Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 317: Yin and Yang 2

Lucas drew in a slow breath, his eyes shifting briefly to the floor before meeting hers again.

"Your Majesty," he said quietly, "I can see there is no point in trying to hide anything from you."

The empress tilted her head slightly. "So you do have an answer."

"Yes," Lucas replied. "And if there is anyone in this kingdom who could understand it without reacting blindly, it would be you."

Her expression didn’t change, but her voice softened just a touch. "Because I am a Celestial."

Lucas nodded. "Exactly. Someone who has reached the height of cultivation must understand the nature of balance. You more than anyone would know that nothing in cultivation exists alone. Everything has a counterpart."

The empress clasped her hands behind her back again. "Speak plainly, Xavier."

He took another breath, steady and measured.

"Cultivation is not just about Qi," he began. "It is about harmony. It is about forces that complement each other. Forces that feed into one another rather than struggle against each other."

She watched him without blinking. "You are referring to Yin and Yang."

"Yes," Lucas said. "Yin and Yang. Opposites that exist as halves of the same whole. One cannot truly flourish without the other. One expands while the other grounds. One ignites while the other nurtures."

The empress said softly, "That much, every cultivator understands. But that does not explain the leaps you achieved."

"It does," Lucas answered. "Because most cultivators only harness one side. They channel Yin or Yang individually. They use one force while ignoring its counterpart."

"And you did not," she murmured.

Lucas shook his head. "No. I used both."

A flicker of intrigue crossed her face, and she stepped closer, her voice barely above a whisper.

"How?"

Lucas hesitated, not from fear, but from the weight of the truth he was about to share.

"By bringing Yin and Yang together," he said. "Not in theory. Not in meditation. But in true union."

The empress’s brows lowered slightly. "Union?"

Lucas nodded slowly. "When Yin and Yang are combined, they amplify each other. They do not add. They multiply. The energy becomes something far greater than either side could produce alone. And when directed properly, that amplification can fuel cultivation in a way that defies ordinary limits."

She stared at him, her voice low and controlled. "You are saying that your breakthrough was the result of combining Yin and Yang within your body."

"And theirs," Lucas replied. "All of us were linked. Their Yin, my Yang. The cycle fed itself. It spiraled higher and higher, pushing every one of us forward."

A long silence stretched between them.

The empress finally spoke. "But how does one combine Yin and Yang so directly? There is no known method. No scripture that allows that kind of fusion."

Lucas looked her in the eye, steady and sincere.

"There is a method," he said quietly. "A rare one. A path many refused to believe or chose to ignore."

The empress’s voice barely moved the air. "What path is that?"

Lucas answered without flinching.

"Dual cultivation."

Her eyes widened just slightly, though her face remained calm.

Lucas continued, his tone gentle but unwavering.

"Yin and Yang can only merge in their purest form through intimacy. A true bond. Physical connection. That is how the energies flow into one another. That is how they become more than separate forces."

He swallowed once and finished the thought.

"They needed Yang...I carried Yang...I need Yin...They carried Yin. Together, we used that union to cultivate. That is the reason for the leaps. That is how we broke through."

He stood still, breathing softly, his voice dropping to almost a whisper.

"It is called dual cultivation."

The empress remained perfectly still for several moments, her gaze fixed on Lucas as if weighing every word he had spoken. The silence between them felt dense, almost heavy, yet not hostile. It was the silence of realization settling into place.

"So," she said at last, her voice calm but edged with clarity, "you are telling me that this union you speak of... this merging of Yin and Yang... is achieved through physical intimacy."

Lucas nodded slowly. "Yes. True intimacy is what allows the energies to cross and blend. Without that connection, they remain separate forces."

The empress exhaled quietly, her eyes drifting toward the far side of the room as if replaying every impossible advancement she had sensed from him and the girls. "I see now why so many cultivators never touched that level of amplification. They chased power through isolation and discipline, never considering union."

Lucas answered softly. "Most considered it taboo. Others dismissed it as myth. But the truth remains. Yin and Yang were never meant to exist alone."

She turned her gaze back to him, expression composed, but her voice held a new kind of seriousness. "And this method... this dual cultivation... it is genuinely capable of accelerating cultivation to that extent?"

"Yes," Lucas said. "If both parties have compatible energy and trust. The results can be profound."

The empress studied him, her eyes narrowing slightly...not in suspicion, but in contemplation. "You were only a grandmaster, yet you reached the third stage of the Ascendant realm in one leap. Henrietta soared to sage. The others rose multiple ranks at once. No conventional method could explain that."

Lucas didn’t deny it. "Dual cultivation was the reason."

Another quiet pause followed, and then she asked, very plainly, without hesitation or embarrassment, "Then if I wish to increase my cultivation in leaps and bounds as well... if I wanted to break past the boundaries that have held me stagnant for years... would that mean I would need to engage in this act with you?"

Lucas met her gaze directly, his voice steady and honest. "Yes. If you wished to use this method, you would have to engage in that intimacy with me. That is the only way for your Yin to merge with my Yang and create the amplification needed for rapid advancement."

There was no flinch. No blush. No outrage. The empress simply absorbed his answer, her expression unreadable, her eyes calm but deep with thought, as if she were evaluating not the act itself, but the implications that lay far beyond it.