IS Chapter 23
by VolareYe Zhuo’s eyes closed and then opened again.
The scene before him remained unchanged.
Cultivation, whether it be the path of immortals, the path of Buddhas, or other methods, all require a pure heart, few desires, and the elimination of distractions. Only with a mind like still water can one truly understand the connection between heaven, humanity, and the true self.
Sword cultivation, even more so, requires a mind devoid of external objects to reach the realm of unity between man and sword.
How could he have let himself fall into this state?
Especially with what Li Yuan was doing now.
His thoughts were no longer clear, and even his body had become utterly foreign. The sensation of his skin brushing against the feather quilt was magnified into an indescribable feeling.
He really didn’t want to experience this kind of sensation.
Li Yuan inexplicably felt that Ye Zhuo wanted to grab something. He offered his wrist, and as expected, it was tightly grasped by the other man. However, he seemed even more resistant, shaking his head in confusion.
It wasn’t the first time he’d seen this scene. Even though he had experienced it before, Ye Zhuo never seemed to adapt.
More than just not adapting, Ye Zhuo was already at the end of his rope.
Was there a problem with the act of dual cultivation itself, or was it just Li Yuan’s problem?
Ye Zhuo felt that it shouldn’t be like this.
But everything was completely beyond his control.
“Ye Zhuo, the technique,” Li Yuan said near his ear.
A vague response.
Muffled gasps and fingers clinging to his shoulder, tightening more and more.
Li Yuan: “If you don’t want to speak, you can bite me instead.”
Ye Zhuo didn’t speak, beginning to recall the contents of the cultivation technique. Of course, he still remembered, even with the Dragon Scent Guide constantly eroding his thoughts.
Before dual cultivation, it was already like this. When it finally truly began, he only felt even more confused and at a loss for words.
Fortunately, the dragon did remember the technique and was using it with him.
The spiritual energy finally began to flow, and clear streams flowed through his meridians. He could feel the spiritual energy slowly spreading within.
His attention, which had been entirely seized by the dragon’s movements, finally returned a little, bringing a moment of clarity.
Then, Li Yuan scooped him up and placed him in the center of the feather quilt, moving slightly.
He only felt a dazzling blankness before his eyes.
The fleeting moment of clarity that he had struggled to maintain was instantly swept away by the ocean of Dragon Scent Guide, disappearing without a trace.
“…”
Those words of the cultivation technique, the circulation of energy, briefly surfaced in his consciousness, and then shattered, sinking into the endless depths of the sea.
And Ye Zhuo was already in it.
There were a few moments when Ye Zhuo actually confused Li Yuan with his own Life-Bound Sword.
Subconsciously, he didn’t want to continue sinking, so he could only grab onto Li Yuan, attaching himself to him.
The dragon seemed to like this action very much.
…He didn’t want to describe how he felt Li Yuan’s reaction to this action.
Moreover, this dragon didn’t seem to be circulating the cultivation technique anymore.
At this point, this dual cultivation had completely failed.
Ye Zhuo just wanted to end this meaningless thing quickly. He thought that he should still be able to communicate with Li Yuan now.
But the words he spoke seemed to be misunderstood by the dragon, evolving into a scene he never wanted to recall again.
I’ll definitely kill it when I wake up. On the eve of his consciousness completely sinking into chaos, Ye Zhuo thought.
When the Dragon Scent Guide’s aura finally seemed to gradually dissipate, Li Yuan was still looking at Ye Zhuo.
Long hair was scattered messily behind him, and his jade-like body was sunken in a sea of white. But those distinct and gorgeous features were even more intense than the contrast between black and white.
Bright red Buddhist beads were wrapped around his fair wrist, the color echoing the scattered clothes by the bed, as well as the shades of red on this person’s body.
And the still uneven breathing, the misty and damp eyes.
Such a scene would make one’s mind go blank if one looked at it for too long.
Li Yuan suddenly wanted to kiss that wrist.
But there were many other places he wanted to touch. The beads were engraved with Buddhist mantras, making him feel that if he really did it, it would be disrespectful to the gods and Buddhas.
In the end, Li Yuan gently nibbled on those beautiful knuckles, caressing them a few times.
Ye Zhuo raised his eyes and looked at him calmly.
His eyes seemed to have finally regained some consciousness.
Like a water lily that opens in the morning and closes in the evening, at the most magnificent moment of the day, those gorgeous petals will gradually sway and unfold, like dazzling flowing clouds.
When dusk falls, they will gently close again, not showing their inner depths.
And now, it was indeed getting late.
“Dragon Li Yuan,” the man said with a cold gaze, “Why didn’t you circulate the cultivation technique for a whole day?”
This person!
Li Yuan had never heard such an unreasonable question in his life.
“It was clearly you who were unclear-headed and stopped the technique first,” Li Yuan said, “What’s the use of me circulating the dual cultivation technique alone? It naturally dissipated.”
Ye Zhuo frowned: “I stopped it, but couldn’t you have stopped too? Wake me up and try again.”
“?”
Was that something he could stop? There had never been such a saying!
Moreover, would you really wake up if I called you?
Li Yuan assumed that Ye Zhuo was out of his mind, talking nonsense.
He didn’t speak, and Ye Zhuo could naturally see what this dragon was thinking. He clearly just didn’t want to stop himself.
Ye Zhuo was immediately annoyed: “Do you even want to cultivate?”
“Of course I do.” Li Yuan reached out to put clothes on him.
When he’s not clear-headed, anything is fine. But as soon as he becomes even a little lucid, he starts to get upset. This person is really…
While thinking this, he reached out to brush away the messy hair from the man’s temples.
Sure enough, his wrist was grabbed. Ye Zhuo looked at him expressionlessly.
Li Yuan had never seen someone with such a bad temper.
But thinking about what had just happened, the way this person frowned when he couldn’t take it anymore, and the marks he bit into his shoulder.
For humans, it seems like it can be really hard. It’s only natural for him to have a bad temper.
Li Yuan used his other hand to stroke his cheek, his fingertip rubbing against the man’s slightly red eyes.
“Okay, then let’s just say it’s all my fault,” Li Yuan said, a hint of trouble in his eyes, “But I can’t stop either. The Dragon Scent Guide doesn’t just affect you.”
When the Dragon Scent Guide isn’t there, he doesn’t know how to release it. But once it’s released, he doesn’t know how to control it.
Did their dragon elders really feel comfortable letting the dragon cub out the door like this?
The dragon’s words were so confident that Ye Zhuo admired him.
So you’re saying it’s okay to be unskilled as long as you have a good reason?
“Then how can you learn?”
Did he even need to ask? Li Yuan said, “The more I use it, the more I’ll naturally learn.”
Ye Zhuo was speechless.
And he felt that he wouldn’t be able to leave this place tonight.
Because he smelled the Dragon Scent Guide aura again.
…Or rather, it had never dissipated at all. It was only because the dragon had been temporarily satisfied that it had slowed down slightly.
This reminded Ye Zhuo of the Great Yao Meteor Crystal.
A long time ago, the Swordsmith had said that he wanted to use this meteorite crystal to forge his Life-Bound Sword.
But he had seen that meteorite crystal and felt that it shouldn’t be his sword. And the sword he wanted wasn’t it.
Leave that meteorite crystal for someone else, he said.
But such a peerless material would be hard to come by in the future.
He said, I’ll find my own sword myself.
Later, he read many books about dragons, and quite a few of them described the dragons’ temperament and nature.
At that time, he felt that some of the descriptions might be too dogmatic.
Now it seemed that what was written in the books was completely accurate.
At this moment, the dragon was still trying to put his clothes on him.
It was ridiculous, and Ye Zhuo was too lazy to push him away.
When a stick of incense’s time had passed, and the dressing was quite successful, Li Yuan finally slowly realized, when he was about to fasten the first button on the collar of the person in his arms, that the Dragon Scent Guide hadn’t dissipated at all.
It was only because he had become accustomed to the previous intense environment of the Dragon Scent Guide that he felt as if it had dissipated after it had weakened slightly.
He also suddenly understood where Ye Zhuo’s dead-fish-like attitude came from.
“…”
“Try again, can we?” he said to the man. “This time, you haven’t gotten used to it yet, so you can’t concentrate on circulating the technique. Once you get used to it, it won’t be like this. As long as you remember to circulate the technique, I will too.”
Ye Zhuo didn’t even want to look at him: “You think I’d believe you?”
To be honest, this was the first time he’d seen Ye Zhuo like this.
He found it quite interesting for no reason.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” Li Yuan said seriously, “I won’t touch you if you don’t want me to.”
Ye Zhuo: “You sound hypocritical when you say that.”
Li Yuan: “.”
Of course, he was saying these words sincerely. Although Ye Zhuo’s overreaction to the Dragon Scent Guide was purely the result of his own suffering, how could he force him if he really didn’t want to?
The Dragon Scent Guide’s aura still permeated the air, as if it had become the incense of this inner chamber.
…It seemed like he was being a bit hypocritical.
Li Yuan: “Then what should we do?”
Looking at the moon in the sky through the thin window curtains, Ye Zhuo breathed slowly.
After a while, he moved.
He raised his hand and took out a carved silver incense ball.
Li Yuan vaguely remembered that this was something that Fourth Palace Master Feng Jiang had given to Ye Zhuo, saying it was…for clearing the mind?
He used spiritual energy to ignite the incense inside.
A cold aura suddenly brushed against his face, as if his thoughts had become clearer.
“Just this once,” Ye Zhuo said.
Li Yuan couldn’t help but lower his head and kiss his forehead.