"With the thunder and lightning so fierce outside, what if you’re struck by lightning if you go out now?" Xie Lingyun was shocked upon hearing this.
"Precisely because no one can go out, I can maximize my benefits by going out now. Besides, although the thunder and lightning in the sky are fierce, they’re not impossible for me to evade." Zhang Chen spoke as he stepped out of the house: "Take good care of Xiaodouding for me."
Watching Zhang Chen rush into the outer courtyard, Xie Lingyun’s eyes were filled with shock, and after a long while, she sighed softly: "In the Northern Land, he has no one to rely on yet possesses such incredible strength. He is indeed pushing himself to the limit and is destined to succeed."
She wanted to follow Zhang Chen out to look for the creation that fell from the spiritual world but ultimately did not dare to defy the majesty of the celestial thunder, fearing to step over the threshold.
Zhang Chen walked in the courtyard, now activating a skill to control the Water Control Technique, repelling all moisture within thirty meters of himself.
Zhang Chen, at least, knew basic physical principles; as long as he isolated the moisture in the air, no matter how fierce the celestial thunder, it couldn’t touch him in the slightest.
As long as there wasn’t any moisture within twenty meters around him, the thunder couldn’t strike him no matter what.
The roar of thunder shook the heavens and earth; Zhang Chen felt as if cannons were exploding next to his ears. At this moment, there wasn’t a soul outside the Huangli Temple; all disciples and followers were hiding inside, not daring to step a foot outside.
Zhang Chen smoothly walked out of the Daoist Temple and then dashed at high speed, sprinting towards the place where Ba Snake had fallen.
He didn’t know how long the thunderstorm in the sky would last, but he knew he didn’t have much time left.
Even though Ba Snake’s essence, qi, and spirit continually dissipated into heaven and earth, its body was still the size of ten li. Given a month, he wouldn’t finish absorbing all of it. What he could do was get there as fast as possible and absorb as much as he could.
Zhang Chen sprinted with great speed, with his Blood Control Technique circulating inside, constantly drawing blood from the Crystal Core, which nourished all his orifices and kept Zhang Chen’s physical strength at its peak. Zhang Chen maintained a hundred-meter sprint, disappearing into the boundless wild mountains.
As to why Zhang Chen didn’t use the Divine Water Transformation, he had two concerns: first, the speed of the Divine Water Transformation underground was not fast; it was merely the same as an ordinary walking speed.
And as for transforming into a cloud to fly away, Zhang Chen dared even less. Transforming into mist would inevitably attract lightning, and he feared for his life.
One must know Zhang Chen couldn’t use all his divine techniques while in a transformed state.
As for transforming into a Vampire Bat to shuttle through the mountains, although his Blood Control Technique had reached the fifth level, compared to the mighty power of heaven and earth, he was no different from an ant.
So for Zhang Chen, directly using his legs for travel was the best method.
Zhang Chen raced swiftly, running at a speed nearly equivalent to a hundred meters in ten seconds, sustaining a sprint champion’s level, a thousand meters was only a hundred seconds.
One hundred meters in ten seconds, five hundred meters in five hundred seconds.
And a hundred kilometers was only a thousand seconds, about seventeen minutes.
The place where Ba Snake fell was about four hundred li from Zhang Chen; Zhang Chen ran wildly for two hours, even accounting for taking a detour around cliffs, and arrived at Ba Snake’s location under the vast thunderstorm.
From a distance, Ba Snake seemed like a mountain range lying down on the earth.
At this moment, in Zhang Chen’s Dharma Eye, black torrents continuously escaped from Ba Snake’s body, transforming into snake shapes flying in all directions, drilling into the nearby mountains’ creatures or the distant villages’ residents, integrating with the living beings in the Material Realm.
The place where Ba Snake fell was a village; the entire village was shattered, countless villagers died tragically.
Meanwhile, Ba Snake’s remnant souls roamed within its body, emitting anxious hisses, trying to stop the loss of essence from its body but to no avail.
"Those creatures that get Ba Snake’s essence will surely awaken extraordinary and transcendental powers in the future," Zhang Chen sighed and ran straight towards Ba Snake’s enormous body.
Ba Snake’s body was enveloped by a mysterious force field, spreading over a li, causing any being that entered to lose their wits.
Fortunately, Zhang Chen’s Soul Hook had long cooled down, and he directly used the divine technique to hook Ba Snake’s remnant soul out, preventing him from being invaded by Ba Snake’s body’s force field.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss~"
Ba Snake’s remnant soul circled around Zhang Chen, staring angrily, emitting a chilly roar.
However, Zhang Chen ignored Ba Snake’s remnant soul and directly approached Ba Snake’s body. Without a word, he summoned the Innate Mosquito’s proboscis and stabbed it into Ba Snake’s body.
Ba Snake’s remnant soul watched Zhang Chen with rage but was helpless, unable to stop him aside from impotent fury.
At this moment, Zhang Chen had advanced to the Third Heaven of Qi Cultivation, his speed of devouring essence extraordinary, reaching eight million points a day and night.
Ba Snake’s essence, qi, and spirit were abundant, and for Zhang Chen, all he needed to do was focus on devouring, no longer having to wait as he did with the Power of Incense.
Ba Snake watched Zhang Chen with rage as he sat on Ba Snake’s body, not even resting, just devouring madly.
A day passed, and Zhang Chen collected eight million points.
Zhang Chen didn’t upgrade his skills but concentrated on gathering points, avoiding wasting time upgrading skills.
On the other hand, Ba Snake’s remnant soul continually howled in the air, with its soul’s essence, qi, and spirit power of origin leaking into heaven and earth. Seeing it was unable to do anything to Zhang Chen, Ba Snake remnant soul turned into a stream of light and burrowed into its body, starting to devour its own essence, qi, and spirit power of origin, storing the essences, qi, and spirit power of origin.
"Goodness, actually decided to devour itself," Zhang Chen looked at Ba Snake remnant soul’s action, a trace of astonishment in his eyes.
Ba Snake remnant soul glanced at Zhang Chen, but ignored him, continuing to devour its own essence, qi, and spirit.
Ba Snake remnant soul’s devouring speed was much faster than Zhang Chen’s.
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, three days had passed. At this moment, Ba Snake’s illusionary force field dissipated under the suppression of the law of the Material Realm. Seeing the deadline for Soul Hooking and Soul Stealing approaching, Zhang Chen didn’t dodge but continued standing in front of Ba Snake’s body, devouring its essence, qi, and spirit.
As for why Zhang Chen didn’t run away?
Zhang Chen decided to upgrade his Soul Hooking and Soul Stealing skill to see if he could extend the time.
The next moment, Zhang Chen cast his eyes over the skill panel:
[Skill 5 (Level 2): Soul Hook Chain (0/10,000,000)]
[Skill Interpretation: As long as a soul is marked by your skill, on the day their life span reaches its end, regardless of their cultivation level or the distance across time and space, you can hook their soul over.]
[Note 1: Can hook any soul of someone whose life span reaches its end.]
[Note 2: Can hook any soul forcibly residing in the world through secret techniques to avoid fate (those extended by Spirit Medicine are not included)]
[Note 3: Please don’t easily use this divine technique. If you mark them, they can mark you back. If they kill you before their life span ends, woe is me!]
[Note 4: If you hook their soul, you may not have the ability to kill them. Of course, they’re bound by chains and can’t harm you. After three days, the skill fails, and they are sent back to their bodies by the law. You can activate the Soul Hook skill on the same soul once every seven days.]
[Note 5: As long as you mark them, even if they extend their life, you can forcibly hook their soul out.]
[Points: 250,000,000]
These two hundred fifty million points weren’t just absorbed by Zhang Chen in three days but also included the remaining points from previous upgrades, totaling this amount.