Dual Cultivation

"Qiuyue, explain the situation. What did you find?" Su Yang asked her while they traveled on the flying boat.

Qiuyue nodded and began explaining, "I have traveled aimlessly for the past few months, hoping that I'd run into something that could bring us home, and as I was flying over the Southern Region, I sensed a familiar energy and decided to investigate it."

"Once I investigated the source, it turned out to be a portal with an unknown destination. And the energy emitting from the portal reminds me of the Four Divine Heavens, but I am not 100% certain, so I decided to return first and let you take a look at it."

"I see…" Su Yang nodded and began to ponder.

A few moments later, Qiuyue turned to look at Hong Yu'er and asked, "Are you going to tell me why she's with us now?"

"Oh, right." Su Yang suddenly came to the realization and said, "But before I introduce her to you, I think she should know who you are first."

He turned to Hong Yu'er and said, "This is Qiuyue, and as you can tell by her unique appearance, she's from the Sacred Moon Temple."

"Sacred Moon Temple… why would someone from that secluded place be in this world?" Hong Yu'er asked.

"Long story short, she's Yuehai's daughter, and she's being hunted by the Sacred Moon Temple now. As for how she got here, she entered the Ancient Portal of the Four Heavenly Realm without setting a destination and ended up in this place by pure coincidence." Su Yang gave her a short but detailed explanation. "This is also how I know about your war with the Heavenly Emperor."

"Yuehai's daughter…? If this doesn't prove that fate is real, I don't know what will..." Hong Yu'er looked at Qiuyue in a different light now.

Then she realized something.

"About Yuehai… you know what happened to her, right?" Hong Yu'er asked him with a worried expression.

"I know." Su Yang closed his eyes, trying to hide the sorrow in his eyes.

"If you want, I can get my clan to…"

"No, the Sacred Moon Temple is my problem. I will personally deal with them after I return." Su Yang shook his head.

"I see..." Hong Yu'er nodded.

"Now that you know who Qiuyue is, I will introduce you to her—"

"I can introduce myself, darling." Hong Yu'er suddenly said.

"D-D-Darling?!" Qiuyue stared at her with wide eyes.

Hong Yu'er stood up and placed her hands on her chest and spoke in a prideful manner, "Although I am currently called Hong Yu'er, this is not my real body, as I am merely possessing it for the time being."

"You're possessing that body…?" Su Yang was dumbfounded.

"That's right. After your death, I led the Asura God Clan and declared war against the Heavenly Emperor. However, after fighting for a few hundred years, I was suddenly approached by this old man with an unknown background."

"An old man?" Su Yang was in disbelief. Could it be the same old man who put him into this place? But how did he leave the Eternal Retribution Cliff? That is a place where once someone enters, they will remain there for the rest of their life!

Hong Yu'er nodded and continued, "He told me that you were actually alive, but of course, I didn't believe him at first, so he told me that he'd prove it."

"Even though he said that, he had me wait a few hundred more years before giving me the Soul Invading Pill."

"Soul Invading Pill!"

Su Yang was shocked. The Soul Invading Pill is a precious yet forbidden treasure that allows one to invade another individual's soul and take over their body for a short period of time.

"I consumed the Soul Invading Pill and that old man led my soul to this girl's body, allowing me to take over her body. However, I can only stay inside this body for one year, and half of that time is already gone, so I will be returning to my original body in half a year."

"I still couldn't believe that you were alive at that point, but I was desperate and foolish, clinging to the smallest of hope that you were still alive. And after searching through this girl's memories and seeing you, I was shocked to see you alive and well."

"Why did that old man do something like this for you?" Su Yang asked.

"He said that he wanted to stop the war before it got out of hand, so he allowed me to see you, taking away the only reason I had to fight the Heavenly Emperor."

"I see… that makes some sense…" Su Yang nodded.

"By the way, what will happen to Hong Yu'er after you return to your own body?" he then asked.

"Well, even though I invaded her body, she's actually fully conscious and aware of what's happening even now. In fact, she even has some of my memories. But we have an agreement with each other, and as compensation for borrowing her body, I have helped her cultivate to the Heavenly Spirit Realm and even shared some of my cultivation techniques with her."

"Aren't you generous..." Su Yang chuckled.

He then looked at Hong Yu'er in the eyes and said, "I'm sorry that you were forcefully dragged into this. I will also compensate you for the trouble later."

Meanwhile, Qiuyue stared at Hong Yu'er with wide eyes and a loose jaw, seemingly in disbelief.

"Oh, right. I was in the middle of my introduction." Hong Yu'er finally realized this and continued, "My name is Tang Lingxi, and I am from the Asura God Clan."

"T-T-The Asura God Clan!" Qiuyue began trembling in fear. To think she'd meet someone from the infamous Asura God Clan in this place!

"W-W-What's your relationship with Su Yang?" Qiuyue asked Tang Lingxi despite her fear.

"Whether it be Hong Yu'er or Tang Lingxi, we're betrothed with one another."

"What?!" Qiuyue instantly turned to look at Su Yang and spoke, "I-Is that true?! You are betrothed to someone from the Asura God Clan?!"

"Although it's a bit complicated, she's not wrong." Su Yang nodded without hesitation. "And she's not just someone from the Asura God Clan. She's the head's only daughter. In terms of authority, she is only below one person, who is her father."

"I-I-Impossible…" Qiuyue was in disbelief. What did he do that could possibly lead to such an outcome?!

"Lingxi, so what you're saying right now is that the Asura God Clan is no longer fighting with the Heavenly Emperor?" Su Yang asked her.

She nodded and said, "Since you are not actually dead, there's no longer the need to avenge you, after all."

"Phew…" Su Yang wiped the sweat off his forehead and sighed. "Thank heavens that I no longer have to worry about that…"

"Do you have any idea how worried I was when I heard that your family had started a war with the Heavenly Emperor?" Su Yang said.

"I do... because that's how I felt when I suddenly received news of your death — no, it's even worse than that!"

"That... unless I speak with that old man again, I won't know what really happened to me." Su Yang sighed.

Sometime later, Qiuyue suddenly said, "We're here! This is the location of the portal!"

Su Yang nodded and said, "Let's descend."