Dual Cultivation System: My Cultivation Was Crippled, So I Rely on Intimacy to Level Up

Chapter 265: The Arrogant Wife Returns to Test Her Husband

Zhou Kai stepped out of the quiet room and stood at the precipice of Taiji Peak. The mountain winds whipped his robes as he gazed down at the churning sea of clouds.

“Hongxiao has a wild nature; she can’t sit still on the quiet Taiji Peak. It’s normal for her to run off to Brilliance City to cause trouble.”

His brow furrowed slightly. “But Youci formed her Golden Core three months ago. Why hasn’t she returned to the Sect yet?”

The thought had barely settled when a black dot pierced the horizon at the edge of the sky.

It expanded rapidly, accompanied by a piercing shriek that tore through the clouds like ripping silk. In an instant, a magnificent yet eerie black palanquin materialized, hovering arrogantly above Taiji Peak.

The Dark Cloud Soul Chasing Sedan.

Black and white flames burned at its four corners. One side radiated scorching heat, the other bone-chilling cold. Two opposing auras—Life and Death—crashed and intertwined in a volatile dance.

An unconcealed Golden Core Aura Pressure descended like a collapsing mountain, pressing squarely down on Zhou Kai.

Zhou Kai narrowed his eyes. His figure shot skyward, rising to meet the overbearing sedan face-to-face.

The sedan’s curtain moved without wind, and a figure slowly stepped out.

Li Youci. Her expression was cool and aloof, retaining the imperious air of the queen he had first met. Her beautiful eyes shifted, locking onto Zhou Kai with a glint of provocation.

“Youci,” Zhou Kai said, hovering before her. “I heard you left Secluded Cultivation long ago. Why are you only returning now?”

“Your intelligence network is quite sharp,” Li Youci replied, her red lips parting without a trace of her previous tenderness. “This Young Miss is a heaven-sent prodigy. In just three years, both my True Body and Ghost Body have formed Golden Cores. The Ancestor insisted on conducting investigations and transmitting techniques, which caused the delay.”

She paused, lifting her chin slightly. The fighting spirit in her eyes was nearly overflowing. “Enough talk. Let’s fight in the sky. I wouldn’t want the sight of me miserably suppressing you to be seen by the sisters. I’d hate for you to lose face.”

Zhou Kai smiled. She was certainly putting on a show.

A clear, biting sword light shot up from the far side of Taiji Peak, arriving in an instant. The light dissipated to reveal Shen Hanyi, dressed in robes white as snow. Her gaze swept over the imposing Li Youci, then landed on Zhou Kai. Understanding the situation immediately, she silently retreated to a safe distance.

Zhou Kai reached into his storage and pulled out a Memory Stone, casually tossing it to her.

“Hanyi, catch. Record everything that happens next. Don’t miss a single detail. I want you to capture exactly how your husband displays his might and disciplines a disobedient wife.”

“Hanyi, listen to him,” Li Youci shouted, her voice crisp. “Record it all!”

She wasted no more words. With a wave of her jade-like hand, the Dark Cloud Soul Chasing Sedan behind her trembled violently.

Black and white flames intertwined like dragons, roaring as they soared into the heavens.

Scorching heat and Yin cold, Vitality and Death Intent—the forces collided, instantly transforming into a distorted force field that sealed off Zhou Kai from all directions.

“Good timing!”

Vitality roared like a furnace inside Zhou Kai. Forsaking all Dharma Treasures, he relied solely on the terrifying might of his physical body and threw a punch.

The fist wind was fierce, a torrent of golden Vitality erupting outward and crashing boldly into the black and white flames.

BOOM!

The collision sent out a shockwave that forced even the distant Shen Hanyi to shield her eyes.

The golden Vitality sizzled as it was burned by the black fire, emitting a pungent, scorched smell. Simultaneously, an invisible Yin cold crept along the force of the punch, attempting to freeze Zhou Kai’s Meridians and soul.

Zhou Kai felt his right arm split between sensations—half seared by a branding iron, half frozen by the Nine Netherworlds.

He grunted, forcibly refining and dispersing the bizarre life-and-death force. Only then did the agony in his arm slowly recede.

Li Youci’s pupils contracted slightly. Her Soul and Nether Flames were far more potent now that she possessed dual Golden Cores. An ordinary first-layer Golden Core cultivator would have had their soul incinerated just by standing near them, let alone taking a direct hit.

She had prepared to stop after gaining a slight advantage, but Zhou Kai had blocked it with nothing but his flesh? And he had neutralized the Soul Fire intrusion?

“Don’t get cocky. That was just an appetizer.”

She formed a seal with one hand. The Dark Cloud Soul Chasing Sedan erupted with radiance. Black and white flames blotted out the sky, transforming the heavens into a monochrome sea of fire.

With her other hand, she unfurled the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

Woo—

A Yin wind howled, carrying the wails of weeping gods and shrieking ghosts. It was as if a rift to the Nine Netherworlds had been torn open.

Hundreds of twisted black shadows surged from the banner. Green-faced, fanged specters mixed with mountain-sized beast souls, blotting out the sun as they swarmed toward Zhou Kai.

Above, a sea of fire burned the heavens. Around him, ten thousand ghosts hungered for his soul.

In the distance, Shen Hanyi remained impassive, moving slightly closer to ensure the Memory Stone captured the perfect angle.

“Now that’s more like it.”

“Hammer, come!”

Amidst a furious roar, Zhou Kai’s body swelled to thirty zhang. As five-colored divine light circulated around him, a pitch-black giant hammer materialized from thin air, grasped firmly in his hand.

Zhou Kai swung the Chaotic Sky Hammer, smashing it down upon the tide of ghosts!

The hammer’s edge stirred the power of Thick Earth. A majestic mountain Phantom rose from the ground below, carrying the weight to suppress all things, and crashed into the ghost tide.

The hammer fell. The void hummed.

Countless fierce ghosts and beast souls didn’t even have time to scream before they were crushed into nothingness by the mountain Phantom.

Immediately after, Zhou Kai twisted his wrist, sweeping the Chaotic Sky Hammer horizontally.

A river of blue water manifested in the hammer’s wake, rolling up towering waves that crashed head-on into the burning sea of fire.

Water and fire clashed, hissing and steaming. Endless white mist billowed out, temporarily blocking the overbearing Soul and Nether Flames.

One hammer became a mountain. One hammer became a river.

Li Youci’s face was a mask of disbelief.

Before she could recover, Zhou Kai’s offensive resumed. Holding the Chaotic Sky Hammer, he strode through the mist and shattered ghost remnants like an ancient god of war.

He swung a third time. Now, the hammer was entwined with endless Gengjin Metal energy, shredding any stragglers that dared approach.

The mist dispersed. The ghosts vanished. Li Youci’s knuckles turned white as she gripped the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, her mind shaken.

Three hammers. Just three hammers.

The beast souls she had painstakingly refined were completely suppressed by his unreasonable power. Her proudest methods were nothing but dust before him.

“Impossible!”

“Nothing is impossible! Youci, are these all the tricks you have?”

Stung by Zhou Kai’s taunt, Li Youci poured every drop of her Qi into the Dark Cloud Soul Chasing Sedan. The black and white flames were no longer distinct; they fused together.

An aura of annihilation spread out—a chaotic void that threatened to drag light, Spirit Qi, and existence itself into nothingness.

Black and white merged into a singular Gray Flame.

It had no temperature. It had no chill.

It simply was. Light, sound, and energy that touched its edge were instantly deleted, turning into pure “nothingness.”

The hair on Zhou Kai’s neck stood up. His heart skipped a beat.

Li Youci’s face paled, the move clearly draining her, but the arrogance in her eyes remained undimmed. “Zhou Kai! If you can’t handle it, beg for mercy! I don’t want to be a widow!”

Zhou Kai faced the encroaching gray void without flinching. “Good wife. If you surrender now, your husband won’t tie you up later.”

Before his words faded, an indescribably terrifying Aura Pressure erupted from his body.

Inside him, the five Immortal Grade Spirit Roots—manifested as lotus petals—resonated violently. Using the lotus platform of his Creation Spirit Yang Body as a furnace, he burned the vast Vitality of his Viscera Refining realm as fuel, stirring the Five Elements into a perfect cycle!

Five-colored divine light shot from the crown of his head. Azure, crimson, yellow, white, and black intertwined, forming a chaotic canopy that stole the sky’s colors.

The Five Emperors True Body stood bathed in five-colored Vitality, radiating a domineering, supreme aura that made even Shen Hanyi’s heart palpitate.

“Youci. I’m using this move for the first time.”

He slowly raised his palm. The five-colored divine light gathered there, forming a cage.

The moment the cage took form, his hand became a world unto itself—a divine prison capable of suppressing all creation.

The giant palm slapped down toward the gray flame and the Dark Cloud Soul Chasing Sedan.

There was no explosion.

When the five-colored cage met the gray flame, there was a grinding sound—creak, hiss—like two millstones crushing against each other.

The Five Elements light flowing on the cage was actually being worn away!

Zhou Kai grunted, his Five Emperors True Body trembling. “What a formidable Annihilation Dao Rhyme!”

A sharp light flashed in his eyes. A head-on clash was unwise. He immediately changed tactics. The five-colored light shifted from suppression to a devouring vortex, skillfully drawing the annihilation force in and grinding it away using the cycle of the Five Elements.

The gray flame was domineering, but it lacked sustainability. Under the grinding wheel of Zhou Kai’s Five Elements light, it was stripped away, layer by layer. Its radiance dimmed until, with a soft poof, it dissolved completely.

The five-colored cage descended. Zhou Kai grabbed Li Youci in his giant palm.

He gasped for breath, his soul throbbing with pain. He staggered, but he did not fall.

Li Youci’s eyes went wide. She frantically urged her Qi.

But under the suppression of the five-colored light, she felt her soul, her Ghost Body, and every drop of her Qi being forcibly stripped away. A brutal power nailed her cultivation firmly into her Meridians.

Buzz.

The mental connection to her sedan and banner was severed.

The two powerful Dharma Treasures dimmed and plummeted from the sky.

The light dispersed. Zhou Kai returned to his normal size, hovering in the air. With a wave of his hand, chains of five-colored light materialized, binding Li Youci tightly and rendering her immobile.

She floated before him, her black dress disheveled, hair clinging to her pale cheeks. Her eyes were filled with disbelief.

How could this be?

She didn’t understand. Her Blue Fall Ash Soul Body, her dual Golden Cores, her superior Divine Sense… how had she lost so thoroughly?

She had imagined a stalemate. She had never imagined a total defeat.

Zhou Kai descended, laughing softly.

“My good Youci. Do you still think your husband needs you to save him some ‘face’?”

He scooped the struggling woman up into a horizontal carry and landed.

The spot where the majestic sedan had crashed was precisely the courtyard of the Chen sisters.

Fish Baibai, Li Lanyin, Chen Ziyi, Chen Ziqing, Lin Zhiwei… familiar faces looked on, filled with surprise and doubt.

“It’s nothing. Go back to your rooms,” Zhou Kai said, his voice calm but authoritative. “Ziqing, Ziyi, Zhiwei, stay. Youci and I just sparred. Now we need to have some Deep Interaction.”

Sparred? Deep Interaction?

The women looked at Li Youci—bound like a dumpling in chains—and then at the crashed artifacts. Their expressions turned strange.

Shen Hanyi stepped forward, blocking Zhou Kai’s path. “Husband. Although Youci is competitive, this act harms her Dao Heart.”

Zhou Kai looked at her calmly. “I understand her temperament better than you. If you truly care for her, let her figure it out herself.”

They locked eyes for a moment. Shen Hanyi looked deeply at the bound Li Youci. Seeing she was merely exhausted and not injured, she sighed and transformed into a sword light, leaving only a transmitted message: Don’t go too far.

The others dispersed, though their frequent backward glances betrayed their burning curiosity.

Zhou Kai carried Li Youci to the sedan. “Right the sedan. Then follow me inside.”

He stepped into the dark interior, standing before the master’s seat. He placed Li Youci on the floor.

He did not undo the chains.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and applied pressure.

Li Youci’s legs went weak. She was forced to her knees, facing the master’s seat—and the three women watching from the entrance.

Humiliation surged in her heart, flushing her cheeks crimson. She jerked her head up.

“Zhou Kai! Don’t get smug! I only just entered the Golden Core realm! My foundation isn’t stable! You—”

A hand pressed down on her head, shoving her words back down her throat.

A long time later, Zhou Kai shuddered slightly.

“Wife. Your husband said that if you surrendered, I wouldn’t tie you up. See? You didn’t listen.”

From that day on, the atmosphere on Taiji Peak grew strange.

Spring passed; autumn came. The peach blossoms bloomed twice.

Over these two years, Li Youci refused to accept defeat.

Time and again, she entered Secluded Cultivation, refining her fires and formations. Each time she emerged, her power had grown, and her confidence surged.

And each time, she challenged him.

“Zhou Kai, come out and fight!”

“Today I will wash away my shame!”

And Zhou Kai always accepted.

The result was invariable. Her Annihilation Death Flame grew more potent, her Ghost Formation more vicious. But before Zhou Kai’s unreasonable five-colored divine light, everything was as fragile as paper. His Five Emperors True Body was the natural nemesis of all Yin and evil.

Every time, she went out full of confidence. Every time, she was carried back—clothes disheveled, face flushed.

Her Dark Cloud Soul Chasing Sedan had become the exclusive venue for Zhou Kai’s “disciplinary sessions.”

Gradually, she seemed to grow accustomed to it.

Even to the point that when she was bound by those chains, feeling his irresistible power and seeing the mockery in his eyes… she felt a strange, forbidden enjoyment.

This man… was fascinating.

But today, the situation seemed different.