Dual Cultivation

Two figures sat on the highest point of the Eternal Retribution Cliff, one old man and the other a handsome man with otherworldly features. The old man emitted an ancient aura that caused the surrounding space to twist and turn, and the young man casually sat beside him, looking as though the heavy atmosphere did not bother him at all.

"Young man, what crimes have you committed that got yourself stuck in this gloomy place? You do not look like someone who belongs here…" The old man asked, his gaze filled with interest as he looked at the young man, who was surrounded by a noble aura that calmed the space surrounding him.

The young man showed a slight smile. "I have done many things in this life, one such as devouring the forbidden fruit created by His Majesty, the Heavenly Emperor," he said in a calm voice.

The old man lifted his brows in surprise, and his gaze flickered with shock as he looked at the young man. Despite the vague explanation, he instantly understood what the young man was trying to say.

"You… you… you…" Unsure of what to say, the old man stuttered nonstop. To be shocked speechless, this was a first even for someone as ancient as him, not to mention his wide eyes that hadn't been this wide for countless years.

"I'm more surprised that you are still alive after all that than what you've done!"

The young man only smiled at his words.

Suddenly, the old man burst out laughing: "I can already imagine the raging face of the Heavenly Emperor when he first heard the news! Ahahaha! Young man, I have taken a liking to you! What is your name?"

The ancient aura surrounding the old man had long disappeared. He looked and acted more like a kind grandpa than anything now.

"The name's Su Yang," he responded.

"Then Su Yang… would you like to leave this place?" The old man suddenly grinned, showing his two rows of yellow teeth.

Su Yang turned to look at the old man's face for the first time; it was filled with wrinkles, almost like a dried-up fruit. However, despite his ghost-like face, his eyes were as clear as water, and they shone brighter than the brightest stars in this eternal night sky.

"What's the point?" Su Yang said a moment later: "Even if I can leave this place, it will only trigger the Heavenly Emperor's anger even further. I think I prefer sitting here until my soul rots away than having to constantly deal with the Heavenly Emperor's wrath."

"What if I say that you can leave and not have to worry about the Heavenly Emperor?" The old man kept the grin on his face, but deep in his gaze flickered a profound light.

"Then what? What should I do after leaving? Continue living the sinful life that I have been living for the past thousands of years? Or take revenge on those who wrongly accused me?"

"That… is up to you."

Su Yang suddenly reached his hands towards the night sky and made a grasping motion, almost as if he wished to grab ahold of the stars shining above. "Then… if I one day decide to leave this place, I will…" He suddenly stopped talking and smiled: "Forget it. I think I'd still rather be lazy in this place until I die."

The old man suddenly started laughing again: "You are still too young to completely hide your desire from this ancient one, Su Yang! Even if you stay here for all eternity, can you really die from old age? An immortal such as yourself? Hehehe… your wish… I shall grant it!" He suddenly stood up and waved his sleeves, and the night sky that hasn't changed since the creation of this Eternal Retribution Cliff suddenly turned to day, bewildering every soul that dwelled there.

"You… who are you?" Su Yang stared at the grinning old man with wide eyes.

The old man said: "Just an old man with nothing better to do. Right… before I send you away, I'd like to thank you for what you did."

"Thank me…? What do you mean by tha–"

Before Su Yang could ask the old man why he was being thanked, a bright white light suddenly engulfed the world, taking away his vision.

–

–

–

Immediately after getting blinded by the white light, Su Yang felt a sharp pain near his heart, like he had just been stabbed by a sword. He snapped his eyes wide open to see a handsome young man with a vicious grin on his face, standing in front of him on a wide stage, and in his grasp was a steel sword.

"Che. I narrowly missed his heart," mumbled the handsome young man.

Su Yang looked down to see a sword penetrating his body, and he instantly became alert.

"Scram!"

Within Su Yang's body suddenly exploded an overwhelming aura filled with killing intent, causing the handsome young man before him and the dozens of people surrounding their stage to cough up a mouthful of blood.

And because the handsome young man was standing so close to Su Yang, he directly fell unconscious after coughing up blood.

The place instantly turned dead silent, and Su Yang pulled out the sword that was still stuck in his chest, ignoring the pain.

After taking the sword out of his chest, Su Yang took this moment to quickly search through his memories.

In his memories, he found out that he was inside the body of a young cultivator with the same name as his – Su Yang, and that he has the exact same looks as his younger self. However, the similarities stopped there and everything else was different. His cultivation base was near non-existent when compared to his old cultivation base, and he is currently a disciple in this Profound Blossom Sect – a sect that heavily focuses on dual cultivation – where two people of the opposite gender indulge in sexual practices for cultivation! It is almost as if he had traveled back in time to when he was just a young boy who had recently started cultivating!

As for how he got into this situation, the 'Su Yang' before him had gone to court a female disciple named Xing Xing and ended up offending her current partner, Yan Ming, the now unconscious handsome young man before him, which resulted in a deathmatch between them.

"What in Heaven's name is happening?! How did I get here? What happened to the Eternal Retribution Cliff?!" Su Yang suddenly recalled how the old man in the Eternal Retribution Cliff had said that he will help him leave the place.

"Did he send me back in time… No… I don't recall ever becoming a disciple of this Profound Blossom Sect… Then..."

In the midst of Su Yang's thoughts, a loud shout suddenly broke the silence. "Everybody halt your movements!"

A middle-aged man jumped onto the stage and looked at Su Yang and the unconscious Yan Ming with a frown. "Who authorized the two of you to have a deathmatch today? Scram before I call for the disciplinary squad!"

"Yes, Elder Sun!" The disciples around the stage hurriedly scrambled away, leaving only Su Yang and Yan Ming on the stage.

Su Yang decided to leave this place first and ponder later. Before he jumped off the stage, the middle-aged man called Elder Sun looked at him and said: "What's your name?"

"Su Yang," he replied in a calm tone.

Elder Sun nodded and no longer looked at him and directly went to pick up the unconscious Yan Ming to take him away.

After leaving the stage, Su Yang searched through his memories and began walking towards his living quarters.