Chapter 474: Forgetting Heaven, Defying Fate

Chapter 474: Forgotten Heaven, Defied Command - Yin-Yang Sequence, Eastern Heavenly Palace.

To put it bluntly, it's no different from the new Donglin Party of the Confucian Sequence, the Bai Yujing of the Dao Sequence, or the Ling Mountain of the Buddhist Sequence—special institutions formed by the mountain heads or factional groups within their respective sequences. They handle interest distribution, conflict resolution, and resource monopolization within their sequences, while also controlling most of the promotion channels. In certain critical moments, these institutions can even represent all disciples of a sequence, issuing edicts or decrees.

However, due to the inherent laziness embedded in the Yin-Yang Sequence's nature, as well as the events that occurred during the construction of the Yellow Liang dream realm, the Eastern Heavenly Palace's position within the Yin-Yang Sequence, though equally transcendent, lacks the deterrent and governing power that the Bai Yujing holds over the Dao Sequence. Meanwhile, the Zongzi Ranking of the Yin-Yang Sequence is roughly comparable to the Bai Yujing's celestial rank. The key difference lies in what determines their status: the Bai Yujing's celestial rank dictates the allocation of dream realm permissions, while the Zongzi Ranking depends on the number of 'backdoor' techniques the Yin-Yang Sequence possesses.

Zongzi Ranking 108 signifies that the person currently conversing with me through this prostitute's body is at least a top-tier existence nearing the pinnacle of the Yin-Yang Sequence. "Should I address you as San Wu San according to the Yin-Yang Sequence's internal regulations, or use your real name?" The woman's voice is soft and tender, with a lingering aftertone that carries the lingering allure of a mature woman—clearly a special feature added by the owner of the White Emperor's Mixed Hall.

Yet her tone is starkly indifferent, paired with a blank, expressionless face, creating a jarring contrast. "Adult, call me Zongzi Si Jiu. That's the name I'm used to; hearing anything else feels awkward." Zongzi Si Jiu smiles lazily, reverting to his usual carefree demeanor, completely oblivious to the fury he had just displayed moments earlier.

"You have a commendable aspiration, Zongzi Si Jiu."

"Life requires goals, doesn't it? Otherwise, how would one know what all this busyness is for?" Zongzi Si Jiu chuckles softly, sitting by the pool, his slender back adorned with countless scars—jagged and overlapping, no patch of skin larger than a palm remaining untouched. To an unfamiliar observer, it would be hard to imagine this was the master of yin-yang techniques, the one who navigates the red-cloaked path of the Yin-Yang Sequence.

"The Yin-Yang Sequence doesn't ask why. From the moment we entered this sequence, our fates were already inscribed in our genes." Lu Chou rises from the pool, his bare, blood-stained body sitting on the pool's edge, locking eyes with Zongzi Si Jiu in calm composure. "Fate."

Zongzi Si Jiu steps into the water, wetting his hands, smoothing his disheveled hair, and exhaling slowly, sending ripples through the white mist. "Saying those words aloud feels exhausting."

"If you choose to follow fate, everything would naturally unfold. How could it feel tiring?"

"Zongzi Yi 08, Lu Chou, Lu Adult, right?" Zongzi Si Jiu laughs, "This is our first meeting. Someone of your stature shouldn't play tricks with me. Be direct—what's the matter?"

"Nothing major. Just a small task to entrust you. If you succeed, even without the true Zongzi Si Jiu position, we'll grant you a Zongzi Si Jiu rank. It's a minor matter." Lu Chou smiles, adding an unexpected card to his plan: "Even a chance to join us."

"Us?" Zongzi Si Jiu raises an eyebrow, curiosity flickering. "I've wandered the Yin-Yang Sequence for years, crossing paths with many. Over time, I've heard nothing but accusations that we're disorganized, selfish, and untrustworthy. Yet here you are, a discerning man, trying to unite these charlatans?"

Lu Chou, seemingly unfazed by the sarcasm, replies, "If someone who rose from the barbarian lands to the Yangyang Five is merely a charlatan, then the Yin-Yang Sequence should already be one of the three teachings."

"Ah! So your ambition is to elevate the Yin-Yang Sequence to the Three Teachings? How grand! I'm truly moved!" Zongzi Si Jiu smiles sincerely, raising a thumb, his calloused hand clapping his chest with a crisp sound. "I'd gladly serve the Yin-Yang Sequence's rise. What's your command?"

"Since you're being honest, stop acting. Your eyes gleam with cunning," Lu Chou says. "You know what I want. But how to do it? You can't just take my words."

"But how would I know if I can? After all, I've betrayed Li Jun..." Zongzi Si Jiu glances at his palm's fate markings, "It's just a technique."

"Since it's a partnership, be honest. I've set the price. Now show your sincerity."

"Of course. If you're only here to spy on Li Jun and sell the info, that's fine. But I warn you: without roots, the Yangyang Five is your limit. The Yin-Yang Sequence lacks talent, but we need fortune. That's reality."

"I want to do it! Being chosen by you is a sign of fortune! Betraying Li Jun is simple. I've drained him dry; I'm ready to leave. Now, a little more profit is perfect."

Zongzi Si Jiu gestures from head to toe, grinning. "But you've seen I have more than you—only my second brother remains. Will you ask for him?"

"There's something we both possess, vital to each other." Hearing this, Zongzi Si Jiu's face darkens, silent.

"Hand over your 297 'backdoor' techniques as collateral to the Eastern Heavenly Palace. I'll offer 204 techniques you lack as my pledge. Once the contract is sealed, I'll answer anything. If you cheat, you'll be expelled, a mortal again."

"Of course. If you succeed, you'll take both, and I'll promote you to Yangyang Four. Then you'll claim Zongzi Si Jiu 149. If you fail..." Lu Chou smiles, "It means nothing to you, right?"

Failure means death, everything void.

"Damn, you're taking everything!" Zongzi Si Jiu curses inwardly, yet admires Lu Chou's caution.

In the Yin-Yang Sequence, 'backdoors' aren't just about stealing dream permissions—they're the tip of the iceberg. True backdoors, like the Tai Chi, have two sides: the 'backroad' (fundamental techniques like divination, prediction, calculation) and the 'doorway' (control over Yellow Liang permissions, dream theft, soul summoning, and hidden vulnerabilities in eternal dream realms). These are scarce and costly.

Zongzi Si Jiu's 297 backdoors are all he has. If Lu Chou takes them, Zongzi Si Jiu might survive, but his genes could collapse, killing him.

"Sir, isn't this unfair? The numbers aren't balanced." Zongzi Si Jiu rubs his face, forcing a smile.

"You have mostly basic techniques, easily traded for. Mine are rare, valuable. You're getting a bargain. Don't pretend ignorance."

"If you can't do it, it's pointless. But if you do..." Lu Chou smiles, "You'll take both, and I'll promote you to Yangyang Four. Then you'll claim Zongzi Si Jiu 149. If you fail..."

"Then it's nothing to you, right?"

Failure means death, everything void.

"Damn, you're taking everything!" Zongzi Si Jiu curses, yet admires Lu Chou's caution.

In the Yin-Yang Sequence, 'backdoors' aren't just about stealing dream permissions—they're the tip of the iceberg. True backdoors, like the Tai Chi, have two sides: the 'backroad' (fundamental techniques like divination, prediction, calculation) and the 'doorway' (control over Yellow Liang permissions, dream theft, soul summoning, and hidden vulnerabilities in eternal dream realms). These are scarce and costly.

Zongzi Si Jiu's 297 backdoors are all he has. If Lu Chou takes them, Zongzi Si Jiu might survive, but his genes could collapse, killing him.

"If you can't do it, it's pointless. But if you do..." Lu Chou smiles, "You'll take both, and I'll promote you to Yangyang Four. Then you'll claim Zongzi Si Jiu 149. If you fail..."

"Then it's nothing to you, right?"

Failure means death, everything void.

"Damn, you're taking everything!" Zongzi Si Jiu curses, yet admires Lu Chou's caution.

In the Yin-Yang Sequence, 'backdoors' aren't just about stealing dream permissions—they're the tip of the iceberg. True backdoors, like the Tai Chi, have two sides: the 'backroad' (fundamental techniques like divination, prediction, calculation) and the 'doorway' (control over Yellow Liang permissions, dream theft, soul summoning, and hidden vulnerabilities in eternal dream realms). These are scarce and costly.

Zongzi Si Jiu's 297 backdoors are all he has. If Lu Chou takes them, Zongzi Si Jiu might survive, but his genes could collapse, killing him.

Lv Chou sneered. "I have said my piece. I will give you ten breaths to consider it. Whether to do it or not is entirely up to you."

As the words fell, Lv Chou offered Zou Sijiu no further room for bargaining; his possessed vessel shut its eyes, chest rising and falling as it slowly exhaled the first breath.

"Let me ask an unrelated question. You guys were the ones behind the affair with Mingzhi Qingxiu, weren't you?"

Zou Sijiu's voice suddenly rang out, and Lv Chou slowly opened his eyes, staring indifferently at that complex countenance.

"Your time for consideration is limited; you should not waste it on such meaningless matters."

"Looks like it was indeed your doing."

Zou Sijiu wiped his face, ignoring Lv Chou’s gradually freezing gaze, and spoke to himself: "Your investigation of me was quite thorough. I, Zou Sijiu, truly have no shade of ancestors over my head, nor do I have a destiny of boundless luck. That is why I used all my assets to open a Peace Hotel in Chongqing Prefecture, staying put for a full three years just for a minuscule Huangliang authorization from the Xixia Group. All I sought was merely to move my ranking among the Zou disciples forward by a few spots."

"I used to brag to Li Jun and Chen Qisheng that I had backing, that my venturing out into the world was just to experience mortal life. But the truth is, I have nothing behind me. Even back when I wanted to save that little girl Li Hua, I begged everyone under the sun, short of baring my backside to sell it. In the end, it was she who saw my plight and sensibly chose a brass knuckle as her vessel, just so I wouldn't be too embarrassed, and so Li Jun wouldn't fall out with me over it."

Zou Sijiu laughed in self-derision. "Because of a bounty from the Donghuang Palace, I tied my head to my waistband and came to this troubled land of the Wa District to investigate the missing Yin-Yang Order. Come to think of it, perhaps I do have a shred of fortune in my destiny after all, meeting a group of old friends here, which allowed me to snatch my life back several times."

"Now my luck is even better; doing one task will promote me to Order Four, entering the core of the Yin-Yang Order from now on."

"This nonsense has already wasted five of your breaths."

Lv Chou's eyes grew increasingly ferocious, his tone turning irritable and impatient.

"Daoist Order Sun Qianyuan—have you heard that name?"

Right after speaking, Zou Sijiu laughed, raising a hand to pat his forehead. "I'm really losing my mind. A passerby only slightly larger than an ant—how could a grand figure like you possibly know him?"

He took a deep breath and looked up at Lv Chou. "But it was precisely such an obscure, nameless character who willingly chose to self-detonate rather than hand over the authorization in his possession. Do you know why?"

"Two breaths remaining."

Lv Chou remained unmoved.

"Because in his heart, that was something belonging to the Daoist Order! Even if he were to return it to Baiyu Jing, he would never let an outsider take it!"

Zou Sijiu's voice rose sharply, bordering on an interrogation in an instant. The lazy, shiftless expression that had become a habitual camouflage between his brows vanished without a trace, replaced by a sharp, naked edge.

"If Sun Qianyuan could do it, why can't we people of the Yin-Yang Order do it? Sweeping the snow from one's own doorstep is one thing, but why do people like you appear, copying those heartless new-school cultivators, throwing your own people out to die?!"

Lv Chou stopped counting the breaths. After a moment of silence, he spoke coldly, "Mortal will has joy and anger, but does the Will of Heaven have joy and anger?"

Zou Sijiu's smile was scornful. "What is the Will of Heaven?"

"The trend of the times is the Will of Heaven. We are acting on behalf of Heaven's Will!"

Lv Chou's voice was hollow and ethereal, almost non-human. "When we succeed, we shall uphold the Will of Heaven and reshape the entire world. By then, death will no longer be the end, but merely a transformation of identity, where everyone is the 'One' that creates all things. On that day, you will realize how childish and laughable your current anger is!"

"I've said it before, my luck is bad, and I've suffered quite a bit in this life, so my temper is bad too. Since the Will of Heaven is unkind to me, why the hell should I obey this goddamned Will of Heaven?"

Sitting by the edge of the pool, Zou Sijiu hunched his back, pressing his elbows against his knees, and waved a hand dismissively at Lv Chou, saying flatly, "So you had better get lost quickly, One-Zero-Eight."

"Walking the Yin-Yang yet forgetting Heaven and betraying Destiny, Three-Five-Three, I await the sight of you repenting before your death."

"Cowering inside a mortal body, don't talk so tough. Next time your true body appears before me, if Lord Zou is still Three-Five-Three, I will certainly apologize to you properly, with an attitude so sincere that you'll feel too embarrassed to kill me."

The woman spoke no more, merely giving Zou Sijiu a deep look as the pitch-black light representing Lv Chou receded like a tide from her pupils.

"Uncle... it hurts."

A moment later, the young married woman, having regained her senses, clutched the footprint-shaped bruise over her heart, her face stained with tears as her whole body trembled.

"Ah."

Zou Sijiu let out a long sigh and opened his arms toward her. "Don't blame me, sister-in-law, it's all because I used too much force. But don't worry, when it's time to settle the bill, I'll pay double!"