lovenovelstory #362 - Death substitute
#362 - Death substitute
Zhang Chen, who was hiding nearby in an invisible state, was stunned. He never expected that his gossip would involve him.
“That beast, Mr. Wu-Liu, is truly vicious and utterly detestable! He dares to scheme against me again.” Zhang Chen stood by, listening to their conversation, a hint of malice in his eyes.
These two old bastards from the Pingbian Royal Palace actually dare to plot against me. It's utterly detestable.
Hearing this, the Prince of Pingbian stroked his chin and said after a moment, “That kid is not simple. He's as cunning as a fox and extremely treacherous. We must not let him see through our plans.”
“Even if he's cunning, he's just a mortal. What means could he possibly have to see through our schemes?” Mr. Wu-Liu smiled triumphantly, “Leave this to your subordinate.”
Then, the two of them made detailed arrangements before leaving the leyline and returning to Gou Lan County.
Zhang Chen watched their departing figures, a cold glint in his eyes: “Good, good! I'll see who's scheming against whom. I have so many methods; do you think you can bully me? I'll make sure your schemes backfire, and I'll seize this fortune.”
Zhang Chen returned and came to Chen Xu, then canceled his invisibility spell. Seeing Zhang Chen, Chen Xu hurriedly approached and said, “Young Master Zhang, what's the situation?”
“A mysterious object that fell from the Immortal Realm is buried in that mountain range. It flows with incredible power. The Pingbian Royal Palace intends to dispatch a large army to guard it, so the excavation of their ancestral tomb will be temporarily suspended to avoid any mishaps,” Zhang Chen told Chen Xu.
“The Pingbian Royal Palace has also noticed that mysterious object?” Chen Xu muttered to himself, “This is really troublesome.”
“But I already have a plan. Just wait for my news,” Zhang Chen patted Chen Xu on the shoulder, “Go find a place to hide for now. Once I've arranged everything, we'll make our move.”
Chen Xu had no choice but to comply, leaving dejectedly.
Watching Chen Xu leave, Zhang Chen transformed into mist and disappeared into the mountains. When he reappeared, he was already at his secret base. At this time, the falcon was standing in the cold wind, looking at the distant mountains, pondering something, while the wasps had retreated into their hive, falling into slumber.
Sensing Zhang Chen's arrival, the falcon showed a joyful expression, pouncing on Zhang Chen, rubbing its head against him, emitting happy cries.
Even the queen of the bumblebees braved the cold wind, crawling out of the hive, but hesitated to fly out, wary of the cold outside.
Seeing this, Zhang Chen stepped forward and extended his hand. The bumblebee queen crawled out of the hive, darted into Zhang Chen's sleeve, grabbed Zhang Chen's arm, and buzzed happily.
Zhang Chen looked at the bumblebee queen and the falcon, and a thought arose in his mind: “Are these two beasts really worth wasting my precious imprint slots? The bumblebee is fine. If it matures and forms a bumblebee army, it might be useful. But the falcon… Even if I enlighten it, it's hard to say how far it can go in the future. The most crucial thing is that the falcon's evolution speed will definitely not keep up with my growth speed.”
After a moment of contemplation, Zhang Chen decided to give the two beasts a chance. As for whether they could succeed and how far they could go in the future, it would depend on their luck.
If worst comes to worst, he could just kill the two demon beasts, and the slots would naturally return to his hands.
Zhang Chen pointed his finger at the two beasts, bestowing upon them Qi Luck and imprints. The two beasts immediately fell into a deep sleep, seemingly entering a hibernation state.
Strands of mysterious energy gathered from the heavens and earth, absorbed by the two beasts, causing some inexplicable transformation in the sleeping creatures.
Zhang Chen carefully placed the bee queen back into the hive, then dragged the falcon into the depths of the cave to prevent it from being eaten by passing beasts, before transforming into mist again and traveling at low altitude, arriving at the Eight Trigrams Furnace.
As soon as Zhang Chen arrived at the Eight Trigrams Furnace, he immediately noticed the changes in it. The colorful flames within the furnace had changed. The flames in the Eight Trigrams Furnace had transformed from seven colors into colorless flames. The temperature inside the furnace was scorching, and even the surrounding rocks showed signs of melting into magma.
It should be known that this was with the Eight Trigrams Furnace restraining the power of the flames within. Only a little residual heat was transmitted through the furnace. It was evident how terrifying the flame's temperature was, having increased by a thousandfold.
Zhang Chen possessed the Fire Aversion Pearl and had a comprehensive understanding of flames. In a moment, he recognized the origin of the flame: “Colored Realm Fire.”
“Color” refers to matter.
Colored Realm Fire is a flame that can ignite all matter. No wonder the Eight Trigrams Furnace can't contain its power.
“How did the power of the Eight Trigrams Furnace's flames suddenly increase to Colored Realm Fire?” Zhang Chen's eyes were filled with shock, and he quickly had a guess: “Could it be because of the mysterious object that fell into the Pingbian Royal Palace?”
The mysterious object fell into the ancestral leyline of the Pingbian Royal Palace, its power nourishing the ancestral leyline, and the Eight Trigrams Furnace drew power from the ancestral leyline. Wouldn't that mean that the power of the treasure was actually being used by me?
“Good! It seems it's not the Pingbian Royal Palace that has good luck, but me!” Zhang Chen praised repeatedly, standing in front of the Eight Trigrams Furnace, carefully sensing the changes within. He saw that the spherical restriction inside the furnace had collapsed by three layers in just a few days. It was evident how fierce the Colored Realm Fire was.
“In a while, in less than two months, I will definitely be able to burn the restrictions on the sphere into nothingness, completing the refinement of my treasure,” Zhang Chen rejoiced inwardly, not expecting such a fortune to be waiting for him.
“Good, good, good. When I refine the God-Smiting Whip, my strength will reach a new level, and I will have a few more methods to protect myself.” Zhang Chen was delighted, and after confirming that everything was in order, he left the cave and returned to the Taoist temple.
At this time, Cheng Yu had woken up and was practicing martial arts in the courtyard. Her every move was methodical and looked very impressive.
Zhang Chen walked out of the house, watching Cheng Yu practice martial arts, and couldn't help but clap his hands and praise: “Senior Sister's martial arts are really impressive.”
Cheng Yu stopped her movements and looked at Zhang Chen with surprise: “When did you come back?”
Zhang Chen said with a smile: “Just came back.”
“Come here, I brought you something good this time.” Zhang Chen beckoned to Cheng Yu.
Cheng Yu followed Zhang Chen, her eyes full of curiosity: “What good stuff did you come up with?”
She knew Zhang Chen. If Zhang Chen called it good stuff, it must be good stuff.
Zhang Chen smiled and took out a bottle of Bashe blood and said, “Bashe blood! If you use this blood to temper your body, it may help you refine your martial arts blood energy.”
“You actually got your hands on such a good thing, you’re something else!” Little Bean’s eyes lit up, and after taking the jade bottle, she asked, “How do I use this?”
“Smear it on your body and let your body absorb it little by little. Do not swallow it under any circumstances,” Zhang Chen instructed.
The remnant soul of the Bashe is still alive. Zhang Chen always felt that there would be future troubles if he directly swallowed the blood of the Bashe. If he were to be plotted against by the remnant soul of the Bashe, it would be a loss.
Little Bean’s face lit up when she heard this. She carefully put away the bottle, and then looked at Zhang Chen very seriously: “Junior Brother, you are so good to me. Don’t worry, when I achieve great success in martial arts in the future, I will definitely protect you.”
Zhang Chen rubbed Little Bean’s head: “Okay, okay, I’ll wait for Senior Sister to achieve great success in martial arts and take care of me.”
“Now I’m hungry, is Senior Sister going to prepare something for me to eat?” Zhang Chen said.
“You wait, I’ll go to the kitchen to find you something to eat.” Little Bean turned around and ran away.
Zhang Chen smiled as he watched Little Bean’s departing figure, then returned to his room, lay on the bed, and pondered the techniques of combat.
Martial arts are martial arts, and combat techniques are combat techniques. One is the Dao, the fundamental method. The other is skill, the art of killing.
Although he didn’t plan to practice martial arts, he wanted to learn the art of killing.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have a suitable teacher. He had offended the Pingbian Royal Mansion, and no one in the Taoist temple dared to wade into troubled waters.
Zhang Chen was puzzled and could only helplessly give up temporarily, waiting for the Pingbian Royal Mansion to make its move, and waiting for mysterious news to appear in the Northern Lands again, so that he could take the opportunity to intervene and fight.
On the third day after Zhang Chen returned to the Taoist temple to cultivate in seclusion, Abbot Xu Wei came to visit.
“Greetings, Abbot,” Zhang Chen respectfully saluted Xu Wei.
Xu Wei had a gentle smile on his face, looking like a friendly uncle next door, making people feel close: “Are you comfortable living in the Taoist temple? Are you satisfied with the environment?”
Zhang Chen replied: “This disciple comes from a humble background. Being able to have a mouthful of food is already fortunate. How dare I have any complaints?”
Xu Wei nodded in satisfaction when he heard this:
“Our Taoist temple has a task to assign to you. Actually, it can’t be said to be a simple task. The main thing is to resolve the grievances between you and the Pingbian Royal Mansion. I’ve heard about the grievances between you and the Pingbian Royal Mansion. The Pingbian Royal Mansion is the ruler of the Northern Lands. As long as you are in the Northern Lands, you can’t avoid the power of the Royal Mansion. It’s not good for you to offend the Royal Mansion. Even if you have the Inspection Division backing you, the Inspection Division is powerless in many matters. It’s better to do less than to do more in this kind of thing. Where is it more convenient to resolve grievances? Now the ancestral land of the Pingbian Royal Mansion wants to build a Taoist temple, one is to collect incense for the Taoist temple, and the other is to serve the Royal Mansion, praying for its ancestors day and night. It can also be regarded as an opportunity for you and the Royal Mansion to resolve your grievances, so I have decided to assign this task to you to ease your relationship with the Pingbian Royal Mansion.”
Hearing this, Zhang Chen thought to himself: “The Pingbian Royal Mansion has such quick methods. It’s only been three days and they’re already making a move against me.”
He also looked at Xu Wei and cursed in his heart: ‘If I didn’t know the truth, I’m afraid I would have really believed your nonsense. You dog thing is really hateful! Simply hateful to the extreme!’
Zhang Chen quickly bowed and thanked him, gratefully saying: “Thank you for the Abbot’s care. This disciple is grateful to the Abbot and will definitely repay the Abbot’s great kindness in the future.”
Xu Wei looked at Zhang Chen’s expression, a trace of coldness and contempt appeared in his eyes, then quickly concealed it, and said calmly: “You will go down the mountain tomorrow to find Mr. Wuliu at the Pingbian Royal Mansion to report. The Royal Mansion will naturally arrange your tasks.”
Zhang Chen hesitated slightly when he heard this: “Abbot, this disciple has a bloody feud with Mr. Wuliu of the Pingbian Royal Mansion. If that Mr. Wuliu makes a move against me and takes the opportunity to kill me in the Royal Mansion…”
“Don’t worry, I will mediate in this matter, and of course that kind of situation will not happen,” Xu Wei comforted Zhang Chen a few words, then quickly left, his figure disappearing outside the gate.
Looking at Xu Wei’s departing figure, Zhang Chen sneered secretly, and the two sides had formed a feud. However, now there is no more wool to shear in this Taoist temple. He is willing to go to another place to shear the ancestral graves of the Pingbian King. This is something that the other party has taken the initiative to send to his door for him to shear, so he can’t blame himself.
It is said that Xu Wei came all the way to the backyard and saw Mr. Wuliu waiting in the courtyard. After seeing Mr. Wuliu, Xu Wei hurriedly stepped forward and respectfully saluted:
“Sir, everything has been arranged properly. Zhang Chen will go down the mountain tomorrow, but…”
Speaking of this, Xu Wei raised his head to look at Mr. Wuliu’s back, hesitated slightly and said: “Zhang Chen must not die down the mountain, otherwise, if Xie Lingyun asks for guilt, Huangli Taoist Temple may not be able to explain it.”
He has been serving the Royal Mansion. What kind of stuff is the Pingbian Royal Mansion? How could he not know?
Hearing this, Mr. Wuliu smiled: “Don’t worry, if Zhang Chen really dies, he must die behind Xie Lingyun.”
Hearing this, Xu Wei’s pupils shrank, his eyes were full of disbelief, and then his head was lowered even more.
In the small courtyard,
Little Bean looked sideways at Zhang Chen after Xu Wei left:
“Zhang Chen, do you really want to reconcile with the Pingbian Royal Mansion?”
“Of course not! The hatred between me and the Pingbian Royal Mansion is already irreconcilable, so how can we reconcile?” Zhang Chen touched Little Bean’s head.
“Then you?” Little Bean looked at Zhang Chen, her eyes full of confusion.
Zhang Chen smiled lightly: “Hehe, this is called pretending. The Pingbian Royal Mansion has bad intentions and wants to harm me, but they don’t know that I also want to harm them. In the end, who is better, it depends on their own abilities.”
Zhang Chen stroked Little Bean’s head: “You should stay in the Taoist temple and practice carefully in the future. Don’t go down the mountain casually, and don’t contact the people of the Pingbian Royal Mansion. Even the people in this Taoist temple are not trustworthy!”
Hearing this, a hint of wit appeared in Little Bean’s eyes: “Don’t worry, I will definitely not listen to them and will be vigilant against them.”
Zhang Chen stroked Little Bean’s head, as if he was stroking a dog’s head, his eyes were full of worry. He is not worried about anyone now, the only one he is worried about is Little Bean.
After thinking about it, Zhang Chen took out an invisibility talisman and handed it to Little Bean: “You must hide this talisman well. This talisman has the ability to be invisible, and only Yang God level masters can see through it. Perhaps it can help you in a critical moment.”
He is really worried about Little Bean. Huang Tiandao is planning too much on Little Bean’s body. Although he has broken Huang Tiandao’s layout, Huang Tiandao will never give up.