Chapter 1091 — You Were Had

"Naipao!" Zhong Yongliang had not expected that Zhang Naipao would be covered in a layer of venomous bees. Beyond the dread it gave him, he also felt a surge of excitement — it seemed the arts Zhang Naipao had trained in were far from ordinary!

Seeing that his junior brother Naipao knew the visitors, the young man tactfully stepped back and took his leave. Though within the sect he addressed Zhang Naipao as junior brother, Zhang Naipao's status and strength had long since far surpassed his own; the two were alike only in their rank as disciples — in everything else they were worlds apart!

"Brother Liang, I never imagined you'd come to see me!" Zhang Naipao was beside himself with excitement too. He had thought that once he went up the mountain, he would see Zhong Yongliang again only when he came back down — at no other time! Yet Zhong Yongliang had actually found the time to climb the mountain and visit him, and it moved him deeply.

"You're my brother, and you came here to train hard for my sake as well — naturally I'll come to see you often!" Zhong Yongliang said gravely. He had long since learned the art of winning men's hearts; he knew Zhang Naipao would be of great use to him one day, so of course he treated him with warmth.

"Brother Liang, don't say that! You're my leader, and you always will be. If not for you, my family would already be broken and scattered. So this life of mine belongs to you! Tell me to go east, and I will never go west!" Zhang Naipao said solemnly.

"Good! Very good! Paozi, I didn't misjudge you!" Zhong Yongliang clapped Zhang Naipao on the shoulder excitedly. "By the way, Paozi, what art have you been cultivating? It's frightening. The air around here truly reeks of evil!"

"What I cultivate is the Bee-Absorbing Art!" Zhang Naipao concealed nothing, telling Zhong Yongliang outright what art he practiced.

"The Bee-Absorbing Art?" Zhong Yongliang was taken aback. "Is it connected to the Star-Absorbing Art?"

"No. The Bee-Absorbing Art is a technique for absorbing bee venom; I rely on bee venom to raise my strength!" Zhang Naipao explained. "Right now there is far too little spiritual qi between heaven and earth. Cultivate in the normal way, and you'll likely find it very hard to make any progress! The Tomorrow and Tomorrow Sect is a demonic sect — we absorb evil poisons to raise our strength swiftly, which works along much the same lines as absorbing true qi. It is only that our cultivation process is far more bitter and arduous!"

"So that's how it is!" Zhong Yongliang nodded, thinking to himself: no wonder that fellow they call Patriarch Mad Bull is so formidable, able to beat a Heaven-rank expert to death. There must be a reason for it! The arts they cultivate are all evil techniques, unlike the orthodox righteous sects!

"Then, as a demonic sect, do any of the righteous orthodox sects come to make trouble for you?" Zhong Yongliang asked instinctively. Before Zhang Naipao he had no need to hide his thoughts; he could see that Zhang Naipao genuinely regarded him as his leader, so Zhong Yongliang held nothing back either.

"The righteous orthodox sects?" Zhang Naipao laughed. "Brother Liang, that's a plot out of a wuxia novel, isn't it? In the real world, these sects put profit above all else. Why would they come looking for trouble with us for no reason? Wouldn't they have to be out of their minds? They can't even finish handling their own affairs — why go stir up trouble with someone else? And the so-called proper sects have no shortage of filthy business of their own. From what I know, the famously illustrious Xuandan Sect built itself up by burning, killing, and plundering — wickedness is their specialty!"

"Is that so..." Zhong Yongliang did not understand the ins and outs of it, but hearing Zhang Naipao's explanation, he realized he had been overthinking things. These demonic sects were formidable existences in their own right! His only fear had been that once Zhang Naipao left the mountain he might become the common enemy of those sects — and then if Wei Zhao could not defeat him, he might join forces with the righteous sects to wipe out the demonic sect's disciples, and that would be disastrous. But from the look of things now, no such trouble existed.

"Then what you're cultivating now is the Bee-Absorbing Art? What level has your strength reached?" Zhong Yongliang asked hurriedly.

"Brother Liang, the Bee-Absorbing Art is only a supplementary heart method. The art I chiefly cultivate is called the Chrysanthemum Manual. It is the Tomorrow and Tomorrow Sect's exclusive secret manual, and once mastered, one becomes invincible under heaven!" Before Zhong Yongliang, Zhang Naipao kept absolutely nothing back.

"The Chrysanthemum Manual?" Zhong Yongliang was startled. The name of this art was quite unusual, and it sounded rather formidable, so his heart stirred. "Paozi, could I cultivate it too?"

"Of course you can, though the process is bitter and hard. The manual is right here — why don't you take a look first?" Zhang Naipao handed a thread-bound book to Zhong Yongliang. If Zhong Yongliang truly wished to cultivate it, given Zhang Naipao's current standing in the sect, it would be a matter of a single word.

Zhong Yongliang had not expected Zhang Naipao to be so forthcoming as to hand over even the manual. He took it at once and opened it — but he had read only the first page when he got a tremendous fright!

On the first page of the manual were written eight great characters: If you would master this art, you must first castrate yourself!

Sweat slid down Zhong Yongliang's forehead. Surely not? To practice the art you had to castrate yourself? Wouldn't that make him a eunuch?

"Paozi... you're not already..." Zhong Yongliang pointed at the eight great characters on the manual and asked cautiously.

"That's right!" Zhang Naipao sighed and nodded. "I'm a eunuch now!"

"Ah? Then I... I'd better not practice it..." At Zhang Naipao's words, Zhong Yongliang's face went black with horror, and he shook his head hastily. "It's enough that you, my good brother, cultivate it. From now on I'll be counting on you!"

"No, Brother Liang, I was just too impatient back then. You can read on a little further..." Zhang Naipao pointed at the Chrysanthemum Manual and said to Zhong Yongliang.

"Mm... all right then..." Zhong Yongliang nodded, picked up the Chrysanthemum Manual, and turned another page. Sure enough, on the following page there was another sentence of eight characters: Even if you castrate yourself, you may not succeed.

"This..." Zhong Yongliang was struck dumb. So this thing even had a chance of failure? Even if you castrated yourself, you might not succeed — then he had all the more reason not to cultivate it. If he castrated himself and still failed to master the divine art, wouldn't that be even more of a mess?

"There's more behind!" Zhang Naipao pointed at the Chrysanthemum Manual and continued.

"Uh..." Zhong Yongliang froze, then turned another page. On the third page there were still eight great characters: You need not castrate yourself to succeed. Zhong Yongliang's eyes went wide at once. "You're kidding! Paozi, you were had?"