"Oh, I forgot to tell you, this person is also my own daughter. Her mother was used as a Tripod Cauldron Secret Technique by me to stimulate a bit of Innate Five Elements Qi within my chest's Five Elements Qi. Unfortunately, the bloodline was too thin," the Ancestral Master of Longevity said with a sigh, "Years ago, when I transformed and left Qingcheng Mountain, your great-granddaughter was infatuated with me and let me use her, foolish just like you."
At this moment, Zhang Chen, who was listening on the side, was a bit stunned, and couldn't help but question, "The Ancestral Master of Longevity transformed into a mortal man, seduced Xu Erniu's mother to give birth to Xu Erniu. Why didn't he take Xu Erniu into Qingcheng Mountain as a Tripod Cauldron? Instead, he allowed Xu Erniu to become a beggar in the mortal world and almost starved to death outside of Yangzhou City?"
Moreover, the relationship between the Ancestral Master of Longevity and the Innate Peacock is quite chaotic! A complete mess!
Zhang Chen was very puzzled, was there any key to this? Or was there some mistake?
Just as Zhang Chen was racking his brain trying to comprehend it, he heard the Innate Peacock clenching his teeth in hatred, "Beast! Beast! I will kill you! I will kill you sooner or later!"
"Kill me? Wait until you have the ability to escape from the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror," the Ancestral Master of Longevity said nonchalantly, "If you guide me on how to break the array, I might spare this girl's life, teach her to become a Ginseng Fruit, then reverse the essence to strengthen the bloodline, and possibly produce more descendants. Otherwise, this girl will probably die."
The Ancestral Master's voice chillingly regretted, "Such a cute girl, I can't even bear to lay a hand on her."
Hearing this, the Innate Peacock trembled with anger, his illusory form's arm exploded instantly, eyes full of rage, and finally fell silent. He had suffered greatly in front of the Nine Bends Yellow River Talisman Array before. If he had the means to cope with it, he wouldn't have been robbed of the Innate Five Elements Qi by Zhang Chen. But over the years, he had gained some insight into how to deal with the Nine Bends Yellow River Array, though whether it could work still needed validation.
"You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink punishment wine. This girl has your bloodline in her body and can draw power from you. I want to see how long your Immortal True Spirit can persist; is it really immortal?" The Ancestral Master of Longevity severed the connection with the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror and then dispelled Xu Erniu's Illusion Realm, saying to her, "Today I will teach you a Spell, which can allow you to absorb Innate Five Elements Qi from this Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror to speed up your Alchemy Dao cultivation. Listen carefully..."
Then, the Ancestral Master began imparting the incantation to Xu Erniu. At this moment, in the Land of Return, Zhang Chen sat in the cage, lost in thought, looking at the Peacock, not expecting this guy to fall so low. With his wisdom, based on those drama plots he had seen in his past life, it wasn't hard to guess a melodramatic love-hate scenario.
Zhang Chen didn't care about the grievances between the two but knew his opportunity had come.
"Hey, why not consider my previous suggestion? As long as the Old Ancestor is willing to teach me the way to transform Yin and Yang of the Five Elements, I will release you," Zhang Chen said with a smile towards the Innate Peacock.
"Ant, even I can't escape the Land of Return, so how could you? What do you rely on?" The Innate Peacock sneered at Zhang Chen, "That dog thief is not human, and you're no good either, you're both birds of a feather..."
The Innate Peacock simply didn't believe Zhang Chen could escape, directly mocking him, but the next moment, he saw the cage in front of Zhang Chen vanish into thin air, appearing directly in front of him. The Innate Peacock's angry cursing stopped abruptly, his eyes dazedly staring at Zhang Chen, pupils rapidly shrinking, filled with disbelief, as he stared hard at the disappeared cage, muttering, "How is this possible? How could this be?"
"Old Ancestor, I think you should consider my offer, this Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror is quite unique. You can't hope to escape relying on your own strength alone. If you choose to help me, I will certainly repay the favor, helping you escape to seek revenge on that old guy," Zhang Chen said with a smile.
Upon hearing these words, the Innate Peacock fell silent, eyes fixed on the spot where the cage disappeared before staring fiercely at Zhang Chen, feeling more and more that this kid was wicked. Not only had he taken his life feather back then, but now even trapped within the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror, he still had such means, it was extremely wicked.
"I don't trust you!" The Innate Peacock said after a moment of silence.
Being trapped here was truly a dead end for him, if there was any other way, he wouldn't be stuck here.
"How can Old Ancestor believe me?" Zhang Chen asked.
Upon hearing this, the Innate Peacock contemplated, then said, "This is the Land of Return, where the Laws of Heaven and Earth do not exist, nor does the Power of Celestial Dao, only the Celestial Demon Dao can move freely. Swear by the Great Freedom Celestial Demon, and I will teach you the technique to convert Yin and Yang of the Five Elements Dao. You must help me escape without any tricks, or you will certainly die from the Heart Demon Tribulation down the road."
Hearing that, Zhang Chen was dumbfounded, a question mark popping into his head: Swear by the Great Freedom Celestial Demon? The one I scolded and tormented like a grandson, that Great Freedom Celestial Demon?
"Don't even think about it, it's me!" The proud voice of the Great Freedom Celestial Demon resounded in Zhang Chen's mind.
Hearing this, Zhang Chen was speechless, "Is the Innate Peacock out of his mind, putting trust in a useless guy like you?"
"..." The Great Freedom Celestial Demon was speechless. It was known that all cultivators feared the Demon Tribulation as it accompanied them throughout their life, but in Zhang Chen's mouth, it became so feeble. What more could the Great Freedom Celestial Demon say?
He felt oppressed!
Extremely oppressed! No matter how powerful he was, encountering this wicked being Zhang Chen, he was helpless.
"If you take the oath, I will trust you and teach you the method for Five Elements and Yin and Yang conversion," the Innate Peacock said, his eyes burning as he looked at Zhang Chen.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen smiled lightly: "Alright! I, Zhang Chen, swear today that as long as the Innate Peacock imparts the Wonderful Technique of converting Innate Five Elements and Innate Yin and Yang to me, I will rescue him. If I violate this, I will fall into the Demon Tribulation, never to be reincarnated."
Zhang Chen swore without hesitation, not to mention that the Great Freedom Celestial Demon had no binding power over him, even if it truly did, he had no intention of reneging.
Upon hearing Zhang Chen's oath, the Innate Peacock felt more at ease, then said, "It is said: Chaos gives birth to Yin and Yang, Yin and Yang transform into Five Elements, right transformation is the evolution of Heavenly Dao, reverse transformation is returning to Chaos. After you took my Innate Five Elements, I rebirthed and reassembled the Innate Five Elements Qi, unexpectedly allowing me to glimpse the transformation mystery and see the Dao within it."
The Innate Peacock paused, a tone of regret in his voice, "I intended to use this technique to break through to a higher level and overcome the Innate limit, but who knew I would meet a formidable foe."
"Anyway, let me teach you the technique now, whether you can cultivate it or not is up to your own abilities," the Innate Peacock said.
Upon hearing these words, Zhang Chen felt unsettled, a bad premonition rising in his heart: "This old guy is going to double-cross!"
"Old Ancestor, you can't do this!" Zhang Chen panicked.
"Why rush? Listen to my method first. Besides, I only said I'd pass on the technique, never guaranteed you'd master it, don't blame me for that," the Innate Peacock replied, annoyed, looking at Zhang Chen.
Hearing this, Zhang Chen's lips trembled with anger. None of these old guys was a good person; each was far too cunning.
Too irritated to speak, Zhang Chen thought since the Innate Peacock wanted to trick him, it wasn't his fault if he tricked him in return. He only said he'd let him out, never specifying how.
He could potentially release him by breaking the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror's restriction, or he could use the Soul Hooking and Soul Stealing Skill to mark him and pull him out.
Looking at the soul of this old guy, Zhang Chen wondered if he could mark it?