Since the talismanic technique had been worked on, couldn’t he proceed because he was worried about spending points?
Another five hundred points vanished, and then Zhang Chen’s Golden Finger Interface refreshed:
[8 Skill (Great Success): Body-Stabilizing Rune (0/1000)]
[Points: 1962]
[Remark 1: Can stabilize the body of one with strong Qi Blood]
Looking at the remaining points, Zhang Chen wasn’t distressed; he chose to add directly. After all, these were just leftover points, what good was it to keep them?
Moreover, he had quite an interest in this Body-Stabilizing Rune.
[8 Skill (Perfection): Body-Stabilizing Rune (0/2000)]
[Points: 962]
[Remark 1: Can stabilize those not yet at the tier.]
[Remark 2: Seek a yellow paper sheet, some cinnabar, mix and blend, then operate magical power to draw the rune.]
Seeing this, Zhang Chen’s eyes lit up. Especially as his gaze rested on ’those not yet at the tier,’ which meant that as long as he operated the talisman, the opponent had not entered the tier to unblock Essence, Qi, and Spirit; even if the opponent was a Core Embracing master, they’d still be frozen by his talisman.
"This competition is stable now." Zhang Chen looked at the skill, showing a trace of joy in his eyes.
But if he could grind the Body-Stabilizing Rune to a higher grade, it would be even more stable!
"However, intending to succeed requires two thousand points; I only have nine hundred sixty-two points now, where can the remaining thousand points be found?" Zhang Chen’s mind flickered with thoughts, starting to worry about the points again.
He felt that if the talismanic technique was upgraded, it would be classified, and by then, the power would be a revolutionary change.
"It seems I must visit the Empress Tomb for a chance. To acquire points, I still need to seek opportunity inside the Empress Tomb. And since it’s been so long, shouldn’t anyone be still targeting me?" Zhang Chen murmured to himself.
Not visiting the Empress Tomb for so long was not out of disinterest; he was afraid of being marked, and later, if leading others to the Empress Tomb, it would definitely cause major trouble.
Especially with Elder Wu Changming appearing in the Daoist Temple, it made Zhang Chen feel even more uneasy, unsure if he had revealed any flaws, or if Wu Changming had discovered his whereabouts.
After contemplating for a moment, Zhang Chen thought about experimenting. After all, he couldn’t never go, and now he was too weak. Facing ordinary Martial Dao experts, he was too vulnerable and completely incapable of counterattack; any sudden incident would leave him flustered.
Moreover, he was urgently lacking a large number of points. He needed to gather them from inside the Empress Tomb.
"I can transform into a bat now; I suppose I could attempt to enter through the crevice. If I can get close to that Twelfth Tier Mysterious, am I still worried about points?"
Thinking of this, Zhang Chen wiped away the talisman in the sand tray; in the next moment, transforming into a bat and disappearing from the room.
Zhang Chen transformed into a bat and disappeared, at that moment a Daoist Temple elder passed by and saw the bats flying around inside the temple. One of them said, "Have you noticed there seem to be more bats lately in our Daoist Temple?"
"Perhaps because the weather is too dry, mosquitoes have all died from the drought, and the bats have to come out during the day to hunt?" An elder hesitated to say.
"Let’s just go; hurry and find that damn meat thief, why bother with the bats." Another elder urged.
In the lush forest
Zhang Chen’s bat transformation had super acute hearing; though separated by dozens of meters from the elders, he still clearly heard their conversation: "Looks like I’ll have to be more cautious on future journeys; if the Yellow Heaven Dao locks onto me again, it’ll be troublesome."
Zhang Chen soared through the skies as a vampire bat, weaving through the air.
He first returned to the cavern to feed the hornets, then the hawks; only then did Zhang Chen open the Dharma Eye to survey the surroundings and see if any old folks were shadowing him.
He mastered the Celestial Eye—if there was an elder stalking him in secret, they certainly couldn’t escape his scrutiny.
After carefully surveying for a while, Zhang Chen arrived inside the cavern; the next moment, transforming into a vampire bat, he gathered into a ball and rushed into the water.
Zhang Chen maneuvered through the water, flying forward, emerging in the dark narrow cavern; then, the vampire bat Zhang Chen transformed into burst out from the water’s surface, soaring in the darkness, arriving once more at the stone chamber.
The underground world was completely dark, so dark one couldn’t see their hand in front of them; Zhang Chen’s form appeared in the darkness, then he gestured at the depths of the water flow with his right hand, and that underground dark river surged, a Luminous Pearl appeared in his hand.
This Luminous Pearl was as large as an infant’s head, illuminating an area of over twenty meters, Zhang Chen came to the crevice, accompanied by the river’s scouring, the mud on the walls was washed off, from within the crevice a brilliant earth-yellow light was cast, illuminating the entire darkness.
"Twelfth Tier Mysterious..." Zhang Chen stood at one side of the crevice, looking at the resplendent light on the other side; next moment, his form flickered, transforming into thirty-six vampire bats.
Then, a single vampire bat settled at the crevice, crawling inward along the crevice.
"Must succeed!"
Zhang Chen said quietly to himself.
As the bat ventured into the crevice, the mist inside the stone wall regenerated once more, but as close as three feet to the bat, all mist dispersed because a bead unknown when was hanging on the bat, that bead containing Light of the True God dispelling the mist within the crevice.
However, as the bat drew closer to the depths of the crevice, its movements slowed, as if an invisible burden weighed upon it, making its steps heavier and heavy as if bearing a load exceeding its capacity.
The key was that the bat’s internal organs began to experience intense pain; the gravity didn’t just press on the bat’s body but acted directly on its organs, its very soul, and spirit.
Finally, at a certain point, the bat ceased its movements, and blood steadily dripped from its seven orifices; now the crystal core in its heart pounded frantically, continuously healing the bat’s injuries.
Zhang Chen stopped his action, silently thinking: "The speed of healing by the crystal core can’t keep up with the gravity’s destructive speed. And I still have twenty meters to go to the crevice; the gravity will grow heavier afterward, unable to achieve a balance between healing and destruction."
Considerably pondering for a long time, Zhang Chen ultimately retracted that bat transformation, knowing that although the bat transformation’s death wouldn’t kill him, it would surely deplete his Primordial Qi.
For a cultivator, the Essence, Qi, and Spirit—the three treasures—are extremely important and mustn’t be easily destroyed.
Knowing something impossible yet forcing it would be foolish.
With a thought in his mind, the bat returned, and Zhang Chen reappeared in the cavern: "I recall there’s much experience behind that bronze door, as long as I go there I can collect plenty of experience."
Zhang Chen held the Luminous Pearl high, beneath him the river water lifted, forming a water path staircase, Zhang Chen’s steps froze the flowing water into ice as he stepped toward the bronze door.
Zhang Chen walked quickly, for experience was vital to him.
Zhang Chen once again came before the bronze door, his eyes fixed on the gap underneath.
Though the bronze door was lifted off the ground, the high threshold blocked it, still airtight.
"It’s rather difficult to twist the bronze door to form a passage for a person, but to create a gap for a bat to pass through is possible. I don’t need complete bats passing; I can crush the bat’s thoracic cavity flat. With my current crystal core’s recovery ability, it shouldn’t kill me. I don’t even need all bat transformations to pass; one single bat transformation should suffice." Zhang Chen quietly calculated how quickly to pass the bronze door and the opportunities therein.
"It still has to be blasted with gunpowder; as long as there’s enough gunpowder, eventually the bronze door will be deformed." Zhang Chen thought for a long time before coming up with a countermeasure.
He needed gunpowder! And lots and lots of gunpowder!