The Fresh Evil Aura on Him

Chen Xu froze. Fresh evil aura had clung to him?

In that instant, terror surged through him. He nearly believed that Mr. Zhou before him was an evil abomination in disguise, that after toying with him, he would reveal his true form and swallow him whole in one bite!

But Chen Xu quickly refuted himself. What kind of evil abomination would offer someone a cup of premium Moonlight Nectar Spirit Immortal Tea before eating them?

He might have been suspicious by nature, but there was no need to judge a gentleman by the measure of a petty man...

In the blink of an eye, Chen Xu's thoughts galloped wildly, tumbling through who knew how many possibilities.

Fortunately, Mr. Zhou soon asked, "Have you encountered anything strange and bizarre lately, young friend?"

Right, so that was what he meant!

Chen Xu immediately said, "In reply to you, sir, last night as I slept, my classmate and close friend happened to use spirit clay to create an incarnation and come cut off my head. After I awoke in alarm, I fought him to the death..."

He recounted last night's Head Exchange incident. As he spoke and recalled it, lingering fear still gripped his heart.

His successful counter-kill last night had been due, first, to his timely response, and second, to a measure of luck.

His greatest stroke of luck had been awakening the Cauldron Scripture before Lin Qi attacked.

Naturally, the Cauldron Scripture was Chen Xu's greatest secret. He would not tell anyone, any living being—even if he faced nothing more than a stone, he would not reveal the slightest bit!

The strange art of Head Exchange was bizarre and uncanny from every angle.

Chen Xu asked Mr. Zhou another question that he could not make sense of no matter how hard he tried. "Sir, they say the head is the chief of the six yangs, and a person's thoughts should be centered in the head.

"If Lin Qi and I had successfully exchanged heads, and my head went onto his body, then... at that point, would his body be ruled by me or by him?

"Once the heads had been exchanged, would he still be himself?"

Mr. Zhou silently listened to this strange tale without showing any surprise. Instead, he seemed accustomed to such things.

He said, "You said he also used Soul-Cutting Silkworms to bind your legs. In truth, that was also a soul-devouring method.

"If the Head Exchange art had succeeded, he would have used the Soul-Cutting Silkworms to devour your soul. By then, you would not even have a soul left. What use would an empty head be?

"Your head would become his to use, and your Divine Soul and intelligence would naturally become fuel for him to strengthen himself."

Chen Xu felt a chill run down his spine. He became even more determined to kill Lin Qi as soon as possible, never allowing him another chance to awaken.

Mr. Zhou seemed to perceive his urgency and rage, and continued, "Though this art appears formidable, its chance of success is not actually high.

"All evil arts carry all manner of drawbacks. With a technique like Head Exchange and soul-devouring, the slightest mistake at any point may cause backlash.

"Once the caster suffers backlash, the mild outcome is mental confusion; the severe outcome is the loss of yin lifespan.

"For instance, this time you escaped the calamity of Head Exchange and severed his incarnation. Through that connection, you can cast a spell across the distance and kill him."

Chen Xu immediately understood Mr. Zhou's meaning. He hurriedly rose, cupped his hands, and bowed. "Please teach me, sir!"

Mr. Zhou's gaze slanted toward the teacup before him. With a faint smile, he said, "You only intend to ask for instruction like this?"

Following his gaze, Chen Xu's mind stirred. He hurriedly picked up the teacup and presented it before him. At the same time, his right knee bent down, followed by his left, as he prepared to kneel.

Yet a gentle force lightly supported him. Chen Xu looked up, and Mr. Zhou said, "Offering tea will suffice; there is no need to kneel. Since you and I share this fated encounter, I can teach you a few things. As for taking disciples..."

At that moment, three parts of dimness appeared upon his withered face. "I traveled from north to south, then set up the Star Array outside Jichuan County. Others merely thought that my love of talent had been stirred, that I wished to select several young people in my hometown and keep them at my side.

"But in truth, I was merely avoiding calamity."

Avoiding calamity!

Someone as mysterious and powerful as Mr. Zhou actually had to avoid calamity?

Chen Xu had never expected such an answer. Then he saw Mr. Zhou smile as he said, "What? Hearing that I am avoiding calamity frightened you, and now you no longer dare to offer tea?"

How could he possibly not dare?

Chen Xu immediately bent at the waist and raised the teacup to his forehead. "Please drink tea, sir."

Though he limped, his tea-offering gesture was both proper and elegant, carrying a distinctly unrestrained grace.

Mr. Zhou said, "That is more like it. Young people should be so high-spirited, fearless and unafraid. Still, some hardships are best avoided when they can be."

Afterward, he accepted the tea Chen Xu presented and drank it all. Then he taught Chen Xu a method for breaking soul-path evil arts.

The reason it was called a method rather than a spell was that even ordinary people could learn it. It was the kind of evil-dispelling technique that could be easily passed down.

Chen Xu committed it carefully to memory, not daring to miss the slightest detail.

Besides this method, Mr. Zhou chatted with Chen Xu and taught him several simple techniques for protecting himself.

For example, he said, "If you encounter a ghost—one of those ordinary little ghosts—you need only bite your tongue and spray its blood at it. The ghost will immediately go limp all over, allowing you to seize and bind it as you please."

"And there is the Art of Animal Husbandry, which turns living people into livestock. Make the victim drink an enormous amount of water within a day, and this evil art can be broken."

"There is also the skin-painting art. Painted skin fears fire most of all; once burned, that painted skin peels away. However, skin-painting ghosts are mostly savage and vicious. For ghosts like those, skinning them is easy, but killing them is exceedingly difficult. One must possess a certain degree of cultivation..."

Then Mr. Zhou asked Chen Xu, "I observe that your Vital Blood is abundant and your spirit is full. I presume you are also cultivating some basic body-tempering methods. Is that so?"

Chen Xu did not actually have any specific cultivation method. He relied entirely on adding points.

However, once he collected 1,000 likes, he would naturally unlock the God of Cookery Cultivation Scroll. Thus, Chen Xu did not deny having a cultivation method.

He nodded in confirmation. Mr. Zhou said, "Your cultivation is not bad, but you must pay special attention to one thing: Essence, Vital Blood, and Divine Soul are best advanced side by side. You must not lean too heavily toward any one of them.

"If you become overly unbalanced—for instance, if your Divine Soul is powerful while your Vital Blood and Essence fail to keep pace—then over time, it is highly likely to result in insufficient Vital Blood, with the Divine Soul suppressing the body, until both Essence and Vital Blood are depleted.

"Your magical power may then be strong, but your lifespan and physical body will suffer damage.

"People often say that brilliance at its peak invites injury. This refers to those whose mental exertion is excessive, whose Divine Souls are overly powerful, while their physical bodies and foundations are far too weak. That is what creates the outcome of a ruined body and wounded spirit."

After he finished speaking, Chen Xu looked at Mr. Zhou, and Mr. Zhou looked back at Chen Xu.

A moment later, realization suddenly dawned upon Chen Xu. He cried out in surprise, "Sir, you..."

Mr. Zhou nodded faintly and, without concealing it, said, "Yes. My Divine Soul grew too powerful while my Essence and Vital Blood suffered losses. That is why I have become as I am now."

Chen Xu was immediately left speechless. For a moment, he wanted to offer some comfort, but even after racking his brains, he could not force out a single word.

Mr. Zhou said, "It is for this reason that scholars must take the Imperial Examination and cultivate Qi."

What?

Chen Xu did not understand that sentence, yet he vaguely sensed that it was of utmost importance.

He hurriedly pulled himself together and listened attentively.