r18novel Page 121
Page 121
Zhang Zhiwei's voice was extremely low, as if he were afraid of disturbing some ancient being sleeping between heaven and earth.
"The essence of that power seems to... transcend everything we know about 'Qi'."
"It is neither resisting my Golden Light Mantra nor dispelling it."
A flicker of lingering fear flashed in Zhang Zhiwei's eyes, a feeling he had never experienced since becoming a top expert.
"It is... devouring, assimilating, and restoring my 'Qi' to something more fundamental and primal."
He paused for a moment, as if searching for a metaphor that Tian Jinzhong could understand.
"Just like water vapor condensing into ice, ice is solid, sharp, tangible, and has a physical form; it is a force we are familiar with."
"And his power is the sun, which can turn ice back into water vapor."
"The sun doesn't need to collide with ice; its very existence is enough to melt the ice and return it to its most primitive form."
This analogy made Tian Jinzhong gasp, feeling a chill run from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, making the hairs on his body stand on end.
Above all "Qi"?
Let all things return to their origin?
What a terrifying realm this is!
This is beyond the reach of human beings; it is practically the authority of gods!
The two looked at each other in silence, both seeing the same shock and horror in each other's eyes.
The quiet room fell silent once again, with only the heavy breathing of the two people echoing in the oppressive space.
They suddenly realized a fact.
A fact they have always ignored, or rather, dared not even think about.
That junior brother who, in their eyes, always needed to be protected under their wings.
Zhang Yunyuan, whom they had always worried would suffer losses and be bullied down the mountain.
At some point before they knew it, he had quietly embarked on a unique and unimaginable path to heaven, one that they could neither comprehend nor even comprehend.
His path is beyond their comprehension.
"This matter..."
Zhang Zhiwei took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart. His expression became extremely serious, a kind of decisiveness that a Celestial Master and the leader of Longhu Mountain must have.
"From this day forward, this shall be classified as a top secret of Longhu Mountain."
"Junior Brother Yunyuan possesses such unfathomable power, which is both his opportunity and... his calamity."
"Until he truly possesses the power to weather any storm, this matter must not be revealed to anyone, not even the disciples of the sect. You and I must keep this a secret!"
Chapter 140 Zhang Chulan's Ordinary Childhood
Meanwhile, in an inconspicuous town in western Sichuan, seven-year-old Zhang Chulan, carrying a faded canvas schoolbag, timidly walked into the gate of the town's central primary school.
The sun was shining brightly, and the campus was filled with the laughter and playful sounds of children, brimming with vitality.
The air was filled with the smell of chalk dust and old wooden tables and chairs, mixed with the fragrance of grass, which formed his most concrete image of the word "ordinary" at this moment.
Zhang Chulan subconsciously shrank his neck, hiding himself in a corner of the crowd, trying his best not to be noticed by anyone.
Since the horrific experience of his grandfather's death several months ago, he has been taken away from his hometown by a man named Xu Xiang who claims to be his grandfather's friend.
Xu Xiang treated him very well, like a real uncle.
But he always felt that this uncle was hiding many secrets.
Xu Xiang strictly followed Zhang Yunyuan's instructions, raising Zhang Chulan as an ordinary nephew.
He never revealed anything to him about his grandfather or the world of supernatural beings, and in an almost harsh manner, he forbade him from using any abilities related to "Qi".
"Chu Lan, remember this."
The night before school started, Xu Xiang squatted down and spoke to him in an unprecedentedly serious tone.
"From today onwards, you are just an ordinary child."
"Your job is to go to school, do your homework, and play with your classmates."
"Forget everything your grandfather taught you. Don't think about a single word of it, and don't practice a single move. Do you understand?"
"If someone bullies you at school, run away. If you can't outrun them, just back down. Never fight back."
Zhang Chulan nodded as if he understood but not quite.
He seemed to have truly forgotten the night his grandfather passed away, the men in black wielding weapons, and the soaring golden light emanating from his grandfather.
His memory seemed shrouded in a thick fog, leaving only some blurry and terrifying fragments.
All he knew was that he didn't want to go through that again.
He just wanted to be an ordinary person.
Gradually, Zhang Chulan became an ordinary boy who was somewhat timid, precocious, yet yearned for a simple life.
He would be secretly happy all day if he got first place in an exam, and he would also cry in grievance if an older classmate took five cents of his pocket money.
He tried his best to live his life as the most inconspicuous color in this small town.
What he didn't know was that in a corner he couldn't see, there was always a figure, like a real shadow, silently protecting him.
She was fulfilling the extremely simple mission that Zhang Yunyuan had given her—
"Don't let him die."
She would hide in the big tree across from the school and watch Zhang Chulan go to class, leave get out of class, and do his morning exercises.
She saw him being pushed by older children, saw his eyes redden but he didn't dare to fight back, she just watched silently, because it wouldn't "kill him".
She would follow behind him, watching him go to the convenience store to buy a bag of spicy strips, watching him chase and play with his classmates on the ridges of the fields, getting covered in mud.
She didn't understand the meaning of these actions, but she knew it was her mission.
She was like a precisely programmed machine, faithfully executing every instruction, no more, no less.
The peaceful days did not last long.
An undercurrent of remnants of the Jia Shen rebellion has been stubbornly surging in the dark corners of the world of supernatural beings, like maggots clinging to bones.
In a remote mountain forest in western Hunan, there was a small sect called the "Three Corpses Sect." One of its elders, who was over a hundred years old and nearing the end of his life, suddenly had a whim on a full moon night and cast a divination for himself.
This elder had participated in the siege of Zhang Huaiyi years ago, but fled halfway and luckily escaped with his life.
Over the years, his cultivation has been completely destroyed, and he has been barely clinging to life. However, his covetousness for the "Source of Qi" has never diminished in the slightest. On the contrary, it has become even more intense as his time to die approaches.
He lit three sticks of black incense soaked in corpse oil and knelt before a bizarre altar made of countless tiny finger bones.
He exhausted his last bit of energy, using his life essence as a guide, to perform the "Three Corpse Soul-Chasing Technique," a forbidden technique within the sect, in an attempt to deduce the final whereabouts of Zhang Huaiyi's bloodline.
"puff--!"
As he finished reciting the last incantation, a mouthful of jet-black blood gushed out, splashing onto the altar and making a sizzling, corrosive sound.
His body shrank visibly, as if all his life force had been drained away.
The divination ultimately pointed to western Sichuan.
A vague location and a fragmented, blurry image of a seven-year-old child appeared in his mind.
A morbid ecstasy erupted in the old elder's eyes, but he was immediately plunged into deep apprehension.
He knew that with the meager strength of his sect, even if they found the child, it would be like a moth flying into a flame.
He never wanted to experience the thunder magic of the Celestial Master's Mansion on Longhu Mountain again in his life.
Immense greed and extreme fear intertwined wildly in his dying embers.
He originally intended to sell this information at a high price to obtain some resources to live out his remaining years.
But then I realized that I was already like a candle flickering in the wind, and no amount of resources could save me.
The "Qi Body Source Flow" is the legendary "end of all techniques," and perhaps... perhaps it can have the effect of defying fate!
Rather than handing over this incredible opportunity to someone else and exchanging it for some useless material possessions, why not... take a gamble!
If he wins the bet, he will live a long and healthy life, and the Three Corpses Sect will soar to great heights!
If he loses the bet, the worst that can happen is he dies; he won't live much longer anyway!
Once the thought arose, it spread like wildfire, instantly taking over his heart, which was already shrouded in the shadow of death.
He staggered to his feet, dragging his almost hollowed-out body, and rushed out of the secret chamber, heading straight into the corpse-refining room of the current sect leader, "Yin Gu Dao Ren".
The Yin Bone Taoist was inscribing runes on a newly acquired corpse when he heard the sound and turned around. He was shocked to see the elder in such a state of exhaustion.
"Uncle-Master, what's wrong...?"
The old elder grabbed his hand, a hand as withered as a chicken claw, yet with astonishing strength, his eyes burning with a final madness.
"found it!"
"I've found Zhang Huaiyi's descendants!"
Upon hearing this, Yin Gu Dao Ren was first stunned, then terrified out of his wits, his face turning deathly pale.
"Uncle-Master, you've gone mad!"
"Those are the exclusive property of Longhu Mountain, people protected by the Celestial Master's Mansion!"
"How many people are there in our Three Corpses Sect?"
"Going to touch him is no different from courting death!"
The old elder roared hoarsely, spitting as he spoke, "Do you think we're not just waiting to die right now?"
"By clinging to these few broken zombies and barely surviving in this deep mountain forest, our lineage will inevitably be severed sooner or later!"
"This is a golden opportunity!"
"It's the 'Qi Body Source Flow'!"
He stared intently at the Yin Bone Taoist, his voice filled with seductive intent.
"With it, our Three Corpse Sect can soar to new heights and become a force to be reckoned with, on par with the Ten Elders!"