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Author: Silavin
The moment all was exposed, the five senses, Spiritual Energy, and even control, something mysterious happened.
As though in a world of their own, all their senses became linked. Though they were technically only connected through their Soul in the Black Ink Space, that no longer seemed to matter. Their bodies were in perfect balance, where one could control the other. In fact, Yang Xu could control and move Yang Ji’s Qi, and Yang Ji could do the same for the Qi in her body.
This should have been impossible. After all, one’s Qi was related to one’s own power; one’s own cultivation. Being able to control another person’s Qi was no different from being able to control the other’s life.
In fact, why was Qi Deviation so feared? Because it could end a cultivator’s life. Returning back could be considered a miracle, losing one’s cultivation could be said to be a last resort, and death could be said to be expected. When someone else could control one’s Qi, was this not equivalent to experiencing Qi Deviation?
Yet, the twins could do so at ease as though Qi Deviation was never a concern for them.
Such a feat would have shocked Mo if he was present. This was definitely outside of his expectations.
No living being in existence would have thought this possible, until they met these two.
Still, for the two who could manage to pull this off, this was nothing worth mentioning. It had become so normal to them that it was like counting the number of cups of water one drinks throughout their life.
Without a word, Yang Xu could also feel the Black Ink Strength. As though in all her control, while it was still in her Brother’s body, her Spiritual Energy easily wrapped and diced the Black Ink Strength.
It was basically no different from her Brother controlling his own body.
She tried the same thing Yang Ji tried, and found that nothing really changed. No matter how she interacted with the Black Ink Strength, it remained inert.
This surprised both of them.
They expected since Mo had gone so far as to isolate them, and pushed the two of them to use their dual Cultivation Technique, this would have sparked some kind of change.
“What do we do now?” Yang Xu asked, since she really did not know what else to do.
“‘To control Black Ink Strength is to be a part of it, and for it to be a part of you’. – that is the main hint Mo has given me.” Yang Ji shrugged and recalled.
When Yang Xu first heard this, she already wondered, “Have you tried your Blood Essence?”
“Blood Essence? No… I thought that since the Black Ink Strength had passed through my heart once, it should have made contact with my blood. So, I did not consider using Blood Essence…” Yang Ji stated, and he soon realised his oversight.
“Argh… how can I forget about Blood Essence?” Yang Ji lamented, frustrated at not noticing it sooner.
In terms of Blood Essence, it had long been concentrated into their Divine Spirit Sources. If Monster Beast had Monster Cores, Divine Spirits have their Source, which acts as their core. For Monster Beasts and Divine Spirits, this was their source of strength. However, for Yang Ji and Yang Xu, they were different.
Physically, they were birthed and not hatched. Like their Father and Mother, they had both Dantian and their own Divine Spirit Source. This was why though extremely young, they could transform into Humans. Rather, it was more apt to say that though young, they could transform into their respective Dragon and Phoenix Forms.
However, at the end of the day, the Dantian was only a source of power, where their Qi was stored. It could not be considered ‘them’ as a whole. However, the Divine Spirit Source, and their Blood Essence, was different. For Divine Spirits, this was no different from their existence. Even if their bones were shattered to dust, bodies immolated to ash, their Divine Spirit Source would withstand the test of time. It would be their final mark in this world, their inheritance to future generations.
So, the closest thing that was ‘them’, other than their Soul, would be Blood Essence.
Seeing things in a new light Yang Ji did not hesitate and drew upon his Phoenix Source. Very quickly Blood Essence dripped out, just two drops.
Two drops might not seem like much but these two drops contained immensely pure Phoenix Bloodline and Source Strength. These were not things he could casually give away. In fact, it would take years for him to replenish these two drops. It was only fortunate that most of his cultivation was not purely reliant on his Source. Else, he would have to enter secluded cultivation and focus getting his Source Strength back to normal.
Meanwhile, Yang Xu also acted without hesitation. She too drew out two drops of Blood Essence from her Dragon Source, and transferred them into Yang Ji.
When the twins did this, they immediately felt a waste of exhaustion wash over them. Nevertheless, they persisted and continued.
The four drops, producing cries of Phoenixes and roars of Dragons, were soon inserted into that blob of Black Ink Strength.
The process was smooth, without resistance. The blob did not even resist, and the sounds died down.
At first, the twins just watched with bated breaths. Second turned into minutes, minutes never turned into hours because they could not possibly wait that long.
“Hey, did we do something wrong?” Yang Xu asked again.
“No idea. We must have done something right.” Yang Ji concluded, convinced that this must be the right step.
Just when they were in doubt, the blob of Black Ink Strength suddenly expanded!
Yang Ji was the first to react in a panic. Using all the Spiritual Energy he could muster, he tried to quickly compress it.
Yang Xu was the same. Once she felt the pain her Brother’s Dantian was going through, she immediately used all her Spiritual Energy to suppress the expansion.
In that split second, the blob had basically turned into a balloon, expanding over the size of Yang Ji’s Dantian! If he had not reacted in time, his Dantian might have blown to pieces.
Even if only in his Soul Form, the piercing pain made Yang Ji want to shed tears. He could feel his whole body breaking out in sweat.
As for Yang Xu, she was spared after that short episode. Yang Ji was quick to react and cut off the connection of their pain senses. So, after that brief tearing pain, Yang Xu no longer felt discomfort. Nevertheless, that pain was enough to render her fearful, with her heart rate skyrocketing.
Still, with the both of them, holding the ‘balloon’, it could not expand further. Nevertheless, this was the best they could do. It was a stalemate. They had no leeway to do anything else, and Yang Ji had to bear with the pain the whole way through.
Resisting the urge to scream, Yang Ji fully devoted himself to keeping it from worsening. In the midst of all the anguish, he suddenly heard the familiar cries and roars of Phoenixes and Dragons.
Soon, very slowly, the ‘balloon’ deflated. It started to shrink as its surface started to shine with bright marks of gold and silver.
Eventually, it deflated to the point it was no longer as large as Yang Ji’s Dantian. However, the twins spared no chance. They still kept suppressing it, in case it ever suddenly expanded again. Yang Ji certainly would not want to risk it, and Yang Xu did not wish her Brother to experience that kind of pain again.
The cries and roars kept getting louder, and the gold and silver marks grew brighter.
Despite shrinking down to a size that was even smaller than when the Black Ink Strength was just a blob, even when it shrank down to the size of just a droplet, Yang Ji and Yang Xu were still on guard for anything.
Eventually, the cries and roars died down, and the droplet turned into a sphere with its marks flashing and dimming ever so slowly.
One minute passed, two minutes passed, an hour or more passed, and eventually, Yang Ji and Yang Xu, too tired to continue, stopped compressing it.
“Do you think it is okay now?” This time, it was Yang Ji who asked, holding his stomach as the piercing pain was something he could not forget. His face was still in agony whenever he thought of what had happened.
“Erm… why not check with our Divine Sense?” Uncertain as well, Yang Xu proposed as she tried to probe the inside of this sphere with her Divine Sense.
Yang Ji did the same, and their Divine Sense both simultaneously reached out. However, before they made contact, there was a *crack!*
The sphere had cracked! Furthermore, the thing that came out was something wiggly!
