Dual Cultivation

"What did you just say? This is a Golden Yang Pill?" The Sect Leader had a doubtful look on her face after her initial surprise.

And without waiting for a response, she opened the bottle and took a sniff.

The strong fragrance of the Golden Yang Pill immediately penetrated her nose and sent shivers down her whole body.

Although it has been thousands of years since she last cultivated Su Yang's Yang Qi, her body somehow knew and felt a sense of nostalgia from it.

Of course, she had no clue that the pill in front of her had been created using a supposedly dead man's Yang Qi.

However, even a small shiver coming from her meant many things.

'My body… Did I just get excited?' The Sect Leader had a baffled look on her face.

While it may be natural for female dual cultivators to be attracted to a man's Yang Qi, the Sect Leader was someone with vast experience, even tasting the God of Pleasure's Yang Qi, so ordinary Yang Qi wouldn't interest her, much less satisfy her.

"Sect Leader?" Elder Yao called out to her, snapping her out of her daze.

"Sect Leader, is everything okay?"

"Y-Yeah. Where did you acquire this Golden Yang Pill?"

"I made it," said Elder Yao with a somewhat prideful look on her face.

The Sect Leader raised an eyebrow, "You concocted this pill? Don't lie to me, Elder Yao, or I will be really upset."

"Why would I lie to you, Sect Leader? I really, really concocted it."  Elder Yao confirmed.

"Then where did you acquire the Yang Qi for this pill?"

Elder Yao smiled and said, "Believe it or not, I received it from a disciple of this sect."

"What?!" 

The Sect Leader stood up with a startled face.

"The quality of Yang Qi in this pill is extraordinary! Not even the Core Disciples can compare to it! Hell, even the other sects would be jealous if they saw this! Who in this Sect could have such a strong Yang Qi and why am I not aware of him?!" The Sect Leader grew angry.

She couldn't believe that something this amazing had been in her sect and she wasn't aware of it, as this Golden Yang Pill could potentially increase their sect's standing and bring it back to its prime days!

"Don't be upset, Sect Leader. It's only natural that you don't know about this disciple since he'd only recently joined the sect." Elder Yao quickly said.

"What? The disciple examination ended long ago!"

"This disciple entered the sect through the Yin Yang Badge of Acceptance."

"Who gave him this badge?"

"Elder Chu."

"And she didn't bother to report something this important to me?" The Sect Leader immediately retrieved her communication jade slip and summoned Elder Chu.

While they waited for her arrival, Elder Yao spoke, "Sect Leader, there's actually more to this. This disciple claims the Yang Qi doesn't belong to him— that he's merely receiving it from someone else. If this is true, I don't think Elder Chu is aware of the situation."

The Sect Leader then said, "We'll know the truth once Elder Chu is here."

Meanwhile, Elder Chu rushed herself to the Sect Leader after being summoned with urgency.

"Disciple Chu greets the Sect Master!" Elder Chu knocked on the door and greeted her from outside the room.

Whoosh!

The Sect Leader sprung the doors open with a flick of her sleeve.

Elder Chu quickly entered the room, and the first thing she noticed was Elder Yao's presence.

'What's she doing here?' She wondered inwardly as she walked to the center of the room and bowed to the Sect Leader.

"Disciple Chu greets the Sect Master." She greeted her again, this time with her head and body lowered.

"Tell me about this disciple you thought was worthy of your Yin Yang Badge of Acceptance." The Sect Leader said.

"Eh?"

Elder Chu lifted her head to look at the Sect Leader with a dumbfounded look on her face.

'This is about Xiao Yang?! Why is he already being noticed by the Sect Master?! He's just an Outer Court disciple that has barely been in the sect!' She cried inwardly.

The last time the Sect Leader took interest in an Outer Court disciple was when Su Yang first joined the sect thousands of years ago, and she could only imagine what he did to put them in this situation.

After swallowing nervously, she asked, "D-Did my disciple do something to offend the Sect Master? If so, I will take care—"

"Just answer the question." The Sect Leader interrupted.

"Yes! I met Disciple Xiao in the City of Pleasure after my disciple sang about his talents like a bird, and after experiencing it for myself, I concluded that he was definitely worthy of the Yin Yang Badge of Acceptance!"

Elder Chu recalled her experience and connection to Su Yang in full detail to the Sect Leader, who listened with a somewhat dazed look on her face.

'City of Pleasure… He hated that place…'

Her mind couldn't help but drift, reminiscing about her time with Su Yang.

'She's like that again…' Elder Chu stopped talking once she noticed the Sect Leader's atmosphere.

Ever since Su Yang's death, the Sect Leader began having these moments where she would lose focus of reality and become trapped inside her own mind, where he was still alive.

Of course, this isn't unique to the Sect Leader, as many other female cultivators are still trying to get over his death even thousands of years later.

Once she snapped out of it, the Sect Leader spoke in a low voice, "I see… Then what do you think about his Yang Qi? How does it compare to this?"

She tossed the bottle of Golden Yang Pill to Elder Chu.

"T-This is…" Elder Chu was left speechless by the overwhelming quality of the pill, or more specifically, the Yang Qi within.

"In my opinion, Xiao Yang's Yang Qi is only slightly better than an Inner Court disciple who'd just been promoted. It cannot compare to the Yang Qi in this pill," she said with a serious expression on her face.