Chapter 47 I'll leave work on time; the world exploding has nothing to do with me.
Chapter 47 I'll leave work on time; the world exploding has nothing to do with me.
Xuan Yizi: "The Nine Streams Sect was a sect that appeared more than a hundred years ago. At that time, there was war and chaos in the world. Demons and monsters entered the world and ravaged the people. The Nine Streams Sect was a secular sect formed by ordinary people banding together to survive. At that time, the Nine Streams Sect rose to prominence amidst the turmoil, and several powerful figures emerged. Unfortunately..."
Zhou Zheng asked in surprise, "What's a pity?"
Xuan Yizi: "The first half was for the sake of the common people, but unfortunately the second half turned into demonic and secular practices, forcing the leaders of all the major sects to join forces to suppress those demons. What happened after that is a secret, only my senior brother knows. Ask my senior brother. I can only tell you that at that time, the Nine Streams Sect attempted to popularize its cultivation techniques, which was met with strong opposition from the cultivation world."
Zhou Zheng asked in surprise, "Isn't this a good thing?"
Xuan Yizi: "...A good thing? At that time, the Nine Streams Sect was promoting the Universal Cultivation Method, and the leaders of the various sects also took copies to study it. They discovered a very critical point. The Universal Cultivation Method is divided into three grades: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. The advanced grade Universal Cultivation Method can be compatible with the advanced grade. The advanced grade can extract the mana, lifespan, essence, fortune, etc. of the advanced grade cultivators. The advanced grade can even transfer the damage it suffers to the advanced grade cultivators."
No matter how strong a low-level cultivator is, they can only bow down and submit to high-level cultivators, allowing themselves to be slaughtered. In other words, they don't really want to promote a good cultivation technique, but rather a technique disguised as a demonic technique.
This is also why the Nine Streams Sect was able to quickly rise to power.
Do you know how despicable they are? They use the guise of saving the world, employing acts of heroism to conceal their extremely sinister and malicious intentions. Therefore, the major sects do everything possible to erase everything about the Nine Schools, fearing they might make a comeback.
Zhou Zheng was speechless. He wasn't afraid of bad people doing bad things, but he was afraid of bad people pretending to be good people and then doing bad things. This kind of trick of first luring people in, then coaxing them into practicing demonic techniques and then absorbing them was truly ingenious.
After listening to Xuan Yizi's story, Zhou Zheng said, "Why don't you call Master Zhang? We'll meet at Xiaoxue's house."
The phone hangs up.
Zhou Zheng glanced around and asked, "Tang Ying, could you help seal this place off?"
Tang Ying: "Sure, but you'll need to send a message to the boss first, Master Zhou."
Zhou Zheng: "No problem, I'm off work."
Xu Fan was squatting beside the pit, collecting some fragments of the basement wall. Hearing the sound, he looked over in surprise: "Off work? Off work...?"
Zhou Zheng: "It's 5:30 now, aren't you going to leave work?"
Xu Fan looked shocked: "Bro, the Nine-Rank Sect is here preparing to destroy the world, and you're saying you're going home?"
Zhou Zheng turned and left: "Eight hours a day is my work limit. Anything beyond that is my private time. As long as it's outside of my work hours, even if the sky falls, it's none of my business."
Liu Zhen stared blankly at Zhou Zheng as he walked away, wondering, "Has he always been this individualistic?"
Xiaoxue quickly followed: "Yes, yes, I've always been very confident."
Tang Ying shrugged and had no choice but to follow.
Liu Zhen shook his head helplessly and had no choice but to follow.
Xu Fan climbed out of the pit in shock: "Holy crap, Brother Zhou, how can you sleep?! I can't sleep!" Putting aside the possibility of world destruction, they haven't even figured out who's been hunting down the Xu family yet!
"If you can't sleep, take sleeping pills!"
Xu Fan: "..." It's true that even if the sky falls, Brother Zhou won't care.
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Back at Xiaoxue's house, Master Zhang was already waiting.
Zhou Zheng gestured for him to take a shower before coming over to talk, and Zhang Xuanqing said, "Do as you please."
Zhou Zheng went downstairs to take a shower, while Xiaoxue couldn't wait to change out of her tactical suit and head straight upstairs to shower. Wearing such a heavy tactical suit on such a hot day was unbearably hot.
After rinsing, Zhou Zheng sat on the sofa in the lobby on the first floor, drying his hair: "Thank you for coming here in person, Master Zhang. Master Xuan said that only you know the secrets of the Nine Schools."
Zhang Xuanqing took a sip of tea: "To be precise, only the sect leaders who joined forces to suppress the Nine Streams Demons back then knew the secret. I never expected that after so many years, the Nine Streams Sect would rise from the ashes again, attempting to realize their evil intentions."
Zhou Zheng asked curiously, "How powerful is the Nine Schools?"
Zhang Xuanqing: "All-around."
Zhou Zheng: "?"
Zhang Xuanqing sighed: "It was almost omnipotent. The Nine Streams Sect absorbed and incorporated almost all the cultivation techniques of the time and allowed its members to practice them all. It was a cultivation technique that could be applied to everyone and make everyone stronger and move towards perfect cultivation... if we disregard the fact that it was a demonic technique that devoured others."
Zhou Zheng was stunned: "That strong?"
Zhang Xuanqing's expression was solemn: "Yes, the Five Elements are divided into Yin and Yang and harmony, totaling fifteen attributes. Fist, palm, sword, knife, spear, staff, zither, hidden weapons, medicine, poison... a total of more than ten categories. The Nine Schools are involved in all of them and have considerable expertise. Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, thievery, swindling... each profession has its representative figures. If the Nine Schools at that time had realized their vision, the leader of the Nine Schools would probably have truly become an all-around person who embraced all rivers and streams, and was unparalleled in heaven and earth."
Finally, the leaders of the various sects in Ganzhou joined forces to suppress the Nine Streams Sect, sealed away its demonic leader, and erased all traces of the Nine Streams Sect.
Zhou Zheng clicked his tongue: "There's a small problem. Why didn't you kill the Nine-Rank Sect's demon king?"
Zhang Xuanqing was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Because the Ninth-Rank Demon is omnipotent, as the price for his survival, we will periodically send prodigies into the sealed land. As long as they pass his test, they can learn a technique or receive guidance from the Ninth-Rank Demon. Of course, he himself is also very difficult to kill; the only option is to suppress him."
Such a talented person, it would be a pity to kill him.
Zhou Zheng: "...That guy is really awesome."
It seems that it wasn't that they didn't want to kill him, but rather that his talent and strength were truly astonishing, which is why they had to seal him away.
Zhang Xuanqing: "Only geniuses can cultivate the core techniques of the Nine Schools. It seems that the remnants of the Nine Schools have reappeared in the martial world and are about to stir up trouble again."
Zhou Zheng corrected him, "It's not a reappearance in the martial arts world; they've been in the martial arts world all along, and they almost wiped out the Xu family before we got a clue. Your prevention and control efforts aren't very good either."
Zhang Xuanqing: "...Who could have imagined that the remnants of a hundred years ago would still be so powerful? We were indeed too complacent. When I return, I will inform the leaders of all the major sects to strengthen their defenses and prevent the Nine Streams Sect from rising again."
Zhou Zheng stood up to see him off: "Thank you for your hard work, Master Zhang. The important task of saving the world is now in your hands."
Zhang Xuanqing stood up with a serious expression: "Alright, Master Zhou, please let me know if you have any new clues, and I will pass them on to all the major sects."
Zhou Zheng nodded, and seeing Xiaoxue come down the stairs in a cool summer outfit, he smiled broadly: "Auntie, bring dinner to the bedroom, I'm going to play games with Xiaoxue."
Xiaoxue angrily retorted, "All you ever do is play games! You don't love me at all; you just use me as a tool!"
In just one day, Xiaoxue saw through the true nature of this scoundrel.
Zhou Zheng: "I've learned a new trick, the invincible pleasure-enhancing filling method. I'll teach you."
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Xiaoxue rushed into the bedroom excitedly: "Darling, come quick, I'll be your vassal!" But then again, who can refuse the boss's personal guidance?
The vassal state would pay tribute to the suzerain state, and both sides would customize their own contracts, which could be amended every few years.
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