Hearing the other party, Zhang Gaoqiu lowered his head and glanced at Chai Chuanxin, very satisfied with how quickly the latter had switched sides.
"Since you’ve come over to the bright side, all our past grudges are written off. I, Zhang Gaoqiu, am not a petty man." As he spoke, Zhang Gaoqiu looked toward Zhang Chen, who was standing alone in the distance, a trace of smugness flashing in his eyes.
"Young Master Zhang, I can make a bet with you. That Zhang Chen must be seething with regret right now, realizing you’re the Son of Fortune and wanting to come fawn over you." At this moment, Chai Chuanxin activated his talent. His eyes fell on Zhang Gaoqiu, burning hot, but the instant his talent kicked in, his heart jumped—within his field of view, Zhang Gaoqiu didn’t have any chips at all.
The other party didn’t have a single chip on him!
"Didn’t he obtain that Mysterious thing? How can he not have a single chip?" Tushan Qing’s mind crashed, shock flooding his gaze, full of disbelief.
How could this be?
This isn’t how it’s supposed to go!
"My talent failed? Impossible! How could my talent fail?" A thought flashed through Tushan Qing’s mind.
His talent was the Law of Cause and Effect; there was no way it could fail.
Since it wasn’t his Skill malfunctioning, then the problem had to lie with Zhang Gaoqiu.
"Zhang Gaoqiu never got that Mysterious thing in the first place. This brat is just standing here playing the big bad wolf!" Tushan Qing cursed inwardly. "What a filthy mind—he even managed to fool me."
Thinking back to Zhang Chen’s calm expression from start to finish, Tushan Qing silently savored the memory, finding Zhang Chen all the more unfathomable.
Seeing the bet about to be settled, Tushan Qing hurriedly said, "Forget it, let’s not bet. That bastard Zhang Chen is too proud to ever bow his head."
Zhang Gaoqiu sneered coldly at that. "He’ll regret it sooner or later."
"Zhang, to celebrate your seizing the Mysterious and becoming its master, this Princess wants to host a banquet in your honor. What do you think?" Wenji, who was standing to the side, spoke up.
Zhang Gaoqiu glanced at Wenji, something unreadable flashing in his eyes, then a smile surfaced as he thought to himself, "If I can win over Chai Wenji and become the Great Victory Dynasty’s Prince Consort, life will be a lot easier from here on out. Princess Wenji is the Emperor’s favorite Little Princess. If I can seize this chance to latch onto that thigh..."
As for Shen Ling, she had long since lost her usefulness. As long as he could get Shen Ling to give up on him of her own accord without making a scene, then this whole matter would be wrapped up nicely.
So now, faced with Princess Wenji’s attempt to win him over, Zhang Gaoqiu grinned and said, "With the Princess extending an invitation, how would I dare not give you face?"
"Hehe, in that case, let’s all celebrate together. Everyone, come with me. We’ll hold a feast for Young Master Zhang." Wenji looked at the students inside the Treasure Tower and addressed the crowd.
Hearing Wenji, the scholars naturally had no reason to object. Now that Zhang Gaoqiu held the Mysterious that led to the Spiritual World, they would need to rely on him in the future, so of course they wouldn’t dare slight him.
A large group of people left in high spirits, leaving Zhang Chen standing alone in the pavilion. Jiang Nan, however, deliberately slowed his steps, inconspicuously falling to the rear. He looked at Zhang Chen, a hint of emotion in his eyes. "Zhang Chen, people are ultimately different. Sometimes the gap between two people is even bigger than that between a person and a beast."
"So what are you trying to say?" Zhang Chen turned his head to look at Jiang Nan.
"If you’re willing to bow your head, I’m willing to mediate for you, to resolve the hatred between you and Zhang Gaoqiu. The two of you are blood brothers to begin with—what grudge can’t be let go? Why not settle things sooner rather than later? If you follow behind Zhang Gaoqiu, you’ll definitely be able to rise with the tide in the future. You should know, Zhang Gaoqiu obtained that Mysterious item that leads to the Spiritual World. He’s a true hidden dragon leaping over the Dragon Gate. Opposing him won’t end well for you." Jiang Nan advised, his eyes full of sighing sentiment.
Hearing him, Zhang Chen bared his teeth in a grin. "I think your words are a bit redundant. Since we’re already strangers, what does my way of doing things have to do with you? You’re like a dog meddling in a mouse’s business—mind your own damn affairs."
"You... you..." Jiang Nan was almost choked to death by Zhang Chen’s words. He glared at Zhang Chen, anger flaring in his eyes. This bastard actually said he was spouting nonsense. "You really don’t know what’s good for you."
With that, Jiang Nan stomped his foot and turned away in a rage.
"Heh, go fuss over your Shen Qiu. As for how I, Zhang Chen, conduct myself, I have my own rules." Zhang Chen let out a mocking laugh at Jiang Nan’s departing back.
Hearing Zhang Chen’s yin‑yang sniping, Jiang Nan got even angrier, stomping harder as he quickened his pace.
At this moment the entire great hall had emptied out. Zhang Chen stood inside, a contemplative look in his eyes: "I wonder, if I take away the Beast Dao of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, will Zhang Xiaohua and Zhou Qiucheng see it."
Zhang Chen looked at Zhou Qiu and Zhang Xiaohua in the distance; the two of them were like stone statues, without the slightest fluctuation on their bodies.
If he wanted to take away the Six Paths of Reincarnation, there would inevitably be quite a commotion; it was unlikely he could keep it hidden from Zhou Qiucheng.
"Even if Zhang Xiaohua finds out, so what? Zhang Xiaohua and I have long since sworn to fight to the death." Zhang Chen made up his mind in his heart. Right now, while there were few people around, he was going to find the underground space of the Exquisite Tower and take out that Six Paths of Reincarnation.
"I can sense the aura of the Beast Dao just beneath the Exquisite Tower, but the entire tower is one complete whole; I haven’t found any mechanism or secret door. How am I supposed to enter the underground space?" A trace of contemplation appeared in Zhang Chen’s eyes.
"The Celestial Measuring Ruler controls the Power of Space. I’ll try to see if I can use it to break open a spatial passage, then follow that passage into it." At this moment, Zhang Chen couldn’t be bothered about exposing the Celestial Measuring Ruler. If he wanted to obtain the Beast Dao Reincarnation within the Exquisite Tower, revealing some methods was inevitable.
He stretched out his palm, and the Celestial Measuring Ruler, radiating a silvery-white luster, appeared in his hand. As he chanted an incantation to activate the restriction, subtle ripples appeared in the void before him; his field of view and perception shifted inexplicably. From within the Celestial Measuring Ruler came a unique perspective, and in that view, the Crystal Palace before his eyes seemed to turn transparent. The void was densely filled with inscrutable silvery-white threads, interwoven according to some special law.
Through those interwoven threads, Zhang Chen saw a boundless void, within which strands of Qi of Chaos flowed. An object with the same form as the Celestial Human Dao appeared before his eyes.
"I’ve been stupid. Why do I have to enter the space beneath the Exquisite Tower? I can just take that Beast Dao Reincarnation out." Zhang Chen saw the Beast Dao Reincarnation shrouded in Qi of Chaos, with a great many experience points scattered around it. It looked extremely tempting; if he could collect them all, it would definitely be a huge haul.
"I have two options right now. First, I can enter the underground space with my physical body, but then when Zhou Qiucheng questions me in the future, I won’t be able to explain. Besides, once Zhang Gaoqiu is exposed and it’s revealed that he never controlled the Celestial Measuring Ruler, if they trace it back to the clues I reveal today, I’ll certainly fall under suspicion, and that would be troublesome. With the Celestial Measuring Ruler missing for no reason, the court will definitely send people to investigate and dig everything out." Zhang Chen thought to himself in secret: "For just a bit of experience, exposing myself is hardly worth it. I’m never going to share the Celestial Measuring Ruler, nor will I let anyone know its secrets."
The first method wouldn’t work, so he could only think of a way to take out the Six Paths of Reincarnation. But if he took out the Six Paths of Reincarnation Disc, it would inevitably cause a commotion; once Innate Qi surged out, it would be hard not to alarm Zhang Xiaohua and Zhou Qiucheng.
Moreover, the distance between them was too great; his Magical Power couldn’t pour into the underground space to control the Beast Dao Reincarnation, so at this moment Zhang Chen felt it was very difficult.
What to do?
This was the thought continually circling through Zhang Chen’s mind.
"My Yin Yang Grinding Disc was formed from Innate Yin Yang Qi; perhaps I can have it pierce the spatial barrier and enter within." Zhang Chen’s Primordial Spirit rapidly deduced all sorts of possibilities.
Ever since he cultivated his Primordial Spirit, his inspiration had become increasingly clear; before long, he had already come up with a feasible idea.
At this time, although Zhang Chen could see the scene beneath the Exquisite Tower, that was only a picture viewed through the perspective of the Celestial Measuring Ruler. If he wanted his True Body to set foot inside, he still had to use the Celestial Measuring Ruler to construct a spatial passage, and for now he probably couldn’t make use of that function.
The only thing he could do was use the Celestial Measuring Ruler to weaken the spatial barrier between the two places, reducing the Power of Space between them, so that after his treasure entered, it could move more smoothly.
Thinking of this, a thought stirred in Zhang Chen’s heart. The Yin Yang Grinding Disc within his Primordial Spirit transformed, turning into a stream of Innate Yin Yang Qi that, along the tip of his foot, drilled into the cracks between the countless silvery-white threads beneath him.
"It worked! The Innate Yin Yang Qi really didn’t let me down! Especially with the Celestial Measuring Ruler assisting, it was as if there were no obstacles at all between the two, and it slipped right through the gap.
The Yin Yang Grinding Disc was a treasure Zhang Chen had nurtured with Innate Yin Yang Qi, possessing all sorts of inconceivably wondrous properties and under his absolute control.
And the Human Reincarnation was entrusted to the Yin Yang Grinding Disc. Now that the Yin Yang Grinding Disc had stepped into the Twelfth Tier, it was equivalent to an incomplete Six Paths of Reincarnation body—only one-sixth missing.
Since the Yin Yang Grinding Disc had already stepped into the Twelfth Tier, then combined with the power of the Celestial Measuring Ruler, penetrating this Eleventh Tier Exquisite Tower naturally posed no obstacle.
"I wonder if the Yin Yang Grinding Disc can take my place and collect the Points on the ground." Zhang Chen felt a bit of hopeful luck in his heart.
The Yin Yang Grinding Disc was something he had nurtured; it was no different from his external incarnation. If it could collect experience points, that would make sense. If it couldn’t, Zhang Chen wouldn’t be surprised either.
The great battle in Jinling City was about to erupt; when that time came, would he still lack Points? All the Divine Spirits who died would become his Points.
The Tenth Tier Divine Spirits of the Shen Family, and even the Divine Spirits of Yellow Heaven Dao, would all become my nourishment.
PS: Sorry, everyone. The little author remembered wrong; what Hu Li the Immortal was hit with was the Six-Word True Mantra Seal. It’s been corrected.