The Qilin’s Heart is ultimately not an intelligent entity, but rather bursts forth with as much energy as the crisis brought by the outside world requires.
If the energy actively released when Zhang Chen was dueling with this Southern Qilin before was like a torch, then the energy passively released now at most resembles a little candle.
Yet even this little candle-like energy still possesses a world-destroying power.
As the rock melted into magma, Zhong Xiang directly sank into the depths of the earth along with the magma, while Zhang Chen, shrouded in ice, closely followed behind. At the same time, the ice transformed into a hand, grabbing a talisman and sticking it directly onto Zhong Xiang’s body.
As Zhang Chen placed a new talisman on Zhong Xiang, the talisman that had been refining in his body turned into a stream of light and was summoned back by Zhang Chen, with a new talisman replacing the old one.
The talisman that was summoned back, although melted in Zhong Xiang’s body, restored its original appearance in a breath after returning to Zhang Chen’s Magical Power, nourished by it.
At this moment, Zhang Chen’s Magical Power consumption was one-tenth.
"My Qi Cultivation level is too low, and it seems that the Magical Power consumption can’t keep up," Zhang Chen, transformed into ice, followed closely behind the flames, constantly calculating the ratio of Magical Power consumption and talisman replacement in his mind.
[7 Skills (Entry-level): Qi Cultivation Third Heaven (2500/4000)]
[Points: 27400]
"The progress of my own cultivation reaching fifty points a day is not slow, but compared to grinding points directly, it feels like a snail’s pace," Zhang Chen muttered to himself.
Then Zhang Chen saw the points disappear from his body and unhesitatingly added them directly:
...
[7 Skills (Entry-level): Qi Cultivation Fifth Heaven (2500/16000)]
[Points: 15400]
Zhang Chen looked at the points in front of him and cried inwardly, "What a coincidence, the remaining fifteen thousand points are not enough for an upgrade, but adding those two thousand five hundred points just allows for one level up."
As the thought crossed Zhang Chen’s mind, Qi Cultivation Fifth Heaven directly progressed to Qi Cultivation Sixth Heaven:
[7 Skills (Entry-level): Qi Cultivation Sixth Heaven (0/32000)]
[Points: 1900]
Zhang Chen made a three-step leap, jumping from Qi Cultivation Third Heaven to Qi Cultivation Sixth Heaven, and with the enhancement of the Qi Cultivation realm, the green lotus in Zhang Chen’s Spiritual World underwent changes again; a leaf of the lotus gradually solidified, appearing less illusory.
Simultaneously, Zhang Chen’s Magical Power increased, and the consumption ratio of the talisman directly dropped to one-twentieth.
According to this analysis, each restoration and consumption of the Gold Talisman and Silver Talisman is one-twentieth of total Magical Power.
"Which means I can perform twenty more replacements, each lasting about thirty breaths..." Zhang Chen stopped pondering because when the third talisman was being replaced, the Qilin’s Heart withdrew its flames after not sensing any external threat, and by this time Zhang Chen had already descended thirty meters deep along with Zhong Xiang into the rocks.
Zhang Chen hurriedly placed a new talisman on Zhong Xiang, then turned back to look at the scorching magma from which he came, the sight of red colors evident before him. In the next moment, the Water Control Skill was activated, summoning underground river water over.
Thirty meters underground now, mountain spring water had already been dug out, and Zhang Chen directly drew the water flow to launch a thrust, pushing the molten magma inside the cave outward.
Outside
Chen Xu stood at the edge of the pit, feeling restless, his eyes fixed on the seething magma within the pit, anxiety evident in his gaze.
He feared that Zhang Chen would truly disregard everything and kill Zhong Xiang, but just as thoughts flickered through his mind, suddenly the underground magma surged forth like a spring, and before long the molten passageway was cleared.
"Your Excellency, are you okay?" Chen Xu called out from afar standing outside the pit.
"I’m fine..."
Zhang Chen, commanding the water flow, climbed out of the pit and took a breath of the cool air outside.
"What about Zhong Xiang?" Chen Xu looked at Zhang Chen, his face tense with worry.
"Still alive. Rest assured, even if he is truly killed, all the responsibility will fall on me, and I won’t implicate you," Zhang Chen said as he watched the flowing molten magma, its bright color especially prominent in the night, and hurried to employ the Water Control Technique to extinguish the magma.
"Your Excellency, it’s not as if you won’t implicate by just saying so, the Zhong Family won’t listen to a villain’s explanation! After we’ve used him, shall we still let him go? Sparing his life might leave us some room for maneuver..." Chen Xu looked at Zhang Chen with a face full of hesitance, cautiously asking.
"Don’t harbor any illusions. That brat is a noble, viewing us as ants, how would he leave us a way out? You’re thinking too much. Now that you’ve boarded my pirate ship, you still think you can jump off? You’re dreaming too beautifully!" Zhang Chen retorted impatiently.
Chen Xu sat down on the ground, sighing deeply, "What sin have I committed? How could Heaven punish me so?"
Zhang Chen glanced at Chen Xu’s troubled face, quietly replenishing his Magical Power, and within half an hour, his Magical Power had been mostly restored, then he ventured back into the passageway.
The passage was quite wide, about two meters, so Zhang Chen didn’t feel narrow at all as he descended.
At this moment, sounds of water flow echoed in the passageway, the gurgling of spring water continuously reverberating in the air, as spring water steadily flowed into the pit.
When Zhang Chen reached the bottom of the pit, he saw Zhong Xiang already floating on the water current, full of humiliation, his face facing upwards in the flow. Luckily Zhong Xiang was face-up; otherwise, Zhang Chen wouldn’t dare to imagine if this guy might drown.