling to his face before condensing and trickling down as tiny droplets.

He slowly spoke, his voice calm and even. "You’re already at the Perfection stage of the Dharma Realm, just a Half-Step away from the Peeping Dao Realm. There shouldn’t be many disciples in the Hundred Ghosts Sect who can compare to you."

He had grown accustomed to bathing with Xue every day. At first, he would blush and his heart would race—a perfectly normal, instinctual reaction. But as their contact became more frequent and their Souls grew more accepting of one another, the stimulation was no longer so intense.

When two things fuse, they no longer seem out of place to one another, nor do the unique sensations they provoke feel strange.

They had been bathing and sleeping in the same space for three years. They had touched all that could be touched and grown familiar with all there was to be familiar with. But Jiang Qiu felt it was good enough that they could advance their Cultivation just by bathing together, and so he never pushed things further.

’Rushing things would only be counterproductive.’

However, aside from their Cultivation through Soul Fusion, he also paid close attention to news about the Hundred Ghosts Sect, browsing the Yin Net daily to keep up with any major changes in the world.

As it turned out, there were no major changes. The world was too stable. That the strong would remain strong seemed to be an immutable Law, and there were no changes to the Yin Yang Celestial Pride List either.

But that wasn’t to say there was no useful news at all. In the Netherworld Dynasty Capital, the Monarch, Netherworld, was preparing to open a Great Secret Realm and was summoning Cultivators from all over to explore it for treasure.

The attending Cultivators wouldn’t just be from the Yin Yang Great Realm; those from other Great Realms were welcome too, and Monarch Netherworld didn’t seem to mind.

He possessed the mighty power of the Harmonization Realm, and with the home-field advantage of being a native expert in the Yin Yang Great Realm, there were few beings he needed to be wary of. As for those who could give him pause, they couldn’t easily step into this world.

After all, powerful experts lost their home-field advantage when they traveled to other Great Realms.

However, obtaining a spot to enter the Great Secret Realm was not easy. Of the spots allocated to the four Major Sects of Sunset City, the Hundred Ghosts Sect only received one hundred.

These spots came with no restrictions on age or Realm. Barring any surprises, the Elders would certainly get the first opportunity. As for the Saint Heir, he would be able to go even if he wasn’t stronger than the Elders.

After all, the Saint Heir was the future core of a Sect!

"Senior Brother, when do you think I will achieve Enlightenment?"

Xue asked another question.

DRIP. DROP...

Just then, Jiang Qiu felt the water stir. A curvaceous body seemed to be rising, and droplets of water trickled down from its peaks.

PLIP~ PLOP~

Wading through the water, she sent gentle ripples lapping against his chest and thighs. An instant later, her soft body pressed down on him, accompanied by a unique, fresh fragrance. This fragrance hadn’t been so strong before; it grew more potent as she matured.

Utterly bewitching.

"Enlightenment is a matter of comprehension. How would I know when you’ll achieve it?" Jiang Qiu kept his eyes closed, but he raised his hands to cup her mask. The sensation of his touch seemed to seep right through it to the skin beneath. "Perhaps you’ll have a breakthrough during the Sect’s grand competition. What we need is a real fight."

’Come to think of it, Xue doesn’t have the aura of a Cultivation Dish at all. She’s just like a living, breathing person. And while that should be normal, in a place like the Yin Yang Great Realm, her condition was rather strange...’

"A fight?" Xue murmured. She leaned down, her mask tapping softly against Jiang Qiu’s forehead. TAP. "I heard that when you reach the Peeping Dao Realm on the path of the Hundred Ghosts Dao, it signifies a completely new fusion. The body of the Cultivation Dish will disappear."

"But I don’t want to lose this body. I still want to bathe and sleep with you, Senior Brother..."