Chapter 68: Dare to Hoard Strength?

Having settled everything, Lu Chen returned to Chu Lian's residence.

He hadn't expected that Su Qian would already have heard about what had just happened to him.

"Master, things have blown up this much; should we leave early?"

"It's fine; just wait a few more days."

On You Huang's side, it was the critical moment of his breakthrough.

Furthermore, his recent diligent practice of the Heavenly Demon Body Liberation Great Technique made it impossible for the opponent to break through smoothly in a short time.

If he were to halt his breakthrough now, trying again later would only be more difficult; thus, the opponent would not possibly stop.

Seeing Lu Chen's confident demeanor, Su Qian also felt much more at ease.

She came up behind Lu Chen and gently rubbed his shoulders.

"Anything else?" Lu Chen noticed a hint of worry in her eyes, turned his head, and asked.

Su Qian's hand paused, she lightly bit her lip and whispered, "These days of cultivation, I've already felt a bottleneck in my realm; Master, could you..."

These past few days, Lu Chen seemed rather cold toward her, not even touching her when they slept at night.

A sudden change left her somewhat at a loss, yet she dared not speak of it.

"Just because of this?"

Seeing her aggrieved look, Lu Chen had thought something major had happened.

These days, it's not that he didn't want to; it's mainly because the Empress's demands were too frequent.

He still remembered that night when he returned from the Heavenly Demon Sect, the Empress said to him:

"I don't care if you hoard treasures, I don't care if you hoard trump cards, I don't even mind if you hoard women—but if you dare hoard your strength! Don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Although the Empress can now restore her soul through other means, she still favors this dual cultivation method.

So, these past few days he had chosen not to touch Su Qian.

"Hmm." Su Qian replied.

"That matter shouldn't be delayed; let's do it now."

Su Qian's delicate body trembled as Lu Chen pushed her down on the spot.

On the side, Chu Lian, having listened to their half‑day conversation, revealed a look of contempt.

"Do it in the room!"

Her tone carried a hint of anger.

At the same time, it also carried a hint of hesitation.

These past few days, from Su Qian and the others' words and deeds, she also learned of Lu Chen's special dual‑cultivation physique.

Although she possessed astonishing talent in the art of alchemy, her cultivation was quite ordinary.

Within the Spirit Impurity Valley, there were even many disciples her age who had already reached the Spirit Transformation Stage.

"It's only been a few days, and Gu Xiangxiang's realm has also broken through."

"Even Senior Su's realm like this..."

"If I also cultivated that dual‑cultivation technique, could my realm advance as rapidly?"

Chu Lian estimated that, at her own cultivation speed, breaking through from Late Elixir Formation to Spirit Transformation would take at least five years.

But if she followed Lu Chen's pace, perhaps she could break through to Spirit Transformation in less than two months.

The higher the realm, the stronger her control over all surrounding matters; at that point, her alchemy success rate would also increase dramatically.

"..." Thinking of this, she drifted into a daze.

When she came to her senses, she found that Lu Chen and Su Qian had both disappeared.

She was about to collect her thoughts and continue her beloved alchemy when suddenly an invisible force pulled her away.

The next moment, her vision went dark; when she regained consciousness, she found herself in Lu Chen's arms.

"What are you doing?"

Lu Chen said nothing; with his free hand he took out several manuals from his storage bag.

One could tell they were dual‑cultivation techniques.

【Bare Hand Cauldron Tuning Technique】, 【Yang Swallowing Technique】, 【Dragon Guiding Nourishing Secret】, 【Yang Absorbing Great Technique】......

These are all the dual‑cultivation techniques Lu Chen has gathered recently.

They cover every type; whatever the other party likes, they cultivate that.

Chu Lian stared blankly, then idly flipped through these few techniques.

Soon, the flush on her face crept up to the base of her ears.

"You want me to cultivate this kind of technique?! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Her face full of refusal, after speaking she struggled to break free from Lu Chen's embrace.

She had just prepared to leave the room when her steps suddenly stalled.

Her eyes slowly closed, as if she had fallen into some kind of decision.

Not long after, she opened her eyes and turned her head to look at Lu Chen.

Without a word, she casually slipped one technique into her pouch and left the room.

The dual cultivation proceeded very smoothly; Su Qian absorbed a large amount of Lu Chen's yang energy into her body, and after refining it, she finally touched that bottleneck.

"Master, I'm about to break through; in the short term I probably won't be able to protect you."

"It's fine; strive to break through—once your realm rises, you'll be able to protect me better."

Lu Chen said that and left the room.

During these days after leaving the Heavenly Demon Sect, he still had one matter to attend to first.

After this period of recovery, his soul power had restored to fifty percent of its original.

If Chu Lian could refine a batch of Soul-Nurturing Pills, he would surely recover to his peak soon.

By then, he would be able to break through his realm again.

The early stage of pill condensation is still insufficient; we need to hurry.

In his daily dealings, the people he interacts with are all old monsters like those of the Hualing Cave Heaven.

His current cultivation is simply insufficient.

Without various means to restrain him, he might have died long ago.

Adding the materials previously obtained from Xu Cheng's storage bag, the Soul-Nurturing Pill now lacks only its final ingredient.

Thousand Spirit Grass.

This herb loves spiritual energy and grows where spiritual energy is abundant.

But because the demon cultivators' territory is filled with overwhelming killing qi, this herb has become extremely scarce.

"Looks like we'll have to rely on luck again."

There is also a Ghost Market near the Heaven Demon Sect.

Since the Heaven Demon Sect is one of the Six Great Sects, this Ghost Market is much larger than the one near the Nine Abyss Sect.

The chance of finding Thousand Spirit Grass is not small.

However, if Su Qian is in seclusion and he goes out alone,

He feels uneasy inside.

"Forget it, let's just cultivate."

He now knows quite a few cultivation methods, but he has only mastered the basics of each.

Not to mention several; he doesn't even have a single method fully perfected.

If he were to choose a primary cultivation method at present, it would naturally be the Black Prison Sword Canon taught by the Female Emperor.

If he could cultivate it to perfection, not only would its power increase manifold, but its special sealing effect would also be greatly enhanced.

Ordinary cultivators all have their own means of escape.

But if one is enveloped by the Black Prison Sword Canon, unless they possess a special spatial treasure, no escape technique will allow them to flee.

Thinking of this, he immediately went to the Hall of Killing Qi.

Inside the hall's chambers, his killing qi surged, thick black aura roiling like substance and swiftly enveloping his figure.

He closed his eyes tightly, silently recited the cultivation mantra, and guided the killing qi within his body toward his weapon in hand.

The Hall of Killing Qi's structure is extremely sturdy; for a disciple at his level, it is nearly impossible to damage it.

But as time passed, Lu Chen gradually noticed that the wall where he practiced the Black Prison Sword Canon had actually shown subtle changes.

The originally smooth and flat wall surface now bore countless shallow sword marks.

According to the depth of these sword marks, Lu Chen could roughly gauge how much he had improved.

"If cultivated to perfection, perhaps he could break through this wall?"