158: Yue Xiyan's initiative! Return to Shanhaiguan!

Cultivation knows no time, and this was especially true for Li Shengyuan and Yue Xiyan, who were engaged in dual cultivation with their souls intertwined.

After successfully breaking through to the Yang God realm, Li Shengyuan and Yue Xiyan were not content, but continued to refine and absorb all of the God-Demon Origin.

In the blink of an eye, nearly a year had passed since they began cultivating here!

After absorbing all of the God-Demon Origin, their cultivation also advanced to the peak of the third-grade.

Especially Yue Xiyan, her Yang God even began to transform.

She could trigger a Heavenly Tribulation and break through to the second-grade at any time!

However, Yue Xiyan did not wish to break through in the Far North.

Instead, she planned to return to the Yuehua Heavenly Pool, the sacred land of Yuehua Palace, before entering seclusion to break through.

The Yuehua Heavenly Pool gathered the essence of heaven and earth, which would be of great help to Yue Xiyan's breakthrough and cultivation advancement.

This would give her a higher chance of success when undergoing the tribulation.

At the same time, undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation there would leave behind the Dao rhyme of heaven and earth, making the Yuehua Heavenly Pool even more conducive to cultivation, and benefiting future disciples even more.

This was a good deed that benefited both herself and the sect!

Of course, all of this depended on Yue Xiyan successfully passing the second-grade Heavenly Tribulation.

Yue Xiyan was extremely confident about this; after dual cultivating with Li Shengyuan's soul and refining the God-Demon Origin for so long, her strength was already far beyond what it used to be!

However, this was also what concerned Li Shengyuan; the second-grade Heavenly Tribulation that Yue Xiyan was about to face would be extremely powerful.

It was possible to trigger an Eight Heavenly Tribulations, or even Nine Heavenly Tribulations…

On this day, Li Shengyuan's soul returned to his body, and he smiled slightly as he looked at Yue Xiyan's flushed, hot body in his arms.

The two had just finished their soul intertwining, and some reactions were still feeding back into her physical body; the blush on her delicate body hadn't even faded yet.

“You’ve slept for so long, it’s time to wake up, isn’t it? You don’t really want to keep sleeping, do you!”

Li Shengyuan chuckled as he pinched Yue Xiyan's upturned nose.

Throughout this year, no matter how much Li Shengyuan tried to persuade her, Yue Xiyan simply wouldn't wake up. Even things like bathing and changing clothes were handled by Li Shengyuan.

While Li Shengyuan was more than happy to provide such a delightful service, at first, he only helped her wipe herself. Later, he would directly enter the bathtub and bathe with her…

Every time they bathed together, upon entering the sea of consciousness, Yue Xiyan would avoid Li Shengyuan's gaze, her eyes showing a hint of shyness.

Because that guy was anything but well-behaved during their baths; he almost 'investigated' her…

Although Yue Xiyan wasn't awake, she could feel everything clearly!

However, after a while, when there was no response, Li Shengyuan felt something was missing.

After all, there was still some pressure and burden in her heart.

At this moment, Yue Xiyan, who had been sleeping with her eyes closed for a year, finally felt her eyelids tremble and slowly opened her eyes…

The colors in her eyes were the same as what Li Shengyuan saw in her sea of consciousness, but they quickly darted away, not daring to meet Li Shengyuan's gaze directly.

However, her delicate body did not struggle to get up from Li Shengyuan's embrace.

Li Shengyuan smiled slightly, “It’s almost time, we should go back. Who knows what’s happened at Shanhai Pass after all this time!”

Although he had a magic treasure that allowed him to contact Empress Sister directly, that was only within the borders of the Great Qian. Being in the Far North, they were too far from the capital.

Furthermore, the cold and hurricanes emanating from the North Pole could affect message transmission, and the closer they were to the North Pole, the stronger the interference.

Therefore, for the past year, Li Shengyuan and Yue Xiyan had no idea what was happening in the outside world.

However, Li Shengyuan was still very confident about Shanhai Pass.

Yue Xiyan nodded gently in his arms, but showed no intention of getting up. Li Shengyuan looked down and saw a hint of hesitation in Yue Xiyan’s eyes, and he asked in confusion:

“Xiyan, is there anything else?”

“No…” Yue Xiyan shook her head slightly, her expression cool and aloof.

A moment later, to Li Shengyuan's surprise, Yue Xiyan looked up, actively reached out and hooked her arms around his neck, then kissed Li Shengyuan.

Li Shengyuan was slightly stunned. Yue Xiyan actually initiated a kiss?

This was the first time Yue Xiyan had initiated such intimate physical contact!

As her soft, fragrant tongue entered, Li Shengyuan knew her first kiss was truly gone…

The two kissed passionately for a long time. This was Yue Xiyan's first time experiencing the changes in her physical body.

A moment later, the two separated. Yue Xiyan buried her head in Li Shengyuan's neck, breathing heavily, her eyes hazy as she said:

“It feels different from what it was in the sea of consciousness…”

Li Shengyuan smiled slightly. Yue Xiyan's initiative showed that the pressure in her heart had lessened significantly. He held her voluptuous body tightly in his arms and said softly:

“How is it different?”

“Hmm…” Yue Xiyan pondered for a moment, then finally shook her head and said:

“I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

But what she said next stunned Li Shengyuan.

Yue Xiyan, with her head buried in Li Shengyuan's neck, gently stroked his chest, her voice soft yet firm as she said:

“Shengyuan, let’s truly dual cultivate once!”

“What?”

Li Shengyuan was truly shocked. He thought that initiating a kiss was Yue Xiyan's limit, but he didn't expect her to actively ask for love now!

“It’s the kind of thing we did in the sea of consciousness, but not soul dual cultivation, but physical…”

She thought Li Shengyuan hadn't understood, so she couldn't help but explain.

“No, I mean, Xiyan, why do you suddenly want to dual cultivate with me?” Li Shengyuan asked in confusion.

Yue Xiyan did not hide anything, and said softly, “I’m afraid that when I return to Shanhai Pass and see Mengmeng, I won’t have the courage to stay with you like this.”

So that’s how it is…

It seems that a year of deep soul communication still hadn't made her completely abandon other thoughts… Li Shengyuan sighed inwardly, thinking that his efforts were insufficient.

Regarding Yue Xiyan's initiative, he shook his head and said, “Now is not the time!”

“Why?” Yue Xiyan looked up at Li Shengyuan, puzzled.

Li Shengyuan calmly replied, “This means you haven’t overcome that hurdle in your heart yet. Even if we were to truly make love now, you would still be burdened by the pressure in your heart. This would be very detrimental to you when undergoing the second-grade Heavenly Tribulation. If the Heart Demon Tribulation appears, the consequences would be unimaginable!”

“When I see Mengmeng, I will explain everything to her. You don’t need to blame yourself, and even less should you feel pressured!”

Yue Xiyan stared blankly at Li Shengyuan, then smiled faintly and nodded:

“Understood, Shengyuan…”

“As for other reasons…” Li Shengyuan chuckled, his hand moving over Yue Xiyan’s delicate body.

Although he had experienced it more than once during their shared baths, this was the first time since Yue Xiyan had awakened, and the feeling was instantly different!

“I don’t want to waste this memorable night for us in this desolate wilderness.” He leaned close to Yue Xiyan’s ear and whispered softly:

“I want to wait until you are free of psychological pressure, and after you break through to the second-grade, to complete all of this in your bedchamber in Yuehua Palace!”

“Mm…”

Yue Xiyan's face was flushed, and she nodded in agreement, her expression cool, but with a hint of shyness and anticipation in her eyes.

Another reason was that if he dual cultivated with Yue Xiyan after her breakthrough to seize her primordial yin, the rewards he would receive would be higher…

“So for now, let’s return to Shanhai Pass. After we’ve dealt with matters on the frontier, I’ll go back to Yuehua Palace with you!” Li Shengyuan said with a smile, holding Yue Xiyan as he got up.

“Mm…” Yue Xiyan nodded, her gaze gentle.

Before leaving, he turned back to look at the cave where they had spent a year together, gazed directly at Yue Xiyan, and said softly:

“I will always remember this place in my life, because you were here, and we spent this joyful time together.”

“Me too.” A brilliant smile appeared on Yue Xiyan’s cool face.

“Let’s go!”

After sealing off the place, the two held hands and flew away side by side, heading south directly towards Shanhai Pass!

At the same time, in Shanhai Pass, Zixuan, the commander of the Xuanyi Guard who was secretly protecting Princess Pingyang and the personal maid of the current Empress, communicated with the Empress again after a month to report on the situation at Shanhai Pass.

“Your Majesty, for the past year, we have not received any news of Lord Li or Palace Master Yue.”

The current Empress, who appeared a bit more mature in the communication mirror, remained silent.

Only a hint of fatigue subtly showed in her phoenix eyes…