Tushan Qing rushed to the shelf, looking at the objects placed on the shelf, his eyes widened.
"Indeed, these are treasures!"
Zhang Chen followed and moved forward, looking at the items placed on the shelf, and then a hint of disappointment appeared in his eyes: "It’s a pity, the essence of those innate spiritual objects has already been absorbed by the Innate Water God over the long years."
Zhang Chen casually picked up a piece of ore flowing with Innate Qi, but the Innate Qi flowing on the ore was just a mere wisp. As Zhang Chen picked it up, the Innate Qi dissipated, turning into an ordinary mundane object.
Zhang Chen could speculate the reason for this; it must have been during the heaven and earth upheaval that the Innate Water God couldn’t withstand the changes and absorbed the innate essence of those innate items to preserve itself.
Tushan Qing held onto a stalk of Innate Holy Medicine, but as soon as his palm touched the herb, he saw the herb turn directly into ashes, only a wisp of Innate Qi dispersed in the air.
"Damn it! How did this happen?" Tushan Qing’s eyes revealed a hint of unwillingness, his gaze then shifted to the jars next to him. He casually picked up a jar and opened it, seeing inside a jar of clear water: "Strange, why would the Innate Water God place clear water in the jar?"
"Is it possible that the clear water was actually Innate Divine Water tens of thousands of years ago, and later, due to the ravages of time, its essence dispersed and was absorbed by the body of that Innate Water God?" Zhang Chen casually opened a jar, speaking out his speculation.
The Innate Divine Water in the jar had already lost its medicinal properties, its entire essence had been absorbed by the Innate Water God, leaving only ordinary water placed in the jar.
Tushan Qing felt unwilling in his heart and simply overturned one jar after another, sweeping the Innate Ore and Innate Spiritual Objects off the shelf, but unfortunately, they all turned into mundane objects.
"In the entire cave-dwelling, the only valuable things are probably the body of the Innate Water God, the Innate Jade, and this operating formation." Zhang Chen’s gaze swept across the entire Water Mansion, finally settling on the water-blue protective barrier.
"Breaking the barrier will allow us to acquire the body of the Innate Water God, seize its blood, and usurp its authority. We will undergo an incredible transformation." Hu Li the Immortal looked intently at the high platform where the Innate Water God was located, then approached the platform and struck out a palm at the water-blue protective barrier.
"Buzz~"
The water-blue barrier emitted a divine light, unexpectedly bouncing Hu Li the Immortal away.
"This can’t be! My strike, not even to mention shaking this barrier, should not have bounced me away!" Hu Li the Immortal steadied himself in the void, his eyes showing disbelief.
"What is this barrier? Could it be a Twelfth Tier mystery?" Tushan Qing leaned forward to scrutinize.
"This barrier is not a mystery, but the innate Dao charm carried by the Innate Water God. In its flesh, the laws of water in the world are engraved, and after its death, they automatically dispersed, forming a protective barrier composed entirely of laws around its body. This barrier possesses incredible power, likely already surpassing the Twelfth Tier." The Great Freedom Celestial Demon whispered quietly in Zhang Chen’s ear.
A protection surpassing the Twelfth Tier? Doesn’t this mean we can only guard an empty Treasure Mountain and return with nothing?
Hu Li the Immortal leaned over, unwillingly mobilizing his divine techniques again, his fist emanated dazzling brilliance of Geng Metal Qi, smashing towards the screen.
"Bang~"
The barrier remained immovable as a mountain, Hu Li the Immortal was directly bounced away, his body flew backward and collided into the wall barrier behind him, tumbling head over heels.
"What level of artifact is this? Even I can’t move it an inch?" Hu Li the Immortal climbed up with a face full of shock, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Upon hearing Hu Li the Immortal’s words, Zhang Chen’s gaze swept around the platform, seeing a large amount of experience points drop, the experience points already piled up into a small mountain.
Zhang Chen walked around the stone platform, seeing the Golden Finger Interface in front of him flashing frantically:
[Pick up experience points +199987]
[Pick up experience points +990987]
[Pick up experience points +19652]
[Pick up experience points +114556]
[Pick up experience points +52587]
[Pick up experience points +52367]
...
Zhang Chen’s experience interface was jumping wildly, countless experience points rapidly converging, the stream of information so dense Zhang Chen could hardly see clearly, the information stream had now transformed into an Infinite Sea.
When the Golden Finger Interface stopped jumping, all experience points were picked up by Zhang Chen, then Zhang Chen’s Golden Finger Interface refreshed again:
[Name: Zhang Chen]
[New Skill 20 (Third Tier): Authority of Wood Element*Reversed Peanut Seed*Plant Body (0/10000000000)]
[Note 1: Plant Body --- Can transform one’s body into wood attribute]
[Points: 10000000000]
(PS: To prevent padding the word count, I will keep the interface minimal and only write the key skills and points)
Precisely enough, Zhang Chen’s experience points were just enough for ten billion, enough for him to upgrade his Authority of Wood Element.
Seeing that the experience points were sufficient, Zhang Chen did not hesitate and directly applied the points, as for him, obtaining the ability to seize the vitality of plants to extend his lifespan was the most crucial method.
[20 New Skill (Tier 3): Authority of Wood Element*Reversed Peanut Seed*Plant Body (0/10000000000)] -----> [20 New Skill (Tier 4): Authority of Wood Element*Reversed Peanut Seed*Plant Body (0/100000000000)]
Then the Golden Finger Interface refreshed, revealing the new skill:
[20 New Skill (Tier 4): Authority of Wood Element*Reversed Peanut Seed*Plant Body*Rooted in the Earth (0/100000000000)]
[Note 1: Rooted in the Earth, as long as you are buried in the earth, even if only a piece of skin, a strand of hair, or a drop of blood remains, you can absorb Earth Qi to resurrect.]
Zhang Chen’s gaze fell upon the new skill Rooted in the Earth, a hint of bitterness in his eyes. It wasn’t that the divine technique wasn’t good, but rather that it was too good. Whether cut to pieces or left with just a strand of hair, resurrection was possible, but this wasn’t the way he wanted to extend his lifespan.
No matter how great a divine technique, it can’t compare to the most urgent need. Just like a feast of gold can’t compare when you’re starving, to someone offering a bowl of rice.
Of course, some readers might ask, as long as Zhang Chen buries himself in the earth before his life reaches its limit, can’t he just resurrect?
But in reality it’s not that simple, because this Rooted in the Earth resurrection has two limitations: one, it’s unpredictable how much time the resurrection will consume; two, this resurrection is like plants and requires innate lifespan yet to be exhausted. If innate lifespan is exhausted, like a withered tree, no matter how it’s nurtured, it cannot resurrect.
This resurrection can only be used when Zhang Chen’s lifespan hasn’t been fully exhausted.
"What a pity, it’s not the divine technique I want. I hope after devouring the Innate Water God’s body, I can gain a trillion points to upgrade this skill. I wonder if next time the vitality can yield the skill to seize and upgrade plant essence into lifespan," Zhang Chen muttered to himself.
Hu Li the Immortal over there struck the light barrier twice, failing to shake it even slightly. Knowing he couldn’t break the barrier’s defense, he turned his gaze to Zhang Chen: "Kid, do you have a way to break this barrier? If we can’t break it, we’ll have to return empty-handed."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen’s gaze fell upon the blue light barrier, pondering with some thoughts: "Let me give it a try."
Zhang Chen extended his palm towards the blue light barrier, contemplating: "I wonder if my Devouring Power can consume the Law emitted by the Innate Water God."
As his palm gently pressed onto the barrier, it seemed to perceive no threat from Zhang Chen’s touch, surprisingly not pushing his hand away.
The next moment, a sharp proboscis shot out from Zhang Chen’s palm, slowly piercing into the barrier.
In his Eye of Devouring, the barrier was three feet thick, containing countless Law threads flowing within, while his Innate Mosquito proboscis followed the gaps where these threads flowed, slowly piercing inside. Then the proboscis took a sudden deep draw, and immense energy surged forth, instantly converted by the Golden Finger Interface.
[Points +10000]
[Points +10086]
[Points +1121121]
[Points +7520]
...
Indeed worthy of the Innate Water God, the energy provided was terrifying, as Zhang Chen’s skill operated, the energy devoured was more turbulent and powerful than ever.
Tushan Qing and Hu Li the Immortal quietly stood beside Zhang Chen, watching him stand before the Water God’s light barrier, silently stroking it, not daring to disturb him, but instead observed Zhang Chen’s actions, hoping to glimpse his tactics and abilities, praying for Zhang Chen’s success.
Time slowly passed, an hour, two hours, three hours... one day, two days, three days...
Although Hu Li the Immortal and Tushan Qing didn’t know what Zhang Chen was doing, they could tell that the originally azure blue barrier had gradually dimmed in luster.
Watching the barrier’s increasingly dim glow, they acknowledged Zhang Chen’s usage of techniques and once again looked at Zhang Chen with renewed regard.
"This kid has some incredible means, simply unbelievable!" Hu Li the Immortal observed the dimming barrier with a look of admiration mixed with fear.
Tushan Qing nearby also had his mouth agape: "Too uncanny! Simply too uncanny! I’ve never encountered someone this uncanny before!"
"Even someone like you, a great cultivator, couldn’t manage it, yet this kid did. What’s his background?" Tushan Qing asked with horror in his voice.
Hu Li the Immortal didn’t respond because this was also a question he desired to ask; Zhang Chen was just too uncanny. Even though Hu Li the Immortal had seen many prodigies and countless individuals with extraordinary means over tens of thousands of years, none could measure up to just a finger of Zhang Chen.
"Don’t ever offend this kid in the future, if you do, even I can’t help you!" Hu Li the Immortal warned Tushan Qing.