Hu Li the Immortal is not willing to take the blame!
Hu Li the Immortal’s eyes revealed a hint of evil qi, and his voice was full of contempt: "You people surrounded the treasure in the center, where was there any chance for me to intervene? Do you have eyes on your backside, rambling nonsense all day?"
The crude words of Hu Li the Immortal made Gu Mingyue’s face flush with anger, her qi mechanism boiling over, but facing Hu Li the Immortal, who had already stepped into the twelfth tier of cultivation, she dared not retort.
After casting a cold glance at everyone, Hu Li the Immortal turned and disappeared into the crowd, leaving everyone looking at each other in silence.
"That fellow took the treasure and may not have gone far, perhaps left traces nearby." Gu Mingyue muttered, starting to use divine techniques to search the vicinity.
The rest also began searching for suspicious people nearby.
At this time, bystanders from afar, seeing that the area had cleared, rushed in, hoping to find traces of creation and see if they could gain anything.
Yet, no matter how everyone searched the mountains, they couldn’t find the hidden aura. Zhang Chen, who used the Buzhou Seal to suppress all his fluctuations, remained undiscovered.
And Zhang Chen, taking advantage of everyone searching chaotically in the mountains, stealthily surfaced from the ground, put away the Buzhou Seal, and joined the search party. Everything was under Zhang Chen’s control.
A day later, patriarch-level figures left helplessly, understanding clearly that since the opponent had managed to succeed right under their noses, their methods were extraordinary, almost without exposure risk. Their day-long search was merely wishful thinking, refusing to give up.
As the patriarchs left, Zhang Chen continued wandering in the mountains, trying hard to blend his actions with ordinary people, searching alongside other ordinary cultivators.
By the next evening
Most of the cultivators had left the mountains, but a small number, still unwilling to give up, continued searching.
Seeing this, Zhang Chen prepared to leave as well, intending to return to the city to perform sacrificial refining with the God-Beating Whip, unwilling to waste more time in the mountains.
Zhang Chen set off towards Jinling City, but before he had gone a hundred miles, he saw a misty silhouette blocking his path in the mist ahead.
Upon seeing the misty silhouette, Zhang Chen tensed up: "Innate Water God!"
"Why is he blocking my path? Is it a coincidence, or is he specifically waiting for me here? Did I inadvertently leak my qi mechanism while hiding, allowing this innate deity to spot a flaw?" Zhang Chen pondered briefly and decisively changed direction to the west. However, he had barely traveled a mile when he again saw that misty silhouette standing on a boulder ahead.
Looking at the Innate Water God once again obstructing his path, most of Zhang Chen’s luck vanished. After brief contemplation, he turned eastward, but again, after traveling a mile, he found the Innate Water God blocking his way.
Now Zhang Chen’s face turned grim. He understood that the other party blocking the way wasn’t a coincidence; they were indeed deliberately waiting for him.
"How did I get exposed? Or has the theft of the Innate Water God’s body been discovered?" Zhang Chen felt puzzled and guilty, unable to figure out where the flaw was.
"Shall we converse upfront?" Just when Zhang Chen was uncertain, the Innate Water God spoke ahead.
At this point, the Innate Water God’s qi mechanism was restrained, and no aura leaked out. No one could detect their presence within Jinling City’s territory, and naturally, no one could come to Zhang Chen’s aid.
Upon hearing the Innate Water God speak, Zhang Chen contemplated briefly and chose not to flee immediately. Instead, he stepped forward.
First, he needed to find out where the problem lay and then think of a way to fix the loophole.
"Why do you block my path, Your Deity?" Zhang Chen asked upon reaching ten steps from the Innate Water God.
"You harbor significant hostility towards me." The Innate Water God did not answer Zhang Chen but instead asked in return, "We hold no personal grievances. Why do you bear such hostility towards me?"
"I am merely an ant living in the world of mortals. A figure like you wouldn’t bother to pay attention to me. You’re blocking my path; it surely can’t be because you find my talent extraordinary and want to grant me Creation, lending me a helping hand to ascend to the pinnacle, right?" Zhang Chen said perceptively, directly refuting.
"You are indeed clever." The Innate Water God let out a faint sigh at these words, "I stopped you, not to bestow Creation upon you; rather, I wish to borrow something from you."
As Zhang Chen listened to the Innate Water God’s words, he quietly speculated in his heart and eliminated the possibility that the theft of the Innate Water God’s body had been discovered. If the Innate Water God knew he had stolen its body and dissected it into pieces, it would not have this attitude now.
"Could it be that my God-Beating Whip has truly been leaked?" Zhang Chen was suspicious and uncertain in his heart. "Did he stop me because he wanted the God-Beating Whip?"
However, Zhang Chen couldn’t take the initiative to ask about this matter. If the other party had stopped him for another reason, mentioning the God-Beating Whip would only reveal himself, wouldn’t it?
While Zhang Chen’s mind raced with thoughts, the Innate Water God across from him finally opened its mouth to speak, resolving Zhang Chen’s doubts.
"You’re a disciple of the Shen Family, right? I can feel it. The bloodline I once created flows within you. Now, I need the bloodline from your body to return. Once you and I merge into one, I will step into the Twelfth Tier and revive the glory of the Shen Family," the Innate Water God said, its voice filled with lament:
"Once I step into the Twelfth Tier, I can reestablish the Shen Family’s glory, annihilate all the Shen Family’s enemies. And you will be a great contributor to the Shen Family’s rise. The deep-seated hatred of your parents and siblings can be avenged, and their wandering souls can finally rest in peace."
"Return to within me. You come from me. I am your ancestor. Now, as you return to your origin and recognize your ancestor again, I will lead you to ascend to the pinnacle and experience all the beauty under Heaven." As the Innate Water God spoke, a dense fog suddenly surged within a ten-mile radius, quietly and eerily sweeping toward Zhang Chen.
After hearing the Innate Water God’s words, Zhang Chen couldn’t help but secretly sigh in relief: ’Goodness! I worried for nothing.’
He had considered countless reasons why the Innate Water God would seek him out, yet he forgot that the bloodline of the Shen Family also coursed through his body. The Innate Water God wished to enhance its power by targeting him.
"Despite my flawless planning and impeccable layout, I never anticipated that this situation would cause trouble. Truly, human plans cannot keep up with Heaven’s plans!" Zhang Chen let out a faint sigh, filled with emotion internally.
Fortunately, his path was blocked by the Innate Water God, who happens to hold the Authority of Water Element. The Authority of Water Element has absolute control over the Law of Water, so even if the Innate Water God is before him, it cannot mobilize the Law of Water between Heaven and Earth.
But even if the Innate Water God doesn’t mobilize the Law of Heaven and Earth, its cultivation has already reached the Eleventh Tier, forged a Divine Body, and possesses various Divine Techniques. Its physical body has the power to split mountains and crack rocks, not someone easy to deal with.
"Although my bloodline comes from the ancestor, I am now an independent individual. I don’t wish to merge with the ancestor or ascend to the pinnacle. I’m not interested in the ancestor’s grand ambitions. I just want to live peacefully, that’s all. Therefore, I can only refuse the ancestor’s request. I ask that the ancestor please depart." Zhang Chen looked earnestly at the Innate Water God.
"Boy, have I given you face? I, the ancestor, am advising you nicely, merely to give you some dignity, so you can die with respect. If you don’t seek dignity for yourself, then I, as the ancestor, can only help you in that regard." The Innate Water God let out a soft sigh, its voice filled with murderous intent.
"You wish to help me maintain dignity? Haha, we’ll see if you’re capable." Zhang Chen replied leisurely.
The encroaching fog was eerie, infused with the power to freeze everything in place. As it passed, everything froze into a state of ice crystals. But the moment the fog approached within three feet of Zhang Chen, it seemed to encounter an invisible barrier, blocked and unable to advance a fraction further.
"Hmm?" Seeing its own Divine Power unable to overcome Zhang Chen, the Innate Water God was stunned, its eyes full of disbelief. "Your Bloodline Power comes from me, facing me, your origin, how can there be resistance?"
Its eyes were filled with disbelief.
"I don’t wish to engage in unnecessary conflict with the ancestor. Please, ancestor, return." Zhang Chen merely wielded the Authority of Water Element to protect a distance of three feet around himself, without showcasing the full power of his Authority of Water Element to the Innate Water God.
"Ha, you think you can oppose me with such petty tricks?" The Innate Water God laughed coldly at these words. The next moment, the strands of fog instantly coalesced into symbols, countless runes weaving into chains, eighteen chains forming and entangling toward Zhang Chen.
The eighteen chains twisted like Spiritual Snakes, but the moment they neared the three-foot radius around Zhang Chen, they collapsed, reverting into mist.
In the face of the Authority of Water Element, even the supreme being like the Innate Water God was restrained.
"How can it be! What technique is this?" The Innate Water God suddenly changed color, its eyes filled with disbelief, its voice carrying a hint of horror.
This was not expected, that facing a descendant of the Shen family’s own ancestor, its techniques were dissolved, how could this not cause alarm?
"Impossible!" As if unbelieving its own eyes, the Innate Water God once again summoned the expansive fog, transforming it into water vapor, which in turn became ice arrows, shooting toward Zhang Chen, intending to pierce him with thousands of arrows.