Luo Zhou climbed to his feet and got straight to work.
Even if the spiritual energy was excellent, exposing the Devilish Son meant certain death.
He had to disperse the spiritual energy.
Luo Zhou felt terribly pained at the thought of dispersing it for nothing.
Then he might as well refine the Dragon-Slaying Thrust!
The Dragon-Slaying Thrust could not be preserved for long. If it shattered when the time came, then so be it—Luo Zhou accepted that.
He took out his finest birchwood and began refining the Dragon-Slaying Thrust.
He would treat it as gaining refining experience.
With this birchwood, the quality was truly excellent, with almost no waste.
Nine streams of spiritual energy and nine pieces of birchwood were enough to refine one Dragon-Slaying Thrust.
He continued. Luo Zhou refined all ninety-nine streams of Tidal Qi within his body into Dragon-Slaying Thrusts.
He hid the refined Dragon-Slaying Thrusts inside the Eyebrow-Level Staffs made from birchwood, using them for preservation.
He refined eleven in total, and with the two pieces left over, he had thirteen Dragon-Slaying Thrusts.
After finishing the Dragon-Slaying Thrusts, Luo Zhou could not bear to destroy them.
After thinking it over, he went to the bald man's Wang Family and hid them in the roof beams of his house.
The Wang Family had been torn apart by Liu Jinpeng's digging, while the brothers Wang Gang and Wang Qiang had been driven away by the village head. It was now an abandoned haunted house.
If he hid them here, then when the time came, the Dragon-Slaying Thrusts could simply dissipate on their own.
He could not listen to the prophet about everything. He needed to have ideas of his own.
Luo Zhou carefully examined the manual The Azure Waters Flow East to This Return and memorized it word by word.
After confirming that he had not missed a single character, he sent it into the Fire Furnace and burned it outright.
In truth, after losing his Weak Waters Qi, the divine ability Three Thousand Weak Waters seemed to have vanished. He could no longer use it.
Now that he had no true qi at all, he could still use the divine ability Overturning Rivers and Seas.
That was because Luo Zhou possessed the Overturning Rivers and Seas Force User position. Even without true qi, he could still unleash this divine ability.
However, when he used it again, the divine ability's power was pitifully weak. After one strike, its range only extended three feet in front of him.
Moreover, Luo Zhou vaguely sensed that what this technique consumed was not anything else, but his own lifespan.
One year each time!
This divine ability was practically ruined!
With the immortal position of Overturning Rivers and Seas Force User, the origin of the divine ability Overturning Rivers and Seas could also be explained.
The immortal position of Overturning Rivers and Seas Force User had been born because of the divine ability, and now it was influencing the divine ability in return.
It was karma coming full circle.
After dealing with everything, Luo Zhou headed to the Daoist Academy to cultivate.
After thinking it over, Luo Zhou carried three ordinary Eyebrow-Level Staffs made from birchwood.
He had carried them every day before, and now he needed to carry them even more!
For some reason, as he walked, he inexplicably felt incomparably comfortable all over.
The disappearance of the true qi in his dantian seemed like a great loss, but for Luo Zhou, who was in the Body Tempering realm, it instead cleansed his body and would be highly beneficial in the future.
Carrying too many things that surpassed one's own realm was actually not a good thing!
When he arrived at the Daoist Academy, he cultivated together with his classmates.
Only fifteen students had come to school today.
This was the life Luo Zhou ought to have lived: a carefree life of living and cultivating.
In the practice field, Luo Zhou slowly practiced his punches, a trace of confusion on his face.
The Daoist Academy only taught the Baiyang Body Refining Technique, the Green Profound Body Refining Technique, and the Purple Heavens Body Refining Technique. It did not teach any martial techniques or fighting styles; students had to purchase and cultivate those on their own.
Luo Zhou had five sets of skills for constables fighting to the death that came from Li Haitian: iron sword, ruler, iron staff, mounted archery, and chains.
He also had two sets of Overturning Rivers and Seas movement, fist, and palm techniques, but those two sets of techniques were common as dirt.
In the past, Luo Zhou had believed they were completely inferior to Li Haitian's constable skills.
But today, as he cultivated, he felt that something was wrong.
It seemed that the fist and palm techniques of Overturning Rivers and Seas concealed profound meaning, far surpassing the five sets of constable skills.
The more he practiced, the more he felt this way.
"What's going on?"
Luo Zhou could not help asking himself inwardly.
In truth, he was asking All-Knowing.
"Because you have me now, Luo Zhou. I've made you better able to distinguish and understand them.
"Li Haitian's constable skills are merely ordinary martial-combat techniques, devoid of any profound meaning. They are suited for cultivators in the Body Tempering and Qi Refining stages.
"The fist and palm techniques of Overturning Rivers and Seas were passed down by the Dao Lord. To put it bluntly, they contain the mysteries of the Heavenly Dao's laws and the ultimate truths of the universe.
"They can be said to suit any realm!
"It is merely that people possess treasures without recognizing them, blind despite having eyes, unable to distinguish gold inlaid with jade!
"As long as you painstakingly study and cultivate them, putting in enough effort, they will surely bring you unimaginable rewards!"
Luo Zhou nodded. So that was how it was.
He immediately made his decision: he would abandon Li Haitian's constable skills and devote himself entirely to cultivating the fist and palm techniques of Overturning Rivers and Seas.
The Overturning Rivers Palm and the Treading Sea Fist!
Luo Zhou began cultivating them here.
The more he practiced, the more tedious and meaningless it felt.
Yet he continued cultivating and stubbornly persevered. Gradually, he began to sense boundless profundity within them.
But he was always just a little short, unable to grasp the key point.
He was stuck there, unable to advance or retreat. This was a bottleneck!
While Luo Zhou was cultivating, All-Knowing suddenly sent him a message:
"Luo Zhou, look at that person on the east side of the practice field!"
Luo Zhou looked over. There was only one immortal elder strolling beside the practice field, watching the many students.
He casually said, "Zhang Xianchang? What about him?"
"Zhang Xianchang? Are you sure he is Zhang Xianchang? When did you meet him? When did you study under him? When was the last time you saw him?"
Luo Zhou said, "He's Zhang Xianchang. He's an old man of the Daoist Academy. When I came to the Daoist Academy, I, I..."
Luo Zhou suddenly realized that he had never actually seen this Zhang Xianchang before.
Yet for some reason, the moment he saw him, he automatically assumed that he was Zhang Xianchang of the Daoist Academy...
He sucked in a breath of cold air and asked:
"They've come?"
"It can be confirmed that they possess a special supernatural ability and have come to investigate the Holy Son of the Jellyfish Celestial Palace. Fortunately, we destroyed everything this morning!"
Cold sweat streamed down Luo Zhou's face as he asked, "What should we do?"
"Continue cultivating. Who exactly is he? What does he have to do with you?
"You are the Devilish Son and possess the Devil Lord Saint Body. He is looking for the Holy Son of the Jellyfish Celestial Palace. What does that have to do with you?"
Luo Zhou nodded and continued cultivating. Whatever. It had nothing to do with him.
But he simply could not find the bottleneck's breakthrough point, much less break through it.
Luo Zhou bitterly cultivated for an hour, but it was useless.
He could not help letting out a long sigh and was just about to give up.
Unexpectedly, someone beside him said:
"It would be a shame to give up just like that."
Luo Zhou looked over. It was Zhang Xianchang.
He hesitated before saying, "Zhang Xianchang?"
"I've watched for an hour. You're only a hair's breadth away. What a pity. Come, I'll help you!"
With that, he gently touched Luo Zhou's back and said, "Throw your punches!"
Had his opportunity arrived?
Luo Zhou continued throwing punches—the Overturning Rivers Palm and the Treading Sea Fist!
This time, it was completely different from before. Every movement was incomparably smooth. His fists and feet were supple and agile, every limb and bone filled with endless strength. Every punch and palm strike came naturally, splitting mountains and cracking the earth, utterly exhilarating.
Suddenly, Luo Zhou sensed that bottleneck. He let out a thunderous roar!
The sound shot straight into the heavens, rising higher and higher as the trembling air began to shudder. Then he suddenly punched out.
There were no clouds, no wind, no sound, no light—only the overturning of rivers and the treading of seas!
The bottleneck shattered. Countless doubts from before, subtle points he had not understood, things he had struggled to comprehend, and difficult barriers all came together in an instant of enlightenment.
He completely comprehended the new Overturning Rivers Palm and Treading Sea Fist!
Zhang Xianchang nodded and said, "Good child! You've gained enlightenment!"
Luo Zhou was endlessly grateful. He said, "Thank you for your guidance, Immortal Elder. Luo Zhou is deeply grateful!"
"This was your own opportunity. It's just a pity that you used it on the Overturning Rivers and Seas Force User. Their upper limit is too low. What a waste!"
Even though he was powerful, his horizons were limited. He could not see the profound foundations of Overturning Rivers and Seas.
Luo Zhou certainly would not tell him the truth. He merely said:
"I know. But I possess the immortal position of Overturning Rivers and Seas Force User and control the divine ability Overturning Rivers and Seas.
"If I don't fully master these techniques, I'll always feel that something has gone to waste!"
Zhang Xianchang nodded. That was indeed the case. He gave Luo Zhou a few more words of instruction, satisfying his own desire to teach, then turned and left.
Luo Zhou respectfully saluted, but then heard All-Knowing say:
"Just now, he secretly examined you carefully. There was nothing wrong.
"He also secretly touched your Eyebrow-Level Staff. Fortunately, you had switched it for an ordinary wooden staff.
"Congratulations, Luo Zhou. You've cleared another hurdle, and you can live happily again!"
Before you continue