Upon hearing Chengyu’s words, Zhang Chen instinctively looked towards the Blood Sea World, and saw the Blood God Child quietly soaking in the blood sea. After absorbing the blood of those soldiers, the Blood God Child seemed to have become much stronger, and its originally illusory body now had a faint, mist-like solidity.
"Coward! This guy looks bold, but when faced with problems, he only hides behind; he’s just a bully of the weak and fearful of the strong, not worth mentioning." Zhang Chen held disdain in his heart towards Zhang Xiaohua. Having been neighbors for several years, did he not know what kind of person the other was?
However, considering the other party’s noble status, it’s understandable that "the son of a thousand-pound man does not sit in a sagging hall."
If he were in the other’s shoes, with a bright future and all sorts of fortuitous encounters within arm’s reach, he too would never take any risks.
"Truly envious of his status," Zhang Chen was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.
After the morning class, Zhang Chen and Xiaodouding hurried to the cafeteria, but halfway there, Wei Yingwu jogged up to them:
"Zhang Chen, stop, I have something to say to you."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen stopped, exchanged a glance with Chengyu, and displayed a hint of caution in his eyes. Wei Yingwu was not a good person. In the past, in order to win the first place in the sect competition, he had secretly colluded with outsiders to harm several senior brothers at the foot of the mountain. He was a spy from Prince Pingbian’s Mansion, and since Zhang and his companion had no previous interactions with him, why would he now stop them?
Zhang Chen felt astonished but remembered the morning incident without panicking. Instead, he smiled like a spring breeze and saluted: "So it’s Senior Brother Wei."
"Zhang Chen, there is something I need to advise you about." Wei Yingwu came over from afar and stood before Zhang Chen, arrogantly saying, "How have you been handling the matter that the Crown Prince asked you to do? You need to hurry up with Xie Lingyun’s issue. The Crown Prince said yesterday that he hadn’t seen Xie Lingyun for some days and asked you to go down the mountain to invite Xie Lingyun to come. If you do this quickly, the Crown Prince’s rewards will be plentiful."
"Once Zhang Chen is sent down the mountain, I will naturally have a way to get rid of him. I am a martial arts expert, so how can I not deal with an ordinary person?"
Zhang Chen looked at Wei Yingwu with both eyes, secretly sneered in his heart, but maintained an expressionless face and said, "So it’s about this matter, and it actually troubled Senior Brother to come here again. But Senior Brother doesn’t understand, how could I possibly influence Xie Lingyun? Senior Brother is putting me in a tough spot."
"Don’t play dumb with me, I don’t care about all that. Since the Crown Prince has spoken, you must ease his worries and complete the task beautifully; otherwise, don’t blame me for being hard on you and ignoring our sect-mate relationship." Wei Yingwu said arrogantly.
At this, Xiaodouding was so angry he almost exploded and was about to step out to curse, but Zhang Chen held him back without showing any emotion, and then smiled and said, "I’ll do as I’m told."
"Consider yourself sensible," Wei Yingwu snorted coldly, then turned and left.
"That bastard, how dare he be so arrogant and overbearing? I want to put him in his place! Does he really think that by clinging to the Crown Prince, he’s superior? He’s just a lackey, yet he dares to speak to us like that," Xiaodouding said, furious.
"He’s just trying to curry favor with Zhang Xiaohua, a trivial character not worth bothering about! I’ll handle this matter and make sure he gets what’s coming to him," Zhang Chen said, patting Xiaodouding’s head.
He understood the reason behind the incident, and it was not the excuse Wei Yingwu gave—it must have been this morning’s affair.
"Alright then! I trust your methods," Xiaodouding nodded obediently.
The two returned to the courtyard, Xiaodouding continued to practice diligently, while Zhang Chen contemplated how to kill Wei Yingwu. Since Wei Yingwu had made things difficult for him, it indicated suspicion, and there was no way to peacefully resolve the matter any longer. The Huangli Temple had a divine aura enveloping it, and once an action was taken, it would surely attract the attention of the mysterious qi mechanism, which would be too costly. However, since Wei Yingwu dared to provoke him, Zhang Chen could not swallow his anger without retaliating.
After contemplating for half a day, Zhang Chen finally came up with an idea: to trick Wei Yingwu down the mountain and kill him secretly.
The only thing he needed to ensure was that the Fox Spirit should not follow them, as he was not a match for it.
That night
Zhang Chen went to the main hall again, looked at the footprints left by incense patrons during the day, and carefully cleaned them up with a rag, then went behind the statue to once again steal the Power of Incense.
As Zhang Chen absorbed the Power of Incense and witnessed it being devoured and transformed into Mysterious Power, he suddenly had a thought: "This power can convert into skill points, restore magical power, and assist cultivation. My Sand Merging Skill is lacking a bit in practice. I wonder if I can use this power to help me complete the cultivation of the Sand Merging Skill."
Zhang Chen’s mind flickered with this thought, and he infused the devoured power into the Heng and Ha Acupoints, where the Divine Rune within began to devour the converted profound power, the acupoints surged with Creation, with Mysterious Power continuously circulating and flowing, countless runes manifesting and vanishing.
In the black whirlwind, a mysterious black rune chain quietly formed, and among the vast Yellow Sand, a great mountain composed of runes surged up.
After a night of hard cultivation, by the time the morning class bell rang, Zhang Chen retracted the appliance with a sigh: "This night of devouring equaled ten years of arduous cultivation, the Sand Merging Skill is finally complete. I just need to find an opportunity to test its power."
Zhang Chen quickly jumped off the high platform and quietly left, returning to the courtyard and calling Xiaodouding over to discuss how to set up Wei Yingwu, before finally leaving the courtyard.
After completing the morning class with Xiaodouding, Zhang Chen scanned the crowd and spotted Wei Yingwu, then a glint of Golden Light flashed in his eyes, confirming that there was no Fox Spirit aura on him. He then gave Xiaodouding a signal, and the two quietly approached Wei Yingwu, walking ten steps behind him nonchalantly, quietly conversing. Then, the crafty Xiaodouding deliberately shouted: ’You say Xie Lingyun wants you to...’, then quickly lowered his voice to whisper with Zhang Chen.
Sure enough, the sound of their conversation reached Wei Yingwu’s ears, and at the mention of ’Xie Lingyun’, his attention was immediately captured, causing him to listen closely.
Zhang Chen, understanding the use of ultrasonic sound, though with his back to Wei Yingwu, sensed his movements, thus lowering his voice so that it was vaguely heard by Wei Yingwu:
’That Xie Lingyun... Wonderful Technique... Prince’s Mansion... scheme... I’ll be going down the mountain immediately...’
Wei Yingwu, unable to hear clearly from afar, was eager to get closer, but Zhang Chen and Xiaodouding suddenly stopped their conversation, leaving Wei Yingwu hanging. Afterwards, Zhang Chen and Xiaodouding parted ways, and Zhang Chen briskly and stealthily made his way out of the mountain gate.
Watching Zhang Chen’s back, Wei Yingwu pondered the seemingly indistinct conversation, growing more and more alarmed inside: "There are secrets! Big secrets! If I can uncover this secret, I will definitely gain the Crown Prince’s favor. Besides, Zhang Chen going down the mountain is also a chance to eliminate a threat for me."
Thinking this, Wei Yingwu discreetly followed.
One after another, they exited the Daoist Temple, mixing with countless disciples and incense patrons coming and going, avoiding any significant notice.
However, the farther Zhang Chen walked, the more desolate it became, making Wei Yingwu even more excited, thinking secretly: "Great, this guy is definitely up to no good, or else why would he head into the wilderness?"
Just as Wei Yingwu was excitedly anticipating uncovering a big secret, he failed to notice a drop of red blood in the soil ahead. As he stepped over that drop of blood, it suddenly transformed into a blood shadow and pounced into Wei Yingwu’s body.
Wei Yingwu had no resistance, and in an instant, he was done for.
Facing mysterious power, ordinary people stood no chance.