Is he still salvageable?

The line of text written on that green jade slip was the Great Yin Origin Nourishing Technique. Aside from that, there was one additional line of small characters, and nothing else.

Xu Ying walked toward the green jade slip, intending to examine it carefully, but the old servant Zhou Buyi stopped him.

"Young Master Xu, to decipher the green jade slip, you must first study the Tuo Yu Immortal Scripture. Otherwise, you won't be able to understand its contents."

The old servant Zhou Buyi wore a mocking smile. "Everyone who can study the green jade slip here is a Zhou Family Elder. Their cultivation has reached the pinnacle of creation, and their learning reaches the heavens. They've studied the Tuo Yu Immortal Scripture for decades, which is why they can barely understand a little of what's written on the green jade slip. Young Master Xu, you just arrived, yet you already want to read the green jade slip. Aren't you overestimating yourself?"

Xu Ying smiled. "Buyi, when did you become qualified to tell me what I should and shouldn't read? If you had the ability, Zhou Qiyun should have invited you to decipher the immortal scripture. If you don't, then stand aside and stop pointing fingers at those who do."

The old servant Zhou Buyi was both ashamed and furious, but he didn't dare lash out. He could only retreat to the side, thinking, What a wild country bumpkin. He doesn't know how to conduct himself.

Xu Ying stepped forward. At that moment, the Great Bell's voice rang out. "A Ying, this thing is called a jade slip. It's a special kind of Jade Bamboo. In an extremely ancient era, Qi Refiners used this jade-like bamboo to record their insights, so it was also called a Jade Slip Dao Book. Jade Bamboo is exceedingly rare and tremendously valuable—not something an ordinary Qi Refiner could obtain. What's recorded inside may be far more precious than the Tuo Yu Immortal Scripture!"

Xu Ying was puzzled. "Jade Bamboo? Bamboo can be made of jade? Can jade grow out of the ground?"

The Great Bronze Bell replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "Is it strange for jade to grow out of the ground, while wood growing out of the ground isn't? Some creatures can even grow gold and iron inside their bodies, purer than anything you could refine!"

Xu Ying thought about it carefully and found that jade growing from the earth suddenly seemed quite reasonable.

He came to the side of the Jade Slip Dao Book and raised his head to examine the tiny characters.

There were eight characters in total. They were also Bird Seal Insect Script, but their style differed from the Bird Seal Insect Script he had seen earlier. It seemed as though countless wondrous meanings were hidden between their strokes.

When he saw the first character clearly, he understood its meaning. Yet the moment he recognized it, he lost the ability to express that meaning in words.

He couldn't use any language he knew to describe or depict the character's significance.

If he forced himself to express it, he could barely use the character "Tai."

The moment he understood the character "Tai," strange sounds rang beside his ears, causing his body to move involuntarily!

His body planted itself firmly. One palm was raised to the left and the other to the right, while the middle two fingers bent inward. His upper body twisted backward, his waist nearly turning a full circle, until his bones cracked loudly!

Once he completed the movement, Xu Ying felt his vital qi and the waters of the Celestial River surge along his spine. They steamed into rain and washed the Realm of Serenity, cleansing his five viscera and six bowels from within!

He saw the second character. If he had to force its meaning into a known language, it could be called "Yin."

The strange sound beside his ears abruptly changed, as if someone were chanting a mysterious scripture. A rustling sound arose from his bone marrow.

Xu Ying moved against his will. His legs bent into a crouch, one palm before him and the other behind. His neck extended forward, and he immediately felt streams of cool air flow through his bone marrow. His marrow roared and rattled throughout his entire body.

At last, all his strength gathered at the Black Iron Profound Pass in his Tail Gate and settled there!

He saw the third character, "Origin." The sound beside his ears changed again, and Xu Ying followed it by performing the third movement. One foot forward and one foot back, he pressed both hands against the ground and raised his head as far as he could.

Within his body, water rose to the heavens and fire rose across the land. Water and fire tempered each other, refining every acupoint in his body!

In the end, the water and fire converged near his dantian!

There were eight characters on the Jade Slip Dao Book. Xu Ying read from beginning to end, and each time he saw a character, he heard a different Dao sound. By the time he finished all eight, wondrous changes had occurred throughout his five viscera, Tail Gate, dantian, spine, throat, area beneath his tongue, tongue, and glabella—inside and out!

Xu Ying felt as though he had been washed from the inside out. It was even more comfortable than Great Sun Body Tempering and Thunder Sound Body Tempering!

The meanings of the eight Bird Seal Insect Script characters on the Jade Slip Dao Book could be expressed by the eight words Tai, Yin, Origin, Nourish, One, Yang, Eternal, and True.

However, one could comprehend their mysteries only by understanding the meaning of the characters while simultaneously hearing the Dao sounds formed from those meanings.

Even stranger, the eight characters on the Jade Slip Dao Book seemed to correspond faintly to the eight realms of Qi Gathering, Knocking on the Gate, Interfusion, Second Knock on the Gate, Tower of Layers, Jade Pool, Divine Bridge, and Ascension.

After practicing once, Xu Ying felt indescribably comfortable in his body, soul, divine consciousness, vital qi, and bloodline. Every thought in his mind had become perfectly rounded and lustrous, each one distinct, no longer as muddled as before.

Even the Dao manifestations within the Realm of Serenity had become far more stable!

"Could the Great Yin Origin Nourishing Technique really consist of only these eight characters?"

Xu Ying was puzzled. This cultivation technique is far too simple!

Compared with the eight characters of the Great Yin Origin Nourishing Technique, the Tuo Yu Immortal Scripture was incomparably more substantial.

The Tuo Yu Immortal Scripture was the Ancient Qi Refiner Tuo Yu's interpretation of the Great Yin Origin Nourishing Technique. It was divided into eight realms, with lengthy explanations for every realm. Those explanations used many complicated terms, and explaining those complicated terms required even more complicated terms!

Yet ultimately, Tuo Yu's explanations and explanations of those explanations were all her interpretations of the eight characters, containing her understanding of the Dao. That was why they were obscure and difficult to understand, confounding even the Zhou Family's favored geniuses.

But in Xu Ying's eyes, the meaning Tuo Yu wished to express had never surpassed the eight characters of the Great Yin Origin Nourishing Technique.

"Besides, Senior Tuo Yu's understanding seems somewhat flawed. She grasped the essence of characters like Tai, Yin, Origin, and Nourish, but her comprehension of One, Yang, Eternal, and True wasn't quite sufficient."

Xu Ying thought, Perhaps that's why cultivating the Tuo Yu Immortal Scripture turns one into a woman.

He stood before thirteen Zhou Family Elders who had devoted their lives to studying the classics and practiced the Great Yin Origin Nourishing Technique again and again. His posture was strange, attracting the gazes of the Zhou Family's many talented young people.

"Who is that?" a white-haired Zhou Family disciple asked the old servant Zhou Buyi.

Zhou Buyi hurriedly bowed and smiled. "Young Master Youyou, he's a young genius from the countryside. Do you remember Xu Ying, who caused such a commotion some time ago?"

The white-haired Zhou Youyou was surprised. "The criminal who practiced Demonic Arts? I heard quite a few people died trying to capture him."

Zhou Buyi nodded with a smile. "He looks down on the Tuo Yu Immortal Scripture and wants to decipher the Jade Slip."

Zhou Youyou shook his head. "Nonsense. Country bumpkins really are ignorant, puffing up a swindler as though he were some divine immortal."

Suddenly, a voice came from outside. "Which one is Xu Ying?"

The voice was loud enough to make everyone's eardrums buzz. Xu Ying turned to look outside and saw several young men and women stride in, all fire and fury.

The man at the head wore white and red robes and was in a great hurry. The moment he entered the hall, he shouted, "I heard that the old ancestor captured the criminal Xu Ying and brought him here to decipher the immortal scripture. Which one is Xu Ying? Come out at once!"

Xu Ying stepped forward. "I'm Xu Ying."

The man in the white and red robes sized him up and down, then sneered. "So you're the one who killed Second Brother Zhou and Uncle Zhou Yihang?"

The old servant Zhou Buyi stepped forward and coughed. "Young Master Fan, Xu Ying was invited by the old ancestor to decipher the heavenly scripture. Please don't cause trouble."

The man was Zhou Fan of the Zhou Family's inner residence. He sneered. "Uncle Yi, do you know how many members of my Zhou Family he killed? The Nu Masters of the entire Lingling County City were wiped out! Second Brother Zhou Yang and Uncle Zhou Yihang both died at his hands! More than half of Yongzhou Prefecture's elite were killed or wounded. How many people died because of him? Even Zhou Zheng died!"

Zhou Buyi said, "Young Master Fan, please forgive me. The old ancestor ordered me to look after Young Master Xu. I can't let you kill him to vent your anger."

Zhou Fan laughed furiously. "I never said I was going to kill him. I only want to teach him a lesson! Uncle Yi, you won't even permit that?"

The old servant Zhou Buyi turned to Xu Ying and sighed. "Young Master Xu, you've seen it yourself. It isn't that this old servant doesn't want to look after you, but the public anger is impossible to quell. Young Master Xu, just suffer a little and let them vent their fury. With this old servant here, your life will be safe. At most, you'll only be injured."

A smile appeared on his heavily wrinkled face. "Fortunately, whatever else can be said about my Zhou Family, our healing arts are unquestionably the finest under heaven. As long as Young Master Xu isn't dead, we can bring him back to life."

Zhou Fan strode toward Xu Ying. Before he even reached him, his right hand was already raised and slapping viciously toward Xu Ying's face. He shouted, "I'm giving you a slap on behalf of Second Brother Yang. That isn't excessive, is it?"

Xu Ying shrugged and raised his hand. In an instant, blood surged into his palm, swelling it as large as a palm-leaf fan. His strike boomed like thunder, moving after Zhou Fan's yet arriving first, and slammed into Zhou Fan's face!

Slap!

The sound wave exploded and blood sprayed everywhere. The slap twisted Zhou Fan's head more than half a turn.

At that moment, he saw his own buttocks. The next instant, his body spun through the air with a howl, tumbling end over end before crashing into a pillar four zhang away with a bang and dropping to the floor.

Yet Zhou Fan was no ordinary man. He leaped to his feet, still vigorous as a dragon and fierce as a tiger.

The instant he rose, a sword gleam was already pointed at his glabella, forcing him against the pillar.

In the great hall, the Zhou Family disciples surged forward, shouting one after another, "How dare you!" "Bastard!" "Put the sword down!"

Four zhang behind the sword gleam, Xu Ying stood calmly. "Whether it's excessive or not depends on strength. In front of me, do you have the strength to be excessive?"

He swept his gaze around, taking in the expressions of everyone from the Zhou Family. His face remained gentle. "I never understood it before. Master Zhou Yang was already the magistrate, the greatest official in our region. He had everything he could want—more than a dozen beautiful wives, a thousand qing of fertile land, endless gold and silver, and more delicacies than he could eat. When he went out, eight bearers carried his sedan chair; when he returned, beautiful wives and concubines welcomed him. We farmers and vegetable sellers had nothing. Many couldn't afford wives and died without descendants. Many couldn't build houses and slept in dirt hollows or thatched sheds. Our families were so poor that pots and pans rang empty; we had food for one meal but not the next. Why was Master Zhou still so greedy for wealth? Why did he continue squeezing us poor wretches dry? When we couldn't even afford to eat, why did he still seize the last grain we had?"

He smiled. "Seeing all of you, I understand now. So he was trying to feed you. You wear fine clothes and eat fine food, free from worry about clothing or food. You ride out in splendid garments on spirited horses, surrounded by countless servants who treat you like the stars surrounding the moon. So that was what stood behind it all—magistrates Zhou, one after another, worshiping and supporting you as if you were gods!"

Yuan Qi slapped his tail against the floor and praised him. "Great rats, great rats, you consume our millet! That line is talking about a bunch of fat rats like you! A Ying, am I right?"

Xu Ying applauded. "The Old Niu Family truly deserves its reputation as a scholarly household. That line is very learned."

Yuan Qi burst into laughter. "You finally admit my learning is better than yours!"

The faces of everyone from the Zhou Family turned livid.

The old servant Zhou Buyi trembled with rage. Pointing at Xu Ying, he shouted, "Rumors! These are all rumors directed at my Zhou Family! Today you dare say such things—who knows what you'll do tomorrow? I don't even dare imagine it!"

Yuan Qi asked in surprise, "You're a servant of the Zhou Family, so why do you sound like one of its masters? Things we personally experienced become rumors once they reach your mouth. Do you have Heaven's edict in your mouth, with every word you speak becoming law?"

The old servant Zhou Buyi's hands began trembling as well. He cursed furiously, "You insignificant Snake Demon, how dare you spout such nonsense! Everything my Zhou Family carries out is the emperor's command, and everything it promotes is imperial grace. To question the Zhou Family is to question the emperor and the emperor's commands! You're plotting rebellion!"

Yuan Qi roared angrily, "You're allowed to act like earthly emperors, but I'm not allowed to rebel?"

Xu Ying coughed and interrupted them. The sword gleam lightly tapped Zhou Fan's face, making a sharp slapping sound. "I'll let you off this time. Don't do it again. If you want to spar with me, you're welcome anytime. If you want to avenge father and son Zhou Yang, then we'll follow the rules of vendetta."

He dispelled the sword gleam, his gaze turning cold. "But remember this clearly: my grudge with father and son Zhou Yang is a blood feud. If you want to avenge them, then pay with your life!"

Zhou Fan stared at the sword tip. The moment the sword gleam vanished, he shouted fiercely. Explosive thuds rang out from within his body as the muscles in his right arm grew wildly. When he raised and lowered his arm, a fleshy wing four or five zhang long took shape!

The muscles of that fleshy wing were ridged like stone, filled with unimaginable explosive power!

As he swung his arm, crimson-gold feathers pierced out from within the fleshy wing and grew wildly, covering every part of it in an instant!

Those golden feathers were incomparably sharp, as though master craftsmen had painstakingly forged each one from the finest steel. They were exquisite, filled with every detail of a real feather!

This was Nu Arts born from comprehending the Great Dao Manifestation!

Zhou Fan raised and swung his arm. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a fleshy wing and golden-feather blade several zhang long!

The moment his arm descended, the fleshy wing and golden-feather blade was already above Xu Ying's head. He shouted, "What can you do about my avenging Second Brother Yang? This is the Zhou Family!"

From Xu Ying's shoulder, a snow-bright Sword Qi met the tip of the fleshy crimson-gold-feather blade and cut straight forward. With unstoppable force, it traced a dazzling arc of sword light, cleaving from the blade's tip to Zhou Fan's glabella in an instant. With a clang, it pierced through his body and struck the pillar behind him.

The Bronze Pillar was carved with dragons and phoenixes. It was exceedingly ancient, radiating a greenish luster.

Now, a fine line of blood had appeared across it.

Xu Ying was somewhat surprised. His World Breaker sword strike had actually failed to damage the Bronze Pillar in the slightest. The Huaihua Palace truly was a blessed land.

"The Zhou Family's healing arts are the finest under heaven. Can he still be saved?" Xu Ying turned his head and asked the old servant Zhou Buyi.

Before the Bronze Pillar, a line of blood ran down from Zhou Fan's glabella. The World Breaker sword strike had already split open his brain and cleaved apart his Ni Wan Secret Treasury in a single stroke.

——The Great Yin Origin Nourishing Technique: House Pig wrote three postures, respectively derived from the Five-Animal Exercise, the Mawangdui Guidance Diagram, and Marrow-Washing Technique. On May 1, may everyone enjoy good health!

May 1 marks two hundred thousand words of Choose a Day to Ascend, but it still can't be released yet. Fortunately, monthly votes can now be cast. Qidian is currently holding an event with double monthly votes: one vote becomes two. During the new-book period, the monthly-vote ranking is crucial and affects Choose a Day to Ascend's future results. I humbly beg everyone for your support!