“Mainframe, compile a list of dual cultivation techniques along with their principles and send it to my photon computer,” Jun Ye commanded, seating himself at his desk.
“As you wish,” the intelligent mainframe replied. True to its programming, it neither questioned the order nor probed its reasoning, immediately beginning a scan of its vast database.
Jun Ye powered on the photon computer embedded in his desk and commenced his daily tasks.
Before long, a neatly categorized array of files appeared on his screen. However, one file stood out oddly—it was neither categorized nor labeled.
It didn’t pertain to his usual workload yet had somehow been routed to him by the administrator.
“What is this?” Jun Ye inquired, opening the folder.
The mainframe, multitasking effortlessly, continued compiling the dual cultivation files while simultaneously scanning the folder Jun Ye had accessed. “Fanfiction about you and the Phoenix Lord.”
“What?” The antiquated Jun Ye didn’t grasp the concept immediately, but comprehension dawned as soon as he opened the first document.
Boating on a lake, holding hands to admire flowers, shy stolen kisses…
After skimming a single page, Jun Ye’s patience wore thin. “Complete nonsense. These things never happened. Why is this in my work files?”
The mainframe, skipping over the commotion the fanfiction had caused last night and the subsequent investigations of subordinates, provided only the most pertinent information: “The Phoenix Lord wrote it.”
Jun Ye paused, reflecting on the words he had just read. His tone turned slightly puzzled. “Why would he write this… Does he want to go flower-viewing with me?”
Recognizing that the Emperor was merely voicing his thoughts and not expecting a response, the mainframe wisely remained silent.
Jun Ye considered this for a moment before returning to the main screen. Glancing at the number of documents he needed to review, he closed the fanfiction file without further comment.
He had no immediate time to take Feng Xiu flower-viewing, but he made a mental note: if Feng Xiu behaved well in the future and his schedule permitted, it could serve as a reward.
Jun Ye worked late into the night, finally glancing outside at the starlit sky. He stretched his neck and reached out to shut off his photon computer.
With his level of cultivation, he could go a month without rest and not feel any fatigue. Yet, his routines in derivative worlds had subtly influenced him—once night fell, he only wanted to lie down, tease his companion, or engage in some physical activity.
Feng Xiu and he were opposites in nature. If Feng Xiu was blazing fire, Jun Ye was millennial ice.
The one time they formally consummated their bond as Dao companions was far from a pleasant memory for Jun Ye. Feng Xiu had been bedridden for days afterward—not because Jun Ye had been rough or careless but due to their opposing attributes. Feng Xiu’s cultivation was much weaker, and Jun Ye had misjudged the situation.
Not only had Feng Xiu ended up absorbing part of his essence… he’d also clung to Jun Ye’s body through the night, causing severe cold damage to his meridians.
Although Feng Xiu eventually recovered, the image of him pale-lipped, frost coating his eyebrows, left Jun Ye with a deep psychological shadow.
Striking “exercise” from his plans for the evening, Jun Ye asked, “Where is Feng Xiu now?”
“The divine pool,” the mainframe replied.
“He hasn’t left?” Jun Ye was slightly surprised. With a subtle movement, the scenery around him shifted, and he was standing above the divine pool.
The ever-vigilant divine beast was curled up on the lotus platform, half his face buried in the blanket, clutching its edge tightly. His closed eyes and tense posture suggested an uneasy sleep.
Jun Ye removed his outer robe and reclined beside him, but prying the blanket from Feng Xiu’s grip proved challenging.
After a few tugs, Jun Ye paused, his gaze falling on Feng Xiu’s face. Though he was clearly asleep, his body was taut with tension. What could be troubling him even in sleep?
“Let go,” Jun Ye murmured softly.
Though the words didn’t wake him, Feng Xiu’s grip on the blanket relaxed slightly—perhaps some instinct for survival at play.
Jun Ye slipped under the blanket, lying face-to-face with Feng Xiu. He watched him for a moment before reaching out to tap a finger against the furrow in his brow.
A wisp of gentle spiritual energy seeped in, easing the tension in Feng Xiu’s body.
“Mmph… I deleted the post already… don’t ignore me,” Feng Xiu mumbled, rolling into Jun Ye’s embrace. His hand crept up to clutch Jun Ye’s robe.
Jun Ye remained silent as Feng Xiu’s forehead came to rest against his chest, the younger man finally settling into stillness.
That night passed dreamlessly.
When Jun Ye awoke, his chest felt heavy. He opened his eyes to find half of Feng Xiu sprawled over him.
Tilting his head back, Jun Ye gazed at the cloudless sky for a moment. Then, using his spiritual sense, he accessed his photon computer in wristband mode, pulling up the dual cultivation techniques and principles compiled by the mainframe.
Jun Ye was a master in crafting cultivation methods; many of his foundational techniques were still used as standard references. However, dual cultivation methods were entirely new territory for him.
As he delved into the theories, he began devising a technique that didn’t require detailed knowledge of one’s partner’s meridians to work effectively.
Whether or not to share it with Feng Xiu remained uncertain. The memory of Feng Xiu’s pale, frostbitten state loomed large, starkly contrasting the sweet intimacy of their derivative-world counterparts.
“Mm…” Feng Xiu stirred, rolling off Jun Ye’s chest and tumbling to the blanket below.
Thud.
The suddenness of it all left Jun Ye momentarily stunned, his thoughts on cultivation interrupted.
Feng Xiu blinked dazedly, his divine beast constitution ensuring he felt no real harm. But the faint ache puzzled him.
Turning his head, his nose brushed Jun Ye’s sleep robe.
For a moment, Feng Xiu wondered if the Emperor had struck him, but dismissed the idea. Though Jun Ye could be stern, he’d never actually hit him.
Seeing Feng Xiu merely looking around in confusion, Jun Ye shifted his focus back to refining the final sections of the dual cultivation technique.
By the time Feng Xiu’s mild ache dissipated entirely, he’d already forgotten it, edging cautiously closer to Jun Ye.
While he could gleefully roll into the Emperor’s arms while asleep, any approach in wakefulness was slow and tentative, for fear of displeasing him.
Now only inches apart, Feng Xiu’s cheek brushed against Jun Ye’s side. “You’re so cold.”
Jun Ye, just finishing his new technique, paused, his fingers hovering over the jade slip intended to record it.
“Let me warm you up,” Feng Xiu suggested tentatively. Seeing no displeasure on Jun Ye’s face, he boldly climbed atop him, wrapping arms and legs around him tightly.
“Aren’t you afraid of getting cold?” Jun Ye asked.
“Not at all!” Feng Xiu nuzzled against his chest, pleasantly surprised to find Jun Ye wasn’t as cold as he’d imagined. Their temperatures were almost the same.
Feng Xiu circulated his inner energy, raising his body heat slightly. “See? All warm now.”
“…”
Jun Ye placed a hand on Feng Xiu’s forehead. “I’ll give you a technique. See if you can use it.”
Feng Xiu blinked in confusion but opened his spiritual sense without question.
The technique flowed into Feng Xiu’s mind, and as he processed its contents, his eyes widened in shock, his expression quickly shifting to one of burning embarrassment.
“Y-You want to dual cultivate with me?” The vivid imagery from the technique left Feng Xiu trembling, his body softening, especially since the depicted figures unmistakably resembled him and Jun Ye.
“…You’re too weak,” Jun Ye muttered, glancing away with a faint frown.
Why had he handed over the technique? Was it because Feng Xiu had offered to warm him?
“I won’t slack off anymore,” Feng Xiu promised earnestly. “I’ll work hard to absorb all the energy you’ve left in me.”
Jun Ye remained silent. Though Dao companions’ vows often came with a hint of irony, it wasn’t realistic to never consummate their bond again.
Jun Ye’s first half of life had been dominated by his legacy, leaving him unfamiliar with physical intimacy. But after becoming Dao companions with Feng Xiu and experiencing that connection, he had developed desires.
Yet, Feng Xiu’s current strength and mischievous nature meant it could take centuries, even millennia, before he wouldn’t suffer from Jun Ye’s power.
Perhaps if he limited how much energy he released, Feng Xiu wouldn’t end up so pitiful…
Jun Ye let Feng Xiu slide off him, his robe hitching slightly in the process.
Feng Xiu’s hand brushed against a raised scale on Jun Ye’s shark tail, making his heart race.
……
“Emperor… Jun…” Feng Xiu called out repeatedly, his voice trembling.
Jun Ye tried his best to avoid looking at the person beneath him, who was already sobbing uncontrollably before anything had even begun. His gaze remained fixed on the entry point.
The juxtaposition of Feng Xiu’s expression, a mixture of pain and pleasure during their bonding, with the memory of him afterward—frost clinging to his face, shivering uncontrollably—made Jun Ye hesitate to move further.
“Jun… come in…” Feng Xiu used his arm to wipe his blurred eyes. He wasn’t crying on purpose; his tears simply wouldn’t stop.
Perhaps falling for a cold and aloof fish required producing enough water to lure the other into going deeper.
His legs were pinned down, his phoenix tail pressed flat, leaving Feng Xiu little room to move. Yet, he still stretched his arms upward in a futile effort. “Let me warm you.”
Jun Ye felt the urge to ask how much of his energy Feng Xiu could truly absorb. After all, he’d learned never to overestimate the spiritual absorption capabilities of a “cultivation dunce.”
But the person beneath him, throwing himself into an embrace without a care, was too enchanting to deny for long.
“If you can’t even handle the trace energy I release, I’ll seriously consider sending you back to school for remedial lessons,” Jun Ye gritted out, issuing the threat as if to bolster his own resolve.
His expectations for his Dao companion were already incredibly low.
“Aah!” Feng Xiu gasped, tears spilling over as he protested, “Why just trace energy? Aren’t you going to give me the whole fish soup1A white…creamy… soup…from the fish Jun Ye…you get the gist?!”
“Quiet,” Jun Ye muttered. “Let your mouth do what it’s meant to do.”
“Mm-hmm!” Feng Xiu’s tearful eyes glimmered with determination. “Can it say it loves the Emperor?”
“It can.”
“Can it call you Jun?”
“It can…”
“Can it say it loves Jun?”
“…Silly bird.”
Aw he’s so mean calling him a dunce and silly when Xiu Xiu is being so cute lmao
(A bit of a strange realm though. It looks like a mixture of ancient cultivation world and interstellar world…?)
Thanks for reading!
![The Way of the Empress [Interstellar]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-8.01.00-PM.png "The Way of the Empress [Interstellar]")
