The principle that people and tea grow cold is applicable anywhere, strength in oneself is fundamental.
The Shen Family has already perished, Zhou Qiucheng certainly won’t risk his life fighting Yellow Heaven Dao for a dead person.
Shen Qiu fell from being the high-flying heir of the Shen Family, the future master of Jinling City, and the controller of seventy percent of the water fortune in the world—this gap in his heart is imaginable.
Seeing Shen Qiu still sitting there motionless, Zhang Chen and Zhou Zhen ignored him and moved side by side towards the Exquisite Tower.
Inside the Exquisite Tower, Zhang Chen stood before the jade wall, seemingly watching the jade wall in front of him, but actually contemplating in secret how to devour the body of the Innate Water God and how to handle the Innate Jade.
"The physical body of the Innate Water God and its true spirit share a mysterious connection. If I openly devour the Innate Water God’s flesh, even with the suppression of the Sealing Rune, should any blood inadvertently fall from the Innate Water God’s body, it would inevitably arouse the Innate Water God’s sensing. The safest way for me is to find a hidden place, set up the Nine Bends Yellow River Array, and then devour the Innate Water God’s body within the array. But now, with numerous experts in Jinling City and the tenth-tier gods of the Yellow Heaven Dao patrolling, setting up the Nine Bends Yellow River Array could attract attention and prompt them to inspect the anomaly." Zhang Chen constantly pondered over a safe place to assure himself regarding the Innate Water God’s body, and eventually, inspiration struck. Looking at the floor of the Exquisite Tower, he had an idea: "If I sneak underground into the Exquisite Tower, I can suppress all causes and effects and auras. Is there any place safer beneath Jinling City than under the Exquisite Tower?"
Zhang Chen’s eyes brimmed with brilliance, and with this thought, he discreetly left the Exquisite Tower, heading for a hidden place, intending to directly use his divine techniques to tunnel beneath the Exquisite Tower.
However, the Exquisite Tower contains formidable suppressive power, and as Zhang Chen was about to activate his Earth Escape Technique, it was already suppressed by the tower.
"Such strong suppressive power, rendering my escape technique useless." Zhang Chen marveled inwardly.
However, Zhang Chen was not afraid. He rather hoped the suppressive power would be as strong as possible; the stronger it was, the more advantageous it would be for him. But when he tried to use the Authority of Earth Element, it was also suppressed, leaving him unable to employ even a hint of it.
"The suppressive power of this Exquisite Tower is truly formidable." Zhang Chen could only marvel at the strength of the Authority of Earth Element, then turned to the deep mountains. Before long, he had caught over a dozen pangolins, using the Beast Control Technique to command them to dig a cave under the mountain.
"It’s indeed an Innate Spiritual Treasure; even if it’s just a defective one, its suppressive power is still astonishing. Cultivators below the eleventh tier can’t utilize any skills in front of the Exquisite Tower." Zhang Chen was filled with emotion; anything remotely associated with the Innate is never simple.
The pangolins’ digging speed was swift, and even the hard bluestone was like tofu to them, now that they had achieved a certain climate.
Three hours later, in a hidden corner, a passage had been dug, leading directly to beneath the Exquisite Tower.
The passage was somewhat narrow. Zhang Chen knelt and crawled in, squeezing through the crevices of the rocks, shortly arriving at the foot of the Exquisite Tower and seeing its main body.
Beneath the Exquisite Tower, there were no foundational stones; it was an Innate Spiritual Treasure with a portion buried underground.
The pangolins had carved out a two-meter space under the Exquisite Tower, barely enough for Zhang Chen to stretch his body.
Feeling the suppressive force circulating in the air, Zhang Chen’s eyes were full of curiosity. Then, he took out the Celestial Measuring Ruler, emitting a white light that enveloped him, instantly isolating the suppressive force from the Exquisite Tower.
Although the Exquisite Tower’s suppressive force was strong, it was ultimately a broken Innate Spiritual Treasure, whereas the Celestial Measuring Ruler was in a complete state.
As for why Zhang Chen didn’t use the Celestial Measuring Ruler to suppress the qi mechanism, it was because specialization matters—it’s proficient in controlling space, not suppressing various auras.
However, using the Celestial Measuring Ruler to counter the aura and suppressive force of the Exquisite Tower, allowing Zhang Chen to utilize his divine techniques, was achievable.
Zhang Chen took out the halved body and head of the Innate Water God. Under the Exquisite Tower’s suppression, no causes, effects, or information could be transmitted.
"The blood of the Innate Water God represents great creation, capable of helping one wash marrow and cut hair, reborn, and directly grasp the Rule of Water. However, the true spirit of the Innate Water God still lives, posing a risk of possession once its blood is absorbed. Though valuable, this blood cannot be used for the three little ones or caregivers." Zhang Chen was filled with emotion.
Since the creation of the Innate Water God couldn’t be used by family, Zhang Chen decided to take it all himself. A tool resembling the mouth of an Innate Mosquito appeared in his palm, which he used to pierce the Innate Water God’s body, beginning to devour its flesh and bones.
As the Innate Mosquito’s tool devoured, vast amounts of energy surged into Zhang Chen’s Ba Snake Space, rapidly converting to points.
[Points +10000]
[Points +10000]
...
A dense barrage of notifications flickered past Zhang Chen’s eyes. He chose to block all prompt messages, focusing solely on devouring the body of the Innate Water God.
No one knew how long it lasted, but the Innate Water God’s body eventually transformed into a stream of light, consumed by the Innate Mosquito’s tool, disappearing without a trace. Only a few drops of blood on the ground, glowing pale blue, signaled the Innate Water God’s bodily remains.
"The body of the Innate Water God has been devoured. Next is the Innate Water God’s head." Zhang Chen reached into the Ba Snake Space again, contemplating the serpentine head. After brief reflection and seeing no use for it, he decided to consume it to enhance his strength, swiftly devouring it.
Although the Innate Water God’s head was hard, it couldn’t resist the Innate Mosquito’s tool.
"I wonder what origins this Innate Mosquito has, even capable of devouring the Innate Water God?" Zhang Chen pondered with curiosity.
As time trickled by, the Innate Water God’s head slowly became an empty shell, but its cranial bones remained—unstomachable even for the Innate Mosquito.
Seeing Zhang Chen playing with the head of the Innate Water God, he originally planned to throw it away directly, but the Blood Sea Crystal Core suspended in his Dantian trembled slightly, and a subtle sensation arose in Zhang Chen’s heart, knowing that the Blood Sea Origin desired the head of the Innate Water God.
"Why do you want the head of the Innate Water God?" Zhang Chen’s face was full of surprise, but his hands did not slow down. His palm opened a space portal, within which blood light flickered. With a casual toss, the skull of the Innate Water God was directly thrown into the Blood Sea, stirring up a splash, then sinking and disappearing within it.
Zhang Chen looked at his own Golden Finger Points: [Fifteen Billion]
"Fifteen billion points, not too much, but definitely not a small amount either." Zhang Chen’s gaze swept over the Golden Finger Interface’s points, and he felt quite satisfied, knowing that the Innate Water God could not compare to the existence from the Third Heaven of the Spiritual World. Back then, that hand merely dropped skill points, up to fifty billion. Unfortunately, Zhang Chen couldn’t devour that hand; it was simply too powerful, so powerful that Zhang Chen had no chance to use skills in its presence.
"First, I want to upgrade a Tenth Tier skill. If I could grind out an Eleventh Tier skill, that would be even better. The world is changing so rapidly, masters are emerging everywhere, and I truly feel a lack of security." Zhang Chen murmured to himself, his eyes scanning his Golden Finger Interface, contemplating which skills to upgrade next.
[Name: Zhang Chen]
[1 Skill (Fifth Tier): True God Golden Light (0/20000000)]
[2 Skill (Fifth Tier): Dragon Qi (0/200000000)] (Two Thousand Meters)
[3 Skill (Seventh Tier): Body Transformation Blood River (3000000/2000000000000)]
[4 New Skill (Third Tier): Authority of Water Element (0/10000000000)]
[5 Skill (Third Tier): Soul Hook Chain (0/100000000)]
[6 Skill (Extreme): Third Heaven (0/8000000)]
[7 Skill (Second Tier): Nine-Turns of the Returning Pill (Perfection)]
[8 Skill (Seventh Tier): Body-Stabilizing Rune (0/160000000)]
[9 Skill (Law Level (0/100): Sealing Rune (0/512000000)]
[11 Skill (Ninth Tier): Invisibility Rune (0/1600000000)]
[12 Skill (entry-level): Powerful Warrior Moving Mountain (0\12000000)]
[13 Skill (Fourth Tier): Devouring Space (0\100000000)]
[14 Skill: Exorcism (0/1000000000000)]
[15 Skill (Fourth Tier): Nine Bends Yellow River Talisman Array (0/100000000)]
[16 Skill (Twelfth Tier): Yin Yang Reincarnation Grinding Disc (1/6)]
[17 Skill: Five Elements Escape Technique (0\10000000000)]
[18 New Skill (First Tier): Authority of Earth Element (0/100000000)]
[19 Skill (Ninth Tier): Charcoal Fire in a Grain + Sun Sensing (/1000000000)]
[20 Skill (Fifth Tier): Authority of Wood Element*Reversed Peanut Seed*Plant Body*Rooted in the Earth*Extraction (0/1000000000000)]
[21 Skill (First Tier): Time Acceleration (0/100000000)]
[22 Skill: Divine Power (Buzhou Seal): Completion (2/33)]
[23 Skill (Sixth Tier): A Thread of Cold Qi Origin*Ice Seal*Freezing*old Ice Body*Ice Domain (1 meter)*Gathering and Dispersing Formless*Ice Hell (0/100000000000)]
[24 Skill: Authority of Reincarnation (Cannot be enhanced)]
[25 New Skill: Gambling]
[26 Skill (First Tier): Authority of Water Element (0/100000000)]
[Points: Fifteen Billion]
There were a total of twenty-six skills; Zhang Chen kept pondering and considering which skill he should upgrade.
After much thought, Zhang Chen’s gaze swept over all the skills, and finally, his eyes flashed, landing on Sun Charcoal Fire.