Chapter 4865 — Bao Zuoliang Grows Anxious

Even so, the East Sea Divine Nun had never imagined that Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan had already progressed to such a point. She could not help shaking her head slightly and sighing inwardly: young people these days!

"Actually, the two of us already did that back in the mortal world..." Wang Xinyan did not dare lift her head to look at her master. Cheeks flaming, she stood with her head bowed, poking at her fingers, her voice as faint as a mosquito's whine.

The East Sea Divine Nun was stunned for a long while before she finally accepted reality with a bitter smile. After all, she had long been prepared for this matter—she simply had not expected it to arrive so soon.

Of course, she had misunderstood. What Wang Xinyan meant by "that" was cultivating together, and the East Sea Divine Nun had plainly taken it for something else.

"Very well. Yan'er, your sponge constitution really is better suited to dual cultivation. It was only that we never had the right conditions before, and as your master it was not proper for me to say more. This is good." The East Sea Divine Nun turned to Wei Zhao and said gently, "Treat Yan'er well from now on. Do not let her down."

"Rest assured, Senior." Wei Zhao nodded emphatically. Somehow his hand had already found Wang Xinyan's, their fingers intertwined. They exchanged a smile.

"Mm, then come with me." With that, the East Sea Divine Nun rose at once and led the two of them to the door of an underground secret chamber. Turning her head, she said, "Originally this was prepared as special training for Yan'er alone. Now that the two of you will be dual cultivating here together instead, it makes little difference—it will only make your cultivation faster. The most important thing is to keep your minds steady. Whatever you do, do not grow greedy for quick results and recklessly press ahead. The two of you must remember this well."

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior," Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan said, nodding to each other.

"Mm, go on in. If anything happens, have Yan'er tear the emergency message talisman, and I will come at once," the East Sea Divine Nun instructed.

"Yes." The two of them drew a deep breath in unison and pushed open the door of the secret chamber.

Just as they were about to step inside, the East Sea Divine Nun suddenly hesitated and asked one last question: "That... has Xiaotao also been with you..."

Wei Zhao froze for a moment, then nodded. Though he and Xiaotao had never dual cultivated, they had long since seen each other bare and true—there was no point denying it.

"You young people—you ought at least to keep a few of the old proprieties..." The East Sea Divine Nun gave another bitter smile, cast Wei Zhao a look of complicated meaning, and drifted away leaving behind a sighing lament: "Still, it really is good to be young."

Hearing that final remark, Wei Zhao turned to Wang Xinyan and smiled. "I think Senior East Sea is a woman with a story of her own. Her youth must have been splendid indeed—only one who has wandered all the red dust can see through it. We may well have stirred up old memories for her."

"I wouldn't know. My master never mentions anything from before she left the secular world." Wang Xinyan stuck out her tongue cutely. Now that only she and Wei Zhao remained, her heart only grew more excited and uneasy.

The underground chamber was not large—thirty square meters or so by the look of it. It seemed utterly ordinary, with nothing remarkable about it at all. Yet the moment Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan stepped inside, their expressions changed at once.

Pressure—an incomparably vast and surging pressure—swept in from every direction. Every second spent in this chamber subjected body and primal spirit alike to a grueling double trial. Essentially no deliberate cultivation was needed; merely staying here was a rare form of tempering.

As for spiritual energy, it was hundreds or even a thousand times richer than outside—more exaggerated even than the space within Wei Zhao's jade pendant. It felt so dense it was on the verge of becoming tangible.

"Senior East Sea has spared no expense!" Wei Zhao turned and smiled at Wang Xinyan, only to find her expression most unnatural—by the look of it, she was barely holding on.

The rich spiritual energy was one thing, but the crucial point was that this pressure was truly astonishing—at least no less than that of the mountain-opening titans Wei Zhao had encountered. Even Wei Zhao found it somewhat taxing, let alone Wang Xinyan, who was only at the mid Nascent Soul stage.

Wei Zhao did not know how the East Sea Divine Nun had managed it, but one thing was certain: setting up such a formation required not only vast quantities of precious resources but also the corresponding secret methods. Only a mountain-opening titan like the East Sea Divine Nun could command such resources.

"Are you all right?" Wei Zhao hurried to help Wang Xinyan sit down.

"I'm fine. I can hold on—no problem." Wang Xinyan smiled with effort, determination shining in her eyes. If she wanted to break through quickly within a scant three months, this was something she inevitably had to face.

"Good. Then if anything goes wrong, tell me at once. I know you are stubborn and enduring, but forcing yourself too hard will defeat the purpose. Understand?" Wei Zhao admonished.

The sponge constitution not only let one absorb spiritual energy as swiftly as a sponge soaks up water to grow stronger—it also carried the property of a spring: the tighter it was compressed, the higher it bounced back. The East Sea Divine Nun had deliberately arranged this high-pressure environment precisely to force out as much of Wang Xinyan's potential as possible. Naturally, Wei Zhao would not ruin her painstaking design just because his heart ached a little.

"Mm, there isn't much time. Let's begin." Wang Xinyan forced a smile. Beyond the strain on her face there was now a trace of alluring reluctance, of yielding while yet resisting, and the sight made Wei Zhao's blood run hot—he nearly gave in to his baser nature on the spot.

Huang Xiaotao was in secluded cultivation; Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan were in secluded cultivation as well. Yet outside, someone was still thinking of them constantly—except this person was no close friend or kin, but Bao Zuoliang, an enemy newly made.

There had never been any real conflict between them, not even a slightly formal meeting. Yet for Wang Xinyan's sake he had become a thorn in the eye and a splinter in the flesh of this young city lord of Morning Star City. The tall tree catches the wind—that saying was truly no lie.

For a long while no sign of Wei Zhao and his companions had emerged, and there was no need to guess that they were surely in secluded cultivation. Bao Zuoliang saw it and seethed. It was only because Wei Zhao had chosen the East Sea Pavilion as the site of his seclusion that this young city lord could do nothing but look on from afar; had it been any other place, every manner of scheme and intrigue would long since have come knocking.

"What do we do? Carrying on like this is no solution. I can't just watch that brat live in ease and pleasure, can I?" Bao Zuoliang was so frantic the whites of his eyes were bloodshot. By comparison, he would rather see Wei Zhao and the others come out and gad about; irritating as that was to watch, in broad daylight they could hardly carry on too outrageously.

But now Wei Zhao and his sweetheart Wang Xinyan were both hidden away in the East Sea Pavilion and would not come out. Who knew what the two of them were doing in there? If, on top of their secluded cultivation, the two of them struck dry tinder and caught fire, what business would there be left for Bao Zuoliang at all?

One can only say the man was letting his imagination run wild. Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan would never carry on in secret—they were frankly and openly dual cultivating; they simply did not make a show of it.