Free Web NovelChapter 550: Chapter 334: Dual Cultivation?
’Could it be? The disaster Zhao Feixiong predicted... is it that something might go wrong when I attempt to leap through the Celestial Gate?’
Zou Feng hadn’t paid any mind to the potential dangers of Foundation Establishment before. But now, with this reminder, a knot of unease formed in his heart.
But he quickly shook these messy thoughts from his mind.
’When I really think about it, that Zhao Feixiong guy was always a bit unhinged. Why should I care about his so-called Face Reading Skill?’
Even True Monarch Tianyan’s Stargazing Skill couldn’t accurately predict my future. It was even more impossible that Zhao Feixiong, with his mere Dao Foundation Realm cultivation, could defy the heavens.
’Instead, what I need to pay attention to recently is something else.’
It had been over a year since he last participated in the expedition to the insectoid hive-caverns.
This meant he would soon have to join another expedition team or complete a mission assigned by the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect.
He couldn’t just keep lying low and cultivating anymore.
But perhaps there was still time. Once he truly reached a state where he could attempt Foundation Establishment at any moment, he could justifiably postpone his participation in Sect missions.
’They wouldn’t forcibly drag a disciple out for a mission when he’s at the critical juncture of a breakthrough, would they?’
The Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect was still relatively reasonable in this regard.
After chatting a bit more with Tian Yun, Zou Feng headed toward the Demon Suppression Tower as usual.
For the past six months, he had spent most of his time in the Demon Suppression Tower.
On the rare occasions he left, it was only to practice his Dragon and Tiger Kan and Li Skill and to use his "Hand of Poisoning" to marinate more spirit rice for the fried rice restaurant.
He navigated to the third floor with practiced ease. Inside the wooden cabin where he had stayed before, Jiang Xue was still present.
This woman had spent even more time cultivating in the Demon Suppression Tower than Zou Feng.
For a Three-in-One prodigy to still be so relentless in her cultivation truly impressed Zou Feng.
One had to understand that cultivating in the Demon Suppression Tower wasn’t as simple as just sitting down to meditate and refine Qi.
Because one was constantly under the influence of demons and evil spirits, it was equivalent to placing a debuff on oneself while cultivating.
It was like running with weights—intentionally increasing the difficulty to achieve better cultivation results.
As for these forcibly added side effects, it didn’t matter much to Zou Feng since he had his "big brother" to help bear the burden.
But Jiang Xue clearly didn’t have any "big brother" or "big sister" to transfer the burden to. The fact that she could cultivate here for so long made Zou Feng have to admit she was a badass.
"Junior Sister Jiang!"
Having spent the better part of a year together, the two had become quite familiar. Zou Feng no longer needed to ask for permission to enter and just walked in casually.
Jiang Xue slowly withdrew from her cultivation, turning her head with a slight smile. "Brother Zou, you are truly diligent!"
"I’m ashamed. When it comes to diligence, how could I possibly compare to you..." Zou Feng sighed sincerely.
Just as he finished speaking, Zou Feng suddenly sensed something and said in surprise, "Junior Sister, you’ve... broken through your bottleneck!?"
Six months ago, Jiang Xue had been stuck, unable to break through the bottleneck preventing her from establishing her Celestial Tier Dao Foundation.
Yet at this moment, the aura around her was clearly different from before, and the worry that once creased her brow had vanished without a trace.
With the Foundation Establishment bottleneck broken, nothing could now stop Jiang Xue from forging a Celestial Tier Dao Foundation.
Sure enough, Jiang Xue couldn’t suppress the curve of her lips. She nodded and said, "A stroke of luck, just a stroke of luck!"
"Congratulations, Junior Sister! It seems our Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect will soon have another True Disciple!" Zou Feng said, cupping his hands in congratulations.
For someone who could forge a Celestial Tier Dao Foundation, as long as no accidents occurred, promotion to a True Disciple in the future was practically a certainty.
So, Zou Feng’s congratulations were perfectly in order.
Jiang Xue had once confided in Zou Feng about the bottleneck she was facing.
To put it bluntly, she needed some kind of "stimulation" to provoke a violent reaction in her overly placid Skills, which was one of the conditions for establishing a Celestial Tier Dao Foundation.
She had even specified that it would be best if she could use some Evil Qi that wouldn’t harm her body to "counter" it.
At the time, those words had made Zou Feng fall silent, and he hadn’t continued the conversation.
After all, one of the ways for the impact of Evil Qi not to harm the physical body was, naturally, to engage in Dual Cultivation with a Cultivator who possessed Evil Qi—like himself.
But at the time, Zou Feng felt it was all too coincidental. He became deeply suspicious of such a good thing just falling into his lap.
So he had played dumb and didn’t pursue the topic.
However, after spending the last six-plus months together, Jiang Xue never mentioned it again, nor did she appear on any lists. Zou Feng gradually came to believe that he had probably been overthinking things.
Now, Jiang Xue had even broken through the bottleneck on her own, no longer needing the "friendly" Dual Cultivation that Zou Feng could have provided.
This naturally made him certain once again that he had truly been overthinking it.
’If I’d known, I should have just stepped up to help her back then...’
’It wasn’t that I was lusting after her beauty, but getting on good terms with a future True Disciple was, from any perspective, a very worthwhile and beneficial thing to do.’
"True Disciple?" Jiang Xue chuckled and shook her head. "It’s still too early to talk about that."
"What about you, Brother Zou? You must be close to succeeding in your Foundation Establishment, right?"
Her question, however, left Zou Feng at a loss for words.
He didn’t have a bottleneck, but he always felt that attempting Foundation Establishment just like this was still somehow... not enough.
He wouldn’t be able to achieve the kind of Foundation Establishment that truly matched his ideals.
You had to understand that even among Celestial Tier Dao Foundations, there were differences.
Zou Feng now understood that the so-called Dao Foundation was the "staircase" used to leap through the Celestial Gate.
The closer the forged "staircase" was to the "Celestial Gate," the better the effect, and the greater one’s future potential.
If one could build the staircase right up to the entrance of the "Celestial Gate," allowing them to walk right in instead of leaping, then the power of that Dao Foundation would be self-evident.
