?

At the same time.

Ning Fan returned to his cave dwelling. After venting his frustrations just now, he felt exceptionally refreshed, as if the meridians throughout his body had smoothed out significantly.

"Husband."

Yun Qingyao approached Ning Fan, holding two pills in her hand.

These were the pills Ning Fan and Yun Qingyao had used the day before.

"Ahem."

Ning Fan coughed dryly, instinctively averting his gaze. After a moment of thought, he pushed the pills aside.

"No need. Today, I want to try dual cultivation without the pills."

"Is that okay?"

Yun Qingyao tilted her head, obediently complying with Ning Fan's suggestion.

"Bam--"

With a muffled thud, Ning Fan and Yun Qingyao fell onto the bed. The atmosphere of dual cultivation soon filled the entire cave dwelling.

The next moment.

A dazzling light shot into the sky. Having seen this sudden brilliance twice before, Ning Fan was no longer surprised by it.

He circulated his dual cultivation technique and entered a state of cultivation.

After a long while.

Ning Fan opened his eyes.

But the very next moment.

Ning Fan was thoroughly shocked!!

Something was wrong.

The person on the bed had already shed her outer garments, yet now an additional white silk undergarment had appeared over her chest. Had she put clothes back on during this?

Ye Honglian's aloofness had entirely dissipated, yet she still clenched her teeth. The eyes glaring at Ning Fan held a mixture of coquettishness, shyness, and killing intent.

If he had not seen it with his own eyes, Ning Fan would never have imagined what an expression combining 'coquettishness', 'shyness', and 'killing intent' could possibly look like.

"Stop for a moment!"

Ye Honglian's voice trembled as she tried to halt Ning Fan.

"What's wrong, dear wife? This cannot be stopped."

Ning Fan's Dao Heart was firm.

"..."

Ye Honglian gritted her teeth.

He had responded to her.

During the previous two identical encounters, she had been completely unable to communicate with him. But now, the other party clearly possessed consciousness. Even though her current predicament was somewhat...

Ye Honglian still had to extract some useful information.

"You, mm, who exactly are you?"

"Your husband."

Ye Honglian: "..."

"How many jade pendants are there? Do you know where the remaining jade pendants are?"

"What jade pendant?"

Ye Honglian: "..."

"How exactly was I brought here? Why do I encounter this exact situation every time? Is there a method to increase one's strength without relying on this sort of... guh."

"I don't know."

Ye Honglian: "..."

Ye Honglian fired off question after question, but Ning Fan was completely clueless. During this back-and-forth, Ning Fan also realized a glaring fact-

The person in front of him did not seem to be Yun Qingyao!?

Whether it was her appearance or her temperament.

Or even her manner of speaking.

The woman before him was completely different from Yun Qingyao.

"Who are you?"

Ning Fan asked.

"Tianxuan Holy Land, Holy Maiden, Ye... Ye Honglian."

Ye Honglian answered, then stared intently at the man before her.

This was Ye Honglian's test.

If the person before her comprehended the weight of that name, it wasn't impossible for him to lose his vigor instantly.

She wanted to see how the youth before her would react to hearing this title. But contrary to her expectations, Ning Fan made no sudden moves-or rather, Ning Fan's movements didn't change at all, still cultivating with an unwavering Dao Heart.

No.

This was bad.

She had to ask quickly. She could sense that this session of cultivation was nearing its end.

Yes.

It was exactly that feeling. Once this climax passed, she would be sent back to the Tianxuan Holy Land.

But before Ye Honglian could speak again, Ning Fan continued his own questioning.

"Then, Fairy Sister."

"What is your cultivation realm?"

"Heaven... Heaven Extreme Realm."

Ye Honglian replied.

Originally, Ye Honglian should have been the one interrogating him for more information, but in these circumstances, she was forced into the weaker position.

The pacing was entirely in Ning Fan's hands.

"One last question."

Ning Fan's breathing grew somewhat heavy.

"Ask..."

"Is your husband impressive?"

Ye Honglian: "..."

Before Ye Honglian could formulate an answer.

The next moment.

The harmony of Yin and Yang reached Perfection. Guided by the cultivation method, the two's spiritual energy merged flawlessly, and they reached the peak of their cultivation simultaneously.

A burst of white light enveloped them both.

It wasn't until midnight.

Ning Fan finally recovered from the lingering resonance of their dual cultivation. After briefly checking his condition, he couldn't help but feel astonished-his realm had broken through again!

He had advanced from the sixth level to the eighth level of the Yellow Extreme Realm.

Another two-level leap.

The difficulty of advancing from the sixth level to the eighth level of the Yellow Extreme Realm was undoubtedly far greater than going from the fourth to the sixth. This meant that the benefits this dual cultivation session brought to Ning Fan were even greater than the last. For others, the first dual cultivation session yielded the most massive improvements, with subsequent attempts yielding diminishing returns.

Yet Ning Fan's improvements grew larger every single time.

"However, this breakthrough consumed a full three hundred Spirit Stones. Tsk tsk, it's truly all thanks to the Ninth Elder delivering those two thousand Spirit Stones."

"Otherwise, I'd be fretting over cultivation resources right now."

Ning Fan clicked his tongue lightly.

The next moment.

Ning Fan looked to his side. Yun Qingyao lay quietly next to him. The disarray of the bedsheets was the only testament to their frantic madness a few hours prior.

"..."

Ning Fan frowned.

Just what exactly was that 'Ye Honglian'?

Another person?

Or another side of Yun Qingyao?

But it certainly explained why his strength was skyrocketing so quickly. Yun Qingyao's true strength was likely at the Heaven Extreme Realm!

Ning Fan was secretly astounded.

Within the Yin Yang Divine Sect, he didn't even have the qualifications to cross paths with a Heaven Extreme Realm cultivator, yet now one had inexplicably become his Dao companion?

"Tianxuan Holy Land."

"Right."

"As long as I figure out what the Tianxuan Holy Land is, I might be able to uncover the connection between Ye Honglian and Yun Qingyao."

Ning Fan muttered to himself.

Taking advantage of the fact that Yun Qingyao was still resting, he slipped out of the cave dwelling, winding his way through the sect until he arrived at the Scripture Pavilion, where he began flipping through ancient tomes.

Hours passed as he read.

Yet no matter which text he consulted, Ning Fan found absolutely no mention of a Tianxuan Holy Land, let alone anyone named Ye Honglian.

"In this world, a Heaven Extreme Realm cultivator is already considered a paramount expert. There is absolutely no way Ye Honglian could be a nameless nobody."

"As expected."

"That Ye Honglian doesn't exist at all, and there is no such place as the Tianxuan Holy Land. Most likely, Ye Honglian is simply an alternate personality my wife hallucinated after suffering from Qi Deviation during her cultivation..."

"After all, in a Divine Sect as heavily fortified as this, the idea of secretly swapping people during dual cultivation and then swapping back right after is simply too absurd."

Ning Fan's expression turned grave.

This was not good news. Suffering from Qi Deviation.

He had to cure her.

Ning Fan returned to the cave dwelling.

"Husband?"

Yun Qingyao had already awakened. Seeing Ning Fan return, she immediately walked up to him, gazing at him with an innocent expression.

"It's so late, where did you go?"

"It's nothing."

Ning Fan looked up, a tender and caring look in his eyes as he gently patted the shoulder of the 'Qi Deviated' Yun Qingyao.

"Husband just cherishes you."

Yun Qingyao tilted her head: "?"

Before the two could converse any further.

"Knock knock--"

A heavy knocking sounded on the door of the cave dwelling.