Chapter 577: Is This Formation Array Truly Effective?

After Xiao Mo and Gui Junmeng completed that unfinished wedding ceremony.

Almost every single day, Xiao Mo would engage in soul-level dual cultivation with Gui Junmeng.

And often, more than once a day.

In the morning, before the light had fully broken, with the bedding still holding the warmth of the night before, if Xiao Mo woke and moved to get up, Gui Junmeng would gently tug at his sleeve, her voice carrying the lazy, shy softness of someone just waking, murmuring, "We could sleep a little longer."

Xiao Mo would understand at once, Junmeng wished to cultivate again.

In the afternoon, when the sunlight slanted in through the room, Gui Junmeng would walk back to her room alone, then knock, again and again, gently on the table within.

At first, Xiao Mo had not understood what Junmeng meant by this but once, after Gui Junmeng had finished knocking on the table and saw that Xiao Mo showed no response, she pulled him into the room, her face flushed red.

After that, the sound of Gui Junmeng knocking on the table became like a secret signal.

Whenever that knocking sound rang out, Xiao Mo understood, Junmeng wished to cultivate again.

When night fell, after the two of them bathed and removed their outer garments, leaving only their thin inner clothes, they would lie side by side upon the bed.

Gui Junmeng would quietly extend her slender fingers, poking gently, again and again, at Xiao Mo's waist.

If Xiao Mo paid no attention, she would keep poking, tirelessly, until Xiao Mo finally took hold of her hand and turned to face her.

To be honest, Xiao Mo felt he had already shown considerable restraint.

Even at the soul level, such frequent union could not be right.

Otherwise, Xiao Mo feared that he and Junmeng might truly become lost in this method of dual cultivation, unable to pull free.

Over time, this would gradually lead them astray from the proper path.

For this reason, Xiao Mo specifically set aside a time to speak candidly with Gui Junmeng.

He gently expressed his concerns to her.

Gui Junmeng listened quietly, her head lowered, her cheeks flushed as red as a ripened fruit.

"I... I understand..." her voice was so soft it could barely be heard, like a breeze brushing past flower petals.

"I'll try harder... I'll try to restrain myself..."

At last, she raised her head, her clear eyes looking earnestly at Xiao Mo, as though making a solemn promise.

But the very next day...

Xiao Mo had not been meditating for long after rising when he saw that graceful figure quietly standing beside him.

Gui Junmeng pressed her lips together tightly, her small hands gripping her sleeves, gazing at Xiao Mo with pleading eyes.

Within those lovely fox eyes lay an irresistible, coaxing charm, like a child desperately wanting candy yet unable to have it, appearing to endure with great difficulty.

Xiao Mo let out a helpless sigh, and in the end, walked into the room anyway.

Gui Junmeng's eyes lit up faintly, flickering with an undisguisable joy, and she hurried to follow behind Xiao Mo.

She closed the door herself, then drew down the bed curtains, sealing off the whole room's view entirely.

As their cultivation progressed day by day, Xiao Mo and Gui Junmeng's cultivation advanced ever faster.

However, Xiao Mo gradually discovered that the Great Dream of the Yellow Millet had a rather thorny drawback.

The dual cultivation method of the Great Dream of the Yellow Millet involved a certain "acute phase" of desire.

Contact at the soul level was, admittedly, hardly different from contact at the level of the body.

The sensation, the warmth, even the faintest trembling, were all nearly identical yet human instinct, in the end, still leaned toward the most direct, most genuine exchange between body and body.

Although each time Xiao Mo and Gui Junmeng engaged in soul-level dual cultivation, their desire for physical contact would indeed lessen considerably for a short time afterward.

However, as the days accumulated, that desire would quietly, gradually, grow ever stronger, resurging.

And each time more intensely than the last.

And then would come another round of soul-level dual cultivation.

Then, as time passed, the desire the next time would burn even more fiercely than the time before.

And so, the intervals between rounds of soul-level dual cultivation grew shorter and shorter, more and more frequent, to the point where it became almost impossible to control.

This formed, in turn, an unhealthy cycle.

Things reaching an extreme tend to reverse.

Such high-intensity, high-frequency soul fusion would, in the end, inevitably cause a certain degree of damage to both their souls and moreover, as both their longing for direct physical contact with one another deepened day by day.

There had been several times, after soul-level dual cultivation, when Xiao Mo and Gui Junmeng had both very nearly failed to restrain the surging desire within their hearts.

However, the two of them had to reach the Immortal realm before they could undertake the final step of physical union.

Until then, the two of them had to each preserve their primordial yang and primordial yin.

Should any mishap occur along the way, all their prior effort would be entirely wasted.

For this reason, they were also often obliged to practice methods of settling the mind, striving to maintain a calm and clear inner state.

At such times, Xiao Mo would teach Gui Junmeng to recite the Buddhist Mind-Settling Mantra, which did prove of some use.

However, Senior Sister Lin often spoke to Gui Junmeng of certain suggestive matters, even showing Junmeng some erotic paintings, which left Xiao Mo feeling rather helpless.

One night, Xiao Mo faintly sensed some slight movement within the bedding.

When he woke from his light sleep, he found that Gui Junmeng was no longer resting beside his pillow, but was curled up somewhere within the covers.

"Hss"

Just as Xiao Mo was about to say something, he could not help but draw in a sharp breath.

Two incense sticks' time later, Gui Junmeng hurriedly threw back the covers, her cheeks faintly flushed, hurrying outside to rinse her mouth with well water.

And so, another year passed.

The "acute phase" brought on by the soul-level dual cultivation of the Great Dream of the Yellow Millet finally, gradually, passed.

Xiao Mo and Gui Junmeng could now face the desires within their hearts with composure, no longer as unable to restrain themselves as before.

The strength of both their souls, moreover, rose to an entirely new level as a result.

It was also through this period of sustained dual cultivation that the old wound within Xiao Mo's body had nearly healed completely, with essentially no lasting concern remaining.

During this period, Liu Shui also came often to Xiao Mo's courtyard.

Though Xiao Mo had declined her help many times, Liu Shui continued, much like a maidservant to Xiao Mo, quietly attending to the daily trivial matters of the two of them.

Gui Junmeng felt this was not right, and often took the initiative to share these chores with Liu Shui yet every time she reached out to help, Liu Shui would gently push her away.

Gui Junmeng also increasingly noticed, whether at the dinner table or during cultivation, that Sister Liu Shui would often drift into an unguarded daze, her gaze settling quietly upon Xiao Mo.

One day, Liu Shui, having some doubts about a certain Daoist sword technique, came to seek Xiao Mo's guidance.

She demonstrated the full set of sword forms before him, move by move, while Xiao Mo patiently offered pointers from the side, pointing out a few deviations in her practice but suddenly, Liu Shui made an error while channeling her sword incantation, and sword qi surged into her spiritual meridians, exceeding what her meridians could bear.

A trace of crimson blood spilled from the corner of Liu Shui's mouth, her face turning pale as paper in an instant, her consciousness beginning to blur.

Feeling the world spin dizzily before her eyes, Liu Shui's body swayed and began to fall to one side.

Sensing something amiss, Xiao Mo stepped forward and caught her just in time.

His arm wrapped around Liu Shui's soft, slender waist, her head resting naturally against his chest, their eyes meeting.

"Sister Liu Shui, are you all right?" Xiao Mo asked with concern. "Sister Liu Shui, stop practicing for now, let me help settle your breathing."

But Liu Shui seemed not to hear Xiao Mo's words at all, her clear eyes gazing directly at Xiao Mo, frozen, as though she had lost herself entirely, unmoving.

"Sister Liu Shui?" Xiao Mo called out to her again but the next moment, Liu Shui reached out and gently grasped Xiao Mo's hand, placing it upon her own rising, full chest.

Xiao Mo could not help but freeze for a moment, then quickly came back to himself, hastily withdrawing his hand from over her heart.

"Husband... Sister Liu Shui?" At that very moment, Gui Junmeng's voice came from outside the courtyard.

Only then did Liu Shui suddenly come to her senses, realizing what she had just done, and hastily pulled herself free from Xiao Mo's arms, fumbling to straighten her robes.

"Junmeng, I... I..." Liu Shui opened her mouth, wanting to explain something but having been caught in this scene, Liu Shui understood, in her heart, that no matter how she explained it, she likely could not make it sound right.

The flush on her cheeks quickly spread to her neck and the tips of her ears, her lovely eyes filled with shame and panic.

"I... I still have some things to attend to, I'll be going now..." Liu Shui lowered her head and hurried out of the courtyard.

Liu Shui did not know how long or how far she ran.

She only knew that she kept running forward, running desperately, wanting to put as much distance between herself and Xiao Mo and Junmeng as possible.

At last, she finally stopped, arriving at the edge of a clear mountain stream.

Liu Shui crouched down, wrapping her arms tightly around her knees, staring blankly at the stream washing over the smooth, rounded pebbles, flowing slowly onward into the distance.

Within that stream, the woman's own delicate face was reflected as well.

Recalling how she had just held Xiao Mo's hand and pressed it against her own chest in the courtyard, Liu Shui felt tears nearly welling in her eyes from sheer shame.

"How could I have done something like that..." Liu Shui clenched her fists tightly, her knuckles turning white. "What I did, how is that any different from stealing another woman's husband? And Junmeng has always been so kind to me..."

"But..."

Liu Shui hugged her knees ever more tightly.

"I only wanted to be with you, sir... is even becoming a concubine too much to ask..."

After Liu Shui had run far away, only Xiao Mo and Gui Junmeng remained within this small courtyard.

"Junmeng, just now..." Xiao Mo tried to organize his words, thinking of how to explain what had just happened but Gui Junmeng shook her head, gently cutting off his words, “Husband, it's all right..."

"I know all about it..." Gui Junmeng walked slowly up to Xiao Mo, raising her head to look into his eyes.

"Husband, I'm not a fool." Her voice was soft and calm. "Sister Liu Shui has liked you for a long time now. It's not as though I couldn't tell, Sister Liu Shui has been quite obvious about it in her usual behavior."

"Though, I don't know whether I'd be able to get used to living together with her, going forward..."

Gui Junmeng paused, looking earnestly at Xiao Mo, her gaze holding no blame, only honesty.

"But, if you, husband, decide to take Sister Liu Shui as a wife, I won't mind."

"There's only one condition... once you've married Sister Liu Shui, husband, you mustn't grow distant from me..."

"What are you saying..." Xiao Mo reached out and flicked Gui Junmeng's forehead firmly.

"I... I'm serious..." Gui Junmeng rubbed her faintly aching forehead. "Sister Liu Shui likes you from the bottom of her heart... I can't bear to watch her be so heartbroken..."

"All right, enough of this." Xiao Mo shook his head, his tone gentle yet leaving no room for argument.

"You don't need to concern yourself with this matter. You spent the whole day today teaching the temple's disciples about the Dao, you must be tired. Go and rest."

"Oh..."

Gui Junmeng lowered her head, walking slowly back toward her room but after a few steps, she turned back around, saying earnestly, "Husband, it's truly all right if you marry Sister Liu Shui, I won't get angry like Jingci did..."

"I understand, go rest now." Xiao Mo waved a hand, helpless.

Gui Junmeng finally returned obediently to her room.

Xiao Mo stood alone in the courtyard, gazing in the direction Liu Shui had gone.

After a long while, he let out a quiet sigh:

"I have already deceived enough people in this life. How could I possibly hold anyone else back any longer..."

…

At the Tushan clan.

Mountain-Moving Apes were slowly shifting the peaks of the Tushan lands, reshaping the entire landscape, mountains relocating, terrain overturned.

Descendants of the Golden Crow clan opened their mouths and breathed forth flame, melting hard black iron into molten red liquid metal, which the Fire Smith clan then continuously forged into thick, heavy iron chains.

Dozens of Sky-Swallowing Toads crouched upon various peaks, each one's belly holding the volume of an entire great river.

They opened their mouths together, spewing forth the accumulated river water, replenishing the dried-up riverbeds, refilling the winding waterways once more.

A hundred thousand demon cultivators skilled in formation arrays stood upon every mountaintop, holding formation diagrams, methodically laying out the array patterns according to the design plans.

Countless natural treasures were buried at every key node of the formation, guided by Mountain-Boring Worms.

Above the heavens, the density of spiritual energy grew ever thicker, like clouds and mist, pressing down heavily among the mountains, lingering without dispersing.

This vast formation, built with the full strength of the entire Tushan clan, though only just completing its first layer's basic form, proceeded in an orderly fashion nonetheless.

And upon a secluded mountain peak, Tushan Meng stood upright, her gaze calm as she looked out over that spectacular, bustling scene before her.

At that moment, a woman descended slowly from the sky, hands folded behind her back, walking to stand beside Tushan Meng.

"Is this formation array truly effective?"

Tushan Meng asked, without turning her head, her tone calm, betraying no hint of feeling.

"Of course."

Yuan spoke slowly, her tone confident.

"Once this formation is fully completed, I can guarantee that your precious disciple will break through, in one stroke, into that legendary, long-lost third realm!"

"By then, never mind the demon race's territory, even the Ten Thousand Laws Realm itself will be within the Tushan clan's grasp!"

"Only..."

Yuan reached out a hand, making a loose grasping gesture toward the formation, her five fingers curling gently closed, a meaningful smile curving at the corner of her mouth.

"A few cultivators of the Upper Three Realms will have to die, that's all."