Zhang Chen now has completely abandoned the thought of harvesting experience points, because he knows that once the stele escapes, the outside world is full of uncertainties. There’s no telling what kind of transformation might occur if the stele comes into contact with any Sun and Moon Essence, and by then, the dragon would have entered the sea, turning against him.
Golden Light surged within Zhang Chen’s body as he placed both palms on the Jade Stele, continuously inflicting damage upon it.
"I refuse to believe that there is truly something indestructible in this world," Zhang Chen muttered fiercely, urging the Golden Light within him.
A day passed swiftly, and Zhang Chen didn’t even have lunch. He continued to channel energy into the Jade Stele. By now, most of the blood-red threads inside the stele had vanished, leaving only those deep within, unreachable by his Golden Light.
As the day was about to end, Zhang Chen finally withdrew his hands, his eyes fixed on the stele before him, his gaze scanning the red threads within, noticing a subtle change: "The rate of blood-red thread generation has slowed down!"
A self-satisfied smile tugged at Zhang Chen’s lips: "I knew it couldn’t be that there were no changes."
At this moment, there was no longer any blood-red Qi Mechanism surrounding the Jade Stele, evidently purified by Zhang Chen’s Golden Light.
"There is a result! There is still a result! It’s just that I don’t know how long it will take to completely obliterate it, or if I even have the capability to do so with my current power. From this place to the hole’s exit there is about fifteen steps, which means I only have about fifteen days. Once those fifteen days are up and the stele sees sunlight or moonlight, it might transform, giving it an opportunity to counterattack, and I’d have nowhere to cry." Zhang Chen’s heart was filled with urgency, and he left the tomb carrying his basket, headed deep into the mountains to gather honey, to feed his hornets, checked on his traps, and returned home.
The hornets were his future protection against ambushes, so Zhang Chen was particularly diligent in feeding them, trying to increase their numbers and providing them with ample food.
He cut some grass, then returned home to feed it to the roe deer. Looking at the two deer in the yard, he pondered momentarily before saying, "Once I deal with that stele, I’ll send the deer to my mother and little sister. My hunting skill has improved now, and since I no longer have to support the Fox Spirit, I can’t finish the game on my own."
It had been three months since he awakened memories of his previous life, yet he had never visited his stepmother and little sister. To be honest, he couldn’t quite get past his own emotional barrier, not knowing how to face them. After all, he had suddenly gained a lifetime of memories, mainly from the perspective of the 21st century, lacking a sense of belonging to this world and not knowing how to face his stepmother and little sister.
"I have to face them eventually. After all, my stepmother treated me fairly well. After my biological father died, she managed to raise the three of us siblings all on her own!" Zhang Chen shook his head, knowing that some things inevitably had to be faced.
However, his stepmother and him did not live in the same village; his village was in front of the mountain, while his stepmother’s village was behind it.
In the past, due to the threat of the Fox Spirit, perhaps it was also because he didn’t want to involve his stepmother and little sister; this was one reason he hadn’t visited them.
With the threat of the Fox Spirit and barely enough food for himself, what could he bring to visit his stepmother and little sister? Going would only be a burden, as his stepmother’s life wasn’t easy as it was.
"And the future days might not be peaceful, requiring early planning," Zhang Chen muttered, lying on his bed, listening to the clatter of pots and pans next door, always feeling like the noise had grown louder and more irritating these days.
He didn’t know that the Fox Spirit had drilled many holes in the wall to suppress the stele, so it’s no surprise the noise was noticeable.
Zhang Chen fell into a drowsy sleep, his mind filled with thoughts of the stele, and when he woke again, he heard the loud crowing of a rooster in his ears.
He forgot to mention, among the pheasants he caught, there was a rooster.
With the crowing, Zhang Chen washed up and headed into the mountains with his basket on his back.
Today’s traps caught two pheasants and a rabbit.
Carrying the game, Zhang Chen arrived at the ancient tomb, entered it, and gazed at the Jade Stele emitting a faint glow in the darkness. Lighting a torch, he went closer and carefully observed, finding that the stele had indeed moved almost identically as it had the previous day.
There was no experience points or skills dropped again today.
Inside the Jade Stele, the blood-red threads were flowing, but most of the stele was blank, indicating that after a whole night, the opponent hadn’t replenished it.
Seeing the distance the stele had moved, a sense of urgency rose within Zhang Chen, and without delay, he quickly pressed Golden Light down upon it.
"Buzz~"
Golden Light burst forth, countless blood-red threads snapped under its radiance, and then an overwhelming surge of Golden Light swept across, causing large swathes of red threads to vanish immediately.
Without pausing, Zhang Chen continually infused the stele with Golden Light, and in less than half a day, there weren’t any visible red threads left inside the Jade Stele except at its center, where Golden Light couldn’t reach — red light swirled, seemingly resisting Zhang Chen’s Golden Light but failing to succeed since the moment the red threads appeared, they were evaporated by Zhang Chen’s Golden Light.
"It works!" Zhang Chen was overjoyed at this sight, his eyes filled with excitement, and he continued to unleash torrents of Golden Light, his motivation spurred by the effectiveness of his efforts.
Golden Light circulated vigorously within Zhang Chen’s body, and as it was infused, the blood-red light at the stele’s center seemed to be affected, with its red radiance slowly fading away.
A day had passed, and Zhang Chen stopped his actions, left the cave, and proceeded with his regular activities of feeding the hornets, collecting honey, feeding the sparrowhawks, cutting grass, and then returned home to sleep.
On the morning of the third day
After checking the traps and capturing game, Zhang Chen returned to the tomb, but the stele had again shifted the same distance. However, when Zhang Chen opened his Dharma Eye, there were no more blood-red threads inside, only a faint red glow struggling like a weak flame in the deepest part of the stele.
Without a word, Zhang Chen threw his basket on the ground, and a torrent of Golden Light erupted from his palms, flooding into the stele once more.
Three hours later, during one of Zhang Chen’s mechanical motions of raising his arm and pressing his palm onto the stele, when Golden Light burst from the center of his palm, there was a ’crack’ sound in the silent underground cave.
The sound was very subtle, almost imperceptible, but to Zhang Chen, who was watching every change in the stele up close, it was like a Thunder explosion.