Yin and Yang Reversed

"Damn them! All thieves deserve to be damned! They should all drop dead! There shouldn't be any thieves in this world, those low-down, immoral bastards!"

Inside the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple, Zou Bugui pulled a brick from the wall with trembling hands. When he saw the empty tray inside, a torrent of curses burst from his mouth.

"Daoist priest?"

Zhang Zhong asked in confusion.

Having fled to the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple, he was counting entirely on Zou Bugui.

They were in the same boat. If Zou Bugui capsized, Zhang Zhong would be no better off.

He might still be able to escape Jin Wanliang with his life, but the Realm Entry Zou Bugui had promised him would clearly come to nothing.

Zhang Zhong felt a little disappointed and glanced at Lady Yourong and Zhang Xuezhou.

With Zou Bugui gnashing his teeth like that, the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple had most likely lost something valuable. Remembering that Zhang Xuezhou had achieved Realm Entry at the temple and grown stronger, Zhang Zhong strongly suspected that the thief Zou Bugui mentioned might be Zhang Xuezhou.

"Daoist priest, what did you lose?" Zhang Zhong asked again.

"Nothing. Just a few things from my private stash," Zou Bugui said through gritted teeth.

"How are we going to defend ourselves against that golden toad demon?" Zhang Zhong asked with a frown.

"For that, we still need to rely on..."

"Daoist priest, you haven't fulfilled your promise to help us achieve Realm Entry in our cultivation. And now you want us to fight a great demon to the death?" Zhang Zhong said. "If you break your word, don't blame me if my blade shows no mercy!"

Zhang Zhong's Wind-Breaking Saber came to rest silently against Zou Bugui's waist.

Judging by Zou Bugui's description of those who had achieved Realm Entry, and his sickly appearance at the moment, Zhang Zhong thought it highly likely he could cut him in two at the waist in an instant.

He had respected Zou Bugui somewhat in the past, but now that he faced life and death, and Zhang Xuezhou was likely involved in the loss at the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple, an evil thought arose in Zhang Zhong's mind. He considered settling the matter once and for all, lest Zhang Xuezhou become entangled in it later.

The cold gleam of his saber's tip pricked Zou Bugui's waist. As pain came from his pierced skin, Zou Bugui's eyes went wide.

He had not expected the pleasant-faced Zhang Zhong to become a different man in the blink of an eye.

If he could not satisfy Zhang Zhong's demands, Zou Bugui thought Jin Wanliang would not need to come after him. Zhang Zhong would most likely stab him to death first.

"Don't be hasty. Let's talk this over," Zou Bugui said quickly, forcing himself to rally. "My temple was built on a site chosen for its yin and yang. A Yin-Yang Reversal Formation lies beneath it, but I never expected someone to sneak into my temple and steal the spirit jade I used to activate the formation!"

"Spirit jade?" Zhang Zhong asked.

"Yes, it's a treasure. It can be used for self-defense and as a warning, and for cultivation. You can also forcefully use it to restore Law Power, keeping your Law Power flowing without end..."

Zou Bugui quickly described what he had lost.

His explanation made Zhang Xuezhou's eyes widen slightly.

While Zhang Xuezhou had returned to reality, Li Jiao had evidently not been idle, and had thoroughly searched the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple.

No wonder Li Jiao, who studied Technique Methods as a secondary pursuit and had limited Law Power, had still been able to rely on the Supreme Purity True Technique to continually suppress the Golden Toad Poison in Zhou Cang and Zhao Mu.

Zhang Xuezhou had previously thought that highly accomplished cultivators had inexhaustible Law Power and could spend it freely, without growing dizzy as he did after using the Supreme Purity True Technique, which he had only just begun to learn, for a while. Now that he thought about it, that might have had something to do with the spirit jade Zou Bugui had mentioned.

"And what about your promise to help my parents achieve Realm Entry, Daoist priest?" Zhang Xuezhou cut in.

"I also had three Qi and Blood Pills hidden in there..."

"Qi and Blood Pills?"

"Yes. Besides restoring a great cultivator's Qi and Blood, Qi and Blood Pills can also forcefully push the Qi and Blood within the body upward. Although relying on them to force Realm Entry means it will be difficult to cultivate martial arts later, one would still be stronger than an ordinary person. But I never expected my Qi and Blood Pills to be stolen too!"

"Why didn't you keep the pills on you?"

"Qi and Blood Pills force Realm Entry, and they do considerable harm to the body. Only by leaving them to be nourished in a place rich in Spiritual Qi for many years can the pill toxins in them gradually dissipate. Sigh, you wouldn't understand even if I told you!"

Zou Bugui heaved a long sigh. It felt as though the roof had sprung a leak just in time for a night of rain. He had been utterly unlucky lately.

Ever since he had encountered the messenger under the Ten Yin Holy Son and tried to avoid disaster, he had failed to avoid it and suffered one calamity after another instead.

He should never have left the temple, and even if he had, he should not have used his flying treasure.

Flying unsteadily through the sky had drawn far too much attention, and he had run into the calamity that was the Golden Toad Dharma King.

His flying treasure had been destroyed, and the formation protecting the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple had been broken by someone as well.

The experience left Zou Bugui cursing his bad luck again and again.

"We understand. How could we not?" Zhang Zhong said through gritted teeth. "You mean there's no hope of us achieving Realm Entry in our cultivation, and no chance of defending ourselves against that toad demon either!"

"It's not that I'm breaking my word... wait, I still have a way!"

Pain shot through his waist, and Zou Bugui cried out.

"Although the spirit jade for my Yin-Yang Reversal Formation is gone, that doesn't mean the formation can't be used. Although the pills I promised you for Realm Entry are gone, that doesn't mean I can't refine more later. Don't be rash. Calm down, you must stay calm!"

A tiger brought low on the plains was bullied by dogs. Zou Bugui thought he was quite possibly the most miserable cultivator in the Yin-Yang School.

But miserable as he was, it was still better than losing his life.

Thinking of his dead disciples, Zou Bugui felt he absolutely could not follow in their footsteps.

He could not let the Yin-Yang School's Technique Methods die out. He still had to spread its branches and leaves, and he had to keep living. He absolutely could not die beneath the blade behind him, much less become food for the Golden Toad Dharma King to restore his Demon Power.

"I guarantee it, I'm certain, I'm positive! You must believe me! As long as we get through this calamity, we'll all have a bright future!"

Zou Bugui cried out in pain, his voice like a roar.

"Are you fighting among yourselves?"

Outside the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple, Jin Wanliang, who had found climbing the mountain somewhat difficult, finally arrived.

Hearing Zou Bugui's cries, Jin Wanliang looked excited.

"Hand over that old Daoist, and I'll give you a hundred taels of gold," Jin Wanliang said. "I don't want to keep fighting either. I'll pay for that old fellow's life!"

"Sounds good!"

"I've always dealt fairly, unlike you humans, who are so crafty. You can't do what you promise and only fire empty cannons," Jin Wanliang called. "Just give me that old fellow, and I'll hand over a hundred taels of gold at once!"

"You're carrying a hundred taels of gold on you?" Zhang Zhong asked doubtfully.

"Of course. How could I take a single step away from home without money?" Jin Wanliang replied.

"Look at him, and then look at yourself!"

Inside the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple, Zhang Zhong's middle finger nearly poked Zou Bugui in the nose.

"I hate rich people!" Zou Bugui cried.

"Enough. Since you can't come up with the money to buy your life, don't blame me for selling you to someone else!"

The voices from inside the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple delighted Jin Wanliang.

He excelled at poison techniques, but he did have a certain lack of combat experience.

Pressed into service at the last minute by the old ancestor, Jin Wanliang could only grit his teeth and carry out the task.

Fighting and killing were difficult affairs, but any problem money could solve was no problem at all. Jin Wanliang liked solving problems simply and directly.

"A hundred taels of gold, genuine gold! Send someone to inspect it, and we'll make the exchange afterward!"

Jin Wanliang ducked his head into his long golden robe.

Only a few seconds later, his head emerged again, and he was holding several gold ingots in both hands.

Jin Wanliang placed the ingots at the temple entrance, then gestured toward them.

"Don't go! He must have poisoned the gold. If any of you take an ingot, you'll definitely be poisoned!"

Zou Bugui's warning did little good.

Inside the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple, Lady Yourong tossed a loop of rope and caught an ingot with a perfectly executed cast. With a slight pull of both hands, she sent it flying back into the temple hall along with the rope.

"Good stuff!"

Zhang Zhong sliced at the ingot with his Wind-Breaking Saber. It split open under the blade, revealing a brilliant golden color inside.

It was an ingot of exceptionally pure gold. Even the imperial military pay distributed by the Northern Border Military Region was only of this quality.

Zhang Zhong nodded repeatedly. Holding the Wind-Breaking Saber, he shoved Zou Bugui, sending him stumbling out of the hall.

"Taking money and getting the job done-I like a straightforward man like you!"

Seeing the poisoned Zou Bugui pushed out by Zhang Zhong, Jin Wanliang rubbed his hands together, feeling that the matter had been settled remarkably quickly.

"If you'd said so earlier, we wouldn't have had to spend all day chasing and fighting. I..."

Jin Wanliang's eyes widened. Seeing Zhang Zhong push Zou Bugui forward, he could not help reaching out to grab him with his right hand.

His five fleshy fingers turned into a three-pronged claw in an instant. But before Jin Wanliang's right claw could reach Zou Bugui, Zou Bugui rolled and sprang to his feet, and a saber came down immediately afterward.