The moon was like a silver plate, and insects were singing in the gra.s.s.

Ning Tao walked across the woods to the cave where Qing Zhui lived, and had mixed feelings when he looked at the wrong words, which meant "little mistress" on the stone wall.

Hiss... Hiss...

A boa constrictor sprang out of the gra.s.s beside the cave, and then more snakes came out from both sides of the cave, forming a fan-shaped circle.

People liked to keep dogs to guard the house, but Qing Zhui kept a big group of snakes.

"Qing Zhui, have you slept? Please come out for a moment. I have something to talk to you," Ning Tao shouted.

"I'm still up. Come in." Qing Zhui's voice came from the cave.

Miraculously, upon hearing her voice, the snakes of all sizes and colors retreated, more obedient than dogs.

The snake guards seemed to be making way for Ning Tao. Now there was no obstacle in the way, Ning Tao, however, hesitated.

"Well, it's not proper for me to go in now. You come out. I'll just have a word with you," Ning Tao said.

Qing Zhui's voice rang out again. "What's the improper of you coming in? I'm tied up and can't get out. Just come in and do me a favor."

Ning Tao sighed softly and went into the cave.

There was no light in the cave, only a few white lanterns hanging on the wall, the dim light barely lighting up the cave. With the help of the light, Ning Tao found that there was actually a layer of wooden floor on the ground, and there were some wood carving decorations on the cave walls, such as flowers and animals. The wooden floors and carvings gave the cave a cozy feel.

But after only a few steps Ning Tao froze and couldn't walk.

Qing Zhui was not sleeping, but she was taking a bath.

In the cave there was a lotus leaf-shaped bath, a stream of fresh water from the crevice into the bath, and rippling. Qing Zhui was in the bath, half sitting and half lying. Although only her head and part of her snow-white neck were exposed outside, the water was crystal clear...

"Brother Ning, I forgot my towel. Can you get it for me?" Qing Zhui's voice was soft and sweet.

Ning Tao didn't move, and said, "Er, I'll just stand here and talk to you."

"Then I'll get it myself." Qing Zhui got up from the bath with a splash and stepped out to her stone bed.

Ning Tao felt awful, and went frozen all over.

Wrapped in a white bath towel, Qing Zhui walked towards Ning Tao while arranging the towel. Her every movement was so beautiful that it was breathtaking and extremely "aggressive".

"What do you want to talk to me, Brother Ning? You can say anything to me here," Qing Zhui said with a sweet smile on her face.

Ning Tao answered, "The guardian of the Tang Sect Tang Tianren has found me. I think he might come to me again. There are three days before the clinic's upgrade, and I have to stay in the clinic to practice in the next few days. You keep an eye on the Suns.h.i.+ne Orphanage and protect the children there."

"No problem. Just leave it to me." A cold light flashed across Qing Zhui's eyes. "Whoever wants to hurt those children, I will kill him."

"That's it. Well... I'm going home." Ning Tao immediately turned and left. If he stayed here, he was afraid he would lose control.

Qing Zhui cried behind him, "Why are you in such a hurry? It's rare for you to come here. Have a cup of tea before you leave."

"No, thank you," Ning Tao immediately refused, and quickly walked away. When he heard footsteps behind him, he began to run.

Qing Zhui really wanted to catch up with him and take him back to tea, but Ning Tao ran away and disappeared in the blink of an eye. She stood alone in the cave for a long time before she mumbled, "You coward, are you afraid I will eat you? You run so fast."

Back in the clinic, Ning Tao soon entered the practicing state. He sat cross-legged beside the good-evil tripod and ran the ABC of elementary cultivation method.

His enemies were strong, so he must become stronger.

It was three days before the clinic's upgrade, but he didn't want to wait even one day. The evil energy in the good-evil tripod was far more than the good energy. It was not balanced. However, even if he would definitely be affected by the evil energy, he chose to practice without hesitation.

Three days pa.s.sed quickly.

When Ning Tao finished his practicing, his black pupils became much larger, resulting in less white part. His pupils were like two tiny black holes, and his eyes looked horrible. Now, even Qing Zhui might be scared by him when she came in and saw his eyes.

This was the result of the three days he spent in spiritual power cultivating and absorbing too much evil energy. But the effect was smaller than he had expected, because there was good energy from the merits of good intention, except for evil energy from the sins of evil intention in the good-evil tripod. The good energy offset some of the side effects. In addition, his evil side had been awakened, which made him more resilient.

Ning Tao got up from the ground, pulled out his phone to check the time, but he found that it had been turned off for lack of power.

Om!

The good-evil tripod suddenly issued a noise, and the black and white air instantly went back to the tripod.

Ning Tao immediately approached the good-evil tripod and looked into it.

A hole appeared at the bottom of the tripod, and there was black and white liquid pouring down into the hole. The process lasted only a few seconds before it ended. Everything was back to normal.

Ning Tao took the ledger of bamboo slips out of his small medicine chest and opened it.

There was a paragraph in the ledger, "The rent of this month has been collected, and the Sky Clinic is upgraded. There are 29 days and 11 hours from the date of the next payment of rent; Next month's rent is 1,000 points of good-evil rent. Current account balance is 800 points of good-evil rent."

1,000 points of good-evil rent?

"Isn't it too unreliable?" Ning Tao gaped.

Then the writing on the ledger slowly disappeared.

Ning Tao found that the black line the ledger recorded for him had disappeared, and instead there were three white lines. He was slightly stunned for a moment, and soon understood that it was because he had cured the poor couple, and two kind patients and presented them with money.

He saved Yaya and helped her find her parents, which was also a merit, but offset by the black line. It meant that he could do three more "bad things".

Putting the ledger back in the small medicine chest, Ning Tao scanned the four walls, desks, shelves, bottles, cans and other things in the Sky Clinic one by one. He wanted to see the upgrade, but nothing had changed in the clinic, not even a broken porcelain vase, let alone an overall upgrade.

Ning Tao gave a wry smile and said, "Yeah, that's your style. I was too naive."

In his mind, the Sky Clinic was unreliable. If one day it became reliable, it was not it.

Om!

The good-evil tripod let out a noise again, like the sound of a morning bell in the ancient temple.

Ning Tao immediately got close to the good-evil tripod and looked at the bottom. His eyes widened and stared.

The whole inside of the tripod, including its wall, was glittering with gold, and the characters and patterns were flas.h.i.+ng in the dense golden light. It looked like the sky and stars in the celestial realm, appearing profound and mysterious and hiding the secret of the truth.

When Ning Tao launched his divine sense and established contact with the good-evil tripod. Golden words and patterns flooded into his sea of consciousness.

In a flash, a few golden characters emerged in his mind: the grade two elementary cultivation method.

The grade two elementary cultivation method?

When the name came to his mind, Ning Tao didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He thought it would be better to call it like "cultivation method of great turning of heaven and earth" or "cultivation method of nine yang magic power".

Since it was the grade two elementary cultivation method, would there be the grade three elementary cultivation method, the grade one premium cultivation method, and the grade two premium cultivation method...

Before Ning Tao could get over the shock of this bizarre name, another name came to his mind: the pre-school punch skill.

Ning Tao was really speechless.

The pre-school punch skill? Was it at the level of pre-school?

Was it followed by the punch skill of the first grade, the second grade and the third grade of primary school...?

Although this made him a little depressed, he knew that the grade two elementary cultivation method and the pre-school punch skill were extensive and profound when he began to understand and absorb relevant knowledge. And they were still the exclusive cultivation method and combat skill of go-between of good and evil.

Ning Tao immersed himself in learning them.

The grade two elementary cultivation method was an upgraded version of the ABC of elementary cultivation method, which could help him balance the good and evil energy. Runing the grade two elementary cultivation method could also help him calm his anger and control his evil side freely. He had the basis of practicing the ABC of elementary cultivation method, so he soon mastered the grade two elementary cultivation method.

However, it was not so easy to learn the pre-school punch skill. To him, the skills and routes of spiritual power's movements and the tricks and points of moves were unfamiliar knowledge, and he had to absorb and practice them little by little.

When the words and patterns in the good-evil tripod disappeared, smoke poured out and everything was the same as before.

In this upgrade, Ning Tao got nothing but the grade two elementary cultivation method and the pre-school punch skill.

Ning Tao didn't want to guess what he would get in his next upgrade, because he was already busy learning the pre-school punch skill.

The pre-school punch skill only contained three moves—the Ladder under Feet, the Cat Claw Punch, and the Powerful Tolerance to Beating.

Ning Tao had lost interest in making fun of these names, but after understanding and learning, he realized that although there were only three simple moves, each move was very practical. It was really the combat skill he needed urgently at present.

The Ladder under Feet was actually like the Tang Sect's lightness skill of "the white crane's spreading its wings", but it was driven by spiritual power. Learning the technique, he could slowly jump, pausing in the air like stepping on a ladder. After practicing this technique to the extreme, he could step on an invisible ladder in the air to the height of several floors, far more powerful than the traditional martial art "the white crane's spreading its wings"!

As for the Cat Claw Punch, as the name implied, his punch could swing as fast as a cat's claw swung. All the martial arts in this world had their flaws. Only when the speed reached the extreme, the enemy couldn't crack it. When his fist moved at full speed, he could break all martial arts.

The most incredible was the Powerful Tolerance to Beating. This move did not have any attacking action, but exercised the ability to resist hitting. After he mastered this move, Ning Tao's spiritual power could instantly create an "airbag" that absorbed and deflected the blow he took when attacked. At the same time, the a.n.a.lgesic and healing properties of his spiritual power would be improved. Even if the "spiritual power airbag" did not fully absorb and transfer the damage he took, it could slow down and quickly heal the damage. Thus as long as it was not a bullet in the head or a knife in the heart, he could really take it.

After having a preliminary understanding of this punch skill, Ning Tao made a decision in his heart. "I should learn the Cat Claw Punch and the Powerful Tolerance to Beating first. When I master these two moves, I will see who can kill me!"