Chapter 971: with translation of chapter title

Sure enough, the problem ultimately still lay in the incense of the dragon-head incense.

On the second day of the second lunar month, when the dragon raises its head, the Linghai Dragon Clan holds a sacrificial ceremony each year at this time, offering dragon-head incense.

One can imagine how prosperous the incense is, and how strong its Mana is.

Yet after so many years, there has never been a case of someone offering dragon-head incense inadvertently inhaling its incense.

After Ao Jing inhaled the incense, a large amount of yang qi accumulated in his dantian in a short time; with his current Xiūwéi, he could not transform it immediately, leading to what followed.

Only now did Xiaoye realize that, compared to his son sneaking over Shan Shan's window at night, the situation of inhaling the incense was clearly more serious.

Xiaoye furrowed his brow, grabbed Ao Jing's wrist, and placed his fingers on his pulse, feeling carefully.

After a while, Xiaoye released Ao Jing and sighed, 'Jing'er, you should thank yourself for having such a good lover as Shan Shan, who saved your life at the crucial moment!'

Ao Jing exclaimed, 'Dad, what do you mean by that?'

But Xiaoye only hinted at it, seeming reluctant to comment further on the matter.

He stood up and said to Zhong Shushu, 'Shushu, explain it to Jing'er.'

Having said that, Xiaoye left.

Zhong Shushu was also at a loss; she also grabbed Ao Jing's wrist and placed her fingers on it.

Ao Jing waited patiently, his heart beating in a frenzy.

After a long while, Zhong Shushu finally released him and said, 'Your dad is a grown man; it's indeed not proper for him to comment too much on your lovers' affairs, but he's not wrong—Shan Shan truly is your benefactor.'

Ao Jing asked again, 'Mom, why do you say that?'

'You were born with extraordinary cultivation talent; your father, the clan elders and protectors—who wouldn't want to pour all their lifetime learning into you?' Zhong Shushu coaxed, 'But has anyone actually done that?'

Ao Jing shook his head.

Indeed, as his mother said, his cultivation resources from childhood have been superb.

But no one has tried to pull up seedlings to help them grow, treating him as a vessel and stuffing cultivation techniques into his body without restraint.

They still brought him up from the basics, each step steady and solid, without taking any shortcuts.

Thus, Ao Jing's cultivation foundation is stable to an alarming degree.

Seeing Ao Jing shake his head, Zhong Shushu continued, 'Cultivation must be gradual; limited digestive capacity can only match limited cultivation methods. Skipping levels is not impossible, but it requires the cultivator to be strong enough, with a robust capacity to digest; otherwise, you'll end up like yesterday.'

'Your body bore in a short time the supreme yang qi you could not digest; if not timely digested or vented out, you could very well burst and die.'

Upon hearing this, Ao Jing's tightly clenched right hand twitched slightly.

'With your current cultivation level, you simply cannot promptly digest this surge of yang qi; the only viable life-preserving method is to vent it out of the body.'

'Venting it out has two ways: one is the most traditional and slowest—seek aid from an expert; the other is dual cultivation, attempting to achieve yin-yang harmony with the help of your partner.'

Zhong Shushu paused, thinking, 'No wonder Xiaoye just wanted to go out, dumping this thorny problem on me; he'd hardly feel comfortable bringing these matters up openly with his son.'

'Of course, it's not just any random opposite-sex person who can help; they must be sincere toward you, have a cultivation foundation as solid as yours, and their Xiūwéi cannot differ too greatly from yours, or else they likely won't withstand the impact of the yang qi you vent out and will be killed.'

Ao Jing's heart gave a jolt; he felt a lingering fear, realizing that unintentionally he had almost harmed Shan Shan.

No wonder Shan Shan slept so deeply during the day; it turns out her body was self-repairing.

'I just felt your pulse; everything is normal for now, but I cannot guarantee that all the supreme yang qi inside you has been vented out, nor can I guarantee whether Shan Shan can digest the yang qi you have passed through; if she can, then just feel her pulse again.'

Ao Jing nodded and said, 'I'll feel her pulse as soon as possible.'

Mother and son chatted for a long while, exchanging many intimate words.

After dinner, Ao Jing languidly leaned against the headboard, recalling his mother's words, each sentence a maxim.

He had planned to call Seventh Uncle first thing tomorrow morning, then pay a visit to the Feng Clan.

But he hadn't expected that plans would not keep up with changes.

At nearly eleven o'clock at night, Ao Jing jolted awake from his dream, sat up abruptly, gasping heavily, his whole body already drenched.

He felt very hot, the sensation of his body swelling as if about to explode returned.

Unlike before, this time the true qi circulating in his dantian was not uncontrollable as it had been the previous day.

Ao Jing lifted his hand to wipe the sweat from his face, then covered his face with both hands, trying hard to calm his breath.

But the harder he tried, the more chaotic his breath became, his mind filled entirely with Shan Shan.

He seemed possessed, wanting to rush straight to the Feng Clan to find Shan Shan.

Ao Jing felt his own pulse; his true qi throughout his body was indeed like having no outlet, so chaotic that he could not discern the pulse pattern.

He got up to take a cold shower, found it utterly ineffective, and then stopped struggling.

He dried himself, put on a clean, proper set of clothes, and headed straight for the Feng Clan.

Meanwhile, after Shan Shan woke up in the afternoon, she had been anxiously waiting for her parents' call.

However, no call came.

It was as if they knew nothing about this matter at all.

After Shan Shan got up, she also went to handle the clan affairs that required her personal attention.

On the way she ran into many acquaintances, yet everyone acted as if nothing had happened—no one mentioned Ao Jing, nor asked why she had risen so late.

At this moment Shan Shan finally understood: everyone wasn't ignorant; they chose to avoid the topic, pretending not to know.

But it was fine that no one brought it up.

After dinner, Shan Shan went for a stroll around Cangwu Mountain, taking a walk and checking on the male phoenix's condition.

The male phoenix had been in seclusion for several months; judging by the current situation, everything was normal.

When she later returned to her room and took a bath, she discovered an abnormality inside her body.

Her body temperature seemed somewhat higher than before, her body emanating from within an intense heat that was hard to ignore.

After tossing and turning, she finally fell asleep, but not long after she began dreaming again.

A highly erotic dream that made one's face flush.

The two people in the dream were both known to Shan Shan.

One is me, the other is... Ao Jing!

The timeline seemed to be pulled back to last night all of a sudden; even in the dream, Shan Shan even wanted to slap herself twice to make herself a bit clearer…