Chapter 74: The Price
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Su Ran washed her body in the spiritual spring, and the burning sensation gradually subsided. Turning her head, she caught sight of Chen Fei, who looked extremely uncomfortable, as if he were on fire.
Su Ran couldn’t help but burst into laughter and murmured, “Chen Fei, there’s a spiritual spring here. It can put out the fire in your heart.”
Chen Fei instinctively turned his head. The clear and transparent spiritual spring reflected Su Ran’s proud and graceful figure, making things even worse for him.
If he really entered the spring, it wouldn’t be about extinguishing the fire—it would be like pouring oil on it. At that point, he wasn’t sure if he could restrain his most primal impulses.
“No need. I just need some fresh air!” Chen Fei quickly shook his head and groped his way toward the exit.
Seeing this, Su Ran laughed so hard her shoulders trembled, completely unaware that her graceful figure had already been fully taken in by Chen Fei’s eyes.
After leaving, Chen Fei finally felt the heat within his body subside. It was only then that he was shocked to discover that after dual cultivating with Su Ran, not only had his spiritual power in his sea of consciousness increased significantly, but even the spiritual energy inside the Void Heaven Cauldron had surged tremendously.
He had been stuck at the peak of the Seventh Layer of the Spirit Refining Realm for some time, and not even a high-grade third-tier pill had helped him break through. But now, not only had he broken through, but he had even reached the late stage of the Eighth Layer in one go.
“Is the Yin-Yang Emperor Sutra really this miraculous?”
“Or did I just take advantage of Su Ran’s Phoenix bloodline?”
For a moment, Chen Fei was astonished, unsure if the credit belonged to the Yin-Yang Emperor Sutra, the Phoenix bloodline, or both.
“This is truly an incredible surprise!”
Chen Fei was secretly overjoyed.
Before coming here, he had worried that following Su Ran would delay his cultivation and had even considered rejecting her. Luckily, he hadn’t thought of a proper excuse to refuse—otherwise, he would be regretting it now.
Having experienced this kind of cultivation, even though they had not consummated their relationship physically, the spiritual closeness and mutual understanding they shared during cultivation surpassed even the intimacy between married couples.
In modern terms, they were essentially soulmates.
At that moment, Chen Fei couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. They were already spiritual partners, yet he still kept so many secrets from Su Ran.
The secret of the Void Heaven Cauldron could remain hidden, but the fact that he had awakened the sensory ability of the Spirit-Eyed Serpent and had unintentionally glimpsed Su Ran’s private body made him uneasy.
But he had no idea how to explain this to Su Ran.
It wasn’t that he was afraid to take responsibility—it was just that the Spirit-Eyed Serpent’s ability was tied to the Void Heaven Cauldron. If he mentioned the ability, he would inevitably have to explain the cauldron as well.
While Chen Fei was still caught in his internal struggle, Su Ran suddenly appeared behind him.
“Chen Fei, our cultivation practice—only heaven, earth, you, and I know of it,” Su Ran said solemnly.
“Alright,” Chen Fei nodded, wanting to say something but hesitating.
“Just like we agreed when we got married—you walk your path, I walk my bridge. We are only keeping each other warm, nothing more,” Su Ran continued, thinking that Chen Fei wanted to take their relationship further and make their marriage real.
She had considered it before, but deep down, she knew it was impossible for them to become a true couple.
Since she already knew the ending, why take another step forward and trap both of them in a hopeless situation?
Chen Fei, who had initially felt guilty, suddenly felt relieved after hearing her words.
So they were just keeping each other warm?
Since Su Ran had said it herself, as a man, how could he be the one to cling to it?
When the two of them left the mine and returned to the estate, Chen Fei finally learned from the servants that it was already the evening of the third day since they had arrived at the Yellow Spirit Mine.
What had seemed like a short cultivation session had, in reality, lasted over a full day and night.
No wonder Chen Fei felt utterly drained and starving—he hadn’t eaten for more than a day.
During the meal, he made up for the lost nutrition as he had promised himself in his spiritual sea, devouring food to replenish his body.
Seeing this, Su Ran found it amusing and even specifically ordered someone to bring him some aphrodisiac spiritual medicine for nourishment.
Having already gone through such an experience together, Chen Fei felt no embarrassment at all. Instead of refusing, he even doubled the dosage on top of what Su Ran suggested.
The nearby servants, overhearing their conversation, were utterly shocked.
Previously, everyone knew that Chen Fei was merely a shield Su Ran used to prevent Ye Bufan from proposing.
But now, seeing how affectionate the two were—so much so that they both needed aphrodisiac supplements—who could still say their relationship was fake?
After eating, Chen Fei and Su Ran rested. When he woke up, he found that the aphrodisiac medicine he had asked for had actually been delivered.
“Eat up.”
“After that, we’ll continue.”
Su Ran handed the aphrodisiac medicine to Chen Fei with a teasing smile.
“Fine! I refuse to believe that I’ll lose to you again this time.”
As a man, Chen Fei refused to accept defeat, even though what they were competing in wasn’t exactly what others would assume. But since his spiritual consciousness and willpower had fallen short compared to Su Ran’s, it still felt like a blow to his pride.
Hearing this, Su Ran simply chuckled and said nothing more. In her eyes, Chen Fei was just bringing this upon himself by trying to compete with her in endurance of spiritual consciousness.
Soon, the two of them returned to the Fire Cloud Stone bed deep in the mine for their second session of dual cultivation using the Yin-Yang Emperor Sutra.
With prior experience, the second time went smoothly. However, the speed of his spiritual power enhancement was significantly lower than the first time.
Afterward, Chen Fei realized that the increase in spiritual energy inside the Void Heaven Cauldron had drastically decreased as well. His cultivation remained at the late stage of the Eighth Layer of the Spirit Refining Realm.
From this, he deduced that the immense improvement from their first session was likely due to Su Ran’s Phoenix bloodline.
Once again, he reached his limit before Su Ran, and his spiritual consciousness was completely drained, forcing them to end their session.
It turned out that the so-called supplements had little to no effect on strengthening spiritual consciousness. The true key to strengthening one’s spiritual will lay in a cultivator’s realm and the growth of spiritual power within their sea of consciousness.
As a transmigrator, Chen Fei’s spiritual consciousness was naturally far stronger than that of ordinary people—after all, he had lived two lives.
But why was Su Ran’s spiritual consciousness even stronger than his?
In terms of seniority and cultivation realm, she should have been weaker than him, and her spiritual consciousness should have been weaker as well.
Though puzzled, Chen Fei refrained from asking, fearing that it might be related to Su Ran’s own secrets. He didn’t want to embarrass them both.
Instead, he asked why the second session of cultivation was far less effective than the first.
With a knowing smile, Su Ran explained, “The power we obtain from the world never comes without a price. No matter how advanced a technique is, there is always a corresponding cost.”
