The condescending attitude towards Jinlan Mountain, even now, was still very apparent.
"You are wrong," Yu Ziqing said, "I honestly don't dare to kill you now."
Yu Ziqing shook his head, his gaze sharpened, and he slashed directly at his Divine Soul.
In an instant, the man had no leisure to exchange words with Yu Ziqing anymore.
Tearing the Divine Soul was a pain more terrifying than breaking all the bones in one's body. He couldn't help but scream in agony.
Yu Ziqing sliced a few more times, ensuring the man wouldn't die anytime soon, and thoroughly crippled him. Only then did he seal him up, pack him in a Storage Bag, seal it again, and hang it on his waist as an ornament.
He sensed for a moment, confirming the Mysterious Heaven Sect Master's mind hadn't broken, nor had he committed suicide. Yu Ziqing relaxed.
The twelve hours hadn't passed, Yu Ziqing truly didn't dare to kill him.
Moreover, if there was a chance to capture him alive, why kill him?
With two ornaments, Yu Ziqing took the Big Ghost and quietly fled away, finding a secluded place to hide, waiting for the twelve hours to pass.
Then it was time to think about how to repay the debt.
An interest-free loan was still a huge amount, and it had to be repaid upon maturity; he couldn't be a deadbeat.
Yu Ziqing hid away, quietly waiting.
The sundial shadow suspended behind him finally counted down to the end.
In an instant, Yu Ziqing felt the power within him rapidly drain away.
It faded as quickly as it had arrived.
After all the power within dissipated, Yu Ziqing felt he was still not out of combat mode, still at the Ninth Tier, not reverted to the Fifth Tier.
This made him breathe a sigh of relief; at least he could pay back a lot less.
But then, without power, he would have to use something else to offset these costs.
The hoarded Emperor's Liquid, Yu Ziqing was reluctant to use it, and the Light of Creation stored in his orifices, he was even more reluctant.
They were irreplaceable resources, or at least could not be replaced in a short period.
Yu Ziqing tried repaying with a bit of Emperor's Liquid, found the weight of Emperor's Liquid wasn't high, and it wasn't worth it for debt repayment. Even if all used, it couldn't repay the power of a Ninth Tier Peak.
Yu Ziqing also tried using his own vitality to repay the debt.
After attempting a little of everything, he discovered the weight of life's vitality was the highest, followed by the Yin God, and then the power of the Divine Soul.
After that came Qi-Blood and flesh.
As the creator of this bizarre Secret Technique, he had many privileges. With interest-free loans, even when repayment time came, he could still choose what to repay with.
Yet, he couldn't shirk the debt; what was borrowed had to be repaid, as much as was borrowed.
After much thought, Yu Ziqing painfully took out a small piece of Dragon liver, placing it in his mouth.
A massive vitality flowed through his entire body, and that vitality, with his physical body as the medium, made a circuit before being considered his vitality, used to repay the debt.
This time, the vitality and power of the Dragon liver were not wasted in the slightest.
Every bit passed through Yu Ziqing's body, transformed into his vitality, and vanished.
This small piece of Dragon liver was enough to save him two or three times when he was gasping for his last breath.
But in normal times, when it came to saving his life, there was no careful calculation, only extreme usage—saturated attacks to sustain the unextinguished vitality in the shortest time possible.
In normal times, much power would actually be wasted, but in saving a life, there was no other way.
He'd now found the most cost-effective method.
As the small piece of Dragon liver disappeared completely, the vitality contained within it vanished as well.
At that moment, the sundial shadow with the countdown ended also disappeared.
Yu Ziqing sighed, for a life-saving opportunity, vitality enough to save him thrice was the cost.
This was already the best, most cost-effective result.
Since life's vitality had an extraordinarily high weight, Yu Ziqing estimated it was essentially equivalent to trading one life for a full restoration of Peak power after full power depletion.
This was for him to use; if others tried this Dharma Method, it was basically exchanging life.
They had neither interest-free loans nor such privileges.
This Dharma Method, in normal times, was best left unused.
If used, it maintained full strength for twelve hours, not exceeding the limit.
In some respects, it wasn't as cost-effective as going Devilic.
At least going Devilic could increase power, naturally enhancing recovery.
When Devilic ended, nothing untoward happened.
But if severely injured, on the brink of death, this method should still be used.
At least there was a chance of survival, as long as the cost could be borne.
When he returned, he'd have to document this Secret Technique as Jinlan Mountain's last-resort Forbidden Technique.
In normal times, using going Devilic was preferable. At least for Jinlan Mountain people, the cost was minimal.
Yu Ziqing sat quietly in place, and before long, his Realm returned to the Fifth Tier.
The hungry ghost's head on the sword wing of the long sword opened its mouth and spat out the Soul Destruction Blade, which returned to the form of the rusty sword.
Yu Ziqing put the rusty sword back in his arms, picked up the Soul Destruction Blade, and examined it. It had become somewhat different, shrouded in a ghostly blue aura over the blade's edge, the blade's material having been fully tempered, evidently after consuming a City God, had Advanced.
Yu Ziqing continued sensing his true Realm, Fifth Tier Refining God, Fifth Tier Body Refinement, but both were approaching the Sixth Tier.