Zhang Chen neither confirmed nor denied it when he heard that. The Po Jun Star was indeed very powerful, but was he, Zhang Chen, a weakling?
He already possessed Eleventh Tier Skills and could be called an Eleventh Tier powerhouse. With the properties of his Eleventh Tier Sun True Flame, even when facing a Twelfth Tier powerhouse he could still maneuver somewhat; how could he possibly take a mere Po Jun Star seriously?
Perhaps sensing the slight contempt in Zhang Chen’s eyes, Liu Ji said very solemnly, "Zhao Lie of the Po Jun Star is no ordinary person. This man carries great fortune; not only does he bear the Yellow Heaven Dao’s Divine Position on him, he also has a strange bloodline Divine Technique. Anyone chosen by the Yellow Heaven Dao to be a Star God is never simple. If you underestimate him, one careless moment and you’ll suffer a huge loss."
"I know." Zhang Chen nodded. "I’ve always been a cautious person. It’s not like you don’t know my temperament."
Hearing this, Liu Ji said no more and instead changed the subject. "Speaking of which, how did Zhang Xiaohua die?"
"Got eaten by bugs," Zhang Chen said.
Liu Ji froze. "Got eaten by bugs? What kind of bug is that fierce, able to devour Zhang Xiaohua who had already stepped into the Eleventh Tier?"
"A very strange kind of bug." Zhang Chen brushed him off with a smiling tone, without explaining in detail.
"I’m afraid Prince Pingbian is going to go mad. He only had this one offspring, and now that Zhang Xiaohua’s body and Dao have both perished, Prince Pingbian’s Mansion is going to be cut off! His grand designs for hegemony all for nothing!" Liu Ji’s voice was full of emotion.
No matter how strong the foundation you build, no matter how vast the wealth you accumulate, if there’s no heir, isn’t that just completely screwed?
"I think Prince Pingbian will stop at nothing to take revenge on you! Your days ahead are going to be troublesome!" Liu Ji said to Zhang Chen.
Zhang Chen was taken aback. "Take revenge on me?"
"Zhang Xiaohua may not have died by your hand, but the person he hated most in life was you. Do you think Prince Pingbian lacks a reason to move against you?" Liu Ji asked.
At these words, Zhang Chen immediately became serious, a sense of vigilance rising in his heart.
Seeing Zhang Chen’s expression, Liu Ji knew the other had been jolted awake and secretly nodded to himself, feeling that his efforts had not been in vain. He then finished his tea, stood up, and pulled his bamboo hat back on. "I’m leaving. Don’t stay in this residence anymore; abandon it as soon as you can."
Watching Liu Ji’s figure recede into the distance, Zhang Chen lowered his head, staring silently at the rolling, boiling water. Only after a very long time did he slowly draw in a breath. "Looks like the situation in Jinling City really is troublesome. But now I already have the confidence to deal with trouble."
Now that his Skills had been fully upgraded, Zhang Chen turned his thoughts to that half of the Immortal Slaying Sword. He reached into his sleeve and drew out the half-sword. There was a golden Sealing Rune suppressing it, pinning down the killing intent and sharpness of that half Immortal Slaying Sword. If he allowed the sword’s aura to leak out at will, the entire Jinling City would probably be drawn by this Qi Mechanism.
"I’ve obtained the Sacrificial Refining incantation for the Immortal Slaying Sword. Although this Immortal Slaying Sword is only half intact, I can still refine it using the incantation. It’s just that... this Immortal Slaying Sword already has ’impurities’—it’s mixed with the Essence, Qi, and Spirit of Liu Ji and the others. I must first cleanse those impurities away." Zhang Chen muttered to himself inwardly.
And why is that?
These people had no Magical Power and relied entirely on Life Force to drive the Immortal Slaying Sword. In order not to drop in tier during the End of Dharma Era, every time it was activated, the Immortal Slaying Sword would draw out a massive amount of the user’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit to make up for its own consumption. In the process of the sword extracting their Essence, Qi, and Spirit, it would naturally leave traces of their Essence, Qi, and Spirit within the Immortal Slaying Sword.
Inside were not only Liu Ji’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit imprints; the complex imprints numbered more than a dozen, and had already become a kind of "toxin" to the Immortal Slaying Sword. If left alone, the sword would inevitably be polluted, its tier steadily dropping, and its power continually declining.
After thinking briefly, Zhang Chen summoned out the Alchemy Furnace he had obtained, then tossed that half Immortal Slaying Sword into the Alchemy Furnace. He then put the lid on, and with a pinch of his fingers, a bowl-sized golden flame appeared in his palm.
The flame’s heat was restrained, completely gathered under Zhang Chen’s control, not leaking the slightest bit.
"The Sun True Flame is Supreme Yang upon Supreme Yang; it can burn even the true bodies of Immortal Gods to death. Using it to temper the impurities inside the Immortal Slaying Sword is just right." Zhang Chen then followed the Li Palace position of the Alchemy Furnace and cast the Sun True Flame into it.
The moment the Sun True Flame fell into the Alchemy Furnace, it exploded within in an instant, the entire Alchemy Furnace turning into a sea of fire. Then the furnace’s Qi Mechanism revived on its own, tightly sealing the power of the Sun True Flame within.
"This Alchemy Furnace really isn’t simple; it can actually suppress the power of the Sun True Flame. I wonder what its origin is." Zhang Chen examined the Alchemy Furnace and saw heat steaming off it. Raindrops falling from the void onto the furnace were instantly vaporized, turning into a misty vapor.
As the Alchemy Furnace revived, Zhang Chen could feel its Origin Qi Mechanism being consumed, which startled him into hastily placing his hand upon the furnace. A strand of Innate Qi poured into the Alchemy Furnace, and at the same time Zhang Chen’s Magical Power also flowed into it, helping the furnace replenish the consumption of its Origin.
This is the greatest flaw of Innate Treasures in this era: once an Innate Treasure is activated, Magical Power and Innate Qi must be used to make up for it. Otherwise, the Innate Treasure will only expend without being replenished, and before long it will fall in grade and turn into scrap iron, a mundane object.
The vast Magical Power within Zhang Chen surged into the Alchemy Furnace, and at the same time Innate Qi poured into the furnace as though it cost nothing. Now that Zhang Chen had obtained the Skill of Time Acceleration for two jiazi, the amount of Innate Qi he gained each day could multiply. At least for a certain stage in the future, the Innate Qi Zhang Chen obtained would grow at an explosive rate.
Time flowed by slowly. Only when Zhang Chen had infused enough Magical Power and Innate Qi into the Alchemy Furnace did he withdraw his palm: "To wash the impurities out of the Immortal Slaying Sword will take at least three days. Right now the sword’s spirituality has already been damaged by those impurities. After I wash all the impurities away, I still have to carefully nurture it with Innate Qi; only then can it become my trump card."
Various little thoughts kept turning in Zhang Chen’s heart; a mere three days was something he could afford to wait.
He saw Zhang Chen make a grasping motion with his hand; that Tripod Cauldron automatically flew up and shrank, turning into the size of a wine cup that Zhang Chen held in his hand. At this moment the Alchemy Furnace was scorching hot, that being the power of the Sun True Flame within it. When a corner of Zhang Chen’s sleeve accidentally brushed against the furnace, that sleeve turned directly into ash.
Luckily Zhang Chen’s body contained Sun True Flame, giving him the power to control it; otherwise, at this moment Zhang Chen would probably already have been turned into ashes by the terrifying heat transmitted from the furnace.
"Even with the Alchemy Furnace suppressing ninety-nine percent of the Sun True Flame’s power, with only a few threads leaking out from within, just those few threads are enough to stir up a great commotion; if one is not careful, disaster will break out." Zhang Chen looked at the marks the Alchemy Furnace had left on the ground earlier and saw that those marks had already turned into lava, forcibly decomposed by the residual heat conducted from the Sun True Flame.
"What a terrifying Sun True Flame!" Zhang Chen pulled out a Sealing Rune from his sleeve and slapped it directly onto the Alchemy Furnace. He then saw the furnace twist and shift, the Sealing Rune shining faintly, as all the residual heat was completely suppressed back into the furnace.
When he touched the furnace wall again, he saw that the wall was ice-cold, without the slightest abnormality.
"It seems the Sealing Rune is still the most useful." Zhang Chen sighed inwardly, then stuffed the Alchemy Furnace into his robe, carefully storing it away. He swept a glance around the courtyard. Since this courtyard had already been targeted by Yellow Heaven Dao, he feared he could no longer continue living here. He still had to resettle within Jinling City and buy a new house.
There was nothing at home worth packing. After Zhang Chen swept his gaze around, he was about to use an Escape Technique to leave. Just as he was about to slip away, his footsteps stopped. His eyes turned toward the main gate, where he saw a girl in white walking out from the curtain of rain, her face icy cold as she looked at Zhang Chen.
Fox Fairy Nannan!
Seeing Fox Fairy Nannan’s cold expression, a thought stirred in Zhang Chen’s heart and he already knew why she had come.
Raindrops beat against Fox Fairy Nannan’s body, running down her hair and soaking her clothes, revealing her curvaceous figure.
"Zhang Xiaohua is dead!" Fox Fairy Nannan stood before Zhang Chen, ignoring the rain on her face, her eyes fixed on Zhang Chen.
"I know," Zhang Chen said.
"You promised me you would spare his life!" Fox Fairy Nannan’s voice was numb.
"I did promise to spare his life." Zhang Chen replied, his voice just as calm and without the slightest ripple: "So you came to find me because you think I killed Zhang Xiaohua?"
"Besides you, who else could it be?" Fox Fairy Nannan asked.
"If I had the ability to kill Zhang Xiaohua, who was at the Eleventh Tier, I wouldn’t have been forced to leave the Northern Land, nor would I have been bullied so miserably by you all there." Zhang Chen shook his head. "There were countless dangers in the Water God Tomb, and the Innate Water God True Spirit was revived. Zhang Xiaohua dying in there is only normal."
Zhang Chen’s voice was filled with emotion as he began to spiel Fox Fairy Nannan; this errand-running Skill of his was simply too handy. As for the truth of Zhang Xiaohua’s death, only he, Tushan Qing, and Hu Li the Immortal knew. As long as the other two didn’t speak, who would know how Zhang Xiaohua died?
Would those two speak?
They were all smart people; of course they knew what should be said and what should not.
"So Zhang Xiaohua didn’t die by your hand?" Fox Fairy Nannan’s attitude softened upon hearing this.
Zhang Chen showed a bitter smile. "You think too highly of me. Thank you."
Fox Fairy Nannan stood there dazed at his words, her eyes for a moment filled entirely with confusion.
"I need to purchase a hidden courtyard residence in Jinling City. Go take care of it quickly," Zhang Chen instructed Fox Fairy Nannan. It had to be said that Fox Fairy Nannan was indeed very useful; this Fox Spirit was cunning and perceptive, very much to Zhang Chen’s liking.