Jiang Zuo wasn’t surprised by the Daoist’s answer. He had just wanted to give it a try, and a single Fifth-Grade Spirit Stone wasn’t a huge price to pay.

’Boldness from great skill—that fits him perfectly. We have plenty of time. We’ll definitely meet again.’ 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Jiang Zuo just said, "Oh," and walked past the Daoist to leave.

This, in turn, startled the Daoist, who was standing to one side and watching Jiang Zuo with a provocative gaze. ’He’s leaving just like that?’

’He’s just going to take the loss?’

The smug satisfaction in his heart instantly deflated. ’The guy should’ve flown into a rage and tried to take me out. That way, I could’ve made him even more miserable.’

"Wait," This time, it was the Daoist’s turn to stop Jiang Zuo.

Jiang Zuo turned to look at the Daoist. "What is it?"

The Daoist thought for a moment. "I know of an ancient method. They say Dual Cultivation can suppress bad luck."

Jiang Zuo frowned. "Dual Cultivation?"

In his past life, Jiang Zuo had researched many things, including a fair number of Cultivation Techniques.

But the one thing he’d never really researched was Dual Cultivation. There was nothing to be done about it—he’d never even given the matter any thought.

The middle-aged Daoist said, "That’s right, Dual Cultivation. In all the world, Dual Cultivation is a Supreme Dharma Gate. It’s one of the easiest and most revered methods for attaining the Great Dao."

"I have a question. Is the ’Dual Cultivation’ you speak of the same as what I’m thinking of? In my understanding—"

Before Jiang Zuo could finish, the Daoist cut in. "Stop, stop, stop. Don’t give me any of that ’dual cultivation of mind and body’ nonsense. What I’m talking about, of course, is dual cultivation between partners."

Jiang Zuo raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a Cultivation Technique for it?"

The Daoist looked around furtively and whispered, "Want the collector’s edition? One First-Grade Spirit Stone per volume. I’ve got a few hundred of them. If you’re placing a large order, we can... ’discuss’ it with a sample."

"..."

’No, wait.’ Jiang Zuo was a bit confused. The Dual Cultivation Skill this Daoist was talking about seemed to be different from his own understanding of the term (the non-philosophical version, that is).

Still, Jiang Zuo said, "Can I see it first?"

The Daoist held out his hand. "A Third-Grade Spirit Stone for a deposit."

Jiang Zuo didn’t hesitate. The Daoist then handed him a USB drive.

Jiang Zuo: "???"

"It’s much more practical to keep this stuff on a USB drive," the Daoist immediately explained when he saw Jiang Zuo’s confusion.

But Jiang Zuo was still frowning, so the Daoist took out a slip of paper with a URL written on it.

Jiang Zuo asked, "And what’s this?"

"Since you don’t want the secure copy, I’ll give you the cloud drive link. Don’t worry, it’s permanent. But you should download the compressed file as soon as possible, just in case. Oh, and there’s a sample product inside for your viewing pleasure," the Daoist said with a faint smile. A gentle breeze brushed past his hair, revealing none of the sordid character one might expect.

’Could I have been mistaken?’ Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but wonder.

Nevertheless, he went to the URL to have a look. Mmhmm, there was indeed a compressed file titled "Complete Collection of the Great Dual Cultivation Arts."

There was also a video titled "An Introduction to Dual Cultivation."

Without any hesitation, Jiang Zuo clicked on it.

And then...

And then... there was no ’and then.’ His face darkened as he shut his phone.

He realized he hadn’t been wrong after all. This stuff wasn’t a Dual Cultivation Skill at all.

But when he looked up to find the Daoist, he was already long gone.

Jiang Zuo was exasperated. ’Just what kind of person is he? One moment, he acts like a profound master, bestowing a heaven-sent opportunity. The next, he’s a rogue Daoist peddling "rare" Dual Cultivation Skills. Is he really just wandering the world to comprehend the supreme Great Dao?

Probably not that dramatic.’

Jiang Zuo put away his phone. He pocketed the slip of paper with the URL and the USB drive as well.

Even if they were useless, he couldn’t just throw them away carelessly.

After that, Jiang Zuo didn’t encounter anything else strange and went home after finishing his grocery shopping.

As soon as he got home, Jiang Zuo saw Su Qi, dressed in loose-fitting clothes, playing with Sweet Potato.

"C’mon, jump. Do some stretches. Good, now do a somersault."

THWAP! Sweet Potato flopped onto the table. It gave Su Qi a pitiful look, as if to say, ’I was wrong! I’ll never do it again!’

Su Qi held an apple in front of Sweet Potato. "Did you get all that? You’re not to break a single one of my things. Otherwise, I’ll make you do 360-degree front flips and 180-degree aerials every single day."

Sweet Potato nodded without a second thought. "QUACK."

Jiang Zuo: "..."

’What in the world happened here?’

After putting Sweet Potato back in its little pond, Su Qi walked over to Jiang Zuo with a smile and took the groceries from him. She clearly had a good time playing with the duck.

"Sweet Potato is so smart. I’ve never heard of a duck being this intelligent. It’s almost become a spirit."

Jiang Zuo said blandly, "Donald Duck is already a spirit."

Su Qi took out the vegetables and began washing them. "But that’s different. He’s just a duck on TV. Sweet Potato is *our* duck.

And he’s cute, too. He behaves as soon as you give him a little scare. Come help me roll up my sleeves."

Su Qi’s sleeves were rather wide and kept falling down right after she’d pushed them up. With her hands wet from washing vegetables, she couldn’t fix them herself.

Jiang Zuo went over and rolled them up a few times for her. Su Qi’s hands were slender and fair, not looking at all like the hands of someone who did chores. "I was originally planning on raising it until it got bigger, then making red-braised duck," he said. "I’ve never seen a red duck before. It probably would’ve tasted pretty good."

Su Qi shot Jiang Zuo a look as she chopped vegetables. "You’d really eat such an intelligent duck? Do you have a conscience?"

’Conscience?’

Jiang Zuo actually thought about it for a moment. He figured he probably wouldn’t have any psychological hang-ups about eating it. After all, he’d just eaten a Duoling Dog not long ago.

But before Jiang Zuo could answer, Su Qi turned back to her chopping and said, "You’re not allowed to eat him."

Jiang Zuo said nothing. The fact that Sweet Potato didn’t need to poop was enough for him to abandon the idea of eating it.

Just then, Jiang Zuo noticed Su Qi cutting some meat. Maybe it was because he had practiced Sword Skills himself, but watching her made him extremely uncomfortable. Her technique was nothing like what a Cultivator’s should be.

It was atrocious.

Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but say, "Let me cut it."

Su Qi looked at Jiang Zuo in surprise. "Since when do you know how to chop vegetables?"

Jiang Zuo placed his hands on Su Qi’s shoulders, moved her to one side, then rolled up his own sleeves and picked up the knife. "I’ve always known how. You just never realized it."

Su Qi said, "No way. We’ve been together for so long, and I’ve never seen you cook."

Jiang Zuo replied blandly, "You were constantly away on business trips after we graduated. You never had the chance to find out. And before graduation, we always ate in the cafeteria."

Su Qi froze. The mention of her business trips made the topic lose its lightheartedness. The pleasant atmosphere suddenly grew heavy.

Su Qi was about to explain, but just then, Jiang Zuo brandished the knife.

His movements seemed light, yet they were fast and precise—a marvelous sight to behold.

Su Qi exclaimed, "That’s amazing! How did you do that?"

In truth, the Sword Skill Jiang Zuo demonstrated was quite ordinary. Any normal person could achieve it.

The reason Su Qi was so amazed was that she believed Jiang Zuo was just an ordinary person, and an ordinary person would have to practice for a very long time to become so skilled.

More importantly, Jiang Zuo was her husband.

Seeing that her husband was so skilled for a normal person made her naturally happy and surprised.

At that moment, the pot Su Qi was holding suddenly slipped from her grasp. With a CLANG, it smashed right onto her foot—perfectly landing on her little toe.

"Ouch, that hurts..."

Jiang Zuo: "..."

As a Cultivator, a blow like that shouldn’t have hurt. But the timing and point of impact were just too perfect—it struck at her most vulnerable moment.

Her luck was truly in the negative.