Volume 4, Chapter 102 – Shared by Two Souls

Bai Xiang did not waste words with her.

Call it compensation, call it a reward.

Call it “the Dao following nature,” or call it “complying with the primary order.”

In any case, she had done what needed to be done, and so she did not stand on ceremony with Bai Zhuqing. She directly pressed a hand to the girl’s lower abdomen, over her dantian, and sent a strand of Qi-Origin straight in.

Eek!?

That single stab of pain jolted Bai Zhuqing instantly awake. Her eyes flew wide as she stared at her sister, unable to understand what Bai Xiang was doing.

And what were we just doing a moment ago?

It felt like some hazy, bizarre dream, with countless soft white clouds meeting and colliding in it… and then somehow, how had things suddenly developed into this?

“Get up,” came Bai Xiang’s command by her ear again. “Sit upright with me according to the dual cultivation method.”

The weight of elder-sister authority was no trivial thing. Bai Zhuqing’s mind truly had not caught up yet, but her body had already begun obeying Bai Xiang’s command on its own. She straightened up, sat facing Bai Xiang in the same posture they used in their usual cultivation, and pressed the lower dantian region of her abdomen tightly against Bai Xiang’s.

What exactly is this…?

Her heart was naturally crammed full of shock, because in Bai Zhuqing’s perception, she could clearly feel a mysterious force moving back and forth inside her body, as though it were thoroughly inspecting every last detail within her.

This had already become completely unrelated to any sort of romantic atmosphere. It had reached the point of being terrifying.

Honestly, if the person in front of her had been anyone other than Bai Xiang, Bai Zhuqing would certainly already have leapt up in fright and run away.

That thread-by-thread sensation of being examined… after all, even those nightmares she had before, where she was occupied and simulated by the Divine Vein Demon, had felt no different from this.

“Auntie?… What are you… ahhh!!!?”

Bai Zhuqing instinctively tried to ask, but the end of the sentence dissolved directly into a cry of pain.

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It really hurt!

Inside her body… every bone, every meridian, every acupoint, all her flesh and nerves… all of it was sending fierce pain to her brain at the same time, mixed with a strange numb itch and an uncanny sense of openness. In an instant, the girl was drenched in sweat.

This is…

I don’t know what she’s doing, but Sister Xiang’er definitely wouldn’t harm me…

Bai Zhuqing bit down on a strand of her own hair, gritted her teeth, and forced herself to endure it, steadying her body and maintaining her posture while wave after wave of pain assaulted her.

Lucky you.

Bai Xiang did not explain anything to her. Seeing her younger sister endure it in this way, she finally felt somewhat more balanced.

She was now completely certain of one thing: once that state had been triggered, her soul-abilities could briefly exist and circulate inside her younger sister’s body as well.

This was without question a lingering effect from when she had first helped Bai Zhuqing enter the Dao. Just as Bai Zhuqing’s entry into the Dao had itself been achieved under the forceful interference of Bai Xiang’s soul-abilities, her body, her heart-aspect, even her heart-flow, bones, and blood, everything inside and out, had in truth long since been stamped with the imprint of Bai Xiang’s abilities.

The reason this lingering influence had not manifested before, that is, why the abilities had not continued flowing over to affect this body as they were doing now, was probably because Bai Xiang had given up on refining her into an incarnation.

It was only once the two of them had truly tried it, well, truly tried those so-called “improper acts,” that the influence had been reconnected, allowing the soul-abilities to briefly flow into Bai Zhuqing again.

Then she absolutely could not let such a rare chance slip by.

Bai Xiang did not know how long this state would last, nor whether this opportunity was a one-time thing. Naturally, then, she had to seize it firmly.

At this moment, Qing’er’s body is equivalent to my own body. I need to use my soul-abilities to correct every hidden flaw left behind from when she first entered the Dao… all those twisted pathways, heart-flows, heart-meridians. I need to correct them all, preferably until they match mine exactly!

On the one hand, this was to eliminate hidden dangers. On the other hand, even if this chance was only temporary, even if after today they never encountered it again, then with Qing’er’s previously displayed power of visualization, a power directed only at me, she would still be able, by referencing the back-resonance of my Qi-Origin, to more easily explore and accurately trace every hidden meridian and acupoint I uncover in the future.

If such a thing could be done, then Bai Zhuqing’s future would no longer have any real shackles.

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Not only all those common hidden meridians and hidden acupoints, even the three Origin Orifices would become something she could try for.

Because “everything Bai Xiang has from the beginning, she too should have in full.” If the Inner Body-scapes of the two of them could be made completely identical, then all she would need to do was copy the pattern. In principle, that made perfect sense.

Qing’er was certainly in extreme pain right now, because what she was going through was no less than a complete bodily reconstruction.

Even with soul-abilities as overbearing as these, compressing such a process into so short a span of time put far too severe a strain on both physical strength and spirit.

This can’t continue. I need to give her something to do so her attention is divided.

“Qing’er, recite the formula with me.”

Bai Xiang’s voice was low as she called the girl’s awareness back, brought forth the complex formula of the Empty Calamity Soul-Guarding Chapter from the Xuandi Scripture, and forced Bai Zhuqing to recite it along with her.

Then she discovered with surprise that the effect was astonishingly good. Empty Calamity Soul-Guarding originally emphasized the concept of “neither thought nor non-thought.” That sort of Buddhist state should ordinarily have been extremely difficult for the average person to reach. But Bai Zhuqing’s body was at this moment completely under Bai Xiang’s control. From the perspective of that body, Bai Zhuqing’s own thoughts were indeed almost nonexistent.

It just so happened to fit perfectly?

With a rush, two divine soul phantoms burst out of Bai Xiang’s and Bai Zhuqing’s bodies at the same time. They floated above the two women in perfect synchronization, holding the same posture as the fleshly bodies below, tightly facing one another.

Th-this… what exactly is—?

Bai Zhuqing stared in utter amazement at her own soul, then at Bai Xiang’s soul, then back at the two of their bodies below. She felt as though her brain had stopped being enough for the situation.

“Still your heart.”

“Do as I do. Imitate it.”

Bai Xiang transmitted the words to her with spiritual sense, and at the same time began the usual cultivation practice.

Soul-abilities really were unreasonable. In that short span of time, the hidden flaws in Bai Zhuqing’s cultivation had already been erased. Not only had those somewhat chaotic pathways from the time she first entered the Dao been corrected, even the hidden injuries from her recent over-eager body-tempering had been wiped away. The heart-flow of her Inner Body-scape had already become infinitely close to Bai Xiang’s, and the only final differences that remained came from Bai Zhuqing’s own divine soul and will.

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Actually, by this stage, Bai Xiang could have controlled things enough to alter her outer appearance as well.

The reasoning was simple enough. If I can even alter the positions of your nerves and bones, then as long as I truly do so, bone shapes the face, and your body and appearance would naturally begin to resemble mine.

But the moment that thought arose, she felt an intense resistance from Bai Zhuqing.

At this moment, their souls were intertwined as well, and both of them were circulating the Jade Spirit Mingxin Method. Through that, they could each sense and understand quite a lot of the other’s thoughts.

What Bai Xiang felt was that Bai Zhuqing did not want to “take on the same outward appearance as her sister.”

The reason was somewhat ridiculous. It was not something normal like wanting to preserve her own individuality. It was simply that she felt she “did not deserve to use Bai Xiang’s appearance.”

It did not matter.

Seeing her insistence, Bai Xiang did not continue with that line of action.

Outer appearance really was unimportant. In fact, Bai Xiang suspected that even if she altered Bai Zhuqing’s appearance now, once this state vanished and Bai Zhuqing’s own soul fully returned, her appearance would still grow back into its original form as she continued maturing.

Suddenly, Taishang Perception sent out a warning.

This mysterious state was fading rapidly.

There’s no time…

Then at the very least I have to help Qing’er open one Origin Orifice.

Bai Xiang hardened her resolve. Once again, she bypassed her younger sister’s soul, forcefully controlled her body, copied and simulated her own insight, and in one burst manifestly refined the Hidden Field Orifice in Bai Zhuqing’s lower abdomen.

Hiss—!

Violent, surging Great Medicine of the Human Body gushed continuously from the Qi Sea of the dantian, becoming white qi-mist that rolled within it. It even connected into the meridians throughout Bai Zhuqing’s whole body, affecting the strength of her body and even the blood-making function of her bone marrow.

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This interference was certainly not as intense as manifestly refining the Hidden Heart Orifice and recreating essence-blood, but it did still have effects on that level.

Bai Zhuqing’s Qi Refining cultivation also leapt in a single bound into the ninth layer of Qi Refining and continued charging upward. Within her Inner Body-scape, the Qi Sea gathered together and formed the semblance of a pill.

Is there still time for the Hidden Heart Orifice?

Bai Xiang had only just formed the thought when, with a rush, the connection snapped apart.

Her will was flung straight out of Bai Zhuqing’s body. The two souls returned to their rightful places, and when they opened their eyes, each could see how bedraggled the other looked.

Bai Zhuqing looked as though she had just been fished straight out of a pool, utterly soaked in sweat, her eyelids drooping as she hovered on the edge of collapse.

Bai Xiang, by contrast, still looked composed, though some strands of her white hair clung slightly to her face and body.

How did Sister Xiang’er’s bodystocking disappear?

Bai Zhuqing was still a little muddle-headed, staring at the scene without understanding it.

But Bai Xiang’s gaze had become slightly dangerous.

The feeling was exactly like… exactly like when Elder Master, in the laboratory at the back mountain, had spotted some new material of interest. To Bai Zhuqing, it felt precisely the same.

“We’re only going to see Third Uncle’s family this afternoon. That means we still have time.”

Bai Xiang spoke, and her voice had turned slightly husky again.

“Whether this really only works once or not.”

“Qing’er, try it again with me…”