As Lu Zhexuan was still stabilizing her rapidly rising cultivation, Chen Kuang could only remain completely still and wait for her to awaken.
When the Daoist nun opened her eyes, she first felt the overflowing joy of enhanced cultivation. Just as she was about to speak to Chen Kuang about it, she moved slightly, only to stifle a muffled groan as her body went limp, falling directly into his arms.
And then she heard Chen Kuang's low, amused laughter, which made her instantly too embarrassed to lift her head.
Chen Kuang helped her up and gently separated them. After adjusting their clothing slightly, he looked at Lu Zhexuan, who had returned to her Daoist attire but could not hide the crimson charm lingering at the corners of her eyes, and said with a smile:
"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist. Your cultivation has progressed. You are now one step closer to the Great Dao."
When Lu Zhexuan turned to face him, her face still bore a bashful smile. But upon hearing those words, her expression froze for a moment. A faint trace of disappointment flickered in her eyes.
The half-spoken words of complaint that had almost left her lips suddenly felt too intimate, too inappropriate.
She steadied her heart and sighed inwardly, forcing a smile to remain on her lips, though the earlier shyness had completely vanished.
"Seems like you, too, have gained much, Tongjun."
Though Lu Zhexuan hadn't seen the full extent of the phenomena with her own eyes, the one who had caused three Great Daos to resonate simultaneously had been right before her. Naturally, she had felt it more acutely than anyone.
The Great Dao was close at hand, like a bronze bell ringing or jade chimes resounding, loud and clear, stirring her soul.
Though she understood little of what she felt, it was enough to leave her deeply shaken. It also helped her grasp the vast gulf in cultivation between her and Chen Kuang.
Yes, the cultivation she now possessed had only come from dual cultivating with him. What was there to be happy about?
She thought of the old Daoist riding a green deer, of the words he had spoken. In her heart, Lu Zhexuan renewed her resolve.
Mysterious Divine Path Sect... it was her only chance.
The Daoist nun who had always been cautious, who had nearly resigned herself to life in seclusion, now, for the second time, gave birth to an obsession with cultivation.
The first time had been the day she sat in her newly built temple, when an off-key melody from a distant zither drifted toward her...
Now, for the first time, ambition stirred within her. She no longer wished to merely follow behind this man step by step like a toddler learning to walk, watched over with kindly indulgence.
She wanted to stand beside him. She wanted to look him in the eyes, as an equal.
Lu Zhexuan's gaze fell on the Mistflower Silk blindfold covering Chen Kuang's eyes.
Even during dual cultivation, he had never removed that enchanted cloth, nor had he told her his real name.
In other words, by mortal standards, they had already shared the most intimate of bonds... yet she neither knew what he looked like nor even what he was called.
The Daoist nun bit her lip, and in the end, unable to contain her unwillingness, softly asked:
"May I... see Tongjun's true face?"
Chen Kuang hesitated, touched the Mistflower Silk over his eyes, then slowly shook his head:
"For reasons beyond my control, I cannot reveal my true identity to anyone. I ask for your understanding, Fellow Daoist."
As he said this, Chen Kuang felt somewhat guilty.
After all, when he first arrived, he had been seen by Xi Mengquan, and afterward had simply stopped hiding from her.
But aside from her, no one else had ever seen his real face.
Still, to avoid creating excessive butterfly effects, this was the only path he could take.
Even if it made Lu Zhexuan resent him, he would bear it.
At this point, he more or less understood: the "heartless man" that Jiang Yunqing had spoken of, the one who had caused Lu Zhexuan to disdain men for years, was probably... himself.
But there was nothing he could do.
Lu Zhexuan received his answer and looked at him, yet to Chen Kuang's surprise, she didn't get angry. Instead, she offered him a brilliant smile:
"You must have your reasons, Tongjun. I was the one being presumptuous."
She picked up a sachet that had been resting on the table and handed it to him:
"This wondrous Spiritual Treasure is called 'Heart-Guard.' It calms the mind and focuses the spirit. I used my past savings to purchase it... as a parting gift."
Chen Kuang blinked. "You're leaving?"
Lu Zhexuan nodded. Her voice was gentle, but her gaze was firm:
"I'm going to Mysterious Divine Path Sect."
Heaven had granted her countless advantages: her beauty, her cultivation technique, her unique physique... all pushing her toward a life dependent on men.
But she refused to accept that fate.
In this moment, Lu Zhexuan made her choice: she would walk the path of the Great Dao by her own strength, not through dual cultivation.
The gears of fate begin to turn... This phrase flashed across Chen Kuang's mind.
For Da Qi, and for the future Mysterious Divine Path Sect, this moment was likely the true beginning of destiny.
He smiled, just about to speak, when he suddenly sensed the aura around Lu Zhexuan erupt in a surge. The surrounding Spiritual Energy rushed toward her madly. He looked on in astonishment.
When her aura stabilized, Chen Kuang immediately sensed it: she had just condensed her divine sense and opened her Sea of Consciousness.
In that moment of determination and enlightenment, combined with her cultivation already being at the twelfth step of Ascending Tower Realm, she had directly broken through into the Sea-Cleaving Realm!
The two stared at each other in mutual surprise. Lu Zhexuan hesitated, then said:
"This... is epiphany?"
Until now, her cultivation had always been methodical, one step at a time. She had never experienced the brilliance unique to geniuses.
Chen Kuang chuckled and cupped his hands. "Indeed. Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Lu, for stepping into the middle third-grade realm."
Lu Zhexuan also laughed. Her heart had never felt so open, so free.
So it turned out... that in just a single thought, the world could be as vast as the sea and sky.
She picked up her sword and whisk. "I had come here to say goodbye anyway. Looking at the time, it's about right... I should go."
Chen Kuang opened the door and saw her off. "Then... may we part ways here."
At the doorway, Lu Zhexuan turned back and looked at him, speaking softly:
"I am very happy... that Tongjun was willing to dual cultivate with me."
Chen Kuang was momentarily speechless. "With your physique and cultivation technique, without it, your path would've been too difficult... besides, I was the one who benefited."
So it really was just out of pity... Lu Zhexuan shook her head, then took a deep breath, her gaze intense:
"I didn't do it to enhance my cultivation, nor for the sake of my Dao path."
"It's just because... the person is you. That's all."
"I've decided to seal away the "Phoenix Codex Sutra". I won't use it again."
Lu Zhexuan mustered her courage, spoke her truth plainly, then turned and fled like the wind, transforming into a streak of light and vanishing.
Chen Kuang stood rooted to the spot, dazed. Only after a long moment did he helplessly pick up the sachet and caress it gently. It still bore her faint signature scent, a delicate orchid fragrance.
Embroidered upon the sachet were five words:
"I am fond of you."
Chen Kuang murmured: "Yet the one you are fond of... does not know..."
Now things were well and truly...
Hopelessly unclear.
"...Sigh."
Chen Kuang looked up and exhaled heavily toward the sky.
To think she sealed away the "Phoenix Codex Sutra"... No wonder. No wonder that despite such a powerful dual cultivation technique, it still took Lu Zhexuan eight hundred years, only upon the brink of death, to ascend to the Profound Realm.
It was never because her talent was lacking.
It was simply that, she had never been willing.
Chen Kuang put away the sachet with great care and composed himself.
In his mind, the Killing Sword continued to tremble. Ever since it triggered the resonance with the Dao of Time and Space, it had been humming and pointing in a specific direction.
The Time and Space Dao on Chen Kuang's body was only part of the true path.
What the Killing Sword indicated, was the other half.
If he could reunite both, Chen Kuang might once again lay eyes upon the River of Time.
And he knew where it was: due east, at Void Chamber Mountain.
The resting place of the last great cultivator who nearly reached the Celestial Vastness Realm, a Sword Saint just half a step from Ascension, the peak of sword cultivation under Heaven!