Free Web NovelChapter 551: Chapter 334: Dual Cultivation?
Therefore, Zou Feng’s ambition had long since surpassed simply forging a Celestial Tier Dao Foundation.
He wanted to forge a Celestial Tier Dao Foundation that could grant him direct entry into the "Celestial Gate."
The problem was, he still hadn’t found another suitable Foundation Establishment Treasure.
"To be honest, as for Foundation Establishment... I’ve hit a bit of a bottleneck myself," Zou Feng replied casually.
Jiang Xue raised a delicate eyebrow. "Oh? What kind of bottleneck? Perhaps you could tell me a little about it, Brother Zou. Maybe I can help you think of something..."
There was nothing to hide, so Zou Feng told her the truth. "I just feel like I’m still missing a suitable Foundation Establishment Treasure..."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Xue genuinely fell into deep thought, seemingly trying to figure out what kind of treasure would be a good fit for Zou Feng.
They had spent a fair amount of time together, so Jiang Xue naturally knew that Zou Feng’s main focus was his Poison Technique.
Thus, after some thought, using her extremely limited knowledge on the subject, she tentatively suggested a few "poison treasures" she had once seen on the Token.
Zou Feng hadn’t held out much hope in the first place, so he just smiled and shook his head after listening.
He had already considered the items Jiang Xue mentioned. The conclusion was that they were all completely useless.
Her suggestions weren’t accepted, but Jiang Xue didn’t give up.
A moment later, as if struck by a sudden idea, she said, "Right! If poison treasures aren’t suitable, why don’t you try looking at this problem from a different angle, Brother Zou!"
"A different angle?"
"That’s right. It’s actually similar to how I needed an opposing force to ’counter’ and break through my bottleneck. You could absolutely use a treasure that isn’t compatible with you to forge your Dao Foundation," Jiang Xue suggested again, very seriously.
As soon as she said this, Zou Feng’s previously nonchalant expression vanished.
He realized this method was genuinely worth a try.
Before, Zou Feng had been searching for all sorts of poisonous Heavenly and Earthly Treasures or powerful venomous creatures to serve as his second Foundation Establishment Treasure.
He had even considered Xiaolv...
’Of course, it was just a fleeting thought. Xiaolv saved my life, after all. It’s long since been off my list of Refinement targets.’
But to this day, no poison treasure that Zou Feng deemed suitable had appeared.
’However, if I could achieve Refinement with Luo Yingning, that might be worth a shot.’
’But Luo Yingning is on guard against me at all times, and with the Tianxiang Association backing her, plotting against her won’t be easy.’
Now, hearing Jiang Xue’s sudden, imaginative suggestion truly gave Zou Feng another way to solve his problem.
’My Poison Technique and Skills are bursting with side effects, all of them domineering and unrivaled.’
’If I could use a neutral and gentle power to counter them, I feel like I could really forge an even better Celestial Tier Dao Foundation...’
"Er, if you think it’s a bad idea, Brother Zou, don’t take it to heart. Everyone’s situation is different, so this method might not be right for you," Jiang Xue said, waving her hand dismissively.
"What’s bad about it? Your idea is excellent. It’s definitely worth a try..."
As he said this, an imperceptible, bitter smile touched Zou Feng’s lips.
Because he had, in fact, already missed the best opportunity to use this method.
If he had suggested trying Dual Cultivation to counter her bottleneck before Jiang Xue broke through it, it might have worked out immediately. After all, it would have been a win-win for both of them.
But now that Jiang Xue had already solved her problem, if he were to suggest some kind of Dual Cultivation now, it would be a miracle if she didn’t just slap him.
’It’s not a huge problem, though. Now that I have this line of thinking, I can just find another way.’
’Among my current Dao Companions, only Tian Yun’s Cultivation Skill and other Skills have anything to do with being ’neutral and gentle’.’
’But she just ascended to the Spiritual Energy Realm. She’s not strong enough in any aspect to attempt this method.’
’Fortunately, business at those few fried rice restaurants is good, and with no major expenses in the last six months, I’ve managed to save up a lot of Immortal Fate again.’
’So maybe I can just throw Immortal Fate at the problem to find a one-time Dual Cultivation partner...’
The small talk came to an end, and Zou Feng and Jiang Xue each entered a state of Cultivation once more.
Lost in focused Cultivation, an unknown amount of time passed before Zou Feng suddenly felt something was wrong.
He immediately stopped his Cultivation and opened his eyes.
The moment he did, his face paled in shock.
The oil lamp in the wooden cabin had, for some unknown reason, gone out!
This was something that had never happened since he started his Cultivation on the third floor of the Demon Suppression Tower.
The most crucial rule when cultivating on the third floor was to ensure the oil lamp in the cabin never went out.
Once the lamp was extinguished, the surrounding evil spirits could fearlessly bore their way into the cabin and cause trouble.
Imagine a Cultivator here, completely absorbed in their Cultivation, while certain special evil spirits could silently slip into the room, or even into the Cultivator’s body...
Even if the Cultivator could awaken in time to expel the evil spirits, their Cultivation would likely have gone awry, causing nearly irreversible damage.
In a more severe case, one’s mind could be controlled by an evil spirit or a demon.
Although this didn’t happen often, Zou Feng had long since heard that such incidents still occurred every few years on average.
However, any disciple whose mind was ultimately controlled by an evil spirit would be detected by the Celestial Dao Cauldron the moment they stepped out of the Demon Suppression Tower and be immediately suppressed.
And while Zou Feng didn’t have to bear the side effects of his Cultivation, an evil spirit invading his physical body was no mere side effect.
That was why he, too, paid close attention to the state of the oil lamp while cultivating here.
’To think that I still ended up being careless...’
Besides, with a prodigy like Jiang Xue in the room, this kind of situation should have been even less likely to occur.
’Wait, where is Jiang Xue!?’
Although it was pitch-black before him, Zou Feng could clearly sense that Jiang Xue was gone.
Normally, she would never leave so silently without a word.
’The lamp is out, Jiang Xue is missing... she must have run into trouble...’
Zou Feng quickly picked up the oil lamp that had fallen on the floor and relit it.
As light returned to the wooden cabin, Zou Feng let out a small sigh of relief.
The feeling of dread from a moment ago vanished just as quickly.
Checking his own condition, Zou Feng couldn’t help but draw in a cold breath.
His body was covered in black handprints.
It was obvious that after the lamp went out, some evil spirits had entered the cabin.
And, for some reason without him noticing, they had groped him all over.
The only consolation was that, judging by the shape and size of the handprints, they likely belonged to female evil spirits.
This made Zou Feng feel slightly better, since even some of his private areas had handprints on them.
Jiang Xue was indeed gone. Where she had been sitting, a stool was overturned, and there were small puddles of water.
After a closer look, Zou Feng realized the puddles were likely Jiang Xue’s sweat.
’Could it be... something suddenly went wrong with Jiang Xue’s Cultivation, and in her thrashing, she accidentally knocked over the lamp?’
’The lamp went out, evil spirits invaded immediately, and Jiang Xue, already struggling with her Cultivation, was powerless to resist and fell victim...’
Zou Feng pieced together the most likely scenario and quickly walked to the cabin door.
The wooden door was also open, and gusts of bone-chilling wind blew in.
"Zou Lang..."
"Brother Feng..."
As he reached the doorway, Zou Feng immediately heard a series of familiar voices.
It was as if Tian Yun and the other women were calling out to him from the darkness.
And though he knew something was wrong, he felt a strong urge to answer their calls and search for them in the darkness.
The next moment, Zou Feng took a deep breath and let out a heavy, cold snort.
The Yang-Sui Fire quickly flared to life around his body.
"AHHH—"
Piercing screams instantly echoed through the darkness, and the voices calling his name vanished completely.
The Yang-Sui Fire was inherently excellent at exorcising evil.
With the annoying noises gone, Zou Feng continued to peer into the darkness, trying to find any sign of Jiang Xue.
After all, they had been cultivating in the Demon Suppression Tower together for so long that not only were they familiar with each other, but they had also become true "Fellow Daoists." If it was within his power, Zou Feng naturally wanted to lend her a hand.
But the dark area of this third floor was extremely unusual; even with his eyesight, he couldn’t see very far.
Finding nothing, Zou Feng had no choice but to give up and decided to leave the Demon Suppression Tower to get reinforcements first.
Given Jiang Xue’s Talent, the upper echelons of the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect would surely take this very seriously and immediately dispatch sufficiently powerful rescuers.
That was far more reliable than him running around like a headless chicken, searching blindly in the pitch-black space.
However, he had just stepped outside and taken only a few steps along the path to leave when another voice, much clearer than before, called out from the darkness: "Brother Zou... save me..."
