lerbook #297 - Niece, you are going too far!
#297 - Niece, you are going too far!
Thinking of this, the Great自在Heavenly Devil laughed. He, the Great自在Heavenly Devil, was born invincible. He was always the one suppressing others; when had it ever been the other way around?
He had pondered Zhang Chen's Soul-Seizing Mark countless times but could never figure out a way to break it.
Now, seeing that Zhang Chen was courting death himself, exhausting his lifespan, Zhang Chen would definitely be unable to break the limit of great longevity within a short four years. When that time came, his only path would be death. The Great自在Heavenly Devil was overjoyed at this thought.
Zhang Chen, looking at the gloating Great自在Heavenly Devil, said unhurriedly, "You seem to be celebrating too early. Don't forget, there's still the Evergreen Tree Coffin."
The Great自在Heavenly Devil's smile froze, then immediately drooped. He quickly changed his tune, "Actually, even if your lifespan is exhausted, it doesn't matter. As long as you can step into the legendary Thirtieth Heaven, you can find the legendary Peach Orchard. Maybe there are still peaches alive inside. The worst of those peaches bloom once every three thousand years, bear fruit every three thousand years, and ripen every three thousand years. Eating one will make you feel light and healthy, extending your life by three thousand years. The medium ones bear fruit every six thousand years, bloom every six thousand years, and ripen every six thousand years. After eating one, you'll ascend and break your shackles, directly stepping into the Twelfth Heaven. And then there are the ones that ripen every nine thousand years, bloom every nine thousand years, and bear fruit every nine thousand years. Eating one will grant you immortality and allow you to obtain the fruit's power."
"According to you, the peaches are so magical, then the creatures that ate the peaches should still be alive, right? How come they've all disappeared without a trace?" Zhang Chen directly poked at the Great自在Heavenly Devil's heart.
The Great自在Heavenly Devil pondered in silence. After a moment, he said, "Humans still have all sorts of diseases. Naturally, immortal beings will also have their own immortal diseases. If the immortal disease can't be cured, then it's the same as a mortal getting sick. Even if their bodies are strong and they haven't reached their lifespan's limit, they'll still die young from the disease."
"Immortal disease?" Zhang Chen asked, curious.
"Don't ask me, I don't know either," the Great自在Heavenly Devil shook his head.
Seeing this, Zhang Chen stopped bickering with the Great自在Heavenly Devil and instead stored him away. Now, as Zhang Chen's understanding of these old fellows deepened, he became more and more wary of them.
"The Great自在Heavenly Devil's blood counts as one. That makes four types collected. Next is the God-Slaying War. When the Water God is slaughtered, I can collect blood as well. Moreover, if experts from bloodline families arrive, there will always be bloodshed, right? I wonder if the blood of those bloodline families will work," Zhang Chen muttered to himself.
He also thought of the fox spirit, Nannan, wondering if she could accomplish anything.
Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaohua was wandering around the Taoist temple, contemplating the future development of the Northern Lands. Suddenly, a sound came from the weeds in the corner. Zhang Xiaohua was startled and quickly turned his head to look. He saw a red-haired fox peeking out, looking at him with a pitiful expression.
At the first glance of the red-haired fox, Zhang Xiaohua was stunned, as if struck by lightning. Although the fur color had changed, the moment their eyes met, he felt a connection in his heart. This was his white-haired fox: "Are you the Fox Goddess?"
He didn't know why, but when he saw the red-haired fox, he immediately felt that the Fox Goddess had come to his door.
Especially seeing the subtle movements of the fox, which were exactly the same as his Fox Goddess, he became even more excited and immediately confirmed that this was his Fox Goddess.
Seeing that Zhang Xiaohua recognized her, the fox spirit, Nannan, ran out of the weeds and directly jumped into Zhang Xiaohua's arms.
Time slowly passed. As Zhang Chen stole the power of incense, the power of incense accumulated in the belief pool within the Taoist temple slowed down again. However, the Great Virtuous Teacher was already in seclusion, and Gu Mingyue was solely in charge of the overall situation. Even if she noticed that something was wrong, she couldn't find the anomaly.
Zhang Chen stole the power of incense day and night, causing the date of the Yellow Turban Sect's conferral of divine titles to be constantly postponed. In the blink of an eye, another five days passed, and Zhang Chen's points had accumulated to ten million.
Collecting ten million points in just five days was comparable to Zhang Chen's harvest from excavating a large tomb.
Zhang Chen didn't plan to waste the points on those skills that cost millions to upgrade. He planned to upgrade those skills that didn't cost as many points first, maybe there would be unexpected gains in the future.
Zhang Chen carefully looked at the skills with a higher cost-performance ratio for upgrading:
[Skill 11 (Sixth Order): Invisibility Talisman (0/1,600,000)]
[Skill 12 (Sixth Order): Fire Resistance Talisman (0/128,000)]
[Skill 15 (First Order): Hard Earth Talisman (0/4,000)]
Zhang Chen temporarily excluded the Invisibility Talisman. Even if he upgraded the Invisibility Talisman to the Seventh Order, in the future God-Conferral War, there would definitely be Yang God-level existences taking action. His Seventh Order Invisibility Talisman didn't seem to be of much use.
Then, Zhang Chen focused his attention on the Fire Resistance Talisman and the Hard Earth Talisman. In the end, Zhang Chen focused his attention on the Fire Resistance Talisman. Now, the Fire Resistance Talisman was already at the Sixth Order. If nothing unexpected happened, he could easily upgrade it to perfection. When that time came, he would be immune to all fire attacks. This was a real trump card.
Thinking of this, Zhang Chen didn't hesitate and directly upgraded the Fire Resistance Talisman:
[Skill 12 (Sixth Order): Fire Resistance Talisman (0/128,000)]
[Skill 12 (Seventh Order): Fire Resistance Talisman (0/256,000)]
...
[Skill 12 (Eleventh Order): Fire Resistance Talisman (0/4,096,000)]
[Skill 12 (Twelfth Order): Fire Resistance Talisman (0/8,192,000)]
[Note 1: You can ignore the damage of Twelfth Order flames]
Zhang Chen had overestimated his points. He was still short eight million one hundred and ninety-two thousand points from upgrading to the limit. Even if he grinded day and night, he would still need four days.
"Grinding experience for five consecutive days, I'm a little tired. Even if I'm made of iron, I can't keep grinding," Zhang Chen muttered, his voice full of fatigue.
Grinding points all day and night, in order to prevent being beaten by the Empress after falling asleep, he had gone all out. After all, not sleeping was better than being beaten.
However, Zhang Chen finally couldn't hold on any longer and closed his eyes, falling asleep on the recliner.
Just as Zhang Chen closed his eyes, his consciousness was directly pulled into a dream by a strand of black hair. The next moment, he was subjected to a round of punches and kicks. Moreover, the other party's attacks were particularly vicious this time, as if warning him: 'You still dare to play tricks? See if you dare to delay entering the dream again in the future. I'm going to beat you back all five times in one go.'
Zhang Chen ran around in the dream, holding his head, but he was quickly entangled by the hair. No matter how many methods he had, he could only be beaten in the face of the Empress.
"Great niece, you are too bullying!"
"Damn it, why are you hitting me? Your physical body isn't even in my hands! Do you think I don't want to bring your body out? But the key is I don't have that ability! If you have the ability, go beat up Zhang Xiaohua next door! His old man snatched your physical body, and he even absorbed your good fortune. Why don't you go beat him up?" Zhang Chen was really driven crazy by the crackling punches and kicks and couldn't help but burst into a torrent of abuse.
Hearing Zhang Chen's words, the Emperor's Daughter paused, staring blankly at Zhang Chen, as if pondering something. After a long while, she suddenly kicked Zhang Chen in the chest, and the next moment, Zhang Chen fell out of the dream.
Inside the small house, Zhang Chen suddenly flipped over and sat up, looking at the bright moon in the sky, slightly estimating the time: "So it's already the second half of the night. Did my rebellious grand-niece really understand what I said? She actually kicked me out?"
Zhang Chen got up, then unhurriedly circulated his Qi and blood to restore his body from the injuries before walking to the window, lighting the lamp, and standing by the window, staring blankly at the bright moon in the sky.
"The higher-level incantations of the Qi Refining Technique, it's really difficult to obtain. My path upwards is now blocked. How can I obtain higher-level incantations?" Zhang Chen thought of Wu Changming. That fellow is a Yellow Heaven Dao Yang God Grand Master. Could I find an opportunity to obtain higher-level incantations from his hands?
"That fellow deliberately came to my door that day, telling me to defeat Zhang Xiaohua, but now why is this fellow gone silent, watching Zhang Xiaohua take away my achievements?" Zhang Chen stood by the window, constantly pondering. Wu Changming can be considered one path for now.
"The second path is the Surveillance Office, taking Xie Lingyun's path. But immortal cultivation secret methods are not just immortal cultivation secret methods. They also involve methods of cultivating the soul, which are the Surveillance Office's top secrets. Even if I ask, I'm afraid Xie Lingyun wouldn't be able to obtain them. Moreover, the relationship between Xie Lingyun and me is purely mutual appreciation, a true friendship. How can I ask Xie Lingyun for benefits? Once the Surveillance Office discovers that the incantations have been tampered with, even Xie Lingyun will inevitably be punished and implicated by me." Zhang Chen thought about it and decided to give up on this path, feeling that relying on a woman is not a man's ambition.
"Otherwise, I could excavate the ancient tombs. Within those ancient tombs of gods and demons, there must be inheritance related to the Qi Refining Technique, but whether I can dig them out and when I can dig them out depends on luck. Not to mention the difficulty of finding the tombs of gods and demons, moreover, not every tomb of gods and demons will have the inheritance of Qi Refining incantations." Zhang Chen scratched his head, saying that it's still difficult.
Then Zhang Chen looked towards the void again, seeming to see the spiritual world in the darkness, the Thirty-Three Heavens containing endless mysterious good fortune.
Even secret techniques like the Six Syllable Mantra exist, so finding the incantations to refine Qi into immortality doesn't seem difficult.
"Those are roughly the few paths. I'll look in the real world first. If there's really no way in the real world, then I can only go to the spiritual world to take a look." Zhang Chen muttered, his voice filled with sighs.
"It's a pity that my Qi Refining Technique can't be directly upgraded, directly upgrading to becoming an immortal ancestor. Otherwise, relying on milking the Yellow Heaven Dao, I'm afraid I could directly take off from the spot. I had already imagined my legendary life, 'I Stole Incense from the Yellow Heaven Dao for Ten Years, and After Leaving Seclusion, I Was Invincible in the World,' or 'Sweeping the Floor in the Yellow Heaven Dao for Ten Years, Directly Ascending to Immortality on the Spot.'" Zhang Chen felt a little emotional. Such a good爽文 (Shuangwen - cathartic/exhilarating web novel) invincible protagonist chapter, but who knew that it would turn into a waste protagonist's difficult struggle in another world because he couldn't find the second half of the incantations.
Just as Zhang Chen was indulging in fantasy, the morning class bell rang, spreading throughout the Taoist temple. Zhang Chen, hearing the morning class bell, was about to call Cheng Yu when he saw Cheng Yu already walking down from upstairs, yawning and blurrily saying, "Zhang Chen, you've been getting up very early these past few days."
These past few days, Zhang Chen had been busy stealing incense points and hadn't been sleeping, going out early and returning late every day. No wonder the little bean sprout said Zhang Chen was getting up early.
Zhang Chen was about to answer when suddenly a shrill scream came from the backyard of the Taoist temple. Zhang Chen, hearing the scream, was shocked: "What happened? Could it be that something has happened in the Taoist temple again?"
"Hurry up and wash up, I'm afraid something big will happen today." Zhang Chen urged the little bean sprout.
The little bean sprout immediately perked up and quickly finished washing up, walking towards the main hall with Zhang Chen.
Along the way, they met many fellow disciples, who all greeted Zhang Chen and the little bean sprout, appearing very kind.
Zhang Chen won the first prize in the sect competition, which can be considered as making a name for himself in the Yellow Dawn Temple, at least becoming familiar with everyone.
A group of people marched towards the main hall, where they saw disciples already gathered in one place, whispering and muttering, not knowing what they were saying.
Seeing this, Zhang Chen pulled the little bean sprout forward to eavesdrop, and heard someone whispering: "I heard that something big happened to that fellow Zhang Xiaohua last night. I don't know who beat him up. He broke three ribs, and even his head was knocked crooked."
"Good heavens, is what you're saying true? That Zhang Xiaohua is a scholar from the Prince of Pingbian's mansion. Who dares to beat Zhang Xiaohua?" Someone whispered, their voice full of disbelief.
"How could this be false? I saw this with my own eyes." The disciple patted his chest, guaranteeing it.
"It's over. Zhang Xiaohua was seriously injured in the Taoist temple. I'm afraid our entire Taoist temple will be implicated by the Prince of Pingbian's mansion and bear the Prince of Pingbian's wrath." Someone exclaimed, their voice full of mournfulness.
Hearing this, the main hall fell silent. Thinking of the Prince of Pingbian's thunderous methods, everyone felt a twitch in their hearts. The Prince of Pingbian is not a kind person. Zhang Xiaohua suffered such methods, and everyone present, without exception, shouldn't even think about having a good time.
Zhang Chen, hearing this from the side, was also shocked. Who has such ruthless methods? To actually beat Zhang Xiaohua like this in the Yellow Dawn Temple?
You must know that the Yellow Dawn Temple is now at its most heavily guarded. Who could have committed such a vicious act under everyone's noses?
Everyone obviously thought of this as well, so they looked at each other, their eyes full of horror, and they all lowered their heads, not daring to say much.
Just as everyone was discussing, the Enforcement Elder walked out from the backyard, looking at everyone with a stern face: "Today's morning class continues. The abbot has important matters to deal with. I will guide you in today's morning class."
The disciples didn't dare to say much, but they all lowered their heads and seriously did the morning class. After the morning class was finished, everyone dispersed.
After three days passed, after the morning class ended this day, Zhang Chen wanted to take the opportunity to mingle into the crowd and leave, but he was stopped by the Enforcement Elder: "Zhang Chen, please wait a moment, I have something to say."
Zhang Chen was stunned when he heard this and couldn't help but frown. What does the Enforcement Elder want from me? Could it be that trouble has come knocking again?