Dual Cultivation (I)

Chen Wentian and the six women returned to Ten Thousand Flower Valley. Zhou Ziyin met the five new disciples gracefully and assigned them rooms and servants. She was perfectly behaved although he could sense she probably would be very feisty in bed that night out of jealousy. Wu Qianyu, ever the serious girl, only stayed one day before departing again to slay demons.

Chen Wentian let the new disciples wander freely for a few days to relax and get used to their new environment. He had every meal with them and got to know them better.

They were all orphans or had no knowledge of their parents, which was the Glacier Sect's preference. Orphan girls would not complain about the harsh sect life and would obediently remain chaste for their entire lives. They had entered the sect around the same time and had similar talent and achievements. At the sect, they withstood perpetual frigid cold and desolate environments in order to cultivate. Many years of training, missions, and hardship made them a pretty close-knit group.

Li Yuechan and the rest were completely blown away by the environment of their new sect. It was so green and vibrant within the valley and so warm. Yet it also held ice and snowcapped mountains which they were used to. They never had servants take care of their daily needs and it felt wonderful. Wu Qianyu wasn't lying when she said their new master was around all the time. He was very caring and attentive, unlike their old master who they would rarely get to see.

After some time, Chen Wentian called them all together one morning.

"Greetings, master!" Their delightful chorus really made his heart soar. More is definitely better!

"Good, good! First things first," He took out five glittering sect badges and handed to them. "Yin crystals carved with a plum blossom; symbolizing perseverance, hope, and beauty that glows brightest in winter. Welcome to your new home but don't forget about where you came from."

"Thank you!" They held their new crystal sect badges with joy.

"Now, onto important matters!" Chen Wentian led them to the courtyard where he prepared six seats in a circle, "Sit."

He also took a seat. "There are many cultivation paths I can guide you on. But ultimately, my goal is for each of my disciples to become an immortal. In order to do that, you need to find the path that suits you."

"Now, I already have an idea but tell me clearly, your age and cultivation." He looked to his right at Li Yuechan.

"Yes master, I am twenty-nine and at the 4th Level of Spirit Initiate." She answered.

Song Wushuang went next, "Master, I am twenty-eight and at the late 2nd Level of Spirit Initiate."

Xu Lanyi was twenty-eight as well and at the 3rd Level of Spirit Initiate.

The twins Su Xue and Su Yue were both twenty-seven and at the 2nd Level of Spirit Initiate.

"Relax your bodies and calmly meditate, I will spread my spiritual energy to sense your constitution." Chen Wentian said as his blue spiritual force encompassed them all.

He studied each of them carefully, reading the state of their bodies and the nature of the energy from their dantian. The Eternal Winter Sutra they cultivated was quite interesting. He grasped the basic idea of it as he studied their yin energy. The sutra focused on generating and storing icy yin energy with their bodies. They would then shape and reform it until they gained full control over it.

The key was virgin yin. There are many Daos that leveraged virgin yin or virgin yang in some form or another due to their mysterious properties. In the Eternal Winter Sutra, virgin yin was used to attract and absorb and acted as an important catalyst. This was why the netherworld yin energy collected within their lower dantian where their virgin yin was located. Without the virgin yin, the Eternal Winter Sutra indeed wouldn't work. They couldn't control the remaining ice elemental energy and they couldn't gather more.

"Continue to meditate, even without divine arts, you are still cultivators at the Spirit Initiate Realm. What is lost cannot be gained again, but you can seek a new path. Don't be discouraged." Chen Wentian soothed them.

He continued to bathe them in his spiritual energy like a warm bath as he also thought about what to do. Their bodies held a tremendous and frightening affinity for ice and yin. He suspected that the netherworld yin energy had a hand in this. The ice fiend had sucked netherworld yin energy for thousands of years and thus each woman had absorbed an astounding amount!

Chen Wentian was familiar with divine arts that dealt with yin or yang or the elements. The new disciples could cultivate a new ice art that didn't require virgin yin. However, he didn't have a suitable one on hand.

Dual cultivation was another option, but it had some constraints. It was a special specialized cultivation path that focused on the joining of yin and yang in harmony. Usually it required a man and a woman at similar cultivation levels. Too much imbalance would harm the weaker one and would not benefit the stronger one. Chen Wentian was able to save the five women with dual cultivation principles only because the terrifying netherworld yin energy could cancel out his dragon flames.

Dual cultivation also meant exactly that, they cultivated one-on-one for hours and hours. There wasn't enough time in a day for him to dual cultivate with five women. This is why dual cultivators were usually husband and wife or Dao companions dedicated to each other. One master and a bunch of disciples simply didn't work!

He thought back to the netherworld yin. He sensed that his new disciples had experienced a decent jump in cultivation after the ordeal. Being able to absorb both netherworld ice and dragon flame energies at the Spirit Initiate level was simply a cheat. That old witch Murong would have to spend a lot of energy to cultivate her disciples with the Frozen Netherworld Jade. Yet to him it was a simple matter of human anatomy.

Thinking about that day in the cave, he desired to embrace them again. His erotic train of thought was actually useful and he came up with a genius idea.

"Ahem... disciples... I have thought of two possible paths." He said.

They came out of their meditation and looked at him eagerly.

"First method is simple but a little uncertain. You all have a similar talent and affinity for ice and yin based arts. You can't cultivate the Eternal Winter Sutra but you can cultivate a different immortal ice art that doesn't require virgin yin. I don't have one right now, but I promise I will find one for you as soon as possible. Thus, it's simple but you'll have to wait."

"The second method is fast but it requires dedication and conviction. It will be very painful and you will suffer a lot. However, I guarantee you'll very quickly reach the peak of Spirit Initiate Realm."

"Master! I am not afraid of any pain and suffering!" Xu Lanyi said, "And my sisters are the same."

She looked at the other four and they nodded in agreement.

Song Wushuang had a curious look, "Master, how quickly are you talking about?"

"If your heart is strong enough..." Chen Wentian held up two fingers, "Within two years, even for Su Xue and Su Yue."

"Wow!" "Master is amazing!" The twins exclaimed.

"That's not possible! Even our old sect's best disciples don't have that kind of talent." Xu Lanyi argued.

"Ah, but my method is special. Remember what I said, dedication and conviction and pain and suffering. You all felt an increase to your cultivation after the ice fiend, right?"

They all nodded.

Chen Wentian smiled, "Good! I have a surprise..."