Zhang Chen turned his head to glance at Dugu Qiu and then leisurely said, "I don’t seek anything from you. Saving people is just my intention, not motivated by self-interest. I don’t need your gratitude, nor do you need to repay me. Let’s just call it even and forget each other in the Martial World."
Having said that, Zhang Chen ignored Dugu Qiu and instead focused his gaze on his Golden Finger, continuing to study the time skill.
For him, researching time skills was far more worthwhile than wasting words with Dugu Qiu.
Zhang Chen’s eyes fixated on the Golden Finger Interface. The application of Time Acceleration was enormous; for instance, seizing an opponent’s lifespan. Although currently it could only increase a day to a year, as he continued to upgrade, a single slap in the future might strip thousands of years of lifespan from an opponent, reducing them to mere bones.
"If I could replace Time Acceleration with Time Reversal, this skill would be even more impressive. I might even have a chance to return to the past and compete with those ancient Divine Spirits. No, who says I don’t have the opportunity to master Time Reversal? As long as I continuously upgrade my Golden Finger, I will one day have the chance to grasp Time Reversal," Zhang Chen thought, feeling a surge of excitement, his eyes staring at his skill interface, seeing that the control of time had yet to enter the ranks, and it only required ten million experience points to do so.
"Just ten million experience points, and my skill can be upgraded. By then, how many years could I generate with a single thought?" Zhang Chen’s mind flickered with ideas, and he once again turned his gaze to the Ba Snake Space. His own Ba Snake Space already contained the energy leftover from the Ascension Pool, and coupled with the endless energy being produced daily by the Ascension Pool, Zhang Chen felt that if he converted the energy within the Ba Snake Space, he should be able to gather enough Points to upgrade his time skills.
As for saving energy to upgrade the Authority of Wood Element? Now that even old Dugu Qiu was marked by him, why should he fear having no lifespan to use?
Moreover, Zhang Chen had another thought: he could use the Power of Time to promote the growth of the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu. With the growth of the Jianmu, the innate energy absorbed each day would increase, and so would the energy born from the Ascension Pool, along with the Points he accumulated.
Currently, the daily Points born from the Ascension Pool were only about a hundred thousand, but if he could promote the Jianmu for hundreds or thousands of years, how much energy could be produced each day by then?
The uses of Time Acceleration were numerous!
At the very least, he could cultivate Spirit Medicine and then consume it for Points conversion.
Thinking about this, Zhang Chen’s mind moved. In the Ba Snake Space, only a small amount of energy wrapped around the items inside was retained. Then Zhang Chen directly consumed all the energy of the Ascension Pool with the mouthparts of the Innate Mosquito.
His own Ba Snake Space level was too low to devour the Ascension Pool’s energy, but his Innate Mosquito mouthparts were unrestricted.
With the massive energy conversion, the Points on Zhang Chen’s body accumulated rapidly, quickly breaking through the ten million mark.
"Good! Good!" Zhang Chen looked at his Golden Finger Interface with a satisfied expression.
[21 Skill (Unranked): Time Acceleration (0/10000000)]
[Note 1: You can accelerate time by one year on an object.]
[Note 2: The same object can only be accelerated once per day]
[Points: 10000000]
Zhang Chen glanced at the Golden Finger Interface and then tapped it directly. In the next moment, he saw the Golden Finger Interface change:
[21 Skill (First Tier): Time Acceleration (0/100000000)]
[Note 1: You can accelerate time by ten years on an object.]
[Note 2: The same object can only be accelerated once per day]
[Note 3: If you use Magical Power to activate, you can perform additional accelerations, not counted in the limit. Activation condition: One Era!]
[Points: 0]
"Ten years!" Zhang Chen’s breathing became a bit erratic. Even if the same object could only be accelerated once per day, over time, the increase would be substantial. A day equals ten years, so a hundred days would be a thousand years.
The most crucial point is the skill note. If you can use Magical Power to activate the Power of Time without restrictions, it essentially means that as long as you have enough Magical Power, you could extend things by millions of years in a flash. The Magical Power required to manipulate time starts at accumulating one Era of Magical Power.
How much is one Era of Magical Power?
A total of 129,600 years, and Zhang Chen was nowhere near a fraction of that.
"But there’s finally hope. Once my cultivation reaches a higher level, one day I will break the limit of Magical Power accumulation. Then, accumulating billions of years of Magical Power, wouldn’t I be able to reduce an opponent to dust in a blink, causing time to cease?" Zhang Chen was quite pleased.
"What on earth are you thinking, making your breathing go erratic? If you have any requests, just let me know, don’t be shy." On the other side, Dugu Qiu was adjusting his body while asking Zhang Chen, his voice full of expectation.
As he took the initiative to mobilize the power within his body to absorb the Golden Core’s energy, Dugu Qiu’s speed increased tenfold, and his complexion began to flush, his aura becoming even more stable.
Zhang Chen glanced at Dugu Qiu without speaking, pondering how to avoid Dugu Qiu and first extend the growth period of his Heaven-Reaching Jianmu by ten years.
Zhang Chen contemplated the various uses of the Power of Time, his eyes gazing into the distant sky, unable to suppress the smile tugging at his lips.
"I say, why are you grinning like that? If you have any conditions, just say it," Dugu Qiu looked at the grinning Zhang Chen, thinking the boy’s brain might be a bit faulty.
"If you feel uneasy in your heart, give me a few powerful Divine Spirits, and that would count as repaying my great favor," Zhang Chen listened to Dugu Qiu’s chatter and offered a compromise.
Upon hearing this, Dugu Qiu’s face froze; he was as poor as a church mouse, with nothing but that Judgement staff, no Divine Spirits to speak of.
But not having them didn’t mean he couldn’t get them!
"Are you sure you want Divine Spirits?" Dugu Qiu asked.
Zhang Chen nodded, wanting to devour some Divine Spirits or to foster the experience value of their birth.
Dugu Qiu stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment, then pulled off an ancient ring from his left hand and handed it to Zhang Chen: "This ring was inadvertently refined when I once transcended the Yang God tribulation, holding my information within. Consider it my token. When you go to Kyoto in the future, just go to the Imperial Household to find me. This ring is your proof. Not only will I prepare Divine Spirits for you, but I will also grant you wealth and honor."
At this, Dugu Qiu said to Zhang Chen: "For some reason, you look quite pleasant to me; how about acknowledging me as your godfather? I have no children in my life, and if you take me as your godfather, I will treat you like my own child."
Upon hearing Dugu Qiu’s words, Zhang Chen turned to look at him, seeing Dugu Qiu’s sincere eyes, clearly not joking. Furthermore, Zhang Chen had planted a Six-Word True Mantra Seal in Dugu Qiu’s mind, faintly sensing a genuine and heartfelt emotion that was no pretense.
Feeling a bit tempted, Zhang Chen walked this world with formidable opponents targeting his children, and he needed a reliable backing.
But to acknowledge a eunuch as a godfather, if word got out, how would he, Zhang Chen, maintain his honor? Wouldn’t he be ridiculed by the heroes of the world?
Dugu Qiu’s eyes were full of earnestness as he looked at Zhang Chen, flames in his gaze: "Boy, what are you going to do? Just give me a straightforward answer regarding whether you agree. If you become my godson, no one in this world can bully you."
Zhang Chen remained silent, contemplating how to refuse, not wanting to acknowledge a eunuch as his godfather; it wouldn’t be good if word spread.
"Why? Do you think I’m unworthy to be your godfather?" Dugu Qiu saw Zhang Chen sitting there in silence, hesitation coloring his face, and he was suddenly displeased, his words carrying a hint of coldness.
Zhang Chen glanced at Dugu Qiu, knowing things might become tricky. He’d expended a Golden Core to aid Dugu Qiu to target the Tree of Life Coffin and form some ties for future assistance, but now, seeing the change in Dugu Qiu’s demeanor, Zhang Chen realized he had to present a suitable excuse, lest he not only fail to form ties but also upset him.
Therefore, Zhang Chen softly sighed: "Do you know my identity?"
"Your identity? Is there any trouble related to your background? Rest assured, no trouble is considered trouble here in our home," Dugu Qiu spoke with confidence.
"My name is Zhang Chen, and my father: Zhang Chengke." Zhang Chen uttered these heavy words.
He had long known his father’s real name through Xie Xuan. As the Chief Eunuch, a trusted confidant of the Emperor, one wouldn’t be unaware of the weight of the name Zhang Chengke.
So when the elderly eunuch heard the name ’Zhang Chengke,’ he couldn’t help but exclaim: "The Zhang Chengke from one of the Eight Great Clans in Shangjing?"
"Exactly!" Zhang Chen said.
"You are Zhang Chengke’s son?" The elderly eunuch repeated as if unable to believe, still confirming.
"That’s me!" Zhang Chen said.
Ultimately not wanting to acknowledge a eunuch as his father, but facing Dugu Qiu’s enthusiasm, he had no idea how to appropriately refuse, so he simply stated a reason that Dugu Qiu couldn’t help but abandon.
Faced with such a strong figure, direct refusal would certainly lead to resentment. The key issue was, the old man was a eunuch, and if he directly refused, would Dugu Qiu become embarrassed and angry?
With a bitter smile, Zhang Chen said: "I have enormous trouble on my hands; anyone involved with me would be caught up and doomed. When I saw you gravely injured, lying in the mire, I suddenly thought of my deceased father. Seeing you stirred a sense of intimacy in me, so I spared no expense using that Golden Core to restore you. But I know my own affairs; now I am in a quagmire. You are an innocent bystander and should not be dragged into this mess. I mustn’t be so selfish!"
At this moment, Zhang Chen spoke with emotion.