Hearing his words, the girl began to panic. Shocked by the words that came out of her mouth.
Before she went over the edge, he smiled gently and changed the subject.
"This Sunflower Manual…. It's a lower-tier Heaven-ranked technique. It's split into two records: Yang and Yin. The man practices the Yang, the woman the Yin."
"When practiced together, their energies support and reinforce each other. If the partners are in sync and trust each other greatly... the effects multiply manyfold."
Completely forgetting about her awkward situation, Selene's mouth opened.
"A H -Heaven-tier technique????"
That was beyond anything she had seen or heard of.
A technique tiered out of legends in the martial world. However, her simple mind quickly brushed past it and thought of something else.
She folded her arms and glanced away.
What is this guy really trying to do? Why exactly make me stronger so I can beat Murong Fu? He's not telling me everything.
She narrowed her eyes.
Murong Fu had always been proud. Losing to her would crush his ego. That would definitely cause trouble.
And Riven…
Was he just trying to use that moment of chaos to swoop in and claim her?
Hmph.
She didn't like that thought at all.
But then again… what if he didn't practice with her?
Would he go and give this precious technique to some other woman?
And do it with her?
That thought bothered her to no end.
She scowled.
Hmph…He's already hugged me, carried me, flown through the skies with me… If this doesn't involve anything intimate, why should I be scared?
She nodded to herself. Steeled her heart.
Then raised her chin and met his eyes.
"Alright. I'll do it."
"But!" she held up a finger. "I'm setting a rule. And if you try anything funny again, I swear I'll blast you through a wall."
"Agreed," he chuckled and said without hesitation.
...…
Shortly after, the ceiling lights in the pavilion were dimmed.
The flicker of a simple glow array glowed softly between them, casting long shadows against the walls.
They sat opposite each other, cross-legged. Their corresponding palms were lightly pressed together.
Her right palm on his left, and vice versa.
Their breathing synchronized.
Selene looked a little anxious.
Outside, the night breeze blew gently against the walls, rustling the trees beyond.
"I've told you everything about the process and the significance of it."
"Are you sure about this?" Riven asked, his voice calm. "If you're uncomfortable, we stop. No questions."
She looked up at him, studying his face in the low light.
"You're trusting me with your internal energy and even… opening up your internal space to me. Aren't you scared I'll mess something up?"
Riven didn't even blink.
"I chose you because I trust you more than anyone."
Selene's heart skipped.
"...You're just saying that," she mumbled, voice suddenly quiet.
"We've barely known each other for a year."
He smiled faintly. "Some people leave a mark the moment you meet them. There's a girl I saw once….mmm… Couldn't forget her since."
Selene's face flushed again. She scowled, but there was no real heat in it.
"Don't say stupid things like that. If you missed me so much, why'd you wait until tonight to…"
She caught herself just in time, her eyes going wide with a mix of horror and frustration.
She'd said too much.
Riven grinned. "I was delayed. Family drama."
He leaned in a little.
"And, well… sometimes a little distance makes the reunion sweeter, doesn't it?"
"Not at all," she muttered.
But her heart was racing.
"…Fine. Let's start," she said quietly. "I trust you."
She didn't know why. But she did.
Maybe it was the way he made her feel safe. Maybe it was the warmth in his gaze.
Or maybe it was because, even when he teased her, he never crossed the line.
And deep down, it wasn't just safety she felt around him.
Not like the way she used to feel around Murong Fu—who had been more like a brother, a protective cousin, a childhood companion.
No, this feeling was different.
Stronger. Warmer. Wilder.
She closed her eyes and focused.
Their palms touched.
Riven took a deep breath and activated the Sunflower Manual.
A golden warmth surged from his heart. He mobilized his Primordial heart blood with surgical precision.
At the same time, a strong Primal Yang energy gathering at his lower dantian, like the rising sun, was extracted.
The two Primal essences met in the middle of his chest.
As explained in the manual, Riven manipulated and refined them into threads, finally coalescing them into a single twisted wire shape.
This looked like reinforced copper wire. Just bright fucking golden in colour.
Then, it pulsed forward—hot, bright, overflowing with energy—flowing through his left palm into Selene's hand.
Although Riven had opened his internal space to Selene and let her watch him perform entirely, she was still startled upon meeting this energy.
"Nnngh—!"
Selene shivered.
A soft, involuntary moan slipped out from her lips.
It was hot. Too hot.
But she braced herself. Focused her breathing and guided the burning flow gently through her body.
'Hissssss'
Yang. Yin.
It sounded like fire hitting ice.
Under the guidance of Riven's extreme control she too extracted Primordial heart essence and Primal Yin essence from her lower vaginal area.
Contrasting with Riven's, her essence was bright glacial blue in color.
They both worked meticulously to divide the energy into the finest strands and twist them into a wire shape.
A white mist began to form around them, curling like fog and swirling around the pavilion as their opposing energies merged.
The balance between them formed a powerful cycle.
She directed the energy with care, moving it through her major meridians, gathering her scattered internal force.
And then, like crashing waves—
Boom.
In the space of her spirit, it felt like thunder.
The Sun and Moon veins opened.
Selene gasped.
The flow of qi that had always stopped short suddenly poured through, flooding into every part of her body.
A surge of clarity, like breathing in cold spring water.
It was like waking up, shedding an old skin.
Her pores opened. The primal energy of heaven and earth gathered toward her, soaking into her bones.
While she was momentarily lost in euphoria, Riven gritted his teeth and expended all his mental energy to hold the twisted and balanced energy in place inside Selene's body.
A momentary fault could hurt them both.
When she recovered, both of them worked together to send the balanced energy back to Riven.
This time it wasn't icy or scorching, it was mild and gentle. Slipped through his veins like butter on a hot pan.
The moment her essence entered him, it extinguished the burning pressure of his yang energy like rain on fire.
He felt it instantly.
His body lightened. His mind cleared. His muscles relaxed as though he'd just shed chains he didn't know he'd been wearing.
Just then, an unexpected line of text flashed in his retina.
[Ding! Achievement unlocked!]
[Ding! You have gifted Selene Virelyn your heart's yang essence!]
[You have triggered a ten-thousandfold critical hit return!]
[Ding! You have obtained the Pure Yang Divine Bone!]
His focus broke for a split second, but he quickly regained it and refocused on his cultivation.
The gentle energy rushed in his meridians, carrying more energy now.
The rope was tighter, firmer, more dense, and had a high volume.
This increasingly dense energy snaked through both of their meridians, gently expanding them. Wounding and healing them to strengthen them repeatedly.
It expelled impurities, shed layers of skin, and refined their blood into a primal state.
After ten, twenty… repetitions, both of them felt the energy rope too dense for them to circulate any further.
It was only then that he broke his focus, opened his eyes, and looked at Selene.
The energy in its highly dense yet balanced stage crawled through their meridians like a turtle. Slow. Yet steady.
White mist enveloped them under the silver moonlight.
One might call them celestials, and the picturesque scenery could not be explained any other way.
"Selene"
Riven's voice drifted in Selene's ears in flowing gentleness.
She, too, opened her eyes to look at him.
"Will you endure for us?"