Chapter 376: Form Is Emptiness, Emptiness Is Form
When Luo Wusheng found himself clutching his waist with clenched teeth, he realized he had been way too confident.
(This… this shouldn't be happening. What even is the principle behind this…?)
At first, the dual cultivation technique had worked flawlessly.
He could clearly feel that, amid the merging of yin and yang, the intertwining of essence and spirit, all his internal cultivation systems were steadily progressing.
Even better, under the effects of his "increased critical hit state," he felt completely maxed out—his mindset drifting higher and higher.
As expected of me—reconstructing a mere dual cultivation method? Easy.
That was what he had been thinking as he flirted with his beloved throughout the process, his mind wandering in all sorts of directions.
"Ah, wife— raise this leg a little— Stop, right there—that's the perfect posture— I'm not messing around, this really is how you nurture a dual-cultivation sword embryo."
"This position's a bit hard to maintain… Shall we move to the pool?"
"Call me da—cough, call me husband, just once?"
Sublime.
This is what life's about.
But somewhere along the way, he noticed something strange.
His progress in refining the golden blood seal at his brow using the Hemal Sanguine Technique had started to slow down.
It seemed the deeper parts of the seal were far more tenacious. Though the essence was still golden blood, the underlying structure became increasingly resistant—far more difficult for the blood refinement technique to pry open.
That meant the process would take longer than he had originally estimated.
It's not a huge problem on its own.
Even if it was stubborn, a few more rounds of dual cultivation should take care of it.
But… what if it takes too long?
What if even a full day of cultivation still isn't enough to refine it fully?
Even setting that concern aside—was it really okay to engage in dual cultivation for such an extended time?
Moderation in all things was key. True mastery was found in cycles of tension and release, like "nine shallow, one deep."
After weighing his options, Luo Wusheng decided to suppress his cautious side and activate the stronger effect embedded within his custom-designed dual cultivation technique.
Going slow had its merits—helping stabilize spiritual energy and avoid typical pitfalls of dual cultivation techniques.
But in this situation… better to just use other techniques for spiritual refinement later.
(Now that I think about it… I still haven't fully mastered the Talisman Suppression Technique or the Sword of Words technique. If I could just—wait, why am I even thinking about this right now?)
Just as he increased the "output," Luo Wusheng froze.
Then his expression completely changed.
That's when the problem struck.
Happiness—gone in an instant.
Somewhere in the midst of it all, he vaguely heard his wife's voice:
"Stop moving around so much… Fine. Let's change positions. You're on the bottom."
"It really is hard to do this in the pool… let's go back up."
"Can't hold on? Then call me—mommy…"
Oh, wait—that last line didn't happen. That was something Luo Wusheng hallucinated in his fading consciousness.
And thus, we arrive at the present moment.
Luo Wusheng had once again reverted into a salt-fish state, lying limp on the ground.
His eyes were vacant, yet oddly enlightened—like a man who had just attained some profound truth.
Unlike last time, however, his body was glowing with visible golden light.
Particularly at the back of his head, where a faint, blurry halo shimmered, emitting Buddhist light that illuminated his peaceful expression.
Ling Shuangxue, upon catching just a glimpse of him, immediately flushed with embarrassment and quickly got off, lifting her skirt.
At that very moment, the fluctuation in her spiritual energy had already risen to the verge of the late stage Nascent Soul realm—just a step away.
...
Luo Wusheng still couldn't figure it out.
Where exactly had it all gone wrong?
(How do I put this… this feeling of "succeeding but only halfway" really is something else…)
The Holy Saint of the Demon Sect had complicated feelings.
Honestly, in a certain sense, the improvements he had made to the dual cultivation method were a complete success.
Even though, on the surface, he looked as dried-out as a discarded shrimp shell, deep down he knew—this was the best state he'd ever been in.