184: I'll cultivate with you!

"It's basically certain."

The Black Blind Man explained helplessly.

"Judging by the limited information and Ye Chen's style of conduct, it's undoubtedly him."

"And... after he dealt with that brother, he seems to have left a message through some channel."

"A message? What message?" The person from headquarters' voice became increasingly low.

The Black Blind Man swallowed hard and repeated word for word.

"Ye Chen said..."

"I've already wiped out the Hidden Sect. If Black Prison wants to seek death, I don't mind making it the second one."

On the other end of the phone, there was a long, dead silence.

Only the slightly heavy sound of breathing proved that the other person was still listening.

After ten or so seconds... that voice rang out again.

"The Hidden Sect... was wiped out by him?"

"Is the news reliable?"

"I'm already hurrying to verify it," the Black Blind Man added. "There will be news soon, but generally speaking... this piece of news is accurate."

Another moment of silence.

Finally, the person from headquarters' voice calmed down.

"I've noted this matter."

"Regarding the follow-up handling of Ye Chen... headquarters will re-evaluate."

"Before receiving new, clear instructions, no personnel are allowed to take the initiative to provoke this person again."

"You, pass this down."

"Yes," the Black Blind Man responded respectfully, but a storm was raging in his heart.

Headquarters' reaction was clearly intimidated by Ye Chen's achievement of wiping out the Hidden Sect and that blatant warning.

To make the domineering Black Prison headquarters say the words 're-evaluate'... Ye Chen's strength and threat level had likely reached a terrifying height that the entire Black Prison had to treat with caution.

The call was hung up, and a busy tone came through.

The Black Blind Man slowly put down the receiver, his hollow eyes 'looking' at the night outside the window as he muttered to himself.

"Mr. Ye... just what kind of sacred being are you? Even headquarters has to temporarily avoid your edge?"

...Ye Chen's car drove into Yunqi Garden, and he immediately went upstairs without stopping.

When he opened the door, Yi Yue, wearing pajamas, came to meet him.

"Ye Chen, you're finally here!"

"Sister Night Owl is in the upstairs guest room, and her situation doesn't look good! Go take a look quickly!"

That's right.

She could hear Night Owl's screams from the room through the wall.

If the other party hadn't said she was fine and had already called A-Chen over, she probably would have called the police... Ye Chen nodded and pushed the door open directly.

The main light in the guest room wasn't on; only a dim bedside lamp was lit.

Night Owl, dressed in leather clothes and pants, was sitting cross-legged on the carpet in the center of the room with her eyes tightly closed, her face frighteningly red.

Even... the veins on her forehead and neck were bulging, and the heat radiating from around her body condensed into white mist.

Her aura was extremely unstable, like a balloon being constantly inflated and on the verge of exploding!

Her Yellow Realm early-stage boundary was stable, and it was even slowly climbing, moving towards the mid-stage of the Yellow Realm.

But the problem was... she had absorbed and converted too much of the 'energy' released by Ye Chen, and too quickly!

Coupled with her own cultivation technique, which was inherently biased towards the feminine and treacherous, the sudden injection of such a large amount of external force—akin to an aphrodisiac—though forcibly refined for a breakthrough, had already pushed the load on her meridians and energy center beyond their limits.

At this moment, it felt as if countless boiling little snakes were crashing through her meridians, and her energy center was bulging as if it were about to burst!

"Ugh..."

Night Owl let out a suppressed groan of pain from her throat, her body trembling slightly, and a trace of blood even seeped from the corner of her mouth.

She had clearly reached the breaking point.

"You really dared to absorb it."

Ye Chen walked up to her and shook his head helplessly. "Aren't you afraid of blowing yourself up?"

Night Owl struggled to lift her eyelids a sliver.

"Cut the crap..."

"Hurry and help me... I'm about to explode..."

Even at this point, her mouth was still so stubborn.

Ye Chen didn't bother with nonsense. He took a step forward and ripped open her leather jacket.

The next second.

The dark sports tank top inside, already soaked with sweat, was exposed. The thin fabric clung to her body, outlining soul-stirring curves.

Night Owl's body trembled, and she stared with wide, exotic-colored eyes in alarm.

"You... what do you want to do?"

"What time is it, and you still want to take advantage of me?"

"If you really want it, won't I just give it to you after I'm better?!"

Damn!

They say foreigners are very uninhibited; he was seeing it for himself at this moment... Ye Chen rolled his eyes, a speck of golden light condensing at his fingertip.

"Who the hell is taking advantage of you?"

"I'm helping you channel it, otherwise you really will explode."

Before his voice finished, he held his fingers like a sword and tapped the acupoint below her collarbone as fast as lightning!

"Ugh—!"

Night Owl's whole body shook violently. She felt a cool power, like a floodgate opening, instantly surging from Ye Chen's fingertip into her nearly burning meridians!

It was strange.

That rampaging, violent heat flow, upon meeting this power poured in by Ye Chen, actually melted rapidly like snow under a hot sun and began to merge into her own true qi circulation!

As a result.

The pressure on her bulging energy center sharply decreased, and her burning, tearing meridians were quickly nourished and repaired.

The feeling of being on the verge of losing control receded rapidly like an ebbing tide!

The abnormal flush on Night Owl's face quickly faded, the bulging veins smoothed out, and the white mist steaming around her body gradually dissipated.

Most astonishingly, the power within her body also began to climb steadily.

Yellow Realm early-stage peak... Yellow Rank Mid Stage!

In the end, she actually broke through in one go, firmly stepping into the Yellow Rank Mid Stage!

The entire process lasted only a short two or three minutes.

Ye Chen withdrew his hand, took half a step back, and looking at Night Owl, whose aura had completely stabilized, asked, "How is it? Stable now?"

Night Owl slowly opened her eyes, feeling the surging power in her body, her face full of pleasant surprise.

"It's stable... not only stable, but I've also broken through!"

"Yellow Rank Mid Stage!"

"I actually reached the mid-stage directly!"

Ye Chen breathed a sigh of relief and said crossly, "Don't be so greedy next time. Absorb energy according to your ability, otherwise if you really die from body explosion next time, even an immortal won't be able to save you."

Night Owl seemed not to hear his warning, instead licking her somewhat dry lips.

"I already know how I won't explode next time."

Ye Chen was taken aback. "What?"

Night Owl stood up, stretched her muscles, and said something shocking: "dual cultivation with you!"

Ye Chen: "???"

Wait... was this 'secret' discovered?

The side effects of the [Houtu Inheritance] would bring bad results to anyone affected by them.

But if they could dual cultivate with him, it would be easily resolved.

He just didn't expect... it would actually be 'seen through' by this woman???

Of course.

Whether dual cultivation was possible, Ye Chen himself didn't know... Night Owl saw him not speaking and gave a charming smile.

"Why aren't you talking?"

"Did I guess right?"

Ye Chen glanced at her speechlessly and walked to the bed to sit down.

"Crazy."

"Are you Westerners all this uninhibited, thinking about this kind of nonsense all day long?"

"Uninhibited? Nonsense?" Night Owl sneered, casually brushing her sweat-dampened bangs behind her ear with a wild motion.

"The cultivation technique I practice is special; it emphasizes the balance of Yin and Yang and the clarity of desire, but it's by no means debauchery. On the contrary, it has extremely high requirements for one's state of mind and can't be messed around with."

"What do you think dual cultivation is? Those low-grade evil arts of 'plucking and supplementing' found in back alleys?"

"What I'm thinking of is the orthodox method of harmonizing Yin and Yang to together participate in the Great Dao!"

She paused and looked Ye Chen up and down, her eyes like she was evaluating the suitability of a tool.

"That peculiar aura on you is extremely Yang and pure, yet upright and peaceful. You're simply an excellent harmonizing cauldron..."

"Pui, I mean cultivation partner!"

"Dual cultivating with you would yield twice the result with half the effort, and it could also resolve the Yin-fire backlash that easily occurs when my technique advances."

"That's what I'm thinking about. What kind of dirty trash is in your head?"

Ye Chen had a 'keep on making it up' expression on his face as he leaned back, resting his hands behind his head.

"Forget it, 'orthodox Great Dao,' 'together participating in Yin and Yang'..."

"You make it sound like you're practicing the 'Jade Maiden Heart Sutra.'"

"The way you were steaming all over and almost exploding doesn't look like it has anything to do with 'high requirements for state of mind.'"

"I think you're just lusting after my body and looking for an excuse."

"You!!!" Night Owl was so choked that a breath got stuck in her chest, and her charming face instantly turned red, whether from shame or anger.

"Ye Chen! I'm talking to you seriously!"

"Cultivate or not! It's not like anyone is begging you!"

Seeing her exasperated yet trying to maintain her momentum, Ye Chen laughed instead.

He settled himself on the edge of the bed and crossed his legs.

"Alright, I'm done teasing you."

"Rather than dual cultivation, I'm more interested in how much you know about the organization called 'Dark Crow'?"

"Dark Crow?" The anger on Night Owl's face instantly froze, replaced by astonishment. "What? Dark Crow has come for you? When did this happen?"