Bound Together

Your luck is a bit strange!

Dong Zhongshu lay in bed all night, and it wasn't until his stomach rumbled the next day that Dong Zhongshu opened his somewhat listless eyes.

While munching on the roasted meat offered to him by others, he would occasionally glance at Zhao Liang, Zhang Bayang, and Zhang Cigong, but his gaze lingered more on Zhang Xuezhou.

The group suffered a great misfortune, but Zhang Xuezhou remained untouched by it.

For example, when hunting the Bashe (a mythical snake), Zhang Xuezhou almost drowned, but he managed to retrieve the Bashe's eye.

The city of Shu was in chaos, and everyone suffered to varying degrees. Zhang Xuezhou earned ten strings of cash.

In dealing with the tiger demon, Zhang Xuezhou emerged unscathed and even gained the friendship of Xu Yuan, a student of the Agricultural Sect.

When faced with the almost insurmountable Water Ape Great Sage, Zhang Xuezhou fled at lightning speed.

Zhang Xuezhou has now found his fellow townsman and even managed to obtain the key to the Beast Taming Sect's secret vault, which he then gave to his fellow townsman.

Amidst a series of misfortunes, Dong Zhongshu never expected that Zhang Xuezhou could still reap benefits.

However, Dong Zhongshu felt it was unlikely that Zhang Xuezhou was simply lucky. If he were truly fortunate, he wouldn't have repeatedly found himself in dangerous situations, let alone become unconscious for several days.

Even though Zhang Xuezhou came from a very ordinary background, this alone eliminated the possibility that the other party had good luck.

If one is granted good fortune later in life, it requires practicing the arts of Huang-Lao (Daoist philosophy) and even using various precious treasures to change one's fate.

Zhang Xuezhou is clearly not involved.

Dong Zhongshu couldn't immediately understand why Zhang Xuezhou had repeatedly escaped danger and turned misfortune into good fortune.

"Don't talk about my luck. Tell me, what should we do next? And is there a solution to this bow incident?" Zhang Xuezhou asked, "How about you teach him a few skills?"

"You think academic studies are just a matter of me reading them aloud?" Dong Zhongshu said. "Even if I were willing to read them, he would still need to be able to learn them and have the ability to use them. Moreover, he has barely Realm Entry, and his Law Power cannot support him to cast any useful spells. He cannot travel thousands of miles across mountains and forests to Huaibei alone."

"That..."

"We have a guy in our merchant group named Ruan Qigong, I think he could be called Ruan Qigong!"

Dong Zhongshu waved his hand, solving the problem in the simplest and most direct way.

This surprised Zhang Xuezhou.

Influenced by modern ideas, Zhang Xuezhou has a certain sense of awe towards matters of identity verification.

In Shu County, a false identity was created, which at least had the help of Wen Weng. But now, Dong Zhongshu has directly taken the identity of the previously deceased groom.

He pondered for a few seconds before finally coming to his senses.

The patrolling soldiers would check names, origins, and ages, but they obviously couldn't use modern fingerprint and facial recognition technology.

This means that as long as one has a legitimate "ticket" and a certain number of accomplices to help, the possibility of getting away with it is extremely high.

As long as Zhang Cigong can accept the false identity and has a strong mentality, the patrolling soldiers will not be able to see through him.

"Ruan Qigong? What Ruan Qigong?" Zhang Cigong asked in a low voice.

"A groom who was killed by the Beast Taming Sect," Zhang Xuezhou replied. "And two guest elders who are skilled in martial arts, so their identities can't be used fraudulently!"

"I think I understand now!"

Zhang Cigong was clearly no longer the simple and honest boy from Zhang Household Village.

He accepted the new identity in a low voice, and the worry on his face quickly faded away.

As long as he possesses Ruan Qigong's 'scepter', he can enter and leave the city normally and walk on the main roads, without having to traverse through the mountains and forests.

If Dong Zhongshu and others needed a groom, he could help drive the horses and earn a living.

Zhang Xuezhou and his group's destination did not conflict with Zhang Cigong's. He wanted to visit the former site of the Beast Taming Sect in Huaibei and also wanted to return to Zhang Household Village to check on the situation.

Zhang Cigong's problem is easy to solve; the real trouble lies in the itinerary of Zhang Xuezhou and the others.

Dong Zhongshu felt an overwhelming bitterness in his heart as he struggled to control his magical Law Power.

He was just a little bit short of everything.

If he had figured out the possibility of a roundabout strategy earlier than Zhang Xuezhou, he wouldn't have had to risk attempting to reach the Sole Self Realm.

He had indeed reached a higher realm, but the Law Power within Dong Zhongshu's body began to become unbalanced.

The difference between his martial arts cultivation at the Body Transformation Realm and his Law Technique cultivation at the Sole Self Realm was two whole major realms, which caused constant conflicts within his Law Power.

Just like Zhao Liang, his body is currently out of control, making it difficult for him to exert his full strength.

"So you can't make a move right now?" Zhang Xuezhou asked in surprise.

"I can't use my Qi and Blood or Law Power right now. If I use them for even a little longer, it will trigger a conflict within my body, causing me to vomit blood and faint," Dong Zhongshu said. "But if you want me to wield a sword and fight head-on, then I can handle it."

"Then we... then you've really had a lot of bad luck!"

Zhang Xuezhou looked at Dong Zhongshu, who was greedily pursuing more cultivation, and felt that the other party's hasty breakthrough had brought out all the hidden dangers in his previous cultivation.

If Dong Zhongshu had focused solely on cultivating a single realm technique, the other party would obviously not have this problem.

Dual capabilities bring dual benefits, but also sow the seeds of dual hidden dangers.

"You don't need to pity me. You possess Demon Power. Once you break through to the Divine Ability Realm or the Sole Self Realm, the situation you face will be not much different from mine!"

Zhang Xuezhou pondered the various shortcomings of Dong Zhongshu's cultivation, but when Dong Zhongshu added a sentence, Zhang Xuezhou felt completely unwell.

But having previously struggled to survive, he naturally learned whatever came his way.

The Demon Power within him was not something he actively sought out; rather, it was forcibly bestowed upon him by the Golden Toad Dharma King.

He never considered these things back then.

Zhang Xuezhou once thought that the Divine Ability Realm was far beyond his reach, even though he didn't have that thought at the moment.

However, his current cultivation level is indeed not too far from the Divine Ability Realm.

With the Spirit-Forging Pill provided by Zou Bugui, and by combining it with the corresponding Realm Technique, Zhang Xuezhou is expected to enter the Consciousness Creation Realm within one to two years.

If he breaks through another major realm in the future, that's not impossible, and then he'll start to come into contact with the Divine Ability Realm.

Although it will take a long time, with the help of Zou Bugui and the Emperor as his teacher, Zhang Xuezhou felt that he still had a good chance of breaking through to the Divine Ability Realm in the future.

If someone in the Divine Ability Realm were to experience a situation like Dong Zhongshu's, Zhang Xuezhou felt he had lost all hope for reaching the Divine Ability Realm.

"My cultivation techniques aren't even complete, how could I possibly reach the Divine Ability Realm?" Zhang Xuezhou finally waved his hand and said, "This matter has nothing to do with me!"

"Hehe!"

Dong Zhongshu chuckled twice.

He looked at Zhang Xuezhou and couldn't help but take a deep breath.

If the conflict of Law Power within Zhao Liang's body is of no root cause and can be eliminated by Li Guang using the Jade Purity True Technique, then the conflict within him is continuous and unlikely to be completely resolved by any technique. Even if Li Guang patiently treats him, it can only alleviate his pain temporarily.

To resolve these issues, Dong Zhongshu himself needed to make adjustments.

Dong Zhongshu had very few solutions at the moment, and was even reduced to having only one possible option.

Among the many realms of cultivation techniques, only the Yin-Yang School cultivates them separately, yet ultimately possesses the ability to merge into one.

To resolve the imbalance between his two forces, Dong Zhongshu needed to engage with the Yin-Yang School.

Dong Zhongshu had never felt so intimately bound to Zhang Xuezhou.

He hoped Zhang Xuezhou was being modest; if Zhang Xuezhou's mastery of the Yin-Yang School School's techniques was incomplete, Dong Zhongshu could foresee his bleak future.

He even sought the inheritance of the Nine People Sect, because only with the complete Yin-Yang School of thought could he possibly integrate these two conflicting yet ultimately unified cultivation techniques.

The deed of rashly attacking the Sole Self Realm has already been done, and he has no choice but to swallow the bitter pill while actively seeking solutions.