Profound Malice

"You wouldn't be at a loss if you mentored me!"

"You haven't met many people over the years, and you won't meet many more in the future!"

"Compared to wasting your years and ultimately being eroded and killed by time, getting out of this predicament sooner will definitely be better for you!"

"Whether or not I can rescue you, it's still one more hope!"

"If I ever become a top-tier cultivator, able to move this massive iron nail with a flick of my wrist, you'll be out of trouble!"

"You won't lose anything by teaching me!"

"You're just explaining how to cultivate to ride a dragon, what's the harm in saying anything!"

Zhang Xuezhou is always very talkative, as long as he's willing to communicate.

The other party had been deceived by Liang Wang. Zhang Xuezhou felt that the other party's strength was unpredictable, but their way of thinking was probably inferior to theirs.

Even if one learns from a mistake, the different people one encounters bring about differences, making it difficult to react.

Zhang Xuezhou had already memorized the Dragon Riding Technique completely and could find some old scholars who were good at writing seal script to read it, but he still tirelessly asked them questions, trying to find out the possible side effects of practicing this technique.

Zhang Xuezhou guessed that the opponent's immortal pseudo-god ability might have fallen into Li Shaojun's hands. Li Shaojun was a cultivator with extremely unique abilities, but his individual strength was so weak that Zhang Xuezhou could hardly criticize him, and he was even more useless than him.

After his persuasion, the one who spoke, 'Bai,' hesitated for only a moment.

Zhang Xuezhou is right. Teaching others knowledge will not cost him anything. Even if Zhang Xuezhou will not be of use in the future, he will at least have sown a seed of hope.

"Riding a dragon..."

The Dragon Riding Technique is a distance transformation between the tangible and intangible, granting the user the ability to almost traverse space.

Unlike running or flying, this was achieved through a method similar to Zhang Xuezhou traversing the waters of the Yellow Springs, thus realizing the transfer of his body.

However, this kind of transfer can only be done in a fixed direction. For example, if he identifies a dragon's lair and the spell mark takes effect, Zhang Xuezhou will appear in the dragon's lair shortly after using the Dragon Riding Technique.

The greatest use of this technique is for escaping, as it allows for distance travel within a range of 100 miles.

The only prerequisite is that there must be a dragon's lair within this hundred-mile radius.

"In other words, if there is no dragon's lair, or if the casting distance exceeds the dragon's lair, the Dragon Riding Technique will not be effective," Zhang Xuezhou confirmed repeatedly.

"That's not wrong," Bai agreed.

"Then this technique has too many flaws," Zhang Xuezhou complained. "Even if I find a dragon's lair, I can only remain safe within a hundred miles of the lair!"

"There are some unavoidable flaws," Bai agreed. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have had my body destroyed by a mere mortal in the dragon's lair!"

"Do you have any other life-saving techniques? I always feel that this technique isn't very reliable," Zhang Xuezhou said.

He kept finding fault with Bai, trying to glean some other mysterious techniques from him.

Zhang Xuezhou had seen techniques of escape and flight, but he had never seen a technique similar to short-distance spatial teleportation.

Perhaps it was because Zhang Xuezhou lacked broad experience, or perhaps it was something else entirely, but Zhang Xuezhou felt that Bai's cultivation was completely different from normal cultivation.

This is like another spiritual practice system, but one that has been localized.

Zhang Xuezhou had been doing this for many years and knew the origins of some Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon and other creatures. He felt that Bai was most likely one of them.

Zhang Xuezhou didn't mind learning more foreign skills, as his various abilities in reality came from this, especially since the skills he was given had already entered the realm of techniques.

"As I said, what I possess is the power of favor," Bai emphasized.

"Is there anything special about this ability?" Zhang Xuezhou asked doubtfully.

"If I am so favored, then there is no need for fighting or running for my life!"

"I see!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded, indicating that he understood Bai's meaning.

If a person basically doesn't need to fight or escape, and possesses immortality and the ability to escape, this can be considered the final, completed state of cultivation.

Bai's trouble lies in the possibility of encountering fights that are not usually seen, and after escaping, his lair may be raided, ultimately leading to a humiliating end.

Bai is still immortal, but no matter how he tries to escape, he will always appear in the nearest dragon's lair, so he can only continue to be suppressed here.

After their conversation, Zhang Xuezhou didn't gain any additional techniques, but he had a general idea of Bai's background.

"The power of favor, the Spiritual Qi!"

Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but compare Bai to Turkalando, and ultimately felt that the two had quite a few similarities.

This ability is usually all-powerful, but when faced with a situation where brute force overcomes skill, this greatest strength becomes the greatest weakness.

If others can still resist or even put up a fight, then once a powerful cultivator with such abilities is defeated, all they have left is the ability to flee.

"May I learn the power of favor from you?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"I gather the power of favor through the Principle, and the power of the Principle cannot be granted to you," Bai replied. "If you are interested in the power of favor, you can go and learn more about related human arts. A hundred years ago... you just seemed to be gathering the power of favor?"

Bai's reaction was somewhat belated.

He recalled that when Zhang Xuezhou shook the long iron nail, the other party seemed to absorb a small portion of the favor he was radiating.

This is similar to the existence of Liu Wu, the King of Liang, and also has the same characteristics as Liu Bang, the founding emperor who initially suppressed him.

Clearly, there are many other beings in the world like Bai, and they are not the only ones who possess the ability to gather favor.

Any powerful cultivator with similar abilities would be Bai's rival and could potentially harm him.

This made him fall silent for a moment, and he didn't want to mention it to Zhang Xuezhou anymore.

"My career has been full of ups and downs since my debut, and I've always wanted to improve my luck," Zhang Xuezhou lamented. "Unfortunately, my luck is still not very good, and not only that, I may not live for another twenty years!"

"Twenty years?"

Zhang Xuezhou was incredibly quick-witted; even when Bai hesitated and stammered, he had already guessed the potential conflicts in their cultivation.

Rivals are always among rivals. This wasn't just the case between him and the new emperor; he also competed with Dong Zhongshu while maintaining a cooperative relationship, and he was highly likely to have conflicts with Bai.

The favor mentioned by the other party is too similar to the cultivation of magic techniques. Bai is currently firmly suppressed here and has difficulty escaping. The less favor the other party has, the more unfortunate they are likely to be.

This is most likely the direct reason why Bai was willing to let Zhang Xuezhou learn the art of riding dragons, but did not want Zhang Xuezhou to possess the power to collect favors.

However, the outside world is developing rapidly, and one after another, cultivators with relevant cultivation abilities are emerging.

"Aside from that pseudo-god young lord Li, who's somewhat cleaner, every single one of them here is a weakling who can absorb favored power. This world's malice towards me is just too deep!"

Bai got his wish and saw the people who came here, but none of them met his requirements, and he even encountered potential competitors.

If Zhang Xuezhou hadn't mentioned that he wouldn't live past twenty years, a time so fleeting for him it would be like a white horse galloping past a crack in the wall, Bai felt he definitely wouldn't have wanted to continue the conversation.