Exchange

Inside the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple, Zhang Xuezhou and Li Jiao talked freely.

Li Jiao's bearing and attire were extraordinary; one glance was enough to tell he held a high position.

If he had been negotiating terms with such an important figure in real life, Zhang Xuezhou thought his hands and feet would have been trembling, and he would never have dared to loot a burning house.

But negotiating terms in a dream was another matter.

As long as he wasn't beaten to death on the spot, Zhang Xuezhou thought he could kick up quite a fuss and try every possible way to gain some benefit.

He was very interested in Li Jiao's Supreme Purity True Technique.

It wasn't just because the technique was of a high level, but because it had the marvelous ability to suppress and heal injuries, making it well suited to the path of development opened up after entering a realm through the Yin Yang Great Compassion Nine Heavens Incantation.

Having a realm but no Technique Methods was like having a driver's license but no car: it was hard to exercise the abilities someone who had entered a realm ought to have.

The Yin Yang Great Compassion Nine Heavens Incantation promoted the growth of the realm-entry seed, and the paths it opened up included cultivating techniques for control and manipulation.

The Supreme Purity True Technique's suppression of injuries also fell within the scope of control.

Someone who had entered a realm could cultivate all kinds of techniques, but a suitable one was undoubtedly easier to cultivate and offered greater scope for development.

Zhang Xuezhou couldn't ask Li Jiao whether he had any other good techniques. He had merely seized the opportunity to put in a few words when Li Jiao mentioned the Supreme Purity True Technique.

Although his question was somewhat rash, it was clear that he hadn't set out to scheme against Li Jiao; he had simply caught sight of prey and felt the hunter's thrill.

Zhang Xuezhou also knew his own limits. From what the Lonely Rogue Person had told him, he understood very well where to draw the line.

A technique required not only its corresponding secret manual, but also relevant supplementary guidance.

For example, he could not have cultivated the Yin Yang Great Compassion Nine Heavens Incantation and entered a realm without the Lonely Rogue Person's nagging reminders, and if he wanted to master the Supreme Purity True Technique, Zhang Xuezhou would likewise need Li Jiao's pointers to have any chance of getting started.

"Look at this graph of the fluctuations when his poison injury flares up..."

Inside the temple, Zhang Xuezhou held a tree branch in his hand.

Using the observational ability granted by the Sequel to the Essential Instruction for Recuperation, he could see black Qi emerging from Zhou Cang's body from time to time.

Sometimes the black Qi was dense, and sometimes it was thin.

Whenever the black Qi grew dense, Zhou Cang appeared to be in unbearable pain, while he could catch his breath when it thinned.

The Golden Toad Poison did not flare up according to a fixed pattern, but varied back and forth in all sorts of ways.

This was also what gave Li Jiao a headache.

He excelled at long-range attacks, while Technique Methods were a secondary pursuit he used for temporary emergencies.

Not only was his proficiency in the Supreme Purity True Technique limited, but so was the Law Power he had to cast it.

He found it difficult to use the Supreme Purity True Technique to directly suppress the Golden Toad Poison inside Zhou Cang, let alone treat Zhao Mu.

If he wanted to suppress the Golden Toad Poison, Li Jiao had to find a more efficient way to cast the technique.

Taking pills to restore his Law Power was one way; striking with precision was another.

He looked at the various curves Zhang Xuezhou had drawn and continued to ponder this way of explaining things, which he had never heard before.

"The teachings of the Yin-Yang School truly contain endless mysteries!"

Once he understood it, he finally let out a sigh of admiration.

As long as his use of the Supreme Purity True Technique matched the rises and falls of Zhang Xuezhou's graph, there was a good chance he could suppress the Golden Toad Poison inside Zhou Cang with just the right amount of force.

Given enough time, once Zhou Cang regained control of his body, the two of them working together would surely have a chance to suppress the Golden Toad Poison temporarily.

What Zhou Cang needed was time to recover his body, a chance to catch his breath.

Once Zhou Cang could control his body, with the aid of Li Jiao's Supreme Purity True Technique, he would surely be able to marshal the Qi and Blood throughout his body to suppress the Golden Toad Poison.

The suppression might last a long time, or it might be brief.

Perhaps they would die halfway back to the Northern Border, or perhaps they would manage to return and have a chance at treatment.

However great or small that chance was, compared with the dead end they had faced before, they could at least see a direction now.

Without Zou Bugui's Three Worms Three Flowers Secretly Made Great Pill, this was the only lifesaving plan available.

Although Li Jiao would surely face punishment upon returning to the Northern Border for disclosing a secret manual, the Supreme Purity True Technique was an acceptable price to pay for the lives of the two fierce generals who had long assisted him.

Besides, that was not all he stood to gain.

Li Jiao glanced at Zhang Xuezhou.

Zhang Xuezhou's strength was meager, but he had a teacher who was fairly capable, one of the few cultivators who practiced both medicine and pill-making.

Having taken a technique from the Northern Border Military Region, Zou Bugui would inevitably be drawn into the matter. It would be hard for him to get past this leak of a Technique Method without leaving something behind at the Northern Border army camp.

Li Jiao knew where things stood and began to explain the Supreme Purity True Technique. Beside them, the Lonely Rogue Person ambled outside the temple and squatted down, avoiding being dragged into the mess himself.

"They even dare break ground on the Grand Duke's head. Kongxu's disciples aren't much good at anything, but they have quite a knack for asking for things!"

The Lonely Rogue Person cast Zhang Xuezhou a glance from afar, feeling that he too was destined to die young.

Treating Zhou Cang and Zhao Mu now would very likely involve a clash between the Golden Toad Dharma King and the Northern Border Military Region. If the Golden Toad Dharma King learned that someone had broken his signature skill, it would be hard for him to add another grudge against the Northern Border Military Region, but it would be easy enough for him to turn his attention to Zhang Xuezhou.

Although Zhang Xuezhou appeared to be helping treat Zhou Cang and Zhao Mu, he had not gained the Northern Border Military Region's friendship in exchange. Instead, he had exposed himself directly to the risk of the Golden Toad Dharma King's ill will.

He might get away with doing something like this once, but after doing it repeatedly, he would inevitably bring disaster upon himself and ultimately lose his life.

"What a pity!"

He muttered and looked down Nine-Foot Slope, though it was unclear whom he was pitying.

Inside the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple, Zhou Cang's cries rose and fell, finally turning into muffled groans.

It was nearly half a shichen before Zhou Cang's breathing gradually returned to normal.

"He really suppressed the Golden Toad Dharma King's poison?"

A hint of amazement appeared on the Lonely Rogue Person's face.

It was easy for the strong to suppress the weak, but for the weak to suppress the strong was exceedingly difficult.

Zhou Cang had been able to temporarily suppress the Golden Toad Dharma King's poison partly because of his strong physique and robust Qi and Blood as a martial artist, but even more thanks to the aid of the Supreme Purity True Technique.

It truly was a remarkable technique.

A technique like this was of little use in ordinary times, but once employed, it concerned matters of life and death. It was no exaggeration to call it a lifesaving technique kept at the bottom of the chest.

"Li Jiao, a gentleman-official. I wonder what relation he is to General Li, or whether he's a relative of some important court official?"

There were not many secret manuals for suppressing and healing injuries, and the Supreme Purity True Technique was clearly of an extraordinary grade.

This was a secret manual that only high-ranking generals in the army might have the chance to cultivate.

The Lonely Rogue Person had once thought Zhang Xuezhou was a reflection of his former self, someone who had to struggle bitterly upward as a Rogue Cultivator.

But as he saw it now, the young man was a short-lived wretch who might lose his life at any moment.

"But..."

Compared with the Lonely Rogue Person's cultivation path, roaming everywhere in search of fortuitous opportunities to advance, Zhang Xuezhou was clearly advancing with extreme recklessness.

In just half a day, Zhang Xuezhou had used the Yin-Yang School's basic Daoist methods to obtain a superior technique.

He would either die young or surge upstream against the rapids and become a dragon.

The chances of Zhang Xuezhou meeting the former fate were extremely high, but the latter was not impossible.

The Lonely Rogue Person thought of Daoist Kongxu's students who had died young and felt that someone like Zou Bugui was not teaching them well, but rather seemed to be deliberately raising gu, continually nurturing students until one of them became a gu king and led the Daoist methods of the Yin-Yang School to flourish.

He thought it over and felt he had guessed Zou Bugui's intentions.

This left the Lonely Rogue Person reflecting on the ruthlessness hidden beneath Zou Bugui's timid and shrinking nature, and he found himself growing a little more wary for no apparent reason.