Chapter 40: Daytime Declaration
While Shen Bingsi was meditating, Rong Xie was also meditating.
Amidst the ecstasy of receiving so much spiritual power from last night’s dual cultivation, Rong Xie was impatient to check exactly where his cultivation had landed.
Cultivation was divided into six levels: Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Distraction, Integration, and Dao Attainment.
Rong Xie wasn’t any of these yet; he was still in the pre-Foundation stage.
There was a stage before Foundation Establishment, an informal level called Qi Condensation. Qi Condensation was divided into ten levels. When Rong Xie withdrew from the inner sect, he was stuck exactly at the tenth level.
Cultivation was like sailing against the current; if you didn’t advance, you retreated. Having not meditated seriously for so many years, Rong Xie felt quite unsure.
He thought that if he still retained fifty or sixty percent of his cultivation, that would be good. Seventy or eighty percent would be a surprise.
Moving the spiritual energy through one cycle, Rong Xie was pleasantly surprised to find his cultivation was still at Qi Condensation Level 7. The state of his meridians was also excellent, with no major blockages. With physical conditions like this, picking up cultivation again would be no problem.
This was all thanks to the living conditions at Huanxue Villa.
Getting from Level 7 to Level 10 had taken Rong Xie two years back then.
At that time, every step forward was a challenge; everything was strange and required testing. When he reached Level 9, he had made a major mistake and took a detour for over half a year before correcting it.
This time was different. A gap of three levels was a familiar path for him.
Rong Xie estimated that, barring accidents, he could return to Qi Condensation Level 10 in six months at most.
After that came the most difficult part: charging toward Foundation Establishment.
…
The night passed, and the sky brightened fully.
With certainty in his heart, Rong Xie stood taller, his face glowing. Seeing Shen Bingsi still meditating, he went out quietly and brought back breakfast.
Signature dishes made personally by Master Sun: Crab Roe Lion’s Head, Hydrangea Tofu Pudding, and stir-fried crown daisy. It was a spread rich enough for lunch.
Rong Xie thought that since he didn’t know where Shen Bingsi wanted to wander today—maybe he even wanted to leave the city—eating a hearty breakfast was never a mistake.
Around the Hour of the Dragon (7-9 AM), Shen Bingsi woke from his meditative state and got out of bed.
“Why so lavish today?” Shen Bingsi raised an eyebrow in surprise as he watched Rong Xie take bowls and plates out of the food box.
Rong Xie arranged the tableware, called him over to sit, and smiled. “You woke up just in time, otherwise the heat preservation spell would have worn off.”
“Does it fade that fast?”
“It wasn’t a talisman you made; I cast the spell myself,” Rong Xie smiled.
“Oh? You can use it already?” Shen Bingsi touched the small white porcelain bowl holding the Crab Roe Lion’s Head. Sure enough, it was hot. “Not bad, you still remember.”
Rong Xie smiled but didn’t say much. His memory had always been good. Not just daily spells like heat preservation, but other spells and incantations learned in class or read in books—he remembered them all clearly. As long as he had enough spiritual power, he could use them immediately.
“Taste it. It should be very good. If you like it, we can ask the kitchen to make more, and we’ll bring it for lunch.”
“Bring it?” Shen Bingsi seemed puzzled. “Bring it where?”
“Depending on where you want to go. Although it’s a bit late to leave the city today, it’s fine if we stay overnight outside. If we want to return before the gates close, we have to hurry,” Rong Xie mused. “I heard from the waiter that there are many scenic spots and historical sites around Shengjing, as well as sword furnaces and sword mounds left by ancient swordsmiths. I thought you might be interested, so I asked them for a map.”
“That place? I’ve been there. It’s nothing, just the ruins of the Sword Casting Palace. Only the foundation remains; there’s nothing to see,” Shen Bingsi said.
“Ah, you’ve been there.” Rong Xie felt slightly disappointed. He thought he had found a place Shen Bingsi would be interested in. He hadn’t expected him to have visited already. But that made sense; how could an impatient person like Shen Bingsi know of a “sword” related attraction and not go?
“Then there are other spots, perhaps…”
“We aren’t going out today.” Shen Bingsi pressed down on Rong Xie’s shoulder, stopping him from looking through the map. His voice was steady and certain. “We will continue dual cultivation.”
“Eh… Eh?”
In broad daylight, under the clear sky, Rong Xie hadn’t expected to hear the words “dual cultivation” so abruptly.
A soft poof sounded in his ears, as if something had exploded.
Heat quickly spread to his entire ear and the surrounding skin; even the sides of his cheeks burned hot.
“B-but it’s daytime…” Rong Xie’s voice became very small.
“What’s wrong with daytime?” Shen Bingsi looked perfectly justified. “Cultivation should be done while the iron is hot. Now that we’ve succeeded once, we should immediately consolidate our gains on that foundation. Otherwise, if we wait a while and get rusty, picking it up again won’t be so easy.”
He had to admit, Shen Bingsi made a lot of sense.
When it came to cultivation, Shen Bingsi was the logic.
After an internal battle, Rong Xie agreed.
He really couldn’t think of a reason to refuse.
Aside from his own sense of shame, dual cultivation only had benefits in every aspect, no downsides.
However, he did fight for some space for his shame.
He only agreed to dual cultivate in the room, and the windows and doors had to be sealed tight. There had to be three layers of barriers: one outside the courtyard, one inside the courtyard, and one on the doors, windows, and walls.
Shen Bingsi quickly set up the barriers. People outside could see nothing, hear nothing, and of course, enter nothing.
Click.
Rong Xie slid the last window latch into the groove, looked back to check all the doors and windows again, and then walked slowly to the inner bed.
Shen Bingsi had already taken off his innerwear, revealing a strong upper body. His muscles were lean and powerful like whips; every inch was a result forged in combat.
Rong Xie lowered his gaze, afraid to look at the bed.
This was his first time doing this in broad daylight. Without the cover of night, without the barrier of water waves, two people stripping naked and facing each other… every detail of the body would be clearly visible, not to mention…
Rong Xie suddenly regretted it.
The moment the thought of fleeing crossed his mind, he was pulled over by a burning arm.
What happened next was frantic. Rong Xie didn’t even know when all his clothes were removed. Shen Bingsi’s progress speed in cultivation matters was always astonishing, whether it was serious meditation or dual cultivation: this time, he didn’t use a ribbon. Instead, he used Water Spirit to form a fine needle, inserting it from the top to seal Rong Xie’s body, preventing him from relaxing before the matter was finished.
This didn’t make it any easier for Rong Xie. The intensified stimulation made him arch his back, his toes curling in spasms against Shen Bingsi’s leg. His low sobbing almost never ceased. Sometimes he forgot he was cultivating; most of the time, he couldn’t even figure out who he was or where he was.
Shen Bingsi’s domineering spiritual power rushed into Rong Xie’s Qi Sea in waves. Fortunately, he had refined a portion of it last night; otherwise, there wouldn’t be any extra space to hold it today.
…
The sun moved from east to west, the light changing in subtle strands, shifting from bright and open to ambiguous and viscous.
Sunset glow filled the window paper, sifting down a layer of rouge that spread evenly over Rong Xie’s eyelids.
Rong Xie frowned and slowly opened his eyes.
His vision was filled with warm red.
“Mmh…”
He felt like egg custard that had been smashed and then gathered back together, spreading softly in the pan. Although on the surface everything looked fine, it was no longer the egg it was at the start.
“You’re awake.” A familiar voice came from the bedside—Shen Bingsi. “Don’t get up yet. Lie down and do as I say.”
His voice seemed lower than usual, sounding steady and powerful; whatever he said should be obeyed.
Rong Xie didn’t have the energy to think anyway, so he followed Shen Bingsi’s instructions.
Shen Bingsi guided him starting from basic breathing exercises, then moved to controlling the flow of spiritual power—which meridians to start from, which major acupoints to pass through, where to pause specifically, and where to push forward quickly.
Under Shen Bingsi’s guidance, Rong Xie quickly completed a minor cycle. His body became light and free, and his five senses were significantly strengthened.
However, the shock brought by the dual cultivation couldn’t be alleviated.
Shen Bingsi was particularly scary today. He didn’t know why—it clearly wasn’t their first time—but Rong Xie felt he was a bit unfamiliar, a bit frightening.
Although… it wasn’t rough, there was also no extra tenderness or waiting. Every step strictly followed the standard of cultivation: domineering, decisive, unquestionable.
This made Rong Xie feel somewhat terrible.
“Better? You should refine the absorbed spiritual power early; this will maximize your cultivation improvement,” Shen Bingsi said.
“Mn…” Rong Xie closed his eyes. “I want to lie down a bit longer.”
“Alright, rest well.” Shen Bingsi stood up from the bedside, and Rong Xie heard him open the door and leave.
Rong Xie breathed a slight sigh of relief and opened his eyes. He was alone in the room, and that terrible, empty feeling surged into his heart again.
“Cultivation is just like this,” Rong Xie told himself. “Did you expect something else? Don’t forget your purpose for doing this.”
Foundation Establishment as soon as possible.
Only by reaching Foundation Establishment quickly could he solve the problem of spiritual exhaustion and buy himself more time and space, so he wouldn’t have to rely on this kind of dual cultivation.
This kind of… emotionless dual cultivation.
By the next morning, sunlight spilled onto the head of the bed through the window paper, and Rong Xie felt much better.
He had meditated through the night again, circulating the spiritual power gained this time, absorbing and internalizing it. His meridians and Qi Sea were strengthened further, faintly approaching Qi Condensation Level 8.
The super-fast leveling speed diluted the sorrow in Rong Xie’s heart. He even felt he was being a bit pretentious. Shen Bingsi was doing this solely to help him reach Foundation Establishment. Perhaps the tenderness from before had given him the illusion that Shen Bingsi liked him too.
Shen Bingsi wouldn’t like him. What Shen Bingsi detested most was the emotion of “liking.” As a Nascent Soul cultivator of the Ruthless Path, a genius who severed love and desire, he wouldn’t like anyone—until the Heavenly Demons descended, until the final moment when the Heavenly Mirror pulled Rong Xie out as a scapegoat.
Thinking this through, Rong Xie reined in his emotions. He no longer made superfluous moves like before, actively getting close to Shen Bingsi.
However, his emotions didn’t subside just because Rong Xie thought he had figured it out.
After breakfast the next day, Shen Bingsi asked about the refinement of the spiritual power. Upon receiving a satisfactory answer, he proposed dual cultivation again.
Since they succeeded twice, there was no reason not to do it a third time.
Once they returned to Huanxue Villa, there would be no Dragon Vein boost. Whether they could succeed then was uncertain.
With the timing, location, and people all in harmony right now, they should work a bit harder and do it a few more times.
Maybe if things went smoothly, he could reach Qi Condensation Level 10 in these few days and charge directly for Foundation Establishment.
Shen Bingsi made a lot of sense. In the Dao of cultivation, he never let any opportunity for improvement slip by.
Yet Rong Xie felt worse and worse. Under the compounding emotions, even when they weren’t doing it, he had the urge to cry. More than once, he thought that if he had known the trip to Shengjing would be like this, he would rather have never come to Shengjing.
By the morning of the seventh day, Rong Xie got up slowly, dawdling over washing up. It wasn’t until the sun was high in the sky that he came out of the room.
Shen Bingsi was sitting by the small table in the courtyard. A food box sat on the table, surrounded by golden spiritual power keeping it warm.
Shen Bingsi seemed to be in a daze; he hadn’t noticed Rong Xie approaching.
“I… am not hungry. I don’t want to today…” Rong Xie clenched his fingers, hesitating on whether to say it.
“You’re up.” Shen Bingsi suddenly snapped back to reality and looked up at Rong Xie. “The Water-Land Dharma Assembly is ending today. We can go to Xiangji Temple now.”
📖 Advance Access: Complete Novel
You are purchasing Advance Reader Access to the complete translated compilation for:
"Long Aotian’s Beautiful Butler Has Run Away"
⚡ After Payment, Follow These 2 Steps:
- Option 1: Note your email on PayPal/Ko-fi.
- Option 2: Email proof to beezzzreads@gmail.com.
- Option 3: Comment below.
Notice: Manual approval. Please allow 12–24 hours for access.
Recommended Reads
