Regarding the care Zhou Qiucheng and Zhou Zhen showed him, Zhang Chen had mixed emotions, but there was no doubt that the Zhou family father and son were good people.
"Chen Sanliang is coming to Jinling for a discourse; what should I do then?" A trace of hesitation rose in Zhang Chen’s heart at this moment.
"Come on, let’s go in together." Zhou Zhen pulled Zhang Chen into the Exquisite Tower, and as they walked side by side, Zhou Zhen spoke: "Last night Jiang Nan presented two elixirs to my father, and he accepted her as a direct disciple. I noticed that there seems to be a rift between you and Jiang Nan. Should I mediate to resolve the enmity between you two?"
There was a probing tone in Zhou Zhen’s words.
"There’s no rift; we just happened to meet a few times. She was a guest at the Shen family at the time, and so was I, so we’re relatively familiar." Zhang Chen replied unhurriedly, kicking the topic aside.
Upon hearing Zhou Zhen mention two elixirs, Zhang Chen recalled the two Eight-Treasure Heart-lock Pills he gave to Jiang Nan and murmured to himself, "Could it be such a coincidence? This woman’s generosity is astonishing! Those were two Eight-Treasure Heart-lock Pills, and she still parted with them! Especially since she’s now destitute, to spend so lavishly and give away two Eight-Treasure Heart-lock Pills shows admirable courage."
Jiang Nan sending out two Eight-Treasure Heart-lock Pills indeed made Zhang Chen view her in a new light. If she had only given away one, keeping one for herself, Zhang Chen would not consider her remarkable. But for her to have the courage to go all in, Zhang Chen felt he had underestimated her; at least he himself did not have such nerve.
"This woman is ruthless!" Zhang Chen murmured to himself.
Once inside the Exquisite Tower, they saw a group of people examining Shen Qiu’s mural, trying to discern insights. Zhang Chen ignored them and continued to observe the other murals on the Exquisite Tower.
"Old man, how can we summon the mysterious entity sealed inside the Exquisite Tower?" Zhang Chen asked.
Upon hearing Zhang Chen’s question, the Great Freedom Celestial Demon shrank to thumb-size and landed on Zhang Chen’s sleeve, clinging to the sleeve to examine the entire Exquisite Tower. After a moment, he had an idea: "Just shatter this Exquisite Tower, and countless mysterious entities will naturally escape from their seal at that time."
"This Exquisite Tower is a damaged Innate Spiritual Treasure; it’s not like I can break it. Even a twelfth-tier expert wouldn’t be able to break the Exquisite Tower." Zhang Chen denied the suggestion.
"The main issue is the suppressive power of the Exquisite Tower, which hampers your Celestial Measuring Ruler. Otherwise, you could simply use the Celestial Measuring Ruler to tear open space and release those mysterious entities, which would be a mere trifle." The Great Freedom Celestial Demon muttered.
"How can we release those sealed mysterious entities, or how can we establish a resonance with them?" Zhang Chen asked again.
"You need to align with the rules of the mysterious entities, or have a mindset compatible with them, to resonate with the mysterious and become their host." The Great Freedom Celestial Demon replied.
Upon hearing the Great Freedom Celestial Demon’s words, Zhang Chen felt thoughtful, as he did not meet either of these criteria.
"Of course, there’s another way..." The Great Freedom Celestial Demon elongated his tone.
"What’s the way?" Zhang Chen promptly asked.
"Summon the Sea of Blood Array to soak the entire Exquisite Tower within it; within a century, the Exquisite Tower will be tainted by the Sea of Blood filth, allowing countless entities inside to escape and fall into the Sea of Blood to become monsters of the Sea of Blood. This would help strengthen the power of your Sea of Blood, possibly elevating its might to a new level." The Great Freedom Celestial Demon explained.
"Zhou Qiucheng’s soul is already connected with the Exquisite Tower; if I use the Sea of Blood filth to taint the Exquisite Tower, Zhou Qiucheng’s soul would also be polluted by the Sea of Blood power. You’re just offering lousy ideas." Zhang Chen rebuked the Great Freedom Celestial Demon.
"It’s not a lousy idea, because apart from this, there’s no other way." The Great Freedom Celestial Demon stated.
"Can’t you just use the Heart Demon to control those entities?" Zhang Chen asked.
The Great Freedom Celestial Demon shook his head: "Many entities don’t even have souls, just fragments of instincts following their own rules. Others have chaotic souls with disordered thoughts that are beyond parasitism. I can only parasitize beings that possess emotional existence and complete cognitive patterns."
Understanding the other party’s words, Zhang Chen recognized that the other party’s divine techniques were also quite limited, causing him to mutter ’turns out he’s waste too,’ which infuriated the Great Freedom Celestial Demon to the point of stomping and gnashing his teeth at Zhang Chen.
After noisy disputes for another day, with Tushan Qing’s departure, the three little ones headed to Kyoto, and Zhang Chen found life becoming lonely and devoid of fun.
Time slowly passed, and Zhang Chen earnestly sought ways to exploit loopholes at Chongzheng Academy daily, as life seemed to return to tranquility.
A month later
In Zhang Chen’s room, he stood under the bright moonlight, his eyes gazing into the void, revealing a hint of somber uncertainty.
"Something feels off!" Zhang Chen’s eyes revealed a hint of confusion, seemingly caught in a puzzling dilemma.
"What’s wrong?" The Great Freedom Celestial Demon held a flower petal, sniffing leisurely.
Zhang Chen did not answer the Great Freedom Celestial Demon’s question, instead his eyes looked through the void towards the Ice Hell, and saw that the mysterious hand he had imprisoned there didn’t drop any experience points.
"From the time I suppressed this hand in the Spiritual World till now, it’s been over a year and a month, logically there should have been new experience points dropped long ago. So why haven’t there been any experience points dropped?" Zhang Chen was filled with bewilderment.
It must be known that Zhang Chen was counting on this hand to deliver a wave of abundance, to upgrade his skills further. This hand can drop forty billion points a year, absolutely a major producer of points, Zhang Chen held it in high expectation, but who knew this hand didn’t drop any experience points?
This instantly left Zhang Chen disappointed, his heart sunk to the bottom.
Yet the points of experience are his unique secret, he couldn’t consult others or discuss this issue with anyone, not even daring to tell the Great Freedom Celestial Demon.
"Why haven’t there been any experience points dropped?" Zhang Chen’s Primordial Spirit constantly deduced various possibilities.
"Perhaps there’s one possibility, that it’s related to the Ice Hell." Zhang Chen mused aloud.
The hand is in a sealed and imprisoned state, hence it hasn’t dropped any experience points.
"Apart from this reason, I really can’t think of any other causes. When I capture a few more strange beings and throw them into the Ice Hell for a while, I will know after an attempt." Zhang Chen pondered aloud.
Having come to a decision, Zhang Chen entered the house, looked at the lit Soul-Forming Lamp, with a touch of contemplation in his eyes, then added some oil to the lamp.
In the wick of the Soul-Forming Lamp, two streams of light swam like fish within the flame.
"I have already found one soul and one spirit of my master, I’ll continue to work hard, and one day I will restore my master’s three souls and seven spirits. At that time, reviving my master will be just around the corner." Zhang Chen carefully placed the Soul-Forming Lamp in a corner, sat cross-legged on the bed, his Primordial Spirit entered the Third Heaven of the Spiritual World, and saw the entire Third Heaven had shrunk a bit, the entire world filled with an indescribable exhaustion, countless world origins extracted by the Earth Dragon Vein, was being infused into the Alchemy Furnace.
Within the Alchemy Furnace, the Sun True Flame burned fiercely, already melting all materials, enveloping the God-Beating Whip for forging.
"Soon, when I’ve drained the entire Third Heaven dry, then reverse the Primordial within the Alchemy Furnace, transforming it into the Heaven and Earth Primordial Embryo, my God-Beating Whip will be successfully forged." Zhang Chen observed the forging of the God-Beating Whip for a moment, then began to manipulate the heat, controlling the restrictions of the God-Beating Whip.
When dawn arrived, Zhang Chen’s Primordial Spirit returned from the Spiritual World, got up and headed towards the academy.
Yet before he could step out of the door, he saw Huang Chao rushing urgently from outside, upon seeing Zhang Chen he quickly called out: "Zhang, please stop."
Zhang Chen turned to Huang Chao, seeing his hurried appearance, curiously asked: "Is there something wrong?"
"There’s trouble! That Po Jun Star Zhao Lie wants to cause you trouble, you need to be cautious and careful, if you can’t handle it, it’s better to escape quickly." Huang Chao said breathlessly.
"Is Po Jun Star Zhao Lie going to take action against me? Yellow Heaven Dao has managed to hold off till now, that’s quite something." Zhang Chen wasn’t flustered.
In fact, ever since his figure was exposed to Yellow Heaven Dao’s sights, he was already keenly aware that this would happen sooner or later. Xiaodouding carries a big secret, concerning Yellow Heaven Dao’s future development, now Yellow Heaven Dao has perceived his trail, if they don’t swarm up to cause him trouble, that would be surprising.
Previously Yellow Heaven Dao didn’t trouble him because Jinling City’s situation was unstable, and Yellow Heaven Dao prioritized stability, now Jinling City has stabilized, of course, Yellow Heaven Dao would start taking proactive action.
"I understand! You don’t need to pass on messages anymore, lest you get involved. It’s just Yellow Heaven Dao, why would I fear?" Zhang Chen scoffed.
His Eleventh Tier Sun True Flame is an absolute attack Divine Technique, and it is among the best of attack Divine Techniques.
You really think my Sun True Flame is just for show?
No matter who you are, if you want to oppose me, first you have to see if you can withstand the scorching of the Sun True Flame.
"That Zhao Lie is a Ninth Tier Great Cultivator, and with the Authority of Stars, he dares to compete with even a Tenth Tier expert." Huang Chao’s voice turned serious: "I know you rely on the Chongzheng Academy’s principal Zhou Qiucheng, but now Yellow Heaven Dao has a Yangtze River Water God, and with him joining forces with Zhao Lie, even Zhou Qiucheng may not be able to protect you fully. If it’s other matters, considering Zhou Qiucheng’s status as an Eleventh Tier expert, Yellow Heaven Dao wouldn’t easily offend, but Chengyu is different, Chengyu must not have any mistakes, it’s someone specifically pointed out by Yellow Heaven Dao, Yellow Heaven Dao will not rest until the goal is achieved."
One could tell that Huang Chao was indeed very anxious at this moment.