It took a long while for the two women to recover from their shock. In their hearts, Dual Cultivation had now ascended to the status of a sacred ritual—not only could it bring extreme pleasure, but it could also evolve a Spirit and cause spirit power to skyrocket. It was simply a dream cultivation method for any Spirit Master!
Afterward, Yu Qing guided them in detail on how to refine the Yin-Yang Power within their bodies.
"Remember, prioritize using the refined Yin-Yang Power to improve the quality of your Spirits!" Yu Qing instructed with an unusually solemn expression.
"Why? Isn't it better to increase our spirit power?" Duan Xin tilted her head, looking puzzled.
"I feel that we should prioritize increasing the years of our spirit rings, right?" Zi Ruyi also offered a different opinion. After all, the higher the year of a spirit ring, the stronger the Spirit Ability, and it could also indirectly promote Spirit evolution.
Yu Qing didn't answer directly but asked instead, "Do you know what the minimum standard is to become a Titled Douluo?"
The two women shook their heads blankly.
"An innate Soul Power of Rank 7, and at the same time, the Spirit quality must reach the Advanced Spirit level." Yu Qing held up two fingers.
"Our Spirits should have reached the Advanced level already, right?" Duan Xin asked somewhat uncertainly.
Yu Qing shook his head: "I've carefully studied both of your Spirits. Currently, they are only between Intermediate and Advanced. Although you have Rank 7 innate Soul Power, according to my research, Spirit quality determines the upper limit of your spirit power Rank. If you don't raise your Spirit quality to the Advanced level, your highest future achievement will, at most, stop at Rank 89."
Zi Ruyi thought for a moment: "Husband, your innate Soul Power was only Rank 3, so your Spirit quality shouldn't have been high, right? Then how did you promote to Titled Douluo by thirty?"
"Because I evolved my Spirit." Yu Qing pointed to his chest. "Through special methods, I raised my Spirit quality to the Advanced level. This is also why I insist on you prioritizing Spirit evolution."
He paused and summarized: "You must remember this sentence: innate Soul Power determines Spirit quality, and Spirit quality determines the spirit power limit."
After hearing this explanation, the two women suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly, completely agreeing with Yu Qing's suggestion.
Following the method taught by Yu Qing, the two women took a full half-day to completely refine the Yin-Yang Power in their bodies, then injected it all into their 'Spirit interfaces'.
In an instant, they felt their Spirits undergoing a wonderful change! The Bloodline purity of Duan Xin's Crimson Flame Dragon Lizard Spirit increased significantly, evolving toward the True Dragon direction; the toughness of Zi Ruyi's Purple Cloud Vine Spirit surged, and mysterious golden patterns appeared on the originally pure purple vines!
"Release your Spirits and let me see," Yu Qing ordered.
The two women immediately complied. After careful observation, Yu Qing nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, you've already stepped over the threshold of Advanced Spirits, though you're not yet at the top among them."
"Husband, will we always prioritize improving our Spirits from now on?" Zi Ruyi asked, and Duan Xin also cast an inquiring look.
"Yes, until your Spirits reach the top tier, the Yin-Yang Power will be prioritized for Spirit evolution," Yu Qing said with certainty.
"Mm!" the two women responded in unison... For the next two days, Yu Qing completely entered 'retired veteran cadre' mode, living the salted fish life he had dreamed of. In his words: "I've cultivated bitterly for thirty years and finally became a Titled Douluo; what's wrong with enjoying myself a little?"
Although the two women didn't engage in Dual Cultivation with him for the time being, they had fully stepped into their roles as 'virtuous wives'. Besides enjoying the Medicinal Cuisine carefully prepared by Yu Qing every day and soaking in his specially made Medicinal Bath at night, they spent most of their time giving him full-body massages—their technique going from clumsy at first to gradually skillful, making Yu Qing groan with comfort.
Of course, Yu Qing wasn't idle either; whenever he had the chance, he guided the two women in cultivation techniques, teaching them how to precisely control spirit power to maximize Spirit Ability power while minimizing consumption.
Time flew by, and it was soon the night of the third day.
Yu Qing proposed restarting Dual Cultivation. Although the two women's cheeks were flushed crimson, they didn't have the slightest intention of refusing.
That night, Yu Qing once again experienced the beauty of merging with one another.
The Dual Cultivation effect was significant; although not as exaggerated as the first time, Zi Ruyi's spirit power still rose by one Rank, and Yu Qing also faintly touched the threshold of Rank 95.
[+500 yin yang points, a small amount of Yin-Yang Power]
..
[+500 yin yang points, a small amount of Yin-Yang Power]
By the time the Dual Cultivation ended, Yu Qing had basically figured out the System's 'unspoken rules':
The first two sessions of Dual Cultivation are a double feast with the best effects;
The third time, the effect is greatly reduced;
By the fourth time, the System seemingly forces a 'sage mode'.
But interestingly, if he switched to a second Dao Companion, this 'sage mode' would be reset! In other words, if he took turns with the two women, the limit was six times; beyond that, the System would force a 'cooldown period'.
"Husband, you're really too amazing~" After the last session ended, Duan Xin's voice was raspy, trembling with satisfaction.
"Mm~" Zi Ruyi also echoed limply, not wanting to move even a finger.
"Then let's set a rule for the future: we'll Dual Cultivate once every three days, how about it?" Yu Qing suggested, stroking the two women's hair.
"Twice every three days~" Duan Xin bargained groggily—after all, the experience of the first two times was truly too wonderful.
Zi Ruyi also nodded in agreement from the side.
"Alright, we'll do as you say," Yu Qing laughed dotingly.
"Husband is the best~" The two women snuggled against him happily and soon fell into a deep sleep.
Yu Qing got up quietly, sat cross-legged by the sofa, and began refining the Yin-Yang Power in his body to continue evolving his Spirit.
As the energy merged, the golden patterns on the purple leaves expanded again, already covering two-thirds of the leaf's veins! The life aura it emitted became even richer, almost reaching one percent of the effect of the Life Domain!
Next, he began to carefully investigate the state of the spirit power in his body. Soon, his brows furrowed tightly.
Rank 95.
But why did it feel like the quality of this Rank's spirit power was far inferior to what he had gained through bitter cultivation before?
One must know that he had started compressing and purifying his spirit power since the Spirit King period, and during the Spirit Saint period, he had even condensed a Spirit Core before hunting for spirit rings—it was precisely because of this that he could absorb a hundred thousand year spirit ring at Rank 70! At that time, the quality of his spirit power had even amazed Dugu Bo, who said it was already comparable to an ordinary Titled Douluo.
After promoting to Spirit Douluo, his spirit power had even begun to liquefy—after obtaining his second hundred thousand year spirit ring, it had completely transformed into liquid spirit power! Under normal circumstances, a Spirit Master would only see this change at Rank 96.
But now, the quality of this spirit power gained from Dual Cultivation was actually inferior to his Spirit Saint period?!
This is the legendary 'hollow spirit power'!
No wonder those practitioners who cultivated by 'plucking Yin to supplement Yang' were always criticized for having unstable Foundations. Although they leveled up quickly, their actual combat strength was a large chunk weaker than others of the same Rank!
This absolutely wouldn't do!
Acting on his thoughts, Yu Qing immediately began to crazily compress and purify his spirit power, showing no mercy. With every compression, his spirit power Rank would drop a little bit.
Once, twice... After a full ten compressions, the spirit power gained from Dual Cultivation finally reached the liquid standard. Yu Qing let out a long sigh of relief, but when he checked his Rank, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry—he had dropped back to the Peak of Rank 94!
It meant that these days of Dual Cultivation had only brought him less than half a Rank of substantial improvement.
However, being able to solve the problem of hollow spirit power made this harvest not too bad. He comforted himself... At noon the next day, after the two women slowly woke up, they immediately began refining the Yin-Yang Power in their bodies. Perhaps because they had completely let go, they actually faced Yu Qing with total honesty without any evasion, making Yu Qing's eyes twitch.
They had completely let themselves go, throwing all feminine modesty to the dogs!
Once they finished refining, Yu Qing had them take a bath first, then began to carefully check the spirit power status in their bodies.
Because Duan Xin hadn't obtained her fifth spirit ring yet, a large amount of spirit power was stored in her body, so the degree of hollowness couldn't be seen for the time being. But Zi Ruyi's situation was very bad—the spirit power gained from Dual Cultivation was as hollow as watered-down fake wine!
Seeing Yu Qing's expression grow more and more solemn, Zi Ruyi's heart tightened, and her voice trembled: "Husband, is there... something wrong with my body?"
"Your body is fine." Yu Qing shook his head. "But your spirit power is severely hollow. The seven Ranks of spirit power you gained from Dual Cultivation are actually less effective than two Ranks from normal cultivation."
Zi Ruyi immediately panicked: "Then, then what should I do?"
"Don't worry." Yu Qing gave a reassuring smile. "I have a way to solve it."
With that, he lightly tapped Zi Ruyi's smooth forehead, and a stream of information was instantly transmitted into her mind.
"This is...?" Zi Ruyi blinked in confusion.
"The Soul Power Compression Method, a secret technique I created during my Spirit Ancestor period," Yu Qing explained. "I originally intended to teach it to you after some time, but now that the spirit power from Dual Cultivation is too hollow, I have to move it forward."
Zi Ruyi immediately immersed herself in the information in her mind. A moment later, she suddenly raised her head, her eyes flashing with excited light!