Dual cultivation path! Heretic evil path!

Yan Mei got stunned for a moment as she watched Xie Long walking inside. He was looking extremely dashing and handsome after taking bath and putting on a black robe.

"Little brother, you are much more handsome than I have imagined.

I wonder how many more other than little Ting will be smitten with you?", Yan Mei spoke. She had a teasing smile on her face as she looked at Xie Long. Even she with her calm and composed personality could not take her eyes away from Xie Long.

"My appearance! I have no idea how much I have changed since that battle in Oak valley town", Xie Long murmured while touching the pale skin on his hand. Even he was surprised by how much lighter and smoother his skin had become after receiving the baptism of divine pool. Earlier his body was covered with dust due to the long travel. Now that he had taken a bath, his true appearance was revealed.

"Elder sister, can you arrange a mirror for me?", Xie Long asked. Even he was surprised by how much pale his skin had become. He was worried about if there were any changes in his facial feature.

"No problem", Yan Mei replied with a smile. "Follow me", he spoke to Xie Long and walked outside. They walked to another stone hut where a large bed was placed beside a huge mirror. The stone hut was filled with a pleasant scent and the bed was nearly arranged.

"This is my personal hut", Yan Mei spoke. "Take your time", she spoke to Xie Long and walked outside. Xie Long took a look at the plain looking bed room. He had thought that the daughter of pavilion master would be enjoying a luxurious life but Yan Mei's personal hut changed his opinion. Contrary to his prediction, she was living a simplistic life inside a serene and peaceful courtyard. Finally, his gaze landed upon the large mirror which placed at a corner of the stone hut.

"What happened to my face?", Xie Long almost cried out loudly in surprise after seeing himself in the mirror. It was like seeing a live ghost infront of him. He had a humane appearance before taking the baptism in divine pool but now his facial feature had become somewhat inhumane. His face looked so perfect that even he himself was in awe. It almost looked like a picturesque painting without any imperfection.

'No wonder, those bastards infront of the Hongyun pavilion were calling me a pretty boy. They were calling me like that even when my face was covered in dust. Now that, my true appearance is revealed, how will they react?', Xie Long though to himself with a helpless smile. He took another look at his own face before walking out.

"Little brother, come here", Yan Mei waved her hand from a distance. She had brought out two wooden chairs for both of them. There was a small stone table on which some fruits were kept.

"Little brother, have you finished admiring yourself?", Yan Mei teased with a smile on her face.

"Yes, I have to accept realty. Now many more eyes will be on me than before", Xie Long replied with a helpless expression on his face.

"Is not that better? Which man do not want a group of beauties arounnd him?"

"A group of beauties! I have not thought about it yet. As long as I have power, I can have anything I want", Xie Long spoke. He didn't want to hide too many things infront of Yan Mei as he felt that she was very sincere about helping him. So, he expressed how he truly felt to her.

"This is a very nice thought. As long as you have power, you can obtain anything. But have you ever imagined what if your enemies have same strength but more numbers than you? What if they have more powerful cultivators backing them in shadow?

Sometimes even a mammoth will be killed if there are too many ants. So, individual power is not always a solution", Yan Mei spoke.

"Are you talking about the Yu clan? Do they have many cultivators?", Xie Long pondered for a moment and asked. He didn't understand why Yan Mei would talk about such a thing.

"Not exactly Yu clan. I am talking about your current enemies and your future enemies. Not many powerful cultivators are lone cultivators. All of them have powerful factions backing them. You can fight with one enemy but what about a faction with tens of thousands of cultivators?", Yan Mei asked.

"So, are you telling me to join a faction?", Xie Long asked. Yan Mei nodded her head in reply as she had already a faction in mind for Xie Long.

"Elder sister, I will think about your words but let me tell you frankly, I prefer to be independent. I want to cultivate on my own without interference from others", Xie Long spoke. He had too many secrets at the moment. His bloodlines, divine pagoda all of these were bound to attract greed and envy of others if they were exposed accidentally. So, he didn't want to join any powerful faction while being weak. He would reveal his edge only after he had full assurance in his strength.

"Oh...as you wish. I will take care of you as much as I can", Yan Mei spoke. She was slightly disappointed but she was very quick to assure Xie Long about her support.

"Elder sister, can you help me with one thing?", Xie Long asked.

"What is it? As long as it is within the means of Hongyun pavillion, I will do it for you", Yan Mei spoke.

"Do you have any way through which I can increase my power quickly? My cultivation base is too low and I want to become a little powerful before venturing outside", Xie Long looked towards Yan Mei.

"Too much haste will ruin your foundation. There are indeed some methods but I don't know if you can practice such methods. Any method that can ruin your foundation, I will not allow you to cultivate it", Yan Mei spoke sternly.

"Elder sister, let me here them first. We can figure out a method which will not be too extreme", Xie Long spoke with a fawning expression on his face. He didn't want to go against Yan Mei but he knew he needed some methods to cultivate faster. For some reason, his cultivation base had almost stopped progressing after he came out of the pagoda world. He had figured out the reason, he needed two very specific elemental energy to progress which were very scarce in the environment. So, he wanted to to find another way through which he can cultivate quickly.

"There are few ways which can be used to cultivate faster. One is to enter those cultivation treasure lands which are being controlled by powerful factions, another is to harness faith energy which can increase your cultivation speed.

There are also some unconventional ways. Practicing dual cultivation with opposite gender and following heretic evil path to increase your power. Most of the methods has their own drawbacks. So, you need to consider carefully before practicing any of these cultivation methods", Yan Mei spoke.