Chapter 1090 — Going Up the Mountain to Visit

The mountain path was rough and hard going only for the first stretch; past that it ran level the whole way. The nearer they came to the sect's main gate, the easier the road became — it had clearly been repaired for the purpose.

"We're here!" The young man pointed at the mountain gate not far ahead and said to Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu, "You may be friends of my junior brother Naipao, but by the rules of our sect, outsiders must be announced before they can enter. Come with me and register."

"Certainly!" Zhong Yongliang agreed again and again, not daring to make the least trouble. This was a place of immense power, and he would not dare show it the slightest disrespect.

Zhong Yongliang and Zhang Naipao followed the young man in registering their identities, then submitted to a test of their strength. Only after nothing suspicious was found did the young man lead the two of them through the mountain gate.

In truth, given the strength within this gate, they had no fear at all of anyone coming to stir up trouble. Who would have the gall to come and raise a ruckus at an ancient sect? And one of the most sinister of the demonic sects among the ancient sects at that — the Tomorrow and Tomorrow Sect!

This was an existence even more formidable than the hidden families. Even the other orthodox martial schools had to yield them a step or three, let alone anyone daring to come here and kick up a fuss! But rules were rules — a custom handed down through many years.

The moment he stepped through the gate, Zhong Yongliang saw a great many disciples practicing their martial arts, their shouts of "hoo-ha!" and "hei!" stirring a touch of envy in him.

"These are only the most ordinary outer disciples, not even my equal — barely through the gate," the young man said mildly, as though he had read Zhong Yongliang's thoughts. "None of them has any real talent. They can only train in some crude external arts, and they won't endure hardship, so their achievements are limited."

"Oh..." Zhong Yongliang nodded. "Then Naipao...?"

"Naipao is an inner disciple, and Patriarch Mad Bull, Mr. Yi Heng himself, took him on as a registered disciple!" At this, the young man's envy grew even sharper.

"Patriarch Mad Bull?" Zhong Yongliang was slightly taken aback.

"He is the chief protector of our Tomorrow and Tomorrow Sect, a man of the very first rank of ruthlessness," the young man said with reverence. "He once killed a Heaven-rank expert of the orthodox martial schools with a single punch!"

"Ha? That formidable?" Zhong Yongliang drew in a sharp breath. In his eyes a Mystic-rank expert was already an invincible, top-tier existence — and here was someone who could punch a Heaven-rank expert to death? Would that not make him unmatched under heaven? The thought fired his spirits again. If that was so, then Naipao had won the favor of that Patriarch Mad Bull; if he learned even a tenth of the man's power, killing Wei Zhao would be child's play!

"Heh heh, of course — he's the chief protector of our sect. How could that be any joking matter?" the young man said smugly. Of course, there was a good deal of bragging in his words as well, though Zhong Yongliang naturally had no way of knowing that.

Startled as Zhong Yongliang was, his face betrayed not a ripple; Gao Xiaofu, by contrast, was grinning from ear to ear. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that Zhang Naipao's sect was this formidable!

Back then, Brother Black Panther had been beaten half to death by Wei Zhao, which had left Gao Xiaofu with a shadow in his heart; he had come to think Brother Black Panther's abilities were merely so-so. But to his surprise, the man's sect was quite powerful after all — it was only Brother Black Panther himself who fell short.

In Zhong Yongliang's heart, however, another thought was turning. What he was thinking was this: Brother Black Panther had once used a single internal-energy method to force his level up from that of an ordinary man to the early Yellow-rank — that was simply outrageous. Could a sect that possessed such a secret art be an ordinary sect?

True, the price was the sacrifice of one's allotted years, but the people of other sects might not be able to manage even that. So Zhong Yongliang had always placed great hopes on Zhang Naipao — though he had never explained any of this to Gao Xiaofu.

After they had walked a while longer, the three came to a place where the mountains and waters were very beautiful, flowers blooming on every side, and yet not a soul to be seen.

Beautiful as the scenery was, Zhong Yongliang shivered for no reason at all. There seemed to be an evil aura dwelling here that made him deeply uncomfortable. Gao Xiaofu felt the same — a trembling chill crept over him.

"This is the place!" When the young man reached this spot, his own face had gone somewhat pale; plainly he was not faring well either. "Junior brother Naipao is training just ahead. The concentration of evil aura here is too great, and my strength is not enough to withstand it, so this is as far as I can bring you."

"Ah? It's so cold and so evil here — if even you can't go in, how can we?" Zhong Yongliang said cautiously. "Brother, why not call out to Naipao? Tell him to stop training for a moment?"

"No. To disturb junior brother Naipao at his training is a grave offense — I wouldn't dare," the young man shook his head vigorously. "If you want to call him, call him yourselves. If junior brother Naipao takes offense, I'm not the one who can bear it."

"That... well, all right," Zhong Yongliang nodded. "But first you have to tell me — where is Zhang Naipao?"

"Right there!" The young man pointed not far off. "That's junior brother Naipao."

"Ha?" Zhong Yongliang was struck dumb. He looked where the young man pointed, but what he saw astonished him utterly. What met his eyes was a dark, shapeless mass!

On the lovely lawn there was a black object; without looking closely, one would take it for a rock. But the Zhang Naipao the young man pointed to was that very thing, which left Zhong Yongliang thoroughly puzzled. "Brother, you're saying Naipao is... that?"

"Yes..." the young man nodded.

"Oh..." Zhong Yongliang found it quite incredible, but all the same he shouted at the black rock: "Zhang Naipao!"

Zhang Naipao was in the midst of his training. Hearing someone call him, he knit his brows at once, none too pleased. After all, while he trained, no one whatsoever was permitted to disturb him; even the men Patriarch Mad Bull sent to fetch him would wait until he had finished and withdrawn his power before calling him.

And yet, that voice... seemed very familiar. Zhang Naipao's eyes flew open. He remembered the owner of that voice and was suddenly thrilled; he sprang to his feet and waved a hand, scattering the black mass from his body...

So the black layer clinging to the surface of Zhang Naipao's body was in fact a swarm of black poisonous bees!

What was astonishing, though, was that although the poisonous bees clung to the surface of his body, they had not stung a single welt out of him. Apart from a certain swarthiness, Zhang Naipao's upper body showed nothing amiss at all!