Not of Our Kind (Wishing My Friends Abundant Wealth in the Year of the Horse)

"Teacher Hongjun!"

"What a coincidence! What a coincidence!"

Fu Yi had been shouting loudly outside the Void Heaven Palace, and the target of his clamor was Hongjun.

If there were any being most likely to come to the Void Heaven Palace at this moment, Zhang Xuezhou felt it would undoubtedly be Daoist Hongjun.

When the familiar voice rang out, Zhang Xuezhou knew very well that he had accurately identified the other party.

"I've always coveted the Void Heaven Palace, but I never expected you to acquire it so easily!"

Hongjun walked around Zhang Xuezhou several times, recognizing Zhang Xuezhou as well, and then looked at the snake tail behind Zhang Xuezhou.

Although Zhang Xuezhou's soul no longer harbored the mark of Zhu Jiuyin, those who recognized him would not be mistaken, even if Zhang Xuezhou transformed into a snake tail, not to mention that Zhang Xuezhou had also used his cultivation technique.

"My three stupid students couldn't even master this trick to fool Houtu, but you're quite adept at it!"

Daoist Hongjun sighed, feeling that he had tried to plant flowers but they wouldn't bloom, while Zhang Xuezhou's reckless efforts had actually succeeded.

"I don't know what happened, it was probably just a coincidence, and I don't know how to use the Void Heaven Palace!"

Zhang Xuezhou shook his head.

He merely touched the Reincarnation Stone in the secret realm of Fengdu; he never imagined such a thing would happen.

Zhang Xuezhou wanted to ask Hongjun many questions, but the questions he could think of were extremely limited. What was worse, the more he asked, the more he couldn't remember, and he might even forget them completely.

In this situation, Zhang Xuezhou felt that asking or not asking made no difference.

He turned directly to the main topic of the Void Heaven Palace, wanting to see if Hongjun had any solutions.

If handled properly, he can at least gain some advantage.

"This thing is nothing more than a matter of control and release. Houtu actually dared to give up the object that controlled the Demon Race Heavenly Tribulation. What kind of stimulus did she receive?"

Hongjun's ease in controlling the Void Heaven Palace made Hongjun even more interested in what information Zhang Xuezhou had provided that led his old friend to make such a huge misjudgment.

"I said back then that someone named Donghua had possessed the body of the Haotian Emperor and then imprisoned 'Bai'!"

"This information alone isn't enough for her to go to such lengths, and besides, the White Emperor's physical body was already ruined by that brat; no matter how much she struggles, she'll never amount to anything!"

"Then I said Donghua has the strength to ascend to a higher dimension!"

"What?"

Hongjun had been asking questions calmly and unhurriedly, but his expression changed drastically when Zhang Xuezhou mentioned Donghua's strength.

Which Donghua are you referring to?

Hongjun asked a question urgently, which prompted Zhang Xuezhou to nod repeatedly.

"This demonic tree, though dead, is Non-Self our kind and its heart is surely different. How can we allow it to pluck the wonders of the Three Realms and ascend to sainthood!"

Hongjun twisted his snake tail and spun around several times, equally unable to accept Donghua.

If he could tolerate Donghua before, at most he would reprimand him, but now he absolutely cannot accept it.

"We must stop him from ascending to a higher dimension!"

After pacing back and forth, Hongjun finally concluded that the situation was unacceptable. He could not accept Donghua's identity, and he was even more unwilling for the other party to benefit in the Three Realms.

"I can't beat Donghua," Zhang Xuezhou muttered. "Besides, Donghua recently imprisoned Zhu Jiuyin's physical body to make the Immortality Elixir. Once the Immortality Elixir is made, his prestige in the Three Realms will reach its peak, and even the Three Pure Ones will befriend him!"

"What saint? They're just three idiots. These idiots will definitely befriend this Donghua for the sake of longevity. Ugh, just thinking about it makes my liver ache!"

Hongjun cursed and then clutched his chest again.

"If you see those three idiots who occupy positions but do nothing of substance, you must make them go into seclusion and reflect on their actions!"

"I can't quite remember what you told me to do!"

Hongjun was somewhat agitated, and Zhang Xuezhou was also muttering to himself.

Zhang Xuezhou felt that the Three Pure Ones couldn't be blamed for the incident. After all, Hongjun was too eccentric; it was one thing for them to meet, but Zhang Xuezhou might very well forget about him as soon as he turned around.

"How can you not remember? You can't even withstand the influence of my spacetime Principle. How will you ever amount to anything?"

Hongjun was somewhat disappointed in his son, but there was nothing he could do, since individual strength was not subject to his will.

Even though the Void Heaven Palace only used heavenly lightning to shape the bodies of Demon Race and then removed the useless Demon Race scum to prevent them from consuming the resources of the Three Realms, there was no other way.

Hongjun was also stuck at this stage; he could only teach his students, but he couldn't instantly turn them into top masters.

In the past, he could preach and perform the Dharma, and he patiently taught a few decent students. Now, he can't do anything, and can only sabotage each other to prevent the appearance of a higher-dimensional demon in the Three Realms.

"If Donghua succeeds in ascending to a higher dimension through the Three Realms, my future will be miserable, and you will all face annihilation!"

Hongjun twisted the snake's tail back and forth, wanting to say something, but when he thought that Zhang Xuezhou would also suffer from forgetfulness, he couldn't help but sigh heavily again.

If one cannot be taught and trained to passively influence physical abilities, then even if one possesses vast knowledge, it will be of no use.

The place where they met at this moment had no physical body at all, only a grand hall made of void gold, so they were powerless to give anything.

Hongjun paced back and forth for a long time before finally fixing his gaze on the Void Palace.

"That's the Thunder-Attracting Pool, this is the Body-Shaping Ground, this is the place to listen to the Great Dao of Houtu, this is... It's no use me saying all this, you won't remember it, and if you only remember a little, you'll easily cause problems and ultimately lose your life. Let me tell you, that old hag Houtu is very shrewd. If she senses anything is wrong and uses the power of the Void Palace, she'll be reduced to ashes!"

Hongjun kept rambling on and on, mentioning that Zhang Xuezhou would eventually be exposed and would most likely be suppressed by the Void Palace.

Zhang Xuezhou felt a chill run down his spine after hearing those words.

How can I avoid this kind of thing?

"You won't remember what I say, and if you only remember a little, you'll easily cause problems. Listening to you is worse than not listening at all!"

The answer Zhang Xuezhou received from his inquiry was worse than not asking at all. However, Zhang Xuezhou felt it was more likely that Hongjun wouldn't have the same ability either. If the other party had such ability, the Three Pure Ones would have already succeeded in their plan.

He thought about it several times, and then he saw Hongjun's gaze quickly focus on him.

"You seem to be cursing me in your heart?" Hongjun asked.

"I didn't!" Zhang Xuezhou quickly shook his head.

"Then you suspect me?" Hongjun asked again.

"I have no doubts. I'm just guessing that you might not have the ability to deceive Houtu, otherwise you would have had the Three Pure Ones accomplish this long ago," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"Very good, your response is very genuine and excellent. Keep up this style of communication; perhaps you really can hold out a few more rounds against Houtu." Hongjun nodded approvingly and added, "Also, don't mention those three good-for-nothing idiots!"

Hongjun circled Zhang Xuezhou Zhang Xuezhou, then looked him up and down.

Zhang Xuezhou's strength was not special, at least in Hongjun's eyes.

However, Hongjun discovered something very interesting about Zhang Xuezhou: Zhang Xuezhou was young and had only been cultivating for a very short time. This meant that Zhang Xuezhou didn't have many outdated and conservative ideas, and he didn't seem to care about saving face, which allowed him to be flexible in accomplishing things.

If you can fool someone once, you can fool them twice, or even three or four times.

In many cases, a single successful deception signifies an unstoppable rise to power.

"I once placed a treasure called the Investiture of the Gods of the Gods in the Three Realms. Take the Void Heaven Palace to find this treasure. It will surely be able to suppress this Donghua fellow, thus preventing him from ascending to a higher dimension. You must remember this!"

Hongjun thought for a long time, then reached out and touched Zhang Xuezhou's forehead before his body vanished into nothingness.

The sound of the Void Heaven Palace contracting and folding came, and Zhang Xuezhou saw the vast Void Heaven Palace space rapidly compress into a box, which then crushed his condensed Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation.

The pain of his body being crushed made Zhang Xuezhou scream, and he felt as if he was about to faint.

Darkness passed, followed by a faint glimmer of light.

Zhang Xuezhou's swollen, red body shimmered with various colors as he staggered backward. The black Reincarnation Stone Reincarnation Stone came into view again, and a grayish-white aura fell from it, followed by a blurry figure.