Zhang Gaoqiu also had his own plans. Of course, he wanted to take action against Zhang Chen, wishing he could kill Zhang Chen directly. However, since the secret treasure was not yet controlled, he might need Zhang Chen’s help to achieve his goals, so he could not take action at this time.
But upon hearing that Zhang Chen actually touched Shen Ling’s buttocks, Zhang Gaoqiu was furious. Yet, for the sake of the secret treasure, he could only suppress his anger temporarily: "For now, just keep that kid in check and pretend to be friendly with him. First, confound him, and if you need him later, confuse him and then ask for his help. If later you do not need him to act, we will just drive him out of the mansion, ruin his reputation, and then lock him in prison to make him disappear from the world entirely."
Zhang Gaoqiu’s voice was full of murderous intent as he comforted Shen Ling: "For the sake of our grand plan, you’ll have to endure some grievance for now."
Lixiang Garden
Shen Ling left, but Zhang Chen still sat leisurely in the room, eating the food on the table, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
"The Shen Family’s attitude towards me isn’t favorable. I am the biological grandson of the Shen Family’s matriarch, but since that day, I haven’t been summoned by her again. Besides Wang Xifeng and Shen Xu, I haven’t seen any other Shen Family figures in charge. My family seems to have become invisible within the Shen Mansion!" Zhang Chen contemplated the Shen Family’s attitude, showing a somewhat contemplative look in his eyes:
"This is getting more interesting!"
However, Zhang Chen was not in a hurry because Liu Ji would take action, and he would naturally have the opportunity to obtain the treasures his mother left behind. As long as he retrieved what his mother left, whether to advance or retreat would be within his control.
In the following three days, Zhang Chen’s life became relaxed. Shen Ling still came to find him daily on time, not without being flirted with and harassed by Zhang Chen.
On the other hand, the young girl Jiang Nan had not been seen these days; it was unknown what she was up to.
On the evening of the third day
Zhang Chen sat in the courtyard, observing the lingering sunset glow in the sky. Suddenly, a terrifying divine power erupted from within the Shen Family, and a divine light disappeared toward the horizon from within the Shen Family.
"The Shen Family’s Tenth Tier divine being has left; Liu Ji’s strategy to lure the tiger from the mountain has worked." Seeing this, Zhang Chen was overjoyed. The next moment, he applied the invisibility talisman to himself, causing his figure to vanish into the air. Zhang Chen immediately used the escape technique, disappearing from the original spot.
Zhang Chen’s invisibility talisman had already reached the Ninth Rank. Even a Yang God master of the same rank would not be able to detect him unless they had Celestial Eye Divine Techniques.
Zhang Chen flickered and reappeared within the Shen Family’s ancestral shrine. Contrary to the quiet and peaceful appearance seen from the outside, there were actually more than a dozen figures gathered inside the ancestral shrine.
Those figures were all bathed in divine light, all Shen Family’s divine beings, ranging from the Ninth Rank to the Eighth Rank.
Moreover, Zhang Chen recognized an acquaintance: Zhang Gaoqiu.
At this moment, Zhang Gaoqiu was being surrounded at the center, standing under the clan’s ancestral tablets, with the void in front of him twisting. A chaotic, hazy Qi Mechanism transformed into a ball of flame, constantly circling around.
Zhang Gaoqiu’s body emitted a unique Zhang Family bloodline vibration, while his wrist was cut open, with strands of blood spraying out, converging toward the chaotic Qi Mechanism in the void, trying to break it. Unfortunately, Zhang Gaoqiu’s power was immediately dissolved upon approaching the chaotic Qi Mechanism.
Zhang Chen looked at Zhang Gaoqiu with a hint of surprise in his eyes: "Seventh Rank bloodline, no wonder this kid is so arrogant; it seems he indeed has the capital for arrogance."
Ninth Rank Yang God, Eighth Rank Yin Spirit, the Seventh Rank is for possession rebirth.
Though young, Zhang Gaoqiu’s bloodline power had already reached the Seventh Rank, clearly making him a pride of the heavens.
Especially since the Zhang Family bloodline excelled at manipulating ghosts and controlling others’ souls, it appeared even more eerily unpredictable and hard to defend against.
Zhang Chen’s gaze swept over the Shen Family members present, from the elderly to the young, including a very familiar face, Shen Qiu. At this moment, everyone was circulating their powers towards that object, attempting to suppress it. But the object, shrouded in the Qi of Chaos, appeared unbothered by the powerful attacks.
"Everyone’s gathered inside the ancestral shrine; how can I make a move secretly? I’ll have to employ tactics to get them all away first." Zhang Chen thought to himself as he observed the backs of the people present.
His time was limited, only a quarter of an hour. If, after that time, the Shen’s Tenth Tier divine being returned and he couldn’t take his mother’s creation, he would miss the timing entirely.
Zhang Chen turned his gaze to the object shrouded in chaotic qi in the void, noticing its circulating chaotic qi and its obscure mechanisms. Zhang Chen’s pupils contracted: "That’s an Innate Treasure!"
The object had an Innate Qi Mechanism swirling around it; how could Zhang Chen mistake it?
After cultivating at the Five Villages Temple for ten years, Zhang Chen had browsed countless books. Although his cultivation didn’t advance much, his insight had become exceptionally sharp.
"The Shen Family actually possesses an Innate Treasure? I just wonder what is so mysterious about this Innate Treasure. Even if this treasure wasn’t left for me by my mother, I will still take it as compensation for the interest the Shen Family owes me." Zhang Chen was overjoyed, then looked at the people struggling to suppress the treasure, pondering how to create an opportunity to act.
After thinking for over thirty breaths, Zhang Chen already had a plan. He stepped out of the Shen Family’s ancestral hall, and the next moment, crimson light flickered in his palm, causing the void to twist and tremble, releasing a terrifying and scorching heat stream.
The item was Zhang Chen’s skill, Sun Charcoal Fire.
"As long as I use this skill to set the Shen Family ablaze, their experts will surely be occupied with extinguishing the fire and suppressing my Sun Charcoal Fire." Zhang Chen glanced around, focusing on the central courtyard of the Shen Family, which was the abode of their ancestor.
Zhang Chen didn’t intend to kill anyone, and with a thought, he restrained the power of the Sun Charcoal Fire. Then, with a flick of his finger, the Sun Charcoal Fire, tiny as a cigarette end, cut through the air and fell over the courtyard of the Shen family’s old mistress. In an instant, the charcoal fire exploded in midair, with sparks bursting like fireworks, shooting in all directions of the Shen Family Mansion. Wherever they landed, clouds of smoke rose, and roaring flames shot up, engulfing most of the Shen Family in fire.
"Quick, put out the fire! Everyone, help put out the fire!"
A series of servants’ screams echoed from within the Shen Family Manor.
The blazing flames immediately alarmed the experts inside the ancestral hall. At this moment, Zhang Chen returned to the Shen Family ancestral hall, watching as a group of experts rushed out, witnessing the overwhelming flames. A Shen Family expert frowned: "Damn it, where did these flames come from, throwing our Shen Family into a sea of fire?"
However, the Shen Family owns seventy percent of the world’s water transport because they are naturally gifted with the Water Control Bloodline. This time, a Fifth Tier Bloodline Practitioner stepped in, manipulating water streams called from God knows where, directing them towards the flames. Yet, upon contact with the water, the flames erupted in daunting scorch marks, their power not decreasing but increasing, using the water vapor as fuel, blowing up by at least thirty percent.
The Ninth Rank Yang God of the Shen Family saw this scene and his face changed color: "These aren’t ordinary flames, everyone save people first!"
The Shen Family’s experts dispersed to rescue the family, while Zhang Chen wandered leisurely amidst the flames, slowly making his way towards the ancestral hall.
After entering the ancestral hall, Zhang Chen noticed Zhang Gaoqiu still standing inside, looking uneasy as he stared at a Chaos Light Ball enshrined on a table.
Although flames roared outside, Zhang Gaoqiu wasn’t perturbed by them but stood inside the ancestral hall, contemplating how to break the treasure’s seal.
As Zhang Chen approached, he overheard Zhang Gaoqiu complaining: "This shouldn’t be the case. I’ve tried every method, yet I still can’t control this treasure. Could it be that we indeed need that brat Zhang Chen to do the job?"
"That’s not right. My body brims with the Zhang Family Bloodline, able to replace Zhang Kecheng’s bloodline. And with the help of the Shen Family’s ancestors, that should substitute Shen Lian’s Bloodline Power. Together, these already encompass all of Zhang Chen’s Bloodline Power. So why can’t we still approach that treasure? What on earth has gone wrong?" Zhang Gaoqiu’s voice was filled with confusion, racking his brain.
Upon hearing Zhang Gaoqiu’s words, Zhang Chen was certain that the object before him was indeed the treasure left by his mother. Shen Lian was his mother’s name.
Watching the puzzled Zhang Gaoqiu, Zhang Chen slowly approached him from behind. Before Zhang Gaoqiu could react, a Body-Stabilizing Rune flickered in Zhang Chen’s hand and stuck directly onto Zhang Gaoqiu’s back.
Zhang Gaoqiu was a Seventh Tier expert, and coincidentally, Zhang Chen’s Body-Stabilizing Rune was a Seventh Tier Talisman, quite the coincidence, wasn’t it?
Although Zhang Gaoqiu’s body was immobilized, his thoughts remained intact. At that moment, a panicked look appeared in his eyes, cold sweat instantly dripping from his forehead, inwardly thinking: "Who’s scheming against me?"
Realizing something was amiss, he thought to himself that this was the Shen Family, and the person scheming against him must be up to no good, which wasn’t a favorable situation for him.
While all sorts of thoughts swarmed in his mind, Zhang Chen stood behind Zhang Gaoqiu and, with a wave of his hand over Zhang Gaoqiu’s head, smoothed his forehead and closed his eyelids shut.
Still feeling insecure, Zhang Chen untied his belt and wrapped it around Zhang Gaoqiu’s eyes. Only then did he feel assured as he walked past Zhang Gaoqiu.
Even though he had the Invisibility Talisman, confident that the other party couldn’t see through it, adding an extra layer of assurance couldn’t hurt.
Most crucially, deliberately mystifying the enemy, adding more misleading cues, wasn’t a bad strategy either.
Looking at Zhang Gaoqiu, Zhang Chen’s eyes flashed with killing intent. The other party had schemed against him in all sorts of ways, plotting for his inherited artifact. According to reason, this person deserved a brutal punishment, yet Zhang Chen’s eyes shifted as he thought of a better plan. Rather than killing him outright, he could make his life a living hell.
With a smile at the corner of his mouth, Zhang Chen ignored Zhang Gaoqiu and turned his eyes towards the treasure not far away.
Is this the item left behind by my mother?