Looking at the kneeling Dualis Order members before him, Ian Song fixed his gaze on the two vice order masters and said calmly, "I can spare your lives, but what will you offer to buy them?"
Vice Order Master Drake Wang and Vice Order Master June Meng were overjoyed when they heard Ian say this.
The two quickly exchanged glances, and Drake Wang spoke up: "Young Master, we are willing to offer our Dualis Order’s highest manuals—the Yin-Yang Harmonizing Art and the Heaven-Thief Art—in exchange for our lives!"
"Your highest manuals?"
A hint of disdain flashed in Ian's eyes. Even the most mediocre technique in his Divine Temple’s Library Pavilion could reach the immortal level, so he hardly lacked for cultivation arts. The Dualis Order’s supreme manual was decent if it could reach the late Out-of-Body realm.
Both were old monsters who had lived for thousands of years, so of course they could tell Ian wasn’t impressed by their manuals. Refusing to give up, Drake Wang insisted, "Young Master, while our Dualis Order’s arts only reach late Out-of-Body at best, they do have their subtleties. Please, take a look!"
As he spoke, Drake Wang and June Meng each raised a jade slip above their heads.
"Then I'll take a look!"
With a casual wave, Ian made the two jade slips fly into his hand.
The Yin-Yang Harmonizing Art was a dual-cultivation manual. Both men and women could practice it, but the effect was poor when cultivated alone; only when a man and woman practiced together did it truly shine.
However, even at its peak, this manual only reaches late Out-of-Body.
Speaking of dual-cultivation arts, Ian remembered seeing a manual in his Library Pavilion called the Dragon-Phoenix Canon. This art had two parts: men practiced the Dragon Yang Art, women practiced the Phoenix Veil Art. Unlike the Yin-Yang Harmonizing Art, the Dragon Yang Art alone could easily reach the immortal realm, and if a man and woman cultivated together, their progress would multiply tenfold.
Thinking of this, Ian couldn’t help but ponder. In the main world, he still had eight women, all with rather weak cultivation. If he didn’t find a way to raise their realms, would he really just leave them behind in the mortal world when he ascended?
Dual-cultivation was a shortcut—it could rapidly boost their cultivation without causing any hidden problems.
Seeing Ian lost in thought, Drake Wang thought he’d tempted him with the Yin-Yang Harmonizing Art and felt secretly pleased. In his view, no matter how powerful this young man was, he was still a youth—who wouldn’t be tempted by a manual that promised both pleasure and power?
So he added, "Young Master, our Dualis Order has three hundred beautiful virgins. If you wish, I’ll gladly offer them all to you!"
"Hmph!"
Ian suddenly snorted coldly and tossed the Yin-Yang Harmonizing Art back. "This manual has its merits, but the further you go, the harder it gets to cultivate. Ross Luo only managed to reach late Out-of-Body by some dumb luck!"
Hearing this, both Drake Wang and June Meng’s expressions changed, because Ian was exactly right. The Yin-Yang Harmonizing Art was fast in the early stages, but once you entered Out-of-Body, progress slowed to a crawl.
For example, it took Drake Wang over three thousand years to reach mid Out-of-Body, but he’s been stuck there for more than eight hundred years.
As for June Meng, it took her over eighteen hundred years to reach early Out-of-Body, but in the next thousand years, she still couldn’t break through to mid Out-of-Body. That shows just how hard the Yin-Yang Harmonizing Art is to cultivate in the later stages.
And as for Ross Luo reaching late Out-of-Body, it really was dumb luck—his master, knowing his own life was ending, burned all his true essence to force Ross’s breakthrough.
Thinking of this, Drake Wang could only give a bitter smile. "Young Master, your insight is truly sharp—you saw the biggest flaw in this manual at a glance. To be honest, my cultivation hasn’t improved in eight hundred years!"
"Since you know you’re stuck, why not switch to another technique?"
Drake Wang replied helplessly, "Manuals are the lifeblood of a sect. Nascent Soul-level techniques might be sold, but Out-of-Body-level ones are never on the market—one such manual can found a major sect."
"That’s true." Ian nodded, then checked the Heaven-Thief Art. But as soon as he saw the name, he frowned slightly—it was a harmful, self-serving manual. In short, it was an auxiliary technique, but unfortunately, it was incomplete: only the harvesting chapter remained, but not the refinement chapter.
Even if two people practiced the same manual, their results would differ, let alone with different manuals. So while the Heaven-Thief Art could steal others’ cultivation, it only boosted your strength in the short term—the more you stole and the higher your realm, the greater the harm.
"Have you two ever practiced the Heaven-Thief Art?" Ian asked, looking at them.
Drake Wang said, "I haven’t."
June Meng replied, "I practiced it for a while, but after my master warned me, I stopped!"
"This manual is just chicken-rib—take it back!"
Ian casually tossed the Heaven-Thief Art to June Meng. "Do you have anything else to buy your lives with?"
"We do. Our Dualis Order has a Treasure Vault—anything you like, you can take!"
To save their lives, Drake Wang and June Meng were willing to risk it all.
"Lead the way."
Ian’s interest was piqued. No matter what, the Dualis Order was a ten-thousand-year-old sect—there might really be some treasures worth having.
The Treasure Vault was heavily guarded, but with the two vice order masters leading the way, no one dared stop them. They reached the vault without any trouble.
Without waiting for Ian’s instructions, Drake Wang took the initiative and opened the Treasure Vault.
June Meng explained, "Young Master, our Dualis Order’s Treasure Vault has three levels. The first holds ordinary items; the second contains manuals and dao arts we’ve collected over the years—though the best only reach mid Nascent Soul, which you probably won’t care for. The third level has Spirit Medicines, spirit stones, and rare treasures!"
"Wendy, once we go in, just take anything you like—don’t hold back!" Ian said to Wendy Lin beside him.
"Is that really okay?" Wendy Lin hesitated.
"What’s not okay? If you don’t take anything, they’ll actually be unhappy. Just ask them if you don’t believe me!" Ian said with a light laugh.
Drake Wang quickly put on a fawning smile. "That’s right, Miss Wendy—if you see anything you like, please take it. Don’t stand on ceremony with our Dualis Order. We owe you this much!"
"Really?"
"I wouldn’t dare deceive you, Miss Wendy!"
"Alright then, I won’t hold back!" Wendy suddenly got excited, her eyes sparkling.
With that, the four of them stepped into the first level of the Dualis Order’s Treasure Vault.
The first level was huge, filled with a dazzling array of items.
Of course, that was Wendy’s opinion. Ian just glanced around and saw nothing worth taking, but Wendy was picking up this and touching that, clearly having a great time.