Zhang Chen now has the ability to enter the Fourth Heaven of the Spiritual World, but he is not in a hurry to step into it because the Spiritual World is fraught with great dangers. A slight mistake could lead to great horrors, such as the Ice Power in the Third Heaven of the Spiritual World.
Ever since Zhang Chen saw the hand of the ancient god, he has been pondering whether the Divine Soul of some old entity might be lurking within the Spiritual World. This is also why he has recently not entered the Fourth Heaven of the Spiritual World. He wants to wait until the God-Beating Whip is fully refined before venturing into the Fourth Heaven to investigate.
Zhang Chen used the Authority of Earth Element to bury the Alchemy Furnace in the ground. He watched as the furnace took root, beginning to sense the Earth Vein Qi of this world.
Zhang Chen stood on the Alchemy Furnace, seeing it transform into a size of three zhang, no longer retaining its previous miniature form.
Extracting the power of the entire world is no simple matter. Zhang Chen’s only method is to draw out the Earth Vein Qi, thus emptying the entire Heaven and Earth.
The cycles of Heaven and Earth and the recurrence of all things, as Zhang Chen extracts the Power of the Earth Veins, naturally, other forces in the world flow to fill the gap.
As for how to extract the Power of the Earth?
Zhang Chen could imitate the pattern of the Innate Eight Trigrams Furnace he once saw in the Northern Land, and use the Earth Element to change the ground’s configuration to create an Acquired Eight Trigrams formation. Then, Zhang Chen would wield the Authority of Earth Element, continuously demonstrating divine techniques as he walked upon the earth.
Changing the configuration is no simple task; it requires divine techniques that can alter heaven and earth. But with Zhang Chen’s current ability to control only fifty meters of the Authority of Earth Element, his strength is insufficient. Fortunately, Zhang Chen has already refined his Primordial Spirit, and with the Boost of the Power of the Primordial Spirit, the speed of changing heaven and earth has increased significantly for him.
Even so, Zhang Chen still spent a full month constantly burrowing into the depths of the earth, emerging, and repeatedly measuring and modifying distances. With these endless cycles of toil, Zhang Chen finally altered the grand earth vein formation over a thousand square miles, shaping the man-made Acquired Eight Trigrams Furnace.
"Finally, the Acquired Earth Veins have been modified." Zhang Chen emerged from the dust, cautiously examining the entire Acquired Eight Trigrams Furnace formation. After a thorough inspection, he satisfiedly pulled out the God-Beating Whip, scrutinized it for a moment before tossing it directly into the Eight Trigrams Furnace. Then, he threw in all the Heavenly and Earthly Treasures he had obtained from Chen Sanliang into the Alchemy Furnace, followed by extending his hand, where a golden flame immediately appeared in his palm.
It was a ball of golden flame the size of a basketball. As soon as the flame appeared, the water vapor in the entire Spiritual World began to boil, instantly evaporating all the water vapor within a hundred miles, and every bit of ice and frozen soil vanished in a breath.
"This flame is too tyrannical! We’re still in the Ice World; if it were outside, this ball of flame could probably affect a thousand miles of phenomena." Zhang Chen looked at the Sun True Flame in his hand, watching as it shot out beams of light filled with searing destructive force. Wherever the light passed, everything meltable turned directly to ash.
Even the sand and stones around Zhang Chen began to melt slowly like wax, turning into magma flowing around.
"Such terrifying Sun True Flame; if I were outside, unless facing an unbeatable enemy, I shouldn’t use it lightly. Otherwise, every living thing within a thousand miles would instantaneously ignite and turn to ashes. Of course, I can control the size of the flame, minimizing its impact as much as possible." He merely felt it shouldn’t be used lightly, but after estimating the fire’s power, he could summon a smaller Sun Flame.
For example, when Zhang Chen was refining medicine last time, he only summoned a flame the size of a candle flame. Plus, with the Alchemy Furnace suppressing it, no disturbances were caused.
Zhang Chen summoned the Sun True Flame now, and the wide-ranging impact was also because he hadn’t activated the Alchemy Furnace for suppression.
After carefully sensing the Sun True Flame for a while, Zhang Chen casually pushed the ball of Sun True Flame into the Alchemy Furnace, then watched as the furnace’s restraints automatically started operating. The Acquired Eight Trigrams formation was activated, and vast amounts of Earth Qi surged in, pouring into the Alchemy Furnace.
"All I need is to refine all the materials, then use the God-Beating Whip to absorb them, and finally, sacrifice the entire world. My Alchemy Furnace will then be complete." A gleam appeared in Zhang Chen’s eyes. His Primordial Spirit sat cross-legged in front of the Alchemy Furnace, carefully sensing the power of the Sun True Flame, adapting to the strength of the Sun True Flame, and then cautiously wielded divine techniques to try controlling the Sun True Flame, creating more possibilities.
Time flew by quickly, and after another day, Zhang Chen watched the flames burning within the Alchemy Furnace as his Primordial Spirit withdrew directly from the Spiritual World. Now that the Eight Trigrams Furnace had been ignited, many things no longer required his constant attention; he simply needed to estimate the general time and let the Alchemy Furnace burn on its own.
In the small abode
Zhang Chen opened his eyes from his cross-legged meditation state, seeing the purple glow appearing on the horizon. His Essence, Qi, and Spirit were full as he stepped down from the bedframe and looked at the corner’s blooming plum blossom, a trace of joy filling his eyes: "It will probably take just one year for my God-Beating Whip to be fully refined. By then, even meeting an Innate Water God wouldn’t stop us from competing."
Zhang Chen thought of the matter of the Innate Water God but didn’t expect that news of the Innate Water God would reach him the next moment.
He saw a sparrow flying over in the air, landing in Zhang Chen’s courtyard. The sparrow flickered its wings mid-air, transforming into the appearance of Huang Chao.
"Brother Zhang, I received some news today and came specifically to convey it to you," Huang Chao said to Zhang Chen.
Since learning that Zhang Chen was residing in this courtyard, Huang Chao frequently visited Zhang Chen’s place.
"What’s the big news?" Zhang Chen asked.
"The Innate Water God suffered a blow from the Yellow Heaven Dao, and for revenge, actually joined the White Lotus Sect’s Flood Banner," Huang Chao’s voice was filled with seriousness. White Lotus Sect’s Flood Banner?
Zhang Chen thought of Chen Zhifei! And Chen Zhifei’s son, Chen Ming, who was killed by him.
"How could the Innate Water God join the White Lotus Sect? After all, back then, Chen Zhifei also took action against the Shen Family!" Zhang Chen’s voice was filled with confusion.
Undoubtedly, this news was enough to shock Zhang Chen and to serve as a wake-up call.
How could the White Lotus Sect be entangled with the Innate Water God?
"I don’t know!" Huang Chao shook his head: "The specific details are unknown to anyone but the people involved. The sect has already sent spies to secretly investigate. There might be some transaction between the two parties that we’re not aware of. The Yellow Heaven Dao is powerful, and the Innate Water God seeking revenge alone is unrealistic. However, if he seeks refuge with the White Lotus Sect, relying on their power for revenge would be understandable. The key is whether the Flood Banner can offer a price tempting enough for the Innate Water God."
Hearing Huang Chao’s words, Zhang Chen stood there, pondering: "Your Yellow Heaven Dao is in trouble."
The Yellow Heaven Dao and the White Lotus Sect are two major folk religions, with roots and influence among the people, spread across the country. They share too many similarities, leading to great competition.
Huang Chao and Zhang Chen chatted for a while, then Huang Chao bade farewell and left. Zhang Chen used an escape technique and disappeared from the courtyard, reappearing at Chongzheng Academy.
He made his way up the mountain, and now Chongzheng Academy had quieted down, with no more trivial disputes of the past. After all, Zhang Gaoqiu, the son of the Kyoto Zhang Family, had been expelled from the academy, showing the domineering nature of Zhou Qiucheng, who gave face to no one. The offspring of influential families studying at the academy naturally had to be more cautious.
Just as Zhang Chen arrived before the Exquisite Tower, he was dragged into a corner by Tushan Qing, who mysteriously said, "Zhang Chen, we’ve hit a major problem."
"What problem?" Zhang Chen looked at Tushan Qing, curious, since it was rare for this guy to refer to something as a problem. Wasn’t he saying goodbye and preparing to go to Kyoto? How did he end up back at the academy?
"Isn’t it that damned White Lotus Sect? They actually recruited the Innate Water God over. With the White Lotus Sect’s support, he’ll eventually come for us. With their strong information network, it’s only a matter of time before they track down the events of that night, given that Hu Li the Immortal didn’t hide his traces that day. If they follow Hu Li’s trail, we won’t be able to escape," Tushan Qing cursed.
"On what basis could the White Lotus Sect lure the Innate Water God?" Zhang Chen voiced his doubt.
"Chen Zhifei is a ruthless person; he actually lent the Northern Profound Yuan Water Control Banner to the Innate Water God to stabilize his authority. The Yellow Heaven Dao seized part of the Innate Water God’s authority, making it unstable, and accepting the Northern Profound Yuan Water Control Banner is his best choice. I also heard rumors that Chen Zhifei and the Innate Water God struck a deal. The Innate Water God took the Northern Profound Yuan Water Control Banner, and in return, he’ll help Chen Zhifei gain the Yellow River authority, supporting him to become the Yellow River Water God," Tushan Qing said.
Hearing Tushan Qing’s words, Zhang Chen’s heart skipped a beat: "In that case, Chen Zhifei is quite the character, even willing to part with the Northern Profound Yuan Water Control Banner."
One must know that’s an Innate Spiritual Treasure, yet the other party was willing to give it up.
But upon further thought, Zhang Chen couldn’t help but admire Chen Zhifei’s schemes, as the Northern Profound Yuan Water Control Banner, after passing through generations of owners, its origin must have been tainted, and a decrease in power was inevitable.
Moreover, the Northern Profound Yuan Water Control Banner cannot aid in achieving immortality, but if appointed as the Yellow River Water God, his cultivation would reach the Eleventh Tier, and at the very least, he would be a Tenth Tier expert, which is akin to immortality.
Using a continuously weakening Innate Spiritual Treasure to exchange for a lasting divine position is indeed worth it.
Zhang Chen quickly figured out the intricacies, his eyes showing a sudden understanding. Then, looking at Tushan Qing’s worried eyes, he patted Tushan Qing’s shoulder: "What are you afraid of? If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. Hu Li the Immortal has already entered the Twelfth Tier, and with Hu Li the Immortal backing us, we need not fear that half-crippled Innate Water God."
"That’s easy to say, but Hu Li the Immortal won’t be by our side all the time. If the opponent catches us off guard, we’ll be in trouble," Tushan Qing grumbled.
"Perhaps before the White Lotus Sect finds us, the Yellow Heaven Dao will have clashed with the White Lotus Sect first. What are you worried about?" Zhang Chen casually comforted.