The Art of Speaking

"Zhang Qiling, what are you going to do?"

"I lose my memory at irregular intervals. I won't remember these things. Can you keep this notebook for me? If I lose my memory, give it to me to read."

Zhang Qiling wrote and drew in the notebook. He needed to add some symbols only he could understand, so that if he lost his memory, he could trust this man as soon as he saw the notes.

"All right. I can't solve your memory loss right now, but give me some time and I'll definitely find a way."

Yu Zhi's promise carried great weight in that moment. He had resolved to change Zhang Qiling's fate. Perhaps their bond had already been decided the moment they first laid eyes on each other.

The butterfly had already flapped its wings. There was no telling whether the power of the plot or the butterfly would prove stronger.

"Mm."

Zhang Qiling nodded firmly. He was touched, and he thought he had gained another friend.

Yu Zhi hesitated, but after some thought, he spoke.

"I want to help you cultivate. You can think of it as cultivating to become an immortal. Qi Refining cultivators have a lifespan of five hundred years, Foundation Establishment cultivators eight hundred, Golden Core cultivators a thousand, and Nascent Soul cultivators five thousand. I'm at the Early Qi Refining Stage right now, but this is my greatest secret and the thing I rely on most. I need to make a contract with you. It's an equal contract that will only prevent you from telling anyone this secret or harboring thoughts of harming me."

The only contract Yu Zhi knew was the Dao Companion Contract. He hadn't lied about its terms; he had merely left out the part about sharing life and death.

"All right. What do I do?" Zhang Qiling agreed without hesitation.

Yu Zhi felt a little guilty, but not much. The other man already knew so many of his secrets that he had to be his alone. He would never allow anyone else to interfere, especially that naive and innocent one!

He had stumbled across this advanced contract by chance. He didn't have enough spiritual power, so he could only make up the difference with the power of his divine soul. Come to think of it, this space really was miraculous. Although it was a little small, it could ignore the suppression of the Heavenly Dao. In here, he was the boss.

Using the power of his divine soul, Yu Zhi drew a complex array before the two of them. Golden light flowed through it, and spiritual qi swirled around it. Then he drew out a drop of his heart's blood and let it fall onto the array. As the contract's initiator, he had to use his heart's blood.

"Quick, give it a drop of blood. Then repeat after me."

Zhang Qiling did as he was told, biting his finger and letting a drop of blood fall. Then the hand gestures changed rapidly.

"I, Yu Zhi, hereby form this One Heart Contract with Zhang Qiling. From this day forward, we shall share life and death and never betray each other."

Hearing him say they would share life and death and never betray each other, Zhang Qiling froze. The vow was a little too much for Yu Zhi. He himself walked amid danger and would bring harm to him.

Seeing Zhang Qiling hesitate, his voice grew stern. "Do you want me to be gravely injured? Hurry up and say it."

Zhang Qiling saw the trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth and panicked for a moment. Then he repeated the words with conviction.

"I, Zhang Qiling, hereby form this One Heart Contract with Yu Zhi. From this day forward, we shall share life and death and never betray each other."

As Zhang Qiling finished his vow, the contract runes transformed into two streams of light and entered their bodies.

The contract was complete.

Zhang Qiling touched his chest. He seemed to sense a connection to the man across from him.

"Yu Zhi, you shouldn't have done this. You can live a long time, but I might not. I could die at any moment. You shouldn't have been so hasty in binding your life and death to mine."

Seeing that he wasn't angry about what he had concealed, Yu Zhi relaxed.

"All right, all right, big brother. But the contract is made and can't be undone. So take better care of that little life of yours from now on. Also, if you get hurt, I'll share the damage. Don't go spilling your blood at the drop of a hat anymore, because your wounds will transfer to me."

Zhang Qiling was speechless for a moment. A tremendous sense of guilt welled up in his heart. "I understand. I'll be careful."

Watching Zhang Qiling obediently listen, he thought this was what they called the art of speaking. He hadn't lied. The wounds really could transfer; it was just that he could control it. But he wasn't telling him that.

"I'll help you draw qi into your body first. Just like before, I'll guide you through one circulation cycle. This is a basic cultivation method, not tied to any particular attribute. Once you've memorized it, just follow the path I take through your meridians. Then try your best to sense the spiritual qi around you. There's no spiritual qi in the space, so we need to go outside."

With that, he took Zhang Qiling and the stool out of the space together, then led him back to the room.

Following Yu Zhi's instructions, Zhang Qiling assumed the posture with the crown of his head, palms, and soles facing upward and began to circulate the energy, as spiritual power traveled through his meridians round after round.

He felt an unusual heat in his chest, seemingly at the spot where his qilin tattoo was.

Without dwelling on it, he continued to follow Yu Zhi's spiritual power as it circulated through his meridians. Gradually, he no longer needed guidance and slowly began to sense spiritual qi. He calmed his mind and began to practice the cultivation method.

Watching Zhang Qiling settle into the practice, Yu Zhi marveled inwardly. He really was an outstanding man, worthy of being the ceiling of combat prowess. His aptitude could rival Yu Zhi's own. Looking at the red spiritual qi gathering around him, Yu Zhi figured he must have a Fire Spiritual Root, making up for the lack of combat power Yu Zhi's Wood Spiritual Root had in the early stages.

Leaving him undisturbed, Yu Zhi returned to his own room and began writing and drawing. He needed to sort out his thoughts. There was a lot to do, and he certainly couldn't outscheme those old foxes with his own brains. His only advantage was knowing the plot. It seemed he would have to win some people over to counter them, and he also needed to find a way to solve Zhang Qiling's Tianshou memory loss. Most importantly, he needed to get some money. He had spent almost all fifty thousand yuan.

Once Zhang Qiling broke through to the Qi Refining First Layer, they would find a tomb. Yu Zhi needed to learn some basic tomb knowledge as soon as possible and train his skills. Being a mage who could take a beating wouldn't cut it; it would still be dangerous if someone got close to him. Besides, there were many monsters in this world to deal with, and their combat power was off the charts. He needed Zhang Qiling to give him some extra training.

And so he waited. A week passed, and Zhang Qiling still showed no sign of coming out. Sensing the dense fluctuations of spiritual power in the room, Yu Zhi could only keep waiting while he continued to think about his plan to save Zhang Qiling.

Finally, three days later, Zhang Qiling pushed the door open. His whole body was about to crash to the floor, frightening Yu Zhi into a panic. He hurried over to catch him, and only after checking him did he discover that he was starving. Cultivators at the Qi Refining Stage couldn't yet go without food. Yu Zhi had also forgotten to tell him not to cultivate for too long, because he would get hungry.

He hurriedly took him to the dining table and stuffed food into his mouth.

Zhang Qiling chewed. After a while, he finally felt alive again. He had to admit he had gotten a little carried away with cultivation. The feeling of growing stronger was wonderful.

"Big brother, when you're hungry, come out and eat! You can't go without food until Foundation Establishment. A Qi Refining newbie can only go hungry for seven days at most. Ah, I forgot to tell you." Yu Zhi spoke helplessly. He really was a worry.

Zhang Qiling listened, his mouth too full of food to speak, and gave him an aggrieved look. This man really is unreliable sometimes.

Yu Zhi couldn't stand the way he looked at him now, his face full of grievance. The sight of that handsome face nearly melted his heart. At that moment, he could have agreed to any request. He fed him while inwardly despising himself.

After quite a while, Zhang Qiling felt he had returned to the world of the living and began serving himself. Yu Zhi's hand had moved so fast while feeding him like a pig that it had nearly left afterimages. He had almost choked him to death.

Yu Zhi didn't say much when he saw the man had recovered. He merely pretended to casually show off the dirt that had rubbed onto his clothes.

"Hey, you, remember to take a shower after you eat. Look, you got dust all over me."

Zhang Qiling was startled. He looked at the dirt on Yu Zhi's white sweatshirt, then down at himself. The unpleasant smell was still bearable to him; tombs smelled worse, after all. He quickly shovelled down the rest of his food and dashed back to his room to shower.

In fact, Yu Zhi had only remembered when he saw him come out that drawing qi into the body usually expelled most of the impurities from it.

Yu Zhi strolled back to his room, took a shower, and changed into fresh clothes. He planned to go out later and buy a map of the country. It was time to put their next tomb on the agenda. Of course, he still needed to discuss these things with Zhang Qiling. He also needed to start training his close-quarters fighting skills as soon as possible, and teach Zhang Qiling how to use spiritual power and some basic five-element spells.