Nine-Foot Daoist Temple

"You're just a little frail!"

"I'm seriously ill. I need to see the Daoist priest!"

In the crude house, Zhang Zhong finally gave up trying to persuade Zhang Xuezhou and shot Lady Yourong several angry looks.

There was no love in the world without a reason, and the Daoist priest could hardly be kind enough to save someone for free.

Whether Zhang Xuezhou sought to learn an art or the Daoist used his magic to treat an illness, the man would demand something in return.

Given the Zhang Household Village's current standard of living, how could Zhang Zhong possibly produce anything that would catch the eye of someone who had entered the realm?

"Let's catch another wild boar and give it to the Daoist priest, and see whether Xuezhou and the Daoist priest have a fated connection!"

People could not do without eating, drinking, and relieving themselves. Those who had entered the realm were no different from ordinary people; they too had to eat and drink.

Only after Zhang Zhong had glared at her several times did Lady Yourong quietly voice her thoughts.

"How can you hunt a wild boar just because you say so?" Zhang Zhong sighed. "Over the past few days, we've covered nearly every inch within two hundred li, and we haven't seen so much as a large rabbit. That venomous python scared them all away!"

"Now that the venomous python has been killed, the prey should come back, especially the stronger ones," Lady Yourong said. "There's a large oak forest on Sunny Slope. That's where wild boars like to live most, and they couldn't just abandon a habitat like that."

"We..."

Hunting was not a one-person affair. Only hunting as a group could keep the survival rate relatively high.

Lady Yourong's proposal clearly called for them to hunt separately, then carry the prey to the Daoist priest's door.

That would inevitably involve considerable risk.

Without the strength of someone who had entered the realm, no one could withstand a charging wild boar weighing several hundred jin with their flesh alone.

One careless mistake, and the hunter would become the prey.

Zhang Zhong's gaze shifted back and forth.

Ordinarily, he would not have given it any special thought.

But comparisons could make a person sick with envy. Seeing that Zhang Changgong and Zhang Cigong had a glimmer of hope of entering the realm, while Zhang Xuezhou had coughed up blood and lain unconscious all night, he could not help having a few more thoughts.

Whether seeking medical treatment or taking a master and learning an art, Zhang Zhong wanted to take Zhang Xuezhou to give it a try.

Others could rely on their sons to support them in old age, but he could hardly rely on Zhang Xuezhou.

Given Zhang Xuezhou's physical condition, he was barely fit to hunt rabbits. A hunter like that would struggle to receive a substantial share of the prey in the hunting party and would instead become a burden to it.

He now contributed a great deal to the hunting party and could feed his whole family, but once he was injured or weakened with age, he would inevitably be reduced to begging for a living in the village.

"Let's think it over carefully!"

Countless thoughts passed through Zhang Zhong's mind. After considering his rather advanced age, his expression could not help but change slightly.

He looked at Zhang Xuezhou, who had gotten up to eat minced-meat and mixed-grain porridge, and quietly discussed it with Lady Yourong. He had clearly decided to go to the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple.

If things worked out, it would be a good thing for Zhang Xuezhou to master an art. If they did not, they could at least have the Daoist priest examine Zhang Xuezhou and see whether his body could be properly regulated so that he could have the physique of a normal person.

Zhang Zhong could accept either outcome, and the risk would be worth taking.

While his parents discussed the matter, Zhang Xuezhou finished his meal, wiped his mouth, and went out.

He did not much like wandering aimlessly about under the blazing sun, but the morning sun was still bearable.

This was also Zhang Xuezhou's time to run around and have fun. In another two hours, he would be listless and would find somewhere cool to stay.

"Zhouzi!"

While he was still a long way off, Zhang Xuezhou heard Zhang Cigong's smug voice.

"Yesterday you were still calling me Brother Xuezhou!"

Zhang Xuezhou spat, but Zhang Cigong did not mind.

"Times have changed, hahaha! The patriarch said I have hope of entering the realm. I'll be an important figure from now on," Zhang Cigong said happily.

A dozen or so young people had gathered around Zhang Cigong, constantly asking him and Zhang Changgong how they felt, trying to find even the slightest similar sign in themselves.

"You should know very well that after swallowing the meat, you sense a giant python. As long as you defeat it, you get a white seed," Zhang Changgong said. "That white seed is hidden in our bodies. Once we draw it out and strengthen it, we'll gradually advance into the realm and become experts who have entered the realm."

Zhang Changgong was more steady by nature than Zhang Cigong, and he was still explaining things earnestly.

"What a shame! I was just a little short of chopping that python to death!" a young man said resentfully. "I was only that close to qualifying to enter the realm!"

"Don't lose heart," Zhang Changgong comforted him. "I heard the patriarch say that as long as there's meat from a fiend like that, you'll have another chance if you eat it again in the future!"

"How come you fought a python? I saw a young man in colorful robes. He smashed my head with a single blow from his fan and nearly scared me to death!"

"You were so frightened that you started hallucinating!"

"How come I saw a giant chicken three zhang tall? It pecked me to death in one bite."

"You ate chicken. It wasn't the same as ours!"

"Look at Brother Xuezhou. He vomited three sheng of blood after eating the meat and didn't make a peep!"

As everyone asked questions from time to time, Zhang Xuezhou listened and felt that the discussion was gradually turning toward him.

In the village, whenever anyone felt bad, they only had to think of Zhang Xuezhou, and they immediately felt better.

"Zhouzi, did that python swallow you in one bite after you ate the meat?" Zhang Cigong asked smugly. "I dodged and darted around, and after we'd fought for eight hundred rounds, a bow appeared in my hand, though I don't know where it came from. I raised it and shot the python dead with one arrow!"

Young people rarely had much guile, and Zhang Cigong simply could not hide the joy in his heart.

As he questioned Zhang Xuezhou, he did not forget to mention once again what he had already said ten times.

"The python..."

Zhang Xuezhou thought for several seconds and concluded that he had not seen any python.

After his stomach had churned like rivers and seas for a few seconds, Zhang Xuezhou had collapsed. He had not even seen himself vomit three sheng of blood.

But Zhang Changgong and Zhang Cigong kept mentioning the unusual changes in their bodies, which made Zhang Xuezhou feel that there seemed to be no difference between his body and theirs.

His white seed had even sprouted two green leaves under the guidance of the Sequel to the Essential Instruction for Recuperation.

He was somewhat ahead of them, and Zhang Xuezhou had no way to say so.

If the seed growing upward meant entering the realm, Zhang Xuezhou truly had not felt anything special.

He had merely hallucinated while regulating his body according to the Sequel to the Essential Instruction for Recuperation, feeling himself grow into a towering tree. After looking around for a while, he had come to his senses.

As for the great abilities one gained after entering the realm, Zhang Xuezhou felt he had none of them.

It was the same even after he had learned the Sequel to the Essential Instruction for Recuperation. After all, he was not having an episode now, so he could not sense the unusual changes in his body ahead of time.

Of course, Zhang Xuezhou remained half-convinced and half-doubtful about such an ability. He would only choose to believe it after it had been verified.

"That's right, you're right. That python swallowed me in one bite. Poor me, I didn't see a thing before I felt my whole world go black!"

Arguing with Zhang Cigong was not a good idea. No matter how a loser explained himself, it was no use; no amount of words could change the facts. Zhang Xuezhou simply admitted it.

"Have you decided where you're going to learn an art?"

Zhang Xuezhou asked an important question, one that left Zhang Changgong somewhat at a loss.

They all stayed on this little patch of land and had never gone more than a hundred li from the village. Everything they knew about the outside world came from the accounts of the village elders.

Outsiders were rarely seen in the village, and even the nearest village was a hundred li away.

As for the outsiders the young people had seen, there had only been the messengers they saw when men were being recruited for the border defenses.

Zhang Xuezhou's question was difficult to answer.

The young people were clearly full of uncertainty about the unknown world outside.

Demon Beast meat was a rarity in the Zhang Household Village, but it was not uncommon to people in some great cities.

In other words, they were outstanding in the village, the two champions who had risen above the rest, but they were nothing unusual in the wider world.

If they wished to visit some holy land of cultivation, they would be no more than ordinary members, and whether they could soar to greatness was also unknown.

"My father said there's a Return to One True Sect five hundred li from our village, and it's full of experts who have entered the realm. He told me to go there and do odd jobs first, and see if there's a chance to become an apprentice!"

Only after a long while did Zhang Cigong speak, his face flushed red.

His prospects after gaining a chance to enter the realm did not seem very good, which immediately made the other young people feel better.

"We have to endure the bitterest hardships before we can rise above others!"

Zhang Cigong offered that defense of his own accord, but the others no longer felt any envy for someone doing odd jobs, and they soon scattered like birds and beasts.