178: Turn the tables

As soon as the voice fell, before Lin Feng could react, a gentle yet irresistible force enveloped him.

His vision blurred, and the scene of the dungeon vanished instantly, replaced by a lavishly decorated bedchamber filled with an ambiguous, seductive fragrance.

"Little one, don't be afraid," the voice of You Ji, the Saintess of the Heavenly Demon Palace, whispered in his ear. "With your Physique, it's a waste to leave you in the hands of those brutes at the Blood Demon Hall. Why don't... I see how many surprises you can bring me."

Alarm bells rang in Lin Feng's heart; he realized what this woman intended to do.

He tried to struggle, but with the Seal not yet fully broken, the absolute gap in cultivation made him as powerless as an infant.

You Ji waved her left hand, dimming the bedchamber, and followed with a wave of her right, causing Lin Feng's clothes to fall away.

Immediately, she coiled around him, a mixture of cold and burning heat.

Lin Feng's body uncontrollably complied with You Ji's guidance, while his heart remained ice-cold.

He could clearly feel his hard-cultivated spiritual charm and vitality being drawn away bit by bit, merging into her body.

This was an extremely domineering dual Cultivation Technique. She was a Core Formation Cultivator, while he was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage; the chasm in cultivation made resistance as futile as an ant trying to shake a tree.

Lin Feng found it increasingly difficult to control himself. In his despair, he could only cling to his mind, fully circulating his Cultivation Technique to protect his Sea of Consciousness and heart Meridians.

"Yin and Yang dual cultivation... seizing the creation of heaven and earth to supplement one's own deficiencies... yet at its core, it is still the circulation of Yin and Yang and the transformation of energy..." A vague thought flashed through Lin Feng's consciousness as he was on the verge of sinking.

Recalling his deep understanding of Yin and Yang balance from reading ancient texts at the Illusory Moon Sect and discussing the Dao with the Saintess, and combining it with the direct experience of this domineering dual Cultivation Technique, a highly risky, even insane idea suddenly emerged.

Instead of passively enduring and being sucked dry, why not... go with the flow and use her own strength against her? Since she could use me for dual cultivation, why couldn't I... reverse-engineer it, or even guide it?

This thought invigorated him.

He immediately abandoned his futile resistance and instead submerged his entire consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness. He secretly activated the heaven-stealing vine, turning the tables by quietly wrapping it around You Ji, feeling how the Qi of Yin and Yang generated within her, how it entered his body, how it was extracted, and how it returned.

Because he forcibly reversed the flow, the two Seals that had been suppressing his cultivation like mystic ice shattered with a boom under this internal and external impact.

Boom!

Lin Feng felt a tearing pain in his Dantian, followed by an unprecedented sense of relief. Then, the long-suppressed spiritual power surged through his entire body like a breached flood.

At this moment, his cultivation not only fully recovered but, due to this intense impact and the previous forced "tempering," faintly reached the Peak of the Late Foundation Establishment Stage.

The entire process was silent, like dropping a special droplet into a roaring river, instantly swallowed by the torrent and difficult to detect.

The dual cultivation lasted for several days.

Finally, You Ji slowly rose, a trace of obvious displeasure and confusion appearing on her stunning face. She carefully sensed the changes within herself, her brows slightly furrowed.

"Strange..." she muttered to herself, her fingertips tracing Lin Feng's wrist as she carefully examined his condition again.

"The potential of your Spiritual Root is indeed extraordinary, and the affinity of your Physique cannot be fake... but why is there no effect? Is it because your cultivation is only at the Foundation Establishment Stage? Or... is it somewhat impure, making it difficult to fully convert and absorb?"

She tried to forcibly probe into the depths of Lin Feng's Sea of Consciousness, but only felt as if it were shrouded in mist; it appeared ordinary but was exceptionally resilient, allowing her to catch only some vague fragments, unable to reach the root.

In the end, she attributed this to Lin Feng's cultivation being too low.

You Ji frowned as she looked at Lin Feng, who was lying limp on the ground, pale and with even weaker breath than before, her eyes complex.

Kill him? It would be a pity to waste such one-in-ten-thousand Aptitude and Physique. Keep him? He was like a chicken rib right now—tasteless to eat, but a pity to throw away.

"Forget it," she finally sighed, her tone carrying a hint of boredom. "Keep him for now. Perhaps... when your cultivation is higher, you might still be of some use."

She waved her hand and summoned two maids. "Take him away, find a secluded courtyard to keep him under guard. Without my orders, no one is allowed to approach."

Lin Feng was placed in a quiet but heavily guarded small courtyard. Outside the courtyard was a protective Formation, and inside were maids waiting on him, which was effectively surveillance.

You Ji seemed to truly view him as a long-term investment. Although she did not come personally, she sent many cultivation resources, including several Jade Slips recording basic Demonic Techniques, under the guise of "helping him solidify his Foundation and break through his realm sooner."

Lin Feng accepted all these resources without hesitation. He knew well that this was snatching food from the tiger's mouth, but it was also his only lifeline for now.

During the day, he openly pretended to Cultivate these basic Demonic Techniques. Although his progress was slow, his aura did indeed grow day by day, leaving the maids responsible for monitoring him with nothing to fault when they reported back.

However, no one knew that whenever the night was deep and quiet, Lin Feng would submerge his consciousness back into those Jade Slips recording the Demonic Techniques.

He did not intend to convert to Demonic Techniques; instead, he used the unique sensing ability of the heaven-stealing vine in his Sea of Consciousness, like a master anatomist, to calmly analyze the principles behind the operation of these Demonic Techniques.

"Bone-Eroding Demonic Flame..."

"Blood Shadow Escape Technique..."

"Hundred Ghosts Soul-Devouring Curse..."

These techniques were sinister and vicious, vastly different from the methods of the Righteous Path, but the trajectories of their power and the ways they converted energy still followed a certain underlying logic.

He cross-referenced the operating principles of these Demonic Techniques with his deep understanding of the changes in the Five Elements and Yin and Yang.

This process was extremely dangerous; a moment of carelessness could lead to his mind being eroded by the negative emotions contained within the Demonic Techniques. But Lin Feng had a firm will, and with the heaven-stealing vine protecting his clarity of mind, it always sent a trace of coolness when he was about to sink, helping him detach.

"All paths lead to the same origin. Although Demonic Techniques take an unconventional approach, at their root, they are still an extreme way of utilizing and converting the energy of heaven and earth. If one can clarify their principles, it is not impossible to adopt their methods while removing their harm..."

A bold idea gradually took shape in his heart: perhaps in the future, relying on this unique understanding, he could use some special Materials or medium as a carrier to refine a "Clone" capable of perfectly bearing and operating Demonic Techniques? This Clone would exist independently, specializing in the Demonic Path, and could both become a powerful aid to him and remain clearly distinct from his original self, avoiding the pollution of his Heart-Nature.

This thought stirred his mind, revealing another path full of possibilities. But he knew clearly that the prerequisite for all this was to survive and become strong enough.

Days passed, and he continued to Cultivate diligently every day, using the resources provided by You Ji to steadily push his apparent cultivation to the Peak of the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, but he perfectly displayed signs of an unstable Foundation and frivolous spiritual power.

Whenever the maids responsible for monitoring came to check, he would inadvertently reveal anxiety and a sense of powerlessness, and even occasionally make his spiritual power slightly reverse in his Meridians, creating subtle signs of Qi Deviation.

"Failed again..."