Luo Zhou arrived at the academy.
He'd left home looking the same as always, but after a long journey, he'd come back with a big floral tattoo on his back—a real street tough.
He'd left the place, but didn't want to go home.
Classes at the academy had already ended, but Luo Zhou had still come by to take a look.
He hoped his teacher was still there...
Lost and confused, he longed for a family member to guide him...
Sure enough, Headmaster Zhao hadn't left yet. Seeing Luo Zhou, he frowned and asked:
"Where have you been all these days? Why aren't you cultivating properly? What are you wandering around for all day?"
"You've advanced one level? And you haven't been wandering around?
"Don't rush. The Ascension Assembly is still a year and a half away.
"Even if you make it to the Qi Refining stage, they'll knock you right back down to Body Tempering."
Luo Zhou nodded. "Yes!"
"What's wrong? Did something happen? You look gloomy, like you've lost all hope. Did your girlfriend run off?"
As he spoke, Headmaster Zhao's eyes glinted. He had cast some kind of spell.
Then he flew into a rage!
"You little brat! You've gone and learned all the wrong things! You actually got a tattoo like some mountain savage! What do you think you are, a local from the hills?"
With that, he picked up the ruler and prepared to fulfill his duty as a teacher by giving the little brat a lesson.
Luo Zhou hurriedly cried, "Teacher, I'm innocent!
"Here's what happened. Please hear me out..."
"An explanation? You mean an excuse?"
"No, it really happened like this. Yesterday, I met a mountain savage.
"He was selling all kinds of mountain goods. Among them was a hide. When I picked it up, it attached itself to me on its own.
"Of course I wasn't having that, but I couldn't beat him, so he got away..."
Headmaster Zhao frowned at his story and said:
"Take off your clothes. Let me have a look!"
He hadn't needed Luo Zhou to take his clothes off before; his spell had already shown him everything. Only now had he thought to ask.
Luo Zhou obediently took off his clothes.
Headmaster Zhao examined him closely.
"What kind of tattoo is this? It's a complete mess..."
"Ugly, too!"
With that, he took out a salve and rubbed it hard into Luo Zhou's back.
The salve stung badly, and his back throbbed with pain.
"Remember this: even if you're beaten to death, don't tell anyone how you got that tattoo.
"If someone sees it, just say your parents died when you were little and people bullied you.
"You got the tattoo to look tough and scare your classmates.
"You didn't have any money back then, so you went to a tattoo apprentice. That's why it looks so ugly..."
Luo Zhou didn't know what to say. Did that even make sense?
"Take this salve with you. Apply it three times a day for three days straight.
"By then, the flesh will have healed over, and nobody will be able to tell it's a spirit tattoo!"
Luo Zhou hesitated. "A spirit tattoo?"
"You're too weak to go asking about the state of the world.
"This thing is worth a fortune, but I don't know what it actually does. I just know spirit tattoos are remarkable.
"They're a specialty of our region. Back then, all those big shots at the Jellyfish Celestial Palace were spirits. They made countless spirit tattoos.
"After the Jellyfish Celestial Palace was destroyed, spirit tattoos kept appearing around here.
"They say True Person of Green Ridge once got one, too. Both her arms were covered in big floral tattoos!
"But you don't need to worry about it. These days, everyone and their mother has a tattoo. If you don't say anything, nobody will notice."
The teacher didn't know about the nine paths of cultivation. Only the city lord did.
Luo Zhou nodded and carefully put away the salve. Suddenly, he said:
"Teacher, I awakened the Curse Master immortal profession!"
"Impossible. Don't talk nonsense!"
"Teacher, look!"
With that, Luo Zhou tried to demonstrate his Curse Master abilities.
"This is unbelievable. A Curse Master needs powerful spiritual strength, dark power, or a ghostly aura. You need to radiate hatred and death with your entire being.
"You look like a silly fool. How could you possibly become a Curse Master?
"Unless you're dark inside, hiding a second, darker personality?"
Luo Zhou shook his head. "Teacher, after I got this spirit tattoo, I somehow awakened as a Curse Master."
Headmaster Zhao didn't know what spirit tattoos did anyway, so that was a perfectly reasonable explanation.
Headmaster Zhao nodded and asked no more.
"Teacher, what abilities does a Curse Master have? How do I use them?"
The Hinoki Force User extended one's lifespan and had two traits: Pine and Cypress Wither Last, and Bamboo-Thin Pine-Slender.
"A Curse Master can help you deeply sense powers like darkness, ghosts, and evil. They also have nine curses:
"The Head-Taking Curse, the Straw Doll Curse, the Nightmare Curse, the Lost Path Curse, the Bad Luck Curse, the Stomachache Curse, the Headache Curse, the Five Illnesses Curse, and the Death Curse!"
"Take this manual and study it on your own.
"But remember, the worst thing about being a Curse Master is that you hurt yourself while hurting others. You kill a thousand, but wound yourself by three hundred.
"When you curse someone else, you're cursing yourself, too. There will always be backlash.
"If the other person withstands your curse, the backlash will be three times as strong!
"Lastly, remember: a sincere heart makes the curse work. The particular curse matters very little.
"A curse born from the heart, cast with your whole being, and fueled by hatred to the very last drop—that's the strongest curse!"
Luo Zhou carefully put away the Curse Master manual. "Thank you, teacher!"
"Mm. You look like a living person again. When you first came in, you looked half dead."
"All right, if there's nothing else, get lost. And remember, don't fool around. Focus on your cultivation!"
"Yes, teacher!"
Luo Zhou felt much better and returned home.
After thinking it over, he contacted Uncle Cheng Yu and said they would hunt dragons tomorrow.
When Uncle Cheng Yu received the message, he let out a long breath. It seemed Luo Zhou had recovered!
Luo Zhou continued cultivating at home, then examined the Curse Master's nine arts.
After looking them over for a while, he tossed them aside.
They were slow and mystifying. How could they compare to the sharpness of the Dragon-Slaying Thrust or the exhilaration of Overturning Rivers and Seas?
Besides, being a Curse Master drained one's yang energy, fortune, and even lifespan. Luo Zhou shook his head. It was enough to take a look; there wasn't much point in pursuing them.
He silently sensed the spirit tattoo on his back.
But he felt nothing at all. It really did seem like nothing more than a tattoo.
His dantian was full of qi. If he went dragon hunting, the qi rewarded for punishing evil would go to waste.
Luo Zhou began refining Dragon-Slaying Thrusts. In one go, he refined three of them.
That used up twenty-seven strands of Heavenly Water Qi, freeing up space!
He now had five Dragon-Slaying Thrusts in total, including the two he already had. They were all hidden inside the Eyebrow-Level Staff.
Once refined, a Dragon-Slaying Thrust had to be used as soon as possible, or it would dissipate on its own.
He wouldn't have refined them this way if he weren't about to go dragon hunting.
If it didn't rain, then it didn't rain.
Time to go hunt dragons!
The Dragon Fang Troop had upgraded its equipment. Lu Yue was no longer the only one scouting; they had sent out plenty of scouts.
They had reports on four Crocodile Dragon hunting grounds!
Uncle Cheng Yu led the team, with Luo Zhou and twelve other members.
There was no need for two horses. They went straight in a carriage, no longer hiding their purpose, and set off openly to hunt dragons.
The whole group rode out, looking imposing.
A scout had gone ahead to the first hunting ground where a Crocodile Dragon had been spotted.
Eighty-five miles away, they reached the Crocodile Dragon's hunting ground in the marsh.
This was clearly an old Crocodile Dragon. Dead Spirits lingered all around it.
There were sixteen Dead Spirits belonging to treasure hunters. Luo Zhou spoke with each of them in turn.
Luo Zhou nodded and said, "You can leave. I'll use the Death Curse on it!"
Uncle Cheng Yu immediately led the others away, but Luo Zhou sneered.
One scout had quietly hidden nearby instead of leaving.
He wanted to see what kind of curse Luo Zhou would use to kill a Crocodile Dragon.
The new members weren't like the old hands of the Dragon Fang Troop. They didn't follow the rules.
Luo Zhou didn't care. He silently sensed the Crocodile Dragon sneaking up on him, as well as the scout hiding nearby.
He suddenly unleashed his divine ability, Overturning Rivers and Seas.
He used one strand of Heavy Water Qi. Around the scout, rivers roiled and seas churned, towering waves surging to the sky!
A thunderous roar rang out, as if a boundless flood had burst forth, forming monstrous waves that swept away all before them with savage, freezing force.
The waves were half real and half illusory. Trees shattered wherever they passed, grass was uprooted, and rocks split apart. The scout who had been secretly lying in wait screamed as he was pulverized, turning into a cloud of blood mist.
Then Luo Zhou turned and struck at the Crocodile Dragon creeping toward him!
"Overturning Rivers and Seas, Tidal Waves to the Sky!"
He carefully sensed the technique and tested it again and again.
"Overturning Rivers and Seas, Tidal Waves to the Sky!"
After four consecutive strikes, he couldn't manage a fifth!
At the Body Tempering stage, Overturning Rivers and Seas made him invincible among his peers. But at the Qi Refining stage, it might not be enough to kill an opponent.
Still, after taking repeated blows, even the Crocodile Dragon couldn't withstand it. It died!
When he looked again, the Crocodile Dragon had been beaten to death.
It had actually died from the shock. Its skin was torn and its flesh lacerated, but it hadn't suffered much damage. It was still nearly ninety percent intact.
Luo Zhou had been testing his divine ability to prepare for facing an old Crocodile Dragon in the future.
His true qi reserves now stood at fifteen strands of Heaven-Eroding Qi, fifteen strands of Earth-Boring Qi, nine strands of Heavy Water Qi, eighteen strands of Heavenly Water Qi, and ten strands of Tidal Qi!
Looking at the results, Luo Zhou nodded. It had worked well. He could keep going!
Before you continue