Chapter 548 - 548: What an Eyesore

Zhao Yuan's face went pale. He stumbled back several steps, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

"I'm not going to Dual Cultivate with you! I'm not into men!"

Cheng Haoyu froze for a moment before realizing he'd been misunderstood. He quickly explained, "That's not what I meant! I wanted to *discuss* Dual Cultivation with you. I just got excited and forgot to say the 'discuss' part."

'What the hell does he mean, he "forgot to say" it?' Zhao Yuan was highly suspicious. 'This guy did it on purpose. He's either hitting on me or just messing with me to get a rise out of me.'

Still, Zhao Yuan was quite interested in Dual Cultivation. After a moment's thought, he said, "I don't actually know much about Dual Cultivation. How about this? If you trust me, explain your cultivation method, and I'll take a look and see if there's any room for improvement."

Relying on his Witch Doctor inheritance, Zhao Yuan was, without a doubt, at a Grandmaster Level when it came to improving Cultivation Techniques.

However, Cheng Haoyu was still a bit skeptical. Although he described a cultivation method, it wasn't the one he currently used. Instead, it was the most basic technique in the art of Dual Cultivation—the Solidifying Yang and Guarding Yin Technique.

As the name of the technique suggested, it taught men and women practicing the art of Dual Cultivation how to solidify their Primordial Yang and guard their Primordial Yin.

Only by preventing the leakage of Primordial Yang and the loss of Primordial Yin could one engage in Yin Yang Dual Cultivation. Otherwise, it wasn't cultivation but debauchery. Not only would it fail to benefit the body, but it would actively damage one's health. Before long, with all their Primordial Yang or Primordial Yin depleted, they would either become a cripple or lose their life!

Cheng Haoyu had offered this Basic Cultivation Technique for Zhao Yuan's guidance only after careful consideration.

If Zhao Yuan wasn't skilled enough to provide useful pointers, it wouldn't be a great loss or disappointment if this Basic Cultivation Technique was leaked. Only if Zhao Yuan offered expert guidance on this technique would he feel confident enough to bring out a better one.

Zhao Yuan saw through his intentions but didn't call him out on it.

On the one hand, he understood Cheng Haoyu's predicament. In the world of cultivation, the importance of "methods" was self-evident. No one wanted to carelessly leak a Cultivation Technique they treasured.

On the other hand, he had never encountered Dual Cultivation before. Jumping straight into a High Level technique would be asking for trouble. So, Cheng Haoyu seeking advice on a Basic Cultivation Technique suited him perfectly!

After listening to Cheng Haoyu's explanation of the Solidifying Yang and Guarding Yin Technique, the detailed contents of the technique appeared on the Information Leaf in his mind, along with suggested improvements for several areas.

Zhao Yuan explained these improvements one by one.

The more Cheng Haoyu listened, the more serious he became, his expression growing increasingly solemn.

He had already mastered this Basic Cultivation Technique, and it was precisely because of this mastery that he could easily recognize that there were indeed many parts that felt awkward and didn't flow smoothly during his practice.

He had always assumed his own comprehension was lacking or that he hadn't practiced it well enough. Only now did he realize that the problem was with the technique itself!

After Zhao Yuan finished his explanation, Cheng Haoyu couldn't wait to practice the new version of the Solidifying Yang and Guarding Yin Technique.

Although the numerous changes made it a bit unfamiliar, he could still feel that the new version of the Solidifying Yang and Guarding Yin Technique was far superior to the old one, both in terms of smoothness and effectiveness.

This proved that Zhao Yuan's improvements were correct and effective!

"I can't believe it..." Cheng Haoyu said, his face a mask of shock after he finished his cultivation. "The Solidifying Yang and Guarding Yin Technique I used to practice actually had so many flaws."

"That's perfectly normal," Zhao Yuan explained. "Whether passed down by word of mouth or through written texts, information is easily lost over time. To compensate for these gaps, later generations add their own interpretations or insights to the technique. If the additions are good, they can perfect the technique and improve its effects. But if the additions aren't good enough, they become flaws!"

Cheng Haoyu nodded, feeling that Zhao Yuan's words made a lot of sense. It was like the Confucian Dao; scholars throughout history have had different interpretations of it, otherwise, so many different schools of thought wouldn't have emerged.

It was hard to say which branch of Confucianism, like the Cheng-Zhu School of Confucianism or the School of Mind, was closest to the original intentions of the Confucian Saints. Each had its own essence, but each also had its dregs.

The transmission of Cultivation Techniques faced the same problem.

In this day and age, to find the most core, authentic, and essential version of a technique, perhaps only Zhao Yuan, the inheritor of Wu Peng's legacy, was even remotely capable of doing so.

Having witnessed Zhao Yuan's incredible ability, Cheng Haoyu no longer held any doubts. He brought out more Dual Cultivation Techniques, asking for Zhao Yuan's guidance. Zhao Yuan didn't disappoint him, providing incredibly detailed and ingenious suggestions for each one. This left Cheng Haoyu ecstatic and utterly shocked, and his admiration for Zhao Yuan grew to the point of worship.

In the process of asking for advice, Cheng Haoyu asked more than once, "Are you sure you've never studied Dual Cultivation before? Are you really not a Grandmaster of a Dual Cultivation School?"

In his view, only a Grandmaster could make such improvements... 'No, even a Grandmaster might not be as skilled as Zhao Yuan!'

At first, Zhao Yuan answered him patiently, but after being asked so many times, he grew annoyed and would just snap back with a single sentence: "Believe it or don't, but if you don't, get lost!"

Whenever this happened, Cheng Haoyu would apologize profusely.

He couldn't bear the thought of missing such a golden opportunity to improve his techniques!

Besides, Zhao Yuan not only improved the techniques but also provided detailed explanations for them. The depth of these explanations was countless times more profound than his own understanding! He knew this was an opportunity, and if he seized it, his future achievements would be anything but small.

Because of this, his gratitude toward Zhao Yuan reached an extreme, to the point where he had begun to see him as a teacher!

If the Daoist who first taught him the Dual Cultivation Technique was his Enlightenment master, then Zhao Yuan was his master of the craft! Both enlightened teachers were incredibly important!

This also meant that during the learning process, whenever Cheng Haoyu had a question, he would first perform a formal bow of respect to a teacher before asking.

Zhao Yuan also benefited greatly from this process of giving guidance.

First, he received a wave of grateful Wish Power from Cheng Haoyu!

The grateful Wish Power from a Cultivator was purer and more potent than that of an ordinary person.

But that wasn't the most important part.

What Zhao Yuan truly valued was learning so many Dual Cultivation Techniques from Cheng Haoyu. Whether he would use them in the future or not, at the very least, it broadened his horizons and expanded his knowledge, which was highly beneficial for his own cultivation.

Once the session was over, Cheng Haoyu solemnly knelt on the ground and performed a deep, formal bow to Zhao Yuan. "Brother Zhao, whether you accept it or not, from this day forward, I will see you as my master!"

"What are you doing? I'm not worthy of such a grand gesture. Get up, quick." Zhao Yuan hurried forward to help him up.

Just then, Hao Li finished cooking and came upstairs. From his perspective, the scene took on a completely different meaning—Cheng Haoyu was kneeling on the floor while Zhao Yuan had his hands on his shoulders. The two of them seemed to be engaged in some kind of... indescribable act...

Hao Li was so shocked he cried out, "What are you two doing?! My eyes! It burns!"