In the pursuit of knowledge, there is a sequence; in the mastery of skills, there is specialization. Such is the way of things!
He and Zhang Chen could become friends, and their relationship remained warm, not only because of friendship but also because of mutual value exchange.
He was useful to Zhang Chen, and likewise, Zhang Chen was useful to him.
After finishing the steamed bun, Chen Xu began to sketch line after line on the ground, calculating the trajectory of the Feng Shui Grand Array enveloping the Dragon Vein of the Northern Land.
It was not until nightfall that Chen Xu suddenly plunged the wooden stick in his hand into a certain pattern, a hint of joy in his eyes: "It's done! I've deduced the key node of the Feng Shui Grand Array. As long as we break that node, we can leak the Qi Mechanism of the Feng Shui Grand Array, and then the phenomenon generated will surely not escape the notice of the experts in the Northern Land."
The room was quite dim at the moment, and for fear of being discovered, Zhang Chen had no intention of lighting a campfire.
Upon hearing Chen Xu's words, Zhang Chen's eyes brightened, as if a light had swept across, illuminating the darkness in an instant, and then Zhang Chen said, "Shall we go and take a look?"
"Let's go and see!" Chen Xu nodded.
Neither of them were ordinary people, how could they be afraid of mountain paths at night?
Then the two of them held oil-paper umbrellas and walked through the muddy mountains, passing through the ridges towards the distant mountains.
After crossing four or five mountain paths, they stopped in front of a slightly sharp large stone, and Chen Xu pointed to the stone in front of them and said, "As long as we destroy this stone, we can break the Feng Shui Grand Array in this place."
Zhang Chen looked at the stone, seeing it towering ten meters high, part of the mountain beneath their feet protruding as a pinnacle, approximately five meters thick, resembling a crouching giant tortoise.
The two looked at each other, and Zhang Chen hesitated slightly, saying, "Trouble! This stone is connected to the Power of the Earth Veins in the Northern Land, and can be said to be immune to all laws. Divine Power cannot move it, and to destroy it would require some effort."
Zhang Chen held the Authority of Earth Element, of course, he could destroy this large stone, but he was not foolish. Here it was connected to the Earth Vein of the Northern Land, and he did not dare to entangle himself in causality; if he provoked Celestial Punishment, it would be quite unfortunate.
"I have Feng Shui Technique that can break it," Chen Xu said.
Zhang Chen hurriedly stopped him: "Do not act rashly! This gathers the entire Dragon Vein of the Northern Land. Any carelessness could bring disaster upon yourself. You don't need to worry about this; I have my own solution."
After speaking, Zhang Chen and Chen Xu descended the mountain, separated along the way, and came to his cave, where he retrieved explosives from the water. Now that he mastered the Earth Control Technique, he found his homemade explosives to be too simplistic, easily detected due to their components. With a thought, the green stone on the ground surged up, directly wrapping around each detonator and explosive package, leaving only the fuse exposed.
Zhang Chen prepared a total of twenty detonators, then placed them in his basket, took out three thousand taels of silver, and strapped them to his back before heading down the hill.
Zhang Chen feared the consequences and dared not take action, but ordinary people did not share that fear. It's just explosives; they can blast the Dragon Vein without facing Celestial Punishment even if they obliterate it.
As to where to find ordinary people?
Now there is a great famine in the Northern Land, with many unable to eat. Zhang Chen found it extremely easy to find people to carry out tasks.
With a bamboo hat on his head, Zhang Chen went straight down the mountain and did not walk far before he saw a distant canyon, where figures were digging up roots and tree bark.
"Bring me ten robust men to handle this task. If successful, each will receive three hundred taels of silver." Zhang Chen said under the oil-paper umbrella, standing in the light rain.
Silence fell over the crowd in the distance, and in the next moment, the crowd surged, with someone reacting first and rushing to Zhang Chen's side: "Sir, is it true what you say?"
"Of course, it's true! Each person can first receive thirty taels of silver as a deposit, to go into town and buy some rice and flour to take care of their families, and also to enjoy a hearty meal. The remaining two hundred seventy taels will be immediately issued once the task is completed," Zhang Chen said solemnly.
Upon hearing his words, the crowd immediately surged over, shouting:
"Mister, choose me! I'm tall and strong!"
"Mister, I have muscular arms!"
"Mister, look at me, I can carry three hundred pounds!"
…
A group of men dressed in tattered clothes like beggars encircled Zhang Chen, constantly moving around him.
Zhang Chen's gaze scanned the crowd and selected ten with broad shoulders and muscular builds, clearly people who had managed to eat well even in these disastrous times, probably not the best of characters.
"I've made my choice; the rest of you can disperse now." Zhang Chen began to disperse the crowd after selecting his men.
The common folk still gathered around, each being drenched by the fine rain, looking quite pitiful, yet refusing to leave.
Among them, a burly man with a face full of scars shouted: "Didn't you hear what this gentleman said? He told you to leave immediately, don't gather here any longer!"
While speaking, ten burly men began dispersing the crowd, punching and kicking to drive the people away, then gathered around Zhang Chen with flattering expressions, "Sir, whatever your orders, even if we have to go through fire and water, we'll do it."
"You're not afraid to die?" Zhang Chen asked in surprise.
The man gave a bitter smile and said: "In these times, just staying alive is incredibly hard. If we don't find food soon, we'll starve to death eventually. So we might as well take the risk."
Zhang Chen looked the man up and down: "What's your name?"
"I'm too lowly to have a name. But since my surname is Zhu, and I'm the sixth in line in my family, everyone just calls me Zhu Laoliu." Zhu Laoliu bowed respectfully to Zhang Chen.
Zhang Chen nodded, then took out some pieces of silver from his bundle and casually tossed them to the ten men: "These ten ingots are a deposit, each weighing thirty taels. Take them home to tide over any emergencies, and get yourself a good meal. Come to me in the afternoon for further instructions. Also, remember to bring tools for chiseling stone!"
"As for running off with the thirty taels of silver, I'm really not worried about that. Thirty taels are nothing to me, unless you don't want the remaining two hundred and seventy taels. With that, you and your family can live comfortably for a lifetime," Zhang Chen said.
The ten men looked at one another, then smiled at Zhang Chen: "How could we betray your trust, Young Master? You just wait here."
After saying this, the ten men took the silver and left.
Zhang Chen held an oil-paper umbrella, standing silently, simply gazing at the mountain scenery, feeling quite content under the umbrella.
Zhang Chen didn't have to wait long; in just a couple of hours, Zhu Laoliu and the others had returned first.
"The task I assigned you today is quite simple. I just need you to chisel holes in a particular stone and then insert this thing into the holes and ignite it. The explosion will be powerful enough to split mountains and rocks. You need to be very careful..." Zhang Chen began explaining the precautions to the ten men.
The ten men nodded repeatedly, finding it an easy way to earn money, and each beat their chest to assure Zhang Chen there would be no problems.
Zhang Chen believed their promises, so he led them over mountains to a particular rock, pointed at it and said: "Your task is to chisel cracks into that rock, insert this, and ignite it to blast the rock apart."
"Don't worry, Young Master, it's a simple task. Just watch!" Zhu Laoliu promised, beating his chest again.
Zhang Chen handed over the backpack: "Here's the rest of the silver, I'm giving it to you now. Once you have the silver, go and finish the work."
Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, Zhu Laoliu and the others divided the silver cheerfully, then picked up their tools and headed for the rock.
It was merely blowing up a rock, so the men had no reason to shirk, and they began using their tools to hammer away in the mountains. Fortunately, the sky was drizzly, masking much of the noise; otherwise, Zhang Chen feared that Prince Pingbian's Mansion might discover his plans.
Zhang Chen kept both hands tucked into his sleeves, while Chen Xu stood under an oil-paper umbrella, silently supervising alongside him.
"Why didn't you let me take action? It would save us this trouble," Chen Xu asked in confusion.
Zhang Chen looked up at the dark clouds in the sky, then said softly: "Celestial Punishment!"
"Isn't it just a thunderstorm? We can avoid it by hiding in a shelter, like your stone house," Chen Xu responded indifferently.
"Do you think Celestial Punishment is just a thunderstorm?" Zhang Chen side-eyed Chen Xu quizzically.
Should he say that Chen Xu was fearless because of ignorance, or was he simply overconfident?
"What do you mean?" Chen Xu inquired.
"Celestial Punishment is Celestial Punishment; thunder and lightning are thunder and lightning. Under Celestial Punishment, even a Twelfth Tier cultivator is like a mere civilian," Zhang Chen stated.
Chen Xu paused upon hearing this, then subconsciously swallowed hard.
After a while, Chen Xu spoke softly: "Is there really such a thing as Celestial Punishment? I once read about it in Feng Shui books, and always thought it was just thunder and lightning, not caring much."
"If it were just ordinary thunder and lightning, how could it affect me?" Zhang Chen sighed softly, "You're aware of my capabilities; avoiding regular lightning is not difficult for me."
At this, Chen Xu wisely chose to remain silent, refraining from mentioning his plans to slay the Dragon. He's not foolish; knowing some of Zhang Chen's skills, and given even Zhang Chen's unease, if he didn't recognize the power of Celestial Punishment now, he'd have to be a fool.
Time passed with the sound of chiseling, and it was the middle of the night when Zhu Laoliu returned to Zhang Chen, shaking off his wet clothes and wiping rain from his face, "Young Master, everything is prepared according to your instructions!"