15: Chapter 15 Let's Cultivate Together

The moonlight was like water as the carriage slowly entered the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion.

Chen Shanzhi led the way, followed by Tang Xiaowu.

The two walked through the corridors of the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion and arrived at Chen Shanzhi's private courtyard.

"Come in."

Chen Shanzhi pushed open the door and lit the candles.

Tang Xiaowu followed behind him, crossing the threshold somewhat cautiously.

This was her first time truly entering a man's private space, and she felt somewhat apprehensive.

She had originally thought that the room of the capital's number one playboy would be extremely luxurious, perhaps even filled with a decadent air.

But the sight before her left her stunned.

The room was exceptionally simple, even plain.

A large red sandalwood bed, a desk piled with books, a few chairs—and nothing else.

Hanging on the wall was not a painting of a beauty, but a vigorous and powerful calligraphy of the character "Quiet."

On the desk, besides a few books, were scattered sheets of Xuan paper for calligraphy practice, the handwriting already showing some character.

"This..."

Tang Xiaowu blinked in disbelief.

This was the room of the legendary ignorant playboy heir who only knew how to eat, drink, and play?

"What? Do you think This Heir's room is too shabby?" Chen Shanzhi closed the door, turned to look at her, and said with a smile.

"No... no."

Tang Xiaowu shook her head quickly, her cheeks flushing slightly.

She suddenly remembered the words she had overheard in Yiyuan Garden.

So, he really was working hard in secret.

That playboy facade was just a deceptive act to avoid suspicion from the people in the palace.

Thinking back to that night when they were in that remote house.

He could have clearly done much worse things to her, but in the end, he had only held her while they slept for the night.

"Looking at it now, he is actually... a man of integrity."

In her heart, Tang Xiaowu silently gave Chen Shanzhi a "good person card."

She didn't realize at all that she was now frantically making excuses for Chen Shanzhi.

"Xiaowu?"

Seeing Tang Xiaowu suddenly spacing out, Chen Shanzhi waved his hand in front of her eyes.

"Ah?" Tang Xiaowu snapped out of it and hurriedly avoided his gaze. "What is it?"

"What are you thinking about? Your face is so red."

Chen Shanzhi leaned in closer, his gaze burning. "Are you thinking about what This Heir might do to you, now that we're alone in a room together?"

"You... what nonsense are you talking about!"

Tang Xiaowu bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, but her bright red earlobes betrayed her nervousness.

"Alright, I'm just teasing you."

Chen Shanzhi dropped his playful tone and said seriously, "This Heir isn't interested in that. It's getting late; let's hurry up and start Cultivating."

Hearing the word Cultivate, Tang Xiaowu felt a sense of relief, but a small, inexplicable sense of disappointment also welled up in her heart.

Was she not charming enough?

She was one of the four great talented women of Four Seas Academy, after all. Did he really only want to Cultivate and not do anything to her?

"Pah, pah, pah! Tang Xiaowu, what are you thinking!"

Tang Xiaowu quickly suppressed that terrible thought and forced herself to stay calm. "Fine, let's begin then."

Chen Shanzhi looked at her and asked with some confusion, "So how do we Cultivate? How can we increase my Cultivation speed?"

Tang Xiaowu bit her lip, walked to the bedside, turned her back to Chen Shanzhi, and slowly took off her shoes and socks.

A pair of exquisite, jade-like feet were revealed, the toes rounded and cute, emitting a faint luster like pearls.

As if sensing Chen Shanzhi's burning gaze, her face flushed, and she quickly climbed onto the bed and sat cross-legged.

Then she patted the spot next to her, her voice as thin as a mosquito's buzz:

"You... take off your shoes and come up. Sit next to me."

"We just need to be close to each other and circulate our Cultivation Technique."

Chen Shanzhi raised an eyebrow. That was it?

But this Cultivation requirement was quite nice; he liked it.

Without a word, he quickly took off his shoes, got on the bed, and sat down right next to Tang Xiaowu.

Whether intentional or not, as he sat down, their shoulders pressed tightly against each other.

Through their thin clothes, their skin touched.

"Mmh..."

Tang Xiaowu's body jolted, as if an electric current had traveled from her shoulder through her entire body, making half of her go numb.

Aside from being forced to be held by Chen Shanzhi that night, this was the second time in eighteen years she had been in such close contact with a man.

And unlike last time, this was happening while she was conscious and willing.

The feeling was shameful, yet there seemed to be a hint of inexplicable anticipation in her heart.

"Alright, why are you spacing out again? Let's hurry up and Cultivate."

Chen Shanzhi closed his eyes and began to circulate the True Essence within his body while activating the Yang Parasite.

Tang Xiaowu took a deep breath, forced down the strange feelings in her heart, and stole a glance at Chen Shanzhi.

Under the flickering candlelight, the profile of his face was well-defined, with sword-like eyebrows reaching his temples and a high-bridged nose.

With his eyes closed, he lost some of his usual flippancy and gained a sense of steadiness and heroism.

"This seems to be the first time I've looked at him so properly. I didn't expect him to be quite handsome."

If one ignored his bad reputation, just this face alone could charm many young women in the capital.

Since learning Chen Shanzhi's secrets by chance, Tang Xiaowu found herself becoming increasingly curious about this man.

He was like a mist; the closer she got, the more she wanted to see clearly what was hidden inside.

"Xiaowu?"

Chen Shanzhi suddenly opened his eyes and looked at her with confusion. "Why do I feel like the circulation speed of the True Essence in my body hasn't increased? Did something go wrong?"

"Ah? Oh!"

Tang Xiaowu felt like a thief caught red-handed. She hurriedly withdrew her gaze, her face instantly turning red down to her neck.

"I... I'll circulate the technique right now!"

She quickly closed her eyes, formed hand seals, and began to circulate the Lingxi Spirit-Connection Art, a technique only the Saintess of the Witch Clan would Cultivate.

This technique was the most profound in the Wu Clan, second only to their Body Refining technique.

It had many wonderful uses, one of which was that when the practitioner cultivated, they could select a member of the opposite sex nearby.

Through the attraction of the technique's aura, it could increase the other person's perception and absorption speed of the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi several times over during their Cultivation.

However, there were limitations: Tang Xiaowu, being in the Profound Gate Realm, could only provide two hours of acceleration.

As the technique circulated, a faint, ethereal light emanated from Tang Xiaowu, enveloping them both.

Chen Shanzhi felt as if the air around him had become thick. It wasn't resistance to sensing Spiritual Qi, but rather waves of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi concentrated to the extreme!

That Spiritual Qi seemed alive, scrambling to enter his pores, traveling through his Meridians, and finally surging into the six major apertures he had already opened.

His Cultivation speed, which was already fast due to the Yang Parasite, now felt like it was on a rocket, multiplying several times over again!

Rumble!

The True Essence in his body was like a surging river, roaring as it washed through his Meridians and apertures.

Incredible, it was simply incredible!

The feeling was like switching from a bicycle to a Ferrari; the increase in cultivation made his heart race.

One hour... two hours...

Chen Shanzhi was immersed in the pleasure of rapidly becoming stronger, completely forgetting the passage of time.

And Tang Xiaowu, amidst this blending of auras, gradually entered a state of focus.

Although their True Essence didn't touch directly, the attraction of their auras allowed her to clearly feel every breath and every heartbeat of Chen Shanzhi's.

The sense of compatibility with the technique was actually smoother than when she cultivated alone.

This was something she hadn't expected at all before Cultivating this way.

Two hours later.

That terrifying sense of acceleration began to slowly weaken. Since Tang Xiaowu was only in the Profound Gate Realm, the duration of the boost was limited to two hours.

Chen Shanzhi opened his eyes, which were flashing with brilliant light.

Although it had only been two hours, he felt that the total amount of True Essence in his body had increased by at least ten percent!

At this rate, breaking through the Xuanguan Seven Apertures would be just around the corner.

"How was it?" Tang Xiaowu also opened her eyes and asked expectantly.

This was her first time using this function of the technique, so she was still a bit apprehensive.

"It was fantastic!"

Chen Shanzhi turned his head, looked at her beautiful face, and couldn't help but reach out and pinch her cheek.

"Xiaowu, you're simply a treasure!"

Tang Xiaowu was stunned by this sudden intimacy; her cheeks burned, but she didn't pull away.

"I'm... I'm glad I could help."

...

The night passed without further incident.

The next morning, the two of them walked into the dining hall one after the other.

Seeing this, Chen Rou, who was eating porridge, almost dropped her spoon into the bowl.

"Shan'er? This is..."

Chen Rou looked at Tang Xiaowu, who was following behind Chen Shanzhi with a submissive, daughter-in-law-like appearance, and her heart skipped a beat.

This girl is far too beautiful, isn't she?

Her figure, her temperament—she's like a fairy stepped out of a painting.

More importantly, although Shan'er had fooled around in the past, he had never brought a woman back to the mansion to stay the night.

This was truly a first!

Then, an inexplicable sense of jealousy welled up in her heart.

"Does Shan'er... really have a wife now?"

"Now that he has a wife, will he stop being as clingy to me as before?"

"Will he no longer need me, his aunt?"

"Oh, Chen Rou! What are you thinking!"

Chen Rou cursed herself inwardly.

Shan'er has grown up; it's only a matter of time before he marries and starts a career. As his elder, she should be happy. How could she have such strange thoughts?

She took a deep breath, forced down the bitterness in her heart, and put on a warm smile.

"This girl is truly beautiful. Which family's daughter is she?"

"Aunt, this is Tang Xiaowu, my classmate from Four Seas Academy."

Chen Shanzhi sat down carelessly and pulled out a chair for Tang Xiaowu. "She ran into some trouble in the capital and has nowhere to stay for now, so I invited her to stay at the mansion for a few days."

"Oh, so you're classmates."

Chen Rou nodded thoughtfully, her gaze scanning Tang Xiaowu. That look was exactly like someone inspecting a future niece-in-law.

Tang Xiaowu felt uncomfortable under the scrutiny, her face turning as red as a ripe apple. She didn't dare to speak and just kept her head down, counting the grains of rice in her bowl.

"Ahem."

Chen Rou cleared her throat, served some food to both of them, and said seemingly casually:

"Shan'er, the Entrance Martial Arts Demonstration for Four Seas Academy is only a few days away. You should still... focus more of your mind on Cultivation these few days."

Even though young people are full of energy, you still need to take care of your body. Don't... overwork yourself too much."

The words were subtle, but everyone present understood the implication.

Tang Xiaowu was so embarrassed she wanted to find a hole to crawl into.

The aunt had misunderstood!

She thought they had... last night.

But she couldn't explain, so she could only bury her head even lower.

Chen Shanzhi, however, was thick-skinned. While taking large bites of a bun, he said indistinctly:

"Don't worry, Aunt, I know what I'm doing. I've been working hard on my Cultivation these past few days; I definitely won't let it affect anything important."

Seeing his carefree attitude, Tang Xiaowu felt a warmth in her heart.

He was clearly delaying his own Cultivation to help her, yet he took all the responsibility upon himself so she wouldn't feel any grievance.

"I must help him break through the Seven Apertures!" Tang Xiaowu vowed silently.

...

Over the next three days, the two of them led a regular and "sweet" life.

During the day, they strolled hand-in-hand in Yiyuan Garden. In the eyes of outsiders, they were inseparable and exceptionally affectionate.

Rumors flew all over the capital, saying that Tang Xiaowu, the "flower on the high peak," had been completely plucked by the Heir of the Zhenguo Marquis.

At night, they returned to the Marquis Mansion and closed the door to perform Dual Cultivation.

Of course, this Dual Cultivation was strictly in the literal sense.

With Tang Xiaowu's full assistance and the abnormal boost from the Yang Parasite, Chen Shanzhi's Cultivation progressed at a tremendous pace.

Not long after breaking through the Xuanguan Six Apertures, he had already completely stabilized his Cultivation at that level.

This Cultivation speed was even more terrifying than that of many geniuses in the Heaven Class of Four Seas Academy.

Fourth day, Yiyuan Garden.

They took another walk around, but there was still no sign of Madam Li.

Tang Xiaowu sat on a bench, looking somewhat despondent. She didn't speak, just stared quietly at the ground.

"Don't lose heart."

Chen Shanzhi handed her a bottle of water and comforted her, "If all else fails, I'll just have the thick skin to pay a visit to the Minister's Mansion. At worst, I'll be kicked out a few times, but eventually, we'll see her."

"No!"

Tang Xiaowu shook her head quickly. "That would make your reputation even worse! Everyone already misunderstands you..."

"Reputation is something I stopped caring about long ago."

Chen Shanzhi shrugged indifferently. "As long as I can save someone, who cares if it gets a bit worse? Besides, with a great beauty like you by my side, I don't care what others say."

Tang Xiaowu looked at his indifferent expression, and her heart trembled again.

The more he acted this way, the more guilty she felt.

"Thank you..." she said softly.

"We're close, aren't we? No need to be so polite," Chen Shanzhi said with a smile and a wave of his hand.

Just then, his gaze swept around casually and suddenly froze.

By the lotus pond not far away, a dignified and beautiful woman dressed in luxurious purple robes was leisurely feeding the fish, accompanied by a group of maids and elder servants.

Although the woman was over forty, she was well-preserved; one couldn't even see wrinkles on her face without looking closely.

This person was indeed the primary wife of the Minister of Rites, Madam Li!

"Xiaowu!"

Chen Shanzhi grabbed Tang Xiaowu's hand, a flash of joy in his eyes, and whispered:

"Look over there! Heaven rewards those who try; we've finally run into Madam Li!"