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

Chapter 273: A Loose Tongue? Kneel and Bleed!

Zhou Kai let out a short laugh, the last of his hesitation vanishing.

He looked at the exquisitely beautiful face before him, a face that always seemed to say, *everything is under control*. He couldn’t stop himself from reaching out and pulling Mo Qianyuan into his arms.

“Qianyuan, with you around, you save me so much trouble.”

Mo Qianyuan’s words were as sharp as ever. “Save the useless flattery. Finish your business and get back to the sect. I need to find a place to test the new Talismans I’ve crafted.”

“Alright, whatever you say.” Zhou Kai chuckled softly. “I’ll go see the Shu Family Ancestor now. Once I have the inheritance, we’ll leave immediately.”

Mo Qianyuan straightened his robes for him, and Zhou Kai turned, pushing the door open.

As he descended the stairs, a familiar figure blocked the landing.

The Shu brothers, Shu Mingxuan and Shu Xingyao, were walking half a step ahead of Di An, their bodies bowed in deference. The fawning smiles on their faces nearly reached their ears as a stream of flattery poured from their mouths.

Di An was now a second-layer Golden Core cultivator.

“Senior Di, you’ve come a long way. You must be exhausted. We’ve prepared hot water and spirit tea in the finest room for you to rest.”

“Rest assured, Senior Di, our Ancestor gave specific instructions. Your seat at the banquet will be near the front. We would never dare to neglect you.”

Zhou Kai stopped, his brow furrowing.

He remembered this man from the Dao Discussion on the Exploring Spring Flower Boat. Back then, Di An had been at the peak of Foundation Establishment, at Grand Perfection. Zhou Kai had used a Soul Blade and a foul-mouthed straw dummy to shatter his Divine Sense, handing him a humiliating defeat.

It was because of that very incident that Long Yufeng had tried to kill him on the spot, in front of everyone.

*Enemies truly walk a narrow path.*

Di An froze for a moment, then his eyes narrowed into slits, his gaze locking onto Zhou Kai like a vice.

He clearly recognized him. But what shocked him even more was the aura radiating from Zhou Kai’s body.

Both his Body and Qi cultivation had reached the third realm!

“It’s you!” Di An forced the words out. “A man like you… actually managed to form a Golden Core?”

Zhou Kai cursed his luck internally. There was no getting out of this.

He relaxed, leaning lazily against the railing and tilting his chin at Di An. “Well, if it isn’t Fellow Daoist Di. It’s been a while. Has that little soul injury of yours healed up?”

Di An took a step forward. The immense pressure of a second-layer Golden Core cultivator surged toward Zhou Kai, and the air around him seemed to ripple like water.

In the inn’s main hall, the faces of several weaker cultivators instantly turned white. Teacups slipped from their grasp and shattered on the floor. Some clutched their tables, gasping for breath.

“Fellow Daoist Zhou,” Di An said, each word landing like a hammer on an anvil, “do you dare to fight me again?” Before he even finished speaking, his Qi began to churn, his robes billowing in a nonexistent wind.

The Aura Pressure slammed into Zhou Kai but vanished as if it were a stone dropped into the ocean. He even had the leisure to flick a speck of nonexistent dust from his sleeve.

He chuckled, a hint of pity in his eyes. “Fellow Daoist Di, your memory is failing you.”

“Today, it should be *me* asking *you*: do you dare to fight me again?”

“At the third layer of Foundation Establishment, I beat you at Grand Perfection. Now I’m at the first layer of Golden Core. Tell me… do you think I can’t crush a second-layer cultivator like you?”

Di An was so enraged he began to laugh. “Good! How bold! A mere first-layer Golden Core dares to speak so arrogantly before me!”

The Shu brothers standing beside him were stunned. Judging by the hostility between these two esteemed guests, they had a history.

“Seniors! Please!” Shu Mingxuan broke out in a cold sweat and rushed forward to mediate. “You are both honored guests of our Shu Family! For the sake of our family’s meager face, let’s sit down and talk this through. Please, don’t resort to violence!”

Di An didn’t even spare him a glance, his eyes still fixed on Zhou Kai. He let out a derisive snort. “Are you telling me what to do?”

The smile on Shu Mingxuan’s face froze, his embarrassment palpable.

Shu Xingyao, who had been cowering behind his brother, saw his chance. He suddenly interjected in a sinister tone, “Brother, you’re being too cautious. The two Seniors know what they’re doing. Senior Di, Senior Zhou, if you truly wish to settle this, there is a place for it.”

“There’s a life-and-death arena in the eastern part of the city. The Seniors can fight to their hearts’ content there!”

Shu Mingxuan’s blood ran cold. He spun around and slapped Shu Xingyao across the back of the head, yanking him back. “Are you insane?!” he hissed.

*Is he trying to make things worse?!*

Zhou Kai’s eyes turned to ice. His gaze flickered toward Shu Xingyao, and a formless, terrifying wave of mental force—cold as an arctic sea—slammed into the man’s mind and shattered his Divine Sense defenses.

*Thud!*

A roar filled Shu Xingyao’s head as the world dissolved into distorted black shadows. His knees buckled. He fell forward, landing hard on the floor.

“*Wah!*”

He coughed, a spray of blood erupting from his mouth. His body went limp, and he collapsed into a trembling heap on the ground, not daring to look up.

Only then did Zhou Kai calmly withdraw his gaze.

Di An sneered. “Such prestige, Fellow Daoist Zhou! Or do you only know how to use your cultivation to bully your juniors?”

At this, Zhou Kai suddenly smiled.

He remembered something Gao Feihuang had once told him in Shangqing City. The words felt perfectly suited for this moment.

“You jest, Fellow Daoist Di,” Zhou Kai said lazily, folding his arms. “Why do we cultivate, if not for the simple principle of ‘I can, and you can’t’? My cultivation is higher. I told him to kneel, so he kneels. Isn’t that the definition of having one’s will be done? Was I supposed to endure his insolence?”

“Swift vengeance, acting as one pleases—that is the true flavor of cultivation. What’s the point of hesitation? He wanted to fan the flames between us, so he should have been prepared to get burned. Was there anything improper about my actions?”

“Besides, didn’t you once tell me, ‘If you don’t kneel, you’ll bear the consequences’? Why is it bullying when I’m the one doing it?”

His words left Di An utterly speechless.

Zhou Kai’s fighting spirit flared. “Fellow Daoist Di, I accept your challenge!”

“However, I have important matters to attend to. Once I’m finished, I will join you on that life-and-death arena for a proper fight. How does that sound?”

Without waiting for an answer, he ignored Di An’s expression, turned, and walked toward the inn’s exit.

He had no real intention of fighting Di An.

With his current strength—dual cultivation of Body and Qi, plus an Immortal-grade Spirit Root—defeating an ordinary second-layer Golden Core cultivator would be as easy as breathing. He was absolutely confident of victory.

But what would happen after he won?

Killing Di An meant making an enemy of Long Yufeng and the Heavenly Spring Sect. Long Yufeng would certainly come to avenge his subordinate. What kind of leader wouldn’t stand up for his men?

But not killing him, merely defeating him, would also lead to endless trouble.

He had already formed a grudge with Long Yufeng over this exact same nonsense, which indirectly led to that major clash between Long Yufeng and his brother-in-law.

If he beat Di An up again, he might provoke Long Yufeng into personally dragging him back to the Heavenly Spring Sect.

Would he really have to make his brother-in-law storm their gates a second time just to demand his release?

He’d lose all face. His reputation would be in tatters.

***

Shu Family Mansion, Side Hall.

Zhou Kai sat upright in a Grand Master’s Chair, his fingertips tapping a steady rhythm on the armrest.

The spirit tea before him had been replaced nine times.

The first cup, he had savored. The fragrance was crisp, the aftertaste sweet. It was a top-quality tea.

The second cup, he had taken only a small sip.

The third, he had merely inhaled its aroma.

From the fourth cup to the ninth, he hadn’t touched them at all.

The pretty maidservant standing beside him could feel her limbs growing numb, but she didn’t dare to even breathe too loudly. This Senior hadn’t said a word, and his expression was calm, but she felt the very air grow thick and heavy, a suffocating pressure that made it hard to breathe.

Zhou Kai noticed the maid’s distress and realized he had been unconsciously leaking some of his aura. He reined it in.

***

Meanwhile, in the Shu Family’s Council Hall.

“What is there to argue about? Submit! We submit to the Heavenly Spring Sect immediately! They have over twenty Nascent Soul cultivators! And a Soul Formation Ancestor! A single mid-stage Nascent Soul could wipe out our entire family with a flick of a finger! A thousand years of heritage? You can’t eat heritage!” a portly, purple-faced Elder roared, slamming his hand on the table as he spat.

“Nonsense!” Opposite him, a lean, resolute-looking man shot to his feet. “Shu Hong, are your knees that soft? The foundation our ancestors paid for with their lives, you would turn it into a kennel where we wag our tails for the Heavenly Spring Sect? If they toss us a bone, are you going to lick their hands in gratitude?”

“What’s wrong with being a dog? It’s better than being a corpse!” Shu Hong shot back, not yielding an inch. “If you, Shu Wu, want to die, don’t drag the entire family down with you!”

Shu Wu was so furious that the veins on his temples bulged. His Qi flared out of control, and the teacup on the table before him silently disintegrated into dust.

“Enough!” A white-haired old woman tapped her cane on the floor, her voice hoarse. “What’s the use of arguing? We just have to hand over the Primordial Star Body Script, and this will all be over.”

“Third Aunt, that won’t work!” an Elder said with a bitter smile. “Our copy of the technique is only the lower volume. It’s incomplete! Why would a behemoth like the Heavenly Spring Sect be interested in a fragment? If we offer it, they’ll think we’re mocking them. That would bring true catastrophe upon us!”

His words extinguished the faint glimmer of hope in the hall. Only bitterness remained on the faces of the elders.

“Then… what if we leave?” a young Golden Core cultivator ventured softly. “The Eastern Region is vast. Surely there’s a place for us. If we leave Meixi Slope, we can avoid the Heavenly Spring Sect.”

“Fool!” Shu Wu snapped. “Leave? Easy for you to say! What about our thousand-year foundation? The markets, the mines, the network of relationships we’ve built—we just throw it all away? That’s no different from handing our legacy to our enemies on a silver platter!”

Some argued for submission, some for flight, some for offering tribute. But no one dared speak of fighting to the death.

The arguments slowly died down. Dozens of eyes—some hopeful, some despairing—cut through the oppressive silence, all falling upon the figure seated at the head of the hall.

The Shu Ancestor had remained silent throughout, letting the chaos unfold beneath him.

But now, even in the eyes of this pillar of stability, there was a deep and agonizing struggle.

After a long moment, his withered fingers twitched.

The raucous hall fell so silent you could hear a pin drop.

Every heart was in its throat, awaiting the Ancestor’s final judgment.

The Shu Ancestor slowly lifted his head, his gaze sweeping over every face in the room.

He had always been an indecisive man. He had stumbled his way into the Nascent Soul realm and lived for five hundred years. He had seen the Shu Family at its peak and witnessed its decline, but never before had he felt so utterly powerless, as if he lacked the strength to even clench his fist.

The tyranny of the Heavenly Spring Sect and the arrogant face of its Holy Son, Long Yufeng, flashed through his mind.

To retreat meant abandoning a thousand years of history, starting from scratch, becoming rootless drifters.

To advance meant throwing an egg against a mountain; the family’s bloodline would be turned to ash in the Heavenly Spring Sect’s wrath.

The Shu Ancestor closed his eyes, the wrinkles at their corners deepening like canyons.

When he opened them again, his murky old eyes were devoid of all emotion.

“We…”

His Adam’s apple bobbed. The word seemed to weigh a thousand tons, forced with immense difficulty from his parched lips.

“…will dissolve the family.”