The Great Freedom Celestial Demon’s eyes were fixed on Zhang Chen, filled with shock and disbelief. How did that talisman break through the Twelfth Tier to reach an even higher level in such a short time?
Zhang Chen glanced at the Great Freedom Celestial Demon but ignored his words. Instead, he turned his gaze towards the ice-sealed world, a look of fervor in his eyes. This was the Creation of the entire ancient world—what an incredible feat it would be if he could obtain it?
Around Zhang Chen, the Qi Mechanism flowed, absorbing the cold air around him. Now, the entire world was shrouded in lingering cold. If Zhang Chen were to absorb all this cold into his body, he could melt away the ice sealing the Third Heaven, exposing countless flesh and blood before him. He could gain immensely from it.
However, just as Zhang Chen was absorbing the cold from Heaven and Earth, it seemed that when the hand left, the Law of Heaven and Earth changed. Suddenly, everything in the world turned into dust and shattered into pieces, and the ice shards sprayed all over Zhang Chen’s face.
"What?" Zhang Chen was taken aback by the scene.
In his eyes, everything in the world had been turned to dust by the ice and dissipated in Heaven and Earth. Even the mountains that were sealed in ice had crumbled into soil dust.
"The opponent’s cold was too strong. Everything had already been molecularly fragmented under that extreme cold. Previously, supported by the cold from the hand, everything in the world was linked and frozen by the cold, thus remaining intact and unbroken. But now, with the force maintaining the cold withdrawn, everything has shattered into molecular form." Zhang Chen, not being a novice in cultivation, quickly speculated the mystery behind it.
"My flesh and blood! If I could devour the ancient beings of the whole world, how unimaginable would my Blood Dao cultivation become?" Zhang Chen felt a pang of heartache but was also helpless, advising himself not to be too greedy.
Zhang Chen had always been an open-minded person. Seeing the shattered Heaven and Earth, everything had turned to dust except for the majestic Buzhou Mountain.
Heaven and Earth shattered, and the cold circulating between Heaven and Earth also disappeared. Zhang Chen looked towards the direction of the Third Heaven, a fiery look in his eyes: "To Buzhou Mountain!"
Zhang Chen transformed into a Vampire Bat and flew away, swiftly heading towards Buzhou Mountain. However, Buzhou Mountain was too far away for him. According to his estimates, even as a Vampire Bat flying in the sky, it would take him a month to reach Buzhou Mountain.
Outside
In the underground chamber, Zhang Chen slowly opened his eyes, looking at the alchemy furnace in front of him, its flame dim. He picked up the alchemy furnace and went to the center of the Earth, pouring the charcoal fire into the underground magma. Then, Zhang Chen placed the newly created charcoal fire back into the alchemy furnace, just placing the alchemy furnace into his sleeve before using the Earth Escape Technique to leave.
The grass grows and the orioles fly in the second month, fishing fires across the river keep company with sorrowful sleep.
As the weather warmed, the warm wind blew through the air, and a drizzle fell on the ground. Zhang Chen appeared in front of the carriage, controlling the mud to build a simple house in the wilderness.
At this point, Zhang Chen took off the tiger-skin cape, still wrapped in cotton clothes, as the early spring weather remained somewhat cold, especially with the cold snap in the early morning and evening.
However, Zhang Chen’s hornet had already sensed the breath of spring, quietly awakening from its slumber, and had begun to move around.
Zhang Chen placed the alchemy furnace on the ground, built a rack, collected some firewood, and started roasting meat. By the time Zhang Fei arrived with the carriage, the meat was already done, the sizzling roast exuding a tempting aroma, and the family gathered around the bonfire, roasting by the fire.
"Where are we now?" Mrs. Zhang asked.
"We’re almost to Qinling. Once we get past Qinling, it’s the Central Plains, and it’ll be another scene altogether." Zhang Chen cut off a piece of juicy roast meat, replying casually.
"Are we almost at the Central Plains?" Mrs. Zhang’s eyes showed a complex expression, but she said nothing more.
"Qinling has many bandits. There are said to be many bandits entrenched in the Qinling Mountains, and they’ve become formidable. We must be careful when passing through Qinling." Chengyu said, munching on a piece of roast meat, her small face glistening with oil.
Zhang Chen showed a look of disdain: "Those bandits are nothing but small fry, not worth mentioning!"
If those bandits don’t provoke me, that’s fine. But if they do, I’ll make them understand why flowers are so red.
"As long as you know." Chengyu took another bite of the roast meat, her face full of happiness.
After the roast meat was finished, the family went to rest. Zhang Chen held the alchemy furnace, looking at the raindrops falling from the sky, a touch of emotion in his eyes: "It’s been a smooth journey, but many have remained forever in the Northern Land."
"Prince Pingbian..." Zhang Chen, holding the alchemy furnace, sat in the dark, absorbing the moonlight, gradually entering a state of meditation.
At the break of dawn the next day, the Demon Horse sneezed loudly, waking Zhang Chen’s family. Then, everyone busily prepared breakfast and set off again on the road.
Only this time Zhang Chen noticed the difference in his Alchemy Furnace. As he placed pieces of charcoal fire inside it, the furnace seemed to undergo some inexplicable change, continuously absorbing the Great Sun Essence from the sky. A drop of Emperor’s Liquid quietly formed inside the furnace and was automatically stored.
"Interesting!" Zhang Chen looked at the furnace with a contemplative expression: "I just wonder if this furnace needs to be in a sunny place to absorb the Great Sun Essence, or if it can ignore all obstacles and absorb the Great Sun Essence as long as it is daytime."
Zhang Chen carried the furnace and placed it inside the carriage. As it got covered by the carriage’s canopy, Zhang Chen noticed that the furnace could no longer absorb the Great Sun Essence.
"It seems this furnace’s properties are like mine; only under the sunlight can it absorb the Great Sun Essence." Zhang Chen thought to himself.
Now, with the weather warming up, Zhang Chen rarely used the furnace for warmth, gradually becoming less dependent on it. He could place the furnace on the carriage or on a shelf to let it quietly absorb the Great Sun Essence.
As the furnace’s restriction began to operate with the supply of flames, Zhang Chen found the speed of sacrificial refining accelerated. The flames seemed to assist him in refining the Innate Restriction faster. Now that the furnace had been developed for many uses, Zhang Chen realized that as an Innate Spiritual Treasure, it was not just for refining elixirs.
In the drizzling rain, Zhang Chen walked on the muddy ground, holding an oiled paper umbrella and wearing a slightly thick coat, pondering over the points.
In front of him, the carriage rattled, skillfully driven by Zhang Tuowei.
"I should allocate more points to my time skills; raising them can reap continuous harvests. Especially since I have the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu and Ascension Pool now, I can maximize the effect of time." Zhang Chen thought to himself.
The time skill is a continuous skill, especially useful with the growth of the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu, consuming more Innate Qi and converting it into more points, which is overwhelmingly beneficial to me.
Moreover, the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu can use Innate Spiritual Qi to nourish my Innate Spiritual Treasures, such as the Alchemy Furnace and Golden Scissors. The Innate Qi I generate has extraordinary effects on both treasures.
It should be noted, with the great changes in Heaven and Earth, Innate Spiritual Treasures are becoming less friendly, needing continuous nourishment by Innate Spiritual Qi to compensate for the loss of their Origin.
Zhang Chen stroked the Eight Trigrams Furnace, a contemplative look in his eyes. Not just the time skills, but Sun Embers should also be enhanced with points. If the Sun Embers can be upgraded to the tenth tier, my means for survival will greatly increase.
But Zhang Chen was also aware that Sun Embers have a flaw, which is that the method is too singular. If someone counters it, I would be left blind.
Yet his Authority of Wood Element still requires vast experience points, and he dared not spread his resources too thin.
"Let’s see, if I can accumulate enough points to upgrade the Authority of Wood Element first, then I’ll do that. If I encounter an opponent I can’t handle, I’ll upgrade the Sun Charcoal Fire to annihilate them." Zhang Chen thought to himself.
He had a hunch that if his Sun Charcoal Fire upgraded again and reached the tenth tier, extraordinary changes would occur.
After all, Sun Charcoal Fire is already at the critical point of flame birth; if upgraded further, it should transform into the true Sun True Flame.
"The key is that I now have the Ice Domain, my battle strength should be sufficient. There aren’t so many ninth-tier powerhouses in this world. As long as I remain stable and don’t wander around, it shouldn’t attract the attention of tenth-tier beings. Except for the Yellow Heaven Dao and White Lotus Sect, these two factions are my mortal enemies, with eleventh and twelfth tiers among them..." Zhang Chen’s mind flickered as he looked at his time skills:
[21 Skill (Tier One): Time Acceleration (0/100000000)]
[Remark 1: You can accelerate time by ten years on an item by activating the skill.]
[Remark 2: The same item can only be activated once a day.]
[Remark 3: If you use magical power to activate, it can be done additionally and not count towards the daily limit. Activation condition: One Era!]
"Upgrading Time Acceleration requires only a hundred million points, which is just a raindrop to me. I currently have twenty-seven billion points, so it’s entirely affordable."
Zhang Chen looked at his point total: [2733000000]
"I wonder, after upgrading, to what extent my Time Acceleration will increase its speed; perhaps a thought could span a hundred years." Zhang Chen’s eyes revealed a hint of anticipation. The next moment, he moved his thoughts over and clicked the upgrade. Then he saw one billion points evaporate, turning twenty-seven billion points into twenty-six billion.
At this moment, the Golden Finger Interface twisted and changed, refreshing with new information.