Hearing Li Donglai’s words, Zhang Chen couldn’t help but be stunned. He thought his Golden Finger was already defying the heavens enough, but little did he know there was someone even more heaven-defying than him?
At this moment, Li Donglai was eagerly looking at the Earth’s Primordial Magnetism Magnet in his hand: "This is a good thing. Once I absorb it, my body can transform. The only pity is that there’s too little of it, only enough to transform one of my palms. If there were more, I could transform my entire body. Then, I might reach the ninth tier and could even stand my ground against those Yang God old monsters!"
"Zhang, you’ve helped me a great deal. If you need anything in the future, I, Li Donglai, will not hesitate to assist," Li Donglai promised, patting his chest. "From now on, you’re like my own brother!"
"You want the Earth’s Primordial Magnetism Magnet. I do know of a place where there’s plenty, enough for your transformation," Zhang Chen said.
He didn’t mind telling Li Donglai about the place where the Earth’s Primordial Magnetism Magnet was located. After all, it was useless to him. The key was that Zhang Chen held the Heart of Primordial Magnetism, which countered Li Donglai’s steel superpower.
Magnetic force trumps iron!
"Where?" Li Donglai’s eyes lit up upon hearing this, grabbing Zhang Chen’s hand and swearing to the sky: "Zhang, if you tell me, you’ll be like a second father to me!"
Zhang Chen shook off Li Donglai’s grasp and described the cave where the Earth’s Primordial Magnetism Magnet was located. Without another word, Li Donglai turned and disappeared inside the Daoist Temple, his voice echoing through the mountains: "Zhang, wait for my good news. If I successfully transform, I’ll definitely seek justice for you from that old thing Gu Mingyue."
Watching Li Donglai’s disappearing figure, Zhang Chen shook his head with a smile, then glanced around the Daoist Temple. By now, the heavy rain was gradually stopping and was no longer as intense as it had been.
Zhang Chen looked at the temple, and with a flick of his finger, a dark ember shot through the air, igniting a scorching heat that turned the entire temple into a sea of fire.
"I need incense faith to provide points, but with the great flood, all the human temples have been submerged, and the temples have collapsed. Where is there any incense faith for me to collect?" Zhang Chen’s gaze swept over the floodwaters below, and he used an escape technique to vanish into the mountains. He began wandering through the mountains, looking for temples, but they had long since collapsed, leaving no incense faith for him to steal.
"I wonder, with the temples collapsed, how those relying on faith for Divine Enthronement are doing now." A sense of curiosity suddenly rose in Zhang Chen’s heart.
He also knew that faith was the source of a god’s spiritual power. Once the power of faith was lost, although the gods would not directly fall in rank, they would suffer various backlashes and could even perish.
"The Northern Land has been flooded. The ones most worried should be those gods. But those gods still have their physical bodies to rely on, they’re not purely spirit without a body. The consequence of losing incense and collapsing temples hasn’t caught up with them yet," Zhang Chen appeared before a dilapidated temple, which had been submerged by floodwaters and lost to the elements, with the temple having collapsed, no longer blessed by the power of divinity.
"The Divine Dao has too many drawbacks," Zhang Chen muttered to himself, and he used an escape technique to reach his secret base. There he found a large group of hornets huddling for warmth, about a hundred thousand of them filling the beehive. Fish bones and small animal bones were scattered everywhere on the ground, all used as nourishment for the hornets.
"In this underground river, there are countless fish and shrimp, enough to feed my hornets and Hunting Falcon. Otherwise, in such a disastrous year, my treasures truly wouldn’t survive," Zhang Chen looked at his Hunting Falcon, which had an aura of mystery circulating around it, fat and sleek with shiny feathers, bringing him great satisfaction.
As if sensing Zhang Chen’s presence, the Hunting Falcon let out a sharp cry and flew towards him. Nowadays, the Hunting Falcon had gained fate and become formidable. Its wingspan was about three meters, wrapping around Zhang Chen like a curtain.
"Stay put, do you have any idea how big you are?" Zhang Chen scolded the approaching Hunting Falcon, his voice filled with displeasure.
At Zhang Chen’s reprimanding, the Hunting Falcon let out a pitiful cry, then landed three meters away from him, sending a puff of dust into Zhang Chen’s face.
Its call was filled with grievance, tinged with a trace of discontent, which made Zhang Chen internally praise it: "Such remarkable spirituality, although it has just gained fate, it has already developed wisdom. If it goes into the world for training, it will surely achieve much more."
Zhang Chen’s gaze swept over the Hunting Falcon, just about to speak when a buzzing sound echoed in the cave. With a sonic boom, Zhang Chen’s vision blurred, and he felt a weight on his shoulder, seeing a flash of gold land there.
It was the golden bee, completely crafted from gold, resembling a meticulously crafted artifact, crawling around on Zhang Chen’s shoulder, exuding an air of affection.
Zhang Chen held the golden bee king in his hand, playfully: "Today, let’s get you a new home, we are moving."
As he spoke, Zhang Chen pondered briefly and took out two Dragon Pearl Fragments, each the size of a grain of rice, emitting a purple glow with mysterious power swirling around them. As soon as the Dragon Pearl Fragments appeared, the hornets and Hunting Falcon began to stir restlessly, their eyes fixed intently on the fragments in Zhang Chen’s hand, a fervor glowing within.
Zhang Chen flicked one of the fragments towards the Hunting Falcon, watching as it stretched out its neck, catching the Dragon Pearl Fragment in its mouth accurately. Immediately, the Hunting Falcon’s body emanated a purple glow, and a series of cracking sounds echoed from within, as if some mutation was occurring.
The large hornet in Zhang Chen’s hand grew anxious, flitting around on Zhang Chen’s arm. Without Zhang Chen’s command, it dared not act rashly, leaving it helplessly watching the Dragon Pearl Fragment in Zhang Chen’s palm.
With a thought from Zhang Chen, the large hornet received the command, lunging forward to swallow the Dragon Pearl Fragment. Then, a series of purple patterns began to flow on the hornet’s body, indicating some kind of change was occurring.
"Dragon Pearl Fragments are the power of the True Dragon, greatly beneficial to demon beasts," Zhang Chen muttered, waiting within the stone cave for his two pets to undergo their transformation.
After about three hours, a buzzing sound echoed as the hornet completed its transformation first. A mysterious Qi Mechanism flowed around it, and it transformed into a second-tier demon beast. Most notably, its body shrank considerably, now the size of a peanut, appearing like a pure gold metal object nestled in Zhang Chen’s palm.
"Interesting," Zhang Chen said, toying with the hornet before instructing it to prepare for moving the hive.
His own Hunting Falcon seemed to have less potential than the hornet, taking a full six hours to complete its transformation. It turned a pure black, its feathers immaculate, and its size shrank to that of a common hen. Spreading its wings, it landed on Zhang Chen’s shoulder.
Second-tier demon beast!
Though the Dragon Pearl Fragment is small, it fell from the eleventh-tier True Dragon, thus an incredible elixir for these small demons.
Zhang Chen picked the Hunting Falcon from his shoulder to examine it; its beak gleamed like steel, a chilling light emanating from it, leaving no doubt that a peck would fracture bones.
Its talons were sharp, resembling blades, forceful and sturdy, provoking a chill in one’s heart.
"Not bad, not bad. From now on, stay this small; it’s convenient for taking you out," Zhang Chen said, patting the bird’s head before commanding the hornet to prepare the hive for relocation.
Upon a command from the Bee King, the buzzing of hornets returning to the hive was heard, and those still outside obediently flew inside, ready for Zhang Chen to transport.
Seeing the hive unable to contain all the hornets, Zhang Chen walked to a small tree. Using the Authority of Wood Element, the tree grew to embrace-bulk before twisting into a two-meter hive.
Zhang Chen directed the hornets into the hive and, summoning an Ice Ship, placed the hive upon it, moving towards the distance.
He couldn’t perform Escape Technique with large objects carried.
Like an arrow from a bowstring, the Ice Ship shot across the water. Zhang Chen sat cross-legged, contemplating the future evolution of his Hunting Falcon and hornets.
"The Northern Lands are filled with demon beasts. If I capture them and feed their blood to the hornet and Hunting Falcon, their evolution is bound to speed up," Zhang Chen mused.
Demon beasts inherit bloodlines, their power rooted therein. Through capturing and feeding, even ordinary hornets could eventually transform into demon beasts.
As long as it’s not against Manifestation of Divinity level foes, the hornet is quite useful for guarding the house.
As for the Hunting Falcon, Zhang Chen would just keep it as a pet. Its future evolution would depend on its own fortune.
"Developing my influence within the Demon Race, then secretly manipulating them to extinguish threats to the Human Race could remove future calamities," an idea flashed through Zhang Chen’s mind.
As the Ice Ship swiftly skimmed over the water, Zhang Chen watched the rain fall. With Zhang Shicheng’s True Dragon perishing and dispersing the Dragon Qi into Heaven and Earth, the rainfall gradually diminished.
"If the rain stops, perhaps within three months the Northern Lands’ flood might recede," Zhang Chen thought, compassion flowing through his heart:
"Though the flood may cease, another demon threat will arise, leaving the Human Race struggling! The entire Northern Land has become a purgatory!"
Zhang Chen felt the Northern Land’s Human Race was beyond saving!