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

Chapter 212: Go Have Babies! The Jade Arm Mantis’s Marriage Crisis

The morning sun failed to breach the heavy basalt walls of the cave dwelling, leaving the quiet room steeped in a twilight gloom.

Mo Qianyuan clamped onto Zhou Kai’s hand. For the past twenty-four hours, she had not relaxed her grip by a single millimeter.

It was the desperate adhesion of a drowning victim finding a floating log, driven by a lingering terror and absolute, structural dependency.

Zhou Kai rested with his eyes closed, his mind throbbing with a dull ache.

While the advancement of the Delusional Dao Cicada Scripture largely rode the momentum of the Heavenly Scripture, Zhou Kai hadn’t been cultivating at full capacity. Yesterday, he had redlined the Cicada Cry Bewildering Heart for hours to overwrite the psyche of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. The processing load had been immense.

Mo Qianyuan’s eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings before she opened her eyes.

The frantic static of anxiety that usually clouded her gaze was gone. In its place was the clarity of a sky scrubbed clean by a storm.

The resonance of that soul-level “Correction” still vibrated deep within her marrow. It was a sense of order—a stabilizing frequency she had lost long ago, or perhaps never truly possessed.

Zhou Kai slowly opened his eyes, meeting the beautiful face hovering inches from his own. Despite his mental fatigue, his heart gave a traitorous lurch.

“Senior Sister Mo is quite stunning when she isn’t lecturing on protocol,” he teased, the corner of his mouth hooking up.

The comment seemed to trigger a subroutine. Mo Qianyuan’s grip tightened. She didn’t offer a rebuttal. Instead, she slid closer, pressing her cheek flat against his chest, listening intently to the strong, hydraulic thud of his heart.

Zhou Kai chuckled. “Senior Sister, is your boot-up protocol checking if Junior Brother’s heart rate is within standard parameters?”

“Not checking.” Mo Qianyuan tilted her head, her voice soft but anchored by an unprecedented stability. “Calibrating. This rhythm… it is efficient. It offers more security than any Sect rule or geometric axiom. I just want to… synchronize with it a little longer.”

The cadence of this beating heart was her new Prime Directive. It was the only logic she needed to parse.

A low laugh rumbled through Zhou Kai’s chest cavity. He raised his free hand, smoothing her glossy hair. “Let me update your database: You will always be here. With me.”

Mo Qianyuan’s body went rigid for a microsecond before the tension dissolved completely. Like a weary bird locating its nest coordinates, she embedded herself deeper into his embrace.

“…Affirmative. I will follow Junior Brother’s rules.”

The moment the words registered, Zhou Kai lowered his head. He claimed her lips with a kiss that was neither tentative nor soothing—it was a seal of ownership.

An administrative override.

A declaration of exactly who this “Rule” belonged to.

Moments later, Zhou Kai leveraged his strength, scooping her up in a bridal carry. He strode out of the quiet room, heading for the master bedroom.

Mo Qianyuan looped her arms around his neck, burying her face in the curve of his shoulder, inhaling the scent that had become her only safe harbor.

In the days that followed, Mo Qianyuan became Zhou Kai’s shadow.

She no longer obsessed over the nanometer discrepancies in her Talismans, nor did she force herself to adhere to a rigid circadian schedule.

Her universe had contracted to a single point: Zhou Kai. If he cultivated, she sat in silent vigil. If he refined pills, she was there to wipe the sweat from his brow.

Zhou Kai’s Creation Spirit Yang Body provided a constant, passive nourishment. The spiritual feedback loop began to smooth out the jagged edges of her Dao Foundation, clearing the stagnation caused by her years of neurosis.

[Mo Qianyuan]

Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Fifth Layer

Spirit Root: Metal (High Grade 102/900), Water (High Grade 97/900)

Divine Sense: 7360

Comprehension: 1100

Affection: 70 (Devoted)

Point Type: Talisman Crafting (Third Grade 900/900)

Points Provided: 14

Time flowed like water, swift and silent.

Life in Shangqing City was largely uneventful. During the disciple recruitment phase, a few myopic minor families attempted to maneuver in the shadows. Without exception, they were crushed by Zhou Kai’s thunderous administrative measures before they could generate even a ripple of trouble.

Through Li Yunmian and Gao Feiyang, Zhou Kai received fragmented updates on the war effort.

The Demonic Sect’s offensive was overwhelming. They had briefly overrun Crouching Tiger City, a critical stronghold of the Righteous Path.

The region became a meat grinder. The city changed hands multiple times, the streets paved with corpses. It was only after the Five Great Sects deployed their elite forces that the Demonic cultivators were finally repelled. Both sides were left bleeding and winded.

A supply ship from the Sect docked once. Zhou Kai waited on the pier, neck craned, but Xiahe and Chuntao did not disembark.

Irritated, he stormed the Heavenly Craft Tower and dragged Wang Qiaoqiao out. Citing “gross incompetence” and “delaying the Patriarch’s grand strategy,” he administered a thorough “educational session” with the family discipline rod. By the time he was done, she was weeping pear-blossom tears and promising to execute his orders with absolute perfection next time.

The ship did, however, deliver a letter from Wu Hongxiao. The calligraphy was just like her—wild, sprawling, and untamed.

The content was brief: “This young lady stumbled upon a Fated Chance and hit Bone Forging Eighth Layer! Haha! … Holy Son Dong Cheng has exited seclusion and relieved Eldest Senior Sister at the front lines. I couldn’t be bothered to rot in that hellhole anymore, so I tagged along with Eldest Senior Sister back to Jade Flower Palace. Don’t miss me too much.”

Even the ink seemed to radiate her brash, confident laughter.

Night. A secluded valley in the mid-section of the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range.

Three streaks of light—Gold, Black, and Green—whistled through the air, circling Zhou Kai. They were his three Jade Arm Mantises.

Zhou Kai stood with his hands clasped behind his back, conducting a performance review.

“Little Gold, you have the highest aggression specs. Frontal assault is your domain,” he said, pointing to the mantis with the aura of a jagged blade.

“Little Ink, your stealth subroutines are solid. Ambush specialist.” He nodded at the shadow-cloaked insect.

“Little Green, your wind blades provide necessary ranged artillery.” Finally, he addressed the one whose forearms vibrated with cyan light.

Review complete, Zhou Kai’s face darkened. He looked at them with the disappointment of a father whose children were failing remedial math.

“You three. You’ve been leeching off me in Shangqing City for four years.”

“Demon Cores, Star Sand Pills, Spirit Rhyme—I fed you the premium stuff. And yet, you are still hard-stuck at Mid-Tier 2.”

“Look at me! I’m knocking on the door of the Golden Core! If you keep this up, I’ll Ascend to the Heavens while you three are still playing in the mud down here!”

The three mantises seemed to process the insult. They hovered in mid-air, waving their scythe-like forearms and emitting a series of buzzing vibrations that sounded suspiciously like excuses. But Boss, our stats have improved! It’s just the level cap!

Shen Hanyi, observing from the sidelines, smiled. “Husband, patience. These creatures are highly intelligent. Look at their exoskeletons—they are turning the color of white jade. They are approaching the threshold of the Late Stage.”

The mantises bobbed their triangular heads vigorously, clearly agreeing that the scary lady was right.

“They’re close? What about you?” Zhou Kai pivoted, turning his gaze on Shen Hanyi. “Your Sword Dao is refining beautifully, but your raw output is lagging. You’ve been parking at Spirit Shaping Fifth Layer for too long.”

Shen Hanyi paused, then her eyes flashed with cold arrogance. “If I faced Wang Tai again today, I wouldn’t need to burn my life force. I would simply win.”

“Wang Tai?” Chen Ziyi, seated nearby, looked up. “The Heavenly Spring Sect elite? The Foundation Establishment Grand Perfection cultivator Senior Sister Hanyi fought at the Exploring Spring Flower Boat?”

Zhou Kai nodded.

Chen Ziyi frowned, confused. “But Senior Sister Hanyi decapitated a Grand Perfection cultivator shortly after arriving in Shangqing City with a single strike. Why would she need to struggle against this Wang Tai?”

Zhou Kai smiled, adopting the tone of a teacher explaining basic economics.

“Ziyi, cultivation rank is just a container. It doesn’t tell you what’s inside.”

“The cultivators of Shangqing City are running on obsolete software. Their techniques are common, their Dharma Treasures are trash, and they haven’t seen a real natural treasure in decades. A local Grand Perfection cultivator here might have a net worth lower than a sect disciple at the early stage.”

“But Wang Tai is a VIP. He is the confidant of a Holy Son. His resource allocation rivals the Sect Leaders of smaller factions.”

“Top-tier cultivation manuals. Custom-forged Dharma Treasures. Secret Arts. Think about it: A local cultivator might live 200 years and never see a ‘Dust Enlightenment Pill.’ Wang Tai probably eats one every three years just to sharpen his senses.”

“He spent over a decade just polishing his foundation at the Grand Perfection stage. That is a fortress of accumulation. How can a wild cultivator compete with that?”

“When Hanyi fought him, she had only been in the Second Realm for six months.”

Chen Ziyi nodded slowly, the disparity in ‘class’ becoming clear.

Zhou Kai finished his lecture and turned back to the mantises, who were trying to look innocent and small.

“Enough buzzing! I’m sick of looking at you.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Go! Get deep into the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range. Find your own kind!”

“I refuse to believe you can’t find a single male Jade Arm Mantis in this entire mountain range! If you can’t level up, then go make babies! Secure a bloodline and get out of my sight!”

The three mantises drooped. Their wings sagged, and they hung their heads in dejection, shuffling in the air, clearly unwilling to leave the easy life of free pills.

Chen Ziyi giggled. “Husband, I don’t think they want to get married.”

“I am not running a democracy.”

Zhou Kai flicked his finger, shooting three beams of spiritual light into their thoraxes. He improvised a lie on the spot.

“Sensors indicate a demonic aura three hundred li to the east. It’s faint, but it smells like a Fated Chance. Go! Do not return until you find it!”

The mantises jolted as if electrified. The ‘guidance’ seemed to override their laziness. They exchanged looks, emitted cheerful buzzes, and streaked toward the eastern mountains like guided missiles, disappearing into the night.