Chapter 199 Practicing the Doctrine:

Congratulations!

Upon returning to the Hehuan Sect, they were greeted with congratulations from Elder Hong and Protector Seju.

Shen Bingsi's condition was immediately clear: his hair had turned completely black, and his body had returned to its original state.

"Thank you for Elder Hong's cultivation secrets." Shen Bingsi thanked him generously. "If Elder Hong ever needs my help in the future, please just say so."

"Hahaha..." Elder Hong stroked his beard, "That's wonderful."

“However, with my current cultivation level, I’m afraid I can’t be of much help to Elder Hong.” Shen Bingsi changed the subject and brought up the key issue at hand, “My cultivation level has not yet recovered; I’m only at the Qi Refining stage right now.”

"Well," Elder Hong pondered for a moment, "it's easy to solve!"

Shen Bingsi and Rong Xie, who were standing next to her, were both invigorated upon hearing this. Sure enough, it was right to ask Elder Hong about the issue of changing one's cultivation path.

Elder Hong's relaxed tone and confident attitude made the two of them feel that this round was in the bag, so they didn't ask any more questions and joined the celebration banquet that Elder Hong had temporarily organized for them.

Elder Hong, Protector Seju, Anangu, and a group of Hehuan Sect followers gathered in the Five-Colored Flower Square, drinking and eating meat together, enjoying the moonlight until dawn.

As the sky gradually faded and the stars disappeared behind the thin mist, Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi finally managed to escape from the crowd. They helped each other back to the small building, to their big bed, and slept soundly.

When I woke up again, the sun was setting, and dusk covered the second-floor floor and wooden wall panels, with a lazy smell filling the air.

Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi returned to Elder Hong's small building.

"Young man, you have plenty of energy," Elder Hong joked with a smile. "Want to do it again tonight?"

“No, no,” Rong Xie quickly refused, “We came to you to restore our cultivation. What should we do next?”

Elder Hong seemed to have just come to his senses. He tapped his forehead and said, "I almost forgot. You just need to continue imitating the actions of the people in my sect."

"Continue... imitation?" Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi exchanged a glance.

“Excellent, you’ll like it.” Elder Hong winked meaningfully. “Welcome to the Joyous Union Sect!”

"What?" Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi were taken aback. Shen Bingsi immediately retorted, "I am a member of the Spirit Mirror Sect and cannot join other sects."

“I know, I know,” Elder Hong waved his pink sleeve. “I mean, if you like, you can join our Joyful Union Cult. I’m not forcing you to join. However, the most important thing about changing your path is to abandon your old, stubborn views! Letting go of yourself and embracing your true feelings is the best way to resist the Path of Ruthlessness. If you join the Joyful Union Cult, you will quickly regain your spiritual power, and you will even reach a higher level.”

"Really?" Shen Bingsi asked, still somewhat skeptical.

"Of course, that's how I reached my current cultivation level." Elder Hong said with a smile. Suddenly, he stopped smiling, and a chilling spiritual pressure instantly filled the small building. Shen Bingsi and Rong Xie both felt pressure on their chests, their skin felt like it was being pricked by needles, and even their feet felt like they were sinking into the bamboo planks on the second floor.

The spiritual pressure dissipated, and everything returned to normal. Rong Xie breathed a sigh of relief, his back soaked with cold sweat. He looked at Shen Bing Si, whose face was also quite pale. After all, the two of them had been attacked by the same amount of spiritual pressure, but Shen Bing Si's cultivation level was still lower than Rong Xie's, and he was only holding on by his willpower.

"How does it compare to Old Bai?" Elder Hong asked smugly.

“It is a bit higher.” Shen Bingsi was silent for a moment, then caught her breath and said.

Rong Xie supported Shen Bingsi and used his spiritual power to help him relieve the impact of the spiritual pressure.

"Hmph," Elder Hong said smugly, "Back then, Lao Bai and I were from the same sect. He was the senior brother that Master valued the most, the most promising, and his cultivation was even higher than mine. But after fifty years, he is still the same as before, without any progress. Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"That's because the Path of Ruthlessness goes against our nature. If a craftsman in Liujin City were to carve an exquisite Mohou Luo, or a skilled puppeteer were to create an obedient puppet, of course they could cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness. After all, they are not human and have no emotions, so cultivating it would be a piece of cake," Elder Hong sneered. "It's just a pity that they don't have meridians or dantian, and they can't absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, otherwise they would have surpassed us humans long ago."

"This..." This was the first time Rong Xie had heard such strange remarks. Mohouluo was a painted clay figurine for children to play with, and Yanjia was a legendary mechanical manipulator that was linked by mechanisms and could be manipulated as if it were a living person. These two things were not human at all, so of course they had no feelings.

"Since we are human, why should we pursue a path that is not human? Why can't we pursue a human path? When we encounter good people and good deeds, we are overjoyed; when we encounter bad people and bad deeds, we are filled with sorrow, fear, and anger. We accept things as they are and cultivate the path of joy and the path of sorrow, fear, and anger. We are already far superior to all living beings from birth, so why not use our strengths to attack their weaknesses?"

Elder Hong's words were thought-provoking, and Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi were both lost in thought for a moment, not answering immediately.

Elder Hong was not in a hurry and waited for the two of them to comprehend it.

“You’re right,” Shen Bingsi spoke first. “We can give it a try, but I won’t join the Hehuan Cult.”

Rong Xie glanced at Shen Bingsi; he knew that Shen Bingsi was always direct in his speech.

"Hehe, our Hehuan Sect doesn't accept just anyone." Elder Hong said without taking offense. "Think it over before you come to me. Some things are not as simple as just imitating on the surface."

Rong Xie was slightly embarrassed. Although he knew that the Hehuan Sect was like this, he still felt strange that Elder Hong, a respected elder, would say such a thing.

Shen Bingsi bid farewell to Elder Hong and then left with Rong Xie.

"What do you plan to do?" Rong Xie asked Shen Bingsi on the way back.

"Give it a try," Shen Bingsi said.

"Hmm..." Rong Xie sensed the uncertainty in Shen Bingsi's words, so he comforted her, "It's okay, I'll always be with you."

Hearing this, Shen Bingsi seemed to feel a little better. He turned his head and looked at his beloved's face in the moonlight: "Really? I thought you would be in a hurry to go back to Lanyuan to check the expenses for the new year's seedlings with Steward Wang."

"Pfft," Rong Xie was amused by Shen Bingsi's description, "There's still a big sapling here that hasn't been taken care of yet, how can I feel at ease going to do other things?"

Doing what you love with someone you love couldn't be easier; Shen Bingsi couldn't understand why this could be called cultivation.

He pulled Rong Xie aside, reached out and touched his cheek, his fingers sliding back and running through his soft, long hair. In the cool evening breeze, he asked, "Where would you like to start cooking?"

Rong Xie lowered his head slightly, seemingly a little embarrassed. His skin glowed faintly in the moonlight, and his lips parted slightly: "It's up to you... I'm fine with anything."

Shen Bingsi cupped Rong Xie's face in her hands and slowly moved closer to him. Their breaths touched and their lips met.

Under the moonlight, deep in the forest, by a deserted path, the evening breeze carries the soft scent of nectar.

At that moment, all the chaotic thoughts in my mind disappeared, leaving only a stretching white cloud, fluffy and floating in the warm sky.

After the kiss ended, Shen Bingsi picked up Rong Xie and carried him quickly towards their small building. For a moment, Rong Xie thought that he had regained his powers, and when he jumped over the grass, it was as if he was about to fly.

They rushed into the small building, stumbled and staggered up the stairs, bumping into the partitions several times and missing their footing at least three times. Finally, they successfully reached the second floor, where the large bed was within reach.

“The window…” Rong Xie pulled an arm out of Shen Bing Si’s embrace and pointed to the window that was still open. They had opened the window to let in fresh air at dusk, and it was still open now.

"It's alright, no one's looking this way," Shen Bingsi said, managing to find a moment of reassurance amidst her busy work.

"No...no!" Rong Xie insisted on closing the window.

Shen Bingsi had no choice but to let him have his way, since Rong Xie's cultivation level was now higher than his. At this moment, he clearly realized the importance of strength.

Rong Xie dragged Shen Bingsi to the window and reached out to touch it.

Shen Bingsi suddenly licked his ear.

Rong Xie froze and turned around.

A warm breath enveloped him as Shen Bingsi, using both hands and feet, trapped Rong Xie in the small space beneath the window.

Rong Xie tried to use her spiritual power to shake him off, but for some reason, she just couldn't muster the strength.

He felt like a light, floating ball of cotton, being nudged around by a big dog with a wet nose.

“No one will see it here,” Shen Bingsi said in his ear, her breathing heavy.

Indeed, the blind spot below the window... can only be seen by the moon and stars in the sky.

For the next seven days, the two spent either sleeping in bed or engaging in intimate acts outside the bed, thoroughly practicing the doctrines of sexual union from the inside out.

Rong Xie swore that once Shen Bingsi recovered her cultivation and they left the Hehuan Sect, she would make sure to supervise Shen Bingsi to burn down the bamboo building, ensuring that every plank of wood was reduced to ashes, and then compensate Elder Hong accordingly.

The question now is, when will Shen Bingsi regain her cultivation?

"You...don't you feel anything at all?"

Rong Xie sat in the bathtub and turned to ask the person behind him.

Warm water gently surrounded the two of them. Shen Bingsi's hand was around Rong Xie's waist, and she held him on her lap. Naturally, they were not wearing anything.

"How could that be?" Shen Bingsi tightened her arms, pressing the two of them even closer together. "You call this feelingless?"

"No..." Rong Xie's cheeks burned. Shen Bing Si was becoming more and more shameless. It was hard to imagine that just a few months ago he only regarded this as a way of cultivation. Rong Xie moved forward slightly, away from the source of danger. "I mean, your cultivation level, don't you feel any increase at all?"

“Yes,” Shen Bingsi sighed, “It’s all your fault for not being skilled enough to help me reach the Foundation Establishment stage.”

Rong Xie couldn't help but laugh and turned around to slap his mouth, but the movement was so light and soft that it was almost like caressing him. Shen Bingsi grabbed his hand and kissed it again and again. The two then played around in the bathtub for a while.

We had to change the water in the bucket again after we came out.

After they finished washing and changed into clean new clothes, it was still early, and Rong Xie didn't want to stay in the house, so they went out, asked Anangu for leave, left the Hehuan Sect headquarters, and ran to the streets of Liujin City.