Mei Ling arrived at Lin Wei's shack precisely at dawn, carrying a bag of research materials and looking like she'd barely slept.
"You're early," Lin Wei said, opening the door. He'd been up for an hour already, cleaning his shack and setting up the recording array in the least pathetic configuration possible.
"I'm always early, punctuality is important." Mei stepped inside, then froze. "Oh, this is... smaller than I expected."
Lin Wei's shack was barely ten feet across. One sleeping mat, a shelf with books, his father's old alchemy tools and not much else. Having another person in here made the space feel even smaller.
"Yeah, It's not much but it's private..."
"Private is good." Mei set her bag down, then stood awkwardly in the center of the room, clearly unsure what to do with her hands. "So... how do we... start?"
[Oh this is DELICIOUS. She's nervous, You're nervous. The air is THICK with tension, perfect content setup!]
Lin Wei ignored the system's commentary. "Right, So I was thinking we'd demonstrate the modified circulation pattern you designed, I'll explain the technique while you show the energy flow. Just basic documentation."
"Okay, that sounds reasonable." Mei adjusted her glasses. "Should I... where should I stand?"
"In front of the array, probably. Here—" Lin Wei guided her to face the recording jade slip. She was shorter than him, the top of her head barely reached his shoulder and standing this close, he could smell her perfume, mixed old books.
[Current distance: 2 feet. Optimal filming distance for dual demonstration: 6 inches. You need to get CLOSER.]
"We're fine where we are," Lin Wei thought back firmly.
[You're NOT fine, the camera can't capture both your energy signatures at that distance. CLOSER.]
"Is this good?" Mei asked, still standing rigidly.
"Actually, the array needs to capture both our Qi signatures simultaneously for the documentation." Lin Wei hesitated. "We need to be closer... Like... a lot closer."
Mei's face went pink. "How much closer?"
"Six inches, apparently."
[MINIMUM six inches. Three inches is optimal. Ideally touching, but I know you're both too sexually repressed for that yet.]
"That's very close," Mei said quietly.
"Yeah, If you're not comfortable—"
"No, it's fine. It's for research, research requires accurate data collection." She stepped forward, closing the distance until they were almost touching. "Like this?"
Lin Wei could feel the heat radiating off her body. "Yeah, that's... that's good."
They stood there for a moment, both acutely aware of how little space separated them.
[Her heart rate just spiked, so did yours. This is EXCELLENT. Now start recording before you both die of awkwardness!]
Lin Wei activated the array with a shaky hands.
The jade slip started glowing softly... recording.
"Okay, Uh..." Lin Wei tried to remember what he'd planned to say. "This is a demonstration of modified Lust Qi circulation, designed by Mei Ling for cultivators with non-standard meridian structures."
"You don't have to use my name," Mei whispered.
"Why not? It's your design, you should get credit." Lin Wei cleared his throat. "Mei, if you could activate your Qi circulation?"
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her Qi signature flared to life—a warm, vibrant energy that felt like summer fire. It was surprisingly powerful, completely at odds with her shy demeanor.
[Holy shit, her Qi capacity is MASSIVE. She wasn't kidding about having talent. She's been hiding this?]
"Your Qi is incredible," Lin Wei said without thinking.
Mei's eyes snapped open. "It's too much, isn't it? I can never control it properly when people are watching."
"No, it's amazing. Just... let it flow naturally. Don't try to control it, just circulate through the pattern you designed."
She closed her eyes again, nervously. Her Qi began moving through the modified circulation pattern—the one she'd mapped out yesterday. The energy flowed smoothly, efficiently, exactly as the theory predicted.
"See how the flow splits at the third gate?" Lin Wei narrated, trying to focus on teaching instead of how close Mei was standing. "That's the key modification, traditional methods force energy through damaged meridians, but this pattern routes around them."
[Good. Now you need to synchronize with her. Mirror her circulation pattern so the camera can capture the comparison.]
Lin Wei activated his own Qi, letting it flow through the same pattern. The moment his energy touched hers, something happened.
Their Qi signatures resonated.
Lin Wei felt it a harmonic vibration where their energies met. Mei gasped, her eyes flying open.
"Did you feel that?" she whispered.
"Yeah, what was that?"
[THAT was Qi resonance! Your energies are naturally compatible! This is what I've been telling you! You two are PERFECT cultivation partners!]
"The theory mentioned resonance," Mei said, her voice still shaky. "When compatible cultivators synchronize, their energies amplify each other but I never thought... it's supposed to be rare."
"We should document this," Lin Wei said, trying to sound professional, but still failing too. "For research."
"Right... Research." Mei closed her eyes again. "Keep circulating, let's see how strong the resonance gets."
They both focused on the cultivation pattern, their energies circling through the same pathways. The resonance grew stronger, lin Wei could feel Mei's Qi now, warm and bright, weaving through his own damaged meridians and somehow making them feel less broken.
[Resonance strength: 34%. That's INSANE for first synchronization. Most partners take months to reach this level. You two are naturals!]
"Your meridians," Mei said softly, eyes still closed. "I can feel them, the damage pattern is... it's worse than I thought. How have you been cultivating at all?"
"Stubbornness mostly."
"No, seriously. This level of damage should make any cultivation impossible but you're circulating smoothly right now. How?"
"The Lust Qi helps, It doesn't force through the damage like orthodox methods. It... adapts around it."
"That's fascinating, and when we synchronize, the resonance is actually healing the microfractures in your pathways. Look—" She opened her eyes. "Can you feel it? The warm sensation along your meridian walls?"
Lin Wei could feel it, her fire Qi was flowing through the resonance, gently warming his damaged pathways. It didn't hurt... it felt good, comforting even.
"Holy shit," he breathed. "Are you healing me?"
"Not healing, helping. The theory predicted this, compatible partners in resonance create a feedback loop. Your Lust Qi gives me stability and control, my fire Qi helps repair your damage. It's symbiotic."
[THIS IS IT. This is why dual cultivation works! You two need to do this REGULARLY. Preferably naked, but we'll work up to that!]
Lin Wei immediately tried to redirect his thoughts, but the moment he got distracted, his Qi fluctuated.
The resonance spiked.
Mei made a small sound, almost a gasp and swayed forward slightly.
Lin Wei's hands shot out instinctively to steady her, gripping her shoulders.
They froze like that—him holding her, both their Qis surging with resonance, faces inches apart.
"Sorry," Lin Wei said. "Are you okay?"
"Your Qi spiked when you touched me." Mei's voice was barely a whisper. "The physical contact amplified the resonance, theory predicted this too but experiencing it is..."
"Intense?"
"Very intense." She didn't pull away. "We should... we should document this... For research purposes..."
"For research," Lin Wei echoed, not moving his hands.
[The resonance is at 47% now. Physical contact is MASSIVELY amplifying the effect. You should definitely explore this further. Purely for research, of course. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]
They stood like that for a few seconds, him holding her shoulders, her hands somehow resting on his chest, both of them barely breathing.
Then Mei seemed to realize where her hands were and jerked back, face bright red now.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to... I wasn't trying to..."
"It's fine." Lin Wei dropped his hands quickly. "The resonance made us both... reactive."
"Yes, reactive, that's a good word for it." Mei wouldn't meet his eyes. "We should, um. We should probably end the recording here, I think we got enough data."
Lin Wei deactivated the array, grateful for the excuse to look away from her.
[THAT WAS INCREDIBLE! The tension! The chemistry! The accidental touching! This is premium content! Your subscribers are going to LOSE THEIR MINDS!]
"So," Mei said, still not looking at him. "Should we review the footage? For documentation purposes?"
"Yeah, let's see what we got."
They sat down on opposite sides of the shack—as far apart as the small space allowed, and Lin Wei projected the recording from the jade slip.
The footage was... electric.
Even just watching it, the tension was visible. The way they stood so close, the moment Mei's Qi flared to life, the camera had captured it as visible light like flames dancing under her skin. The resonance appeared as golden threads connecting their energy fields and the moment when they'd touched—the resonance had exploded into brilliant light.
"That's actually beautiful," Mei said softly. "The energy visualization is perfect, you can see exactly how the modified pattern works."
"It's also extremely kinda suggestive??" Lin Wei said.
"What? No it's not, It's just cultivation—" Mei watched the moment where his hands gripped her shoulders, the way their bodies had swayed together. The look on both their faces. "Oh, Oh no.."
"Yeah."
"We look like we're about to kiss."
"We really do."
They sat in mortified silence.
[This is PERFECT! The chemistry is undeniable! Your subscribers will eat this up! Post it immediately!]
"We can't post this," Mei said. "People will think we're... that we were trying to..."
"Make 'those' content?"
"YES!" Mei buried her face in her hands. "This was supposed to be professional research documentation!"