MF-novel #288 - Your crime is exposed!
#288 - Your crime is exposed!
Chapter 287: Your scheme has been exposed!
For over a decade, he had diligently cultivated, yet he hadn't realized the true application of his ability, unlike Zhang Chen, who only glanced at it once.
He was curious how Zhang Chen knew the true application of his skill.
As for how Zhang Chen knew? He mastered the Art of Devouring, the ancestor of all devouring techniques. The other party's methods were far too rudimentary in Zhang Chen's eyes.
Devouring the essence of all things could aid cultivation, enhance innate foundation, and transform one's roots. Only this was the true Great Dao. But what about the other party? They absorbed iron essence to forge copper skin and iron bones, limiting their future achievements.
Even if they finished devouring ordinary iron and could devour innate Geng metal, what then? At most, they could temper their body to be as indestructible as innate Geng metal, but they would ultimately fail to grasp the Great Dao.
"Just a guess," Zhang Chen replied with a smile.
"Junior Brother, from now on, you are my own brother. In the Yellow Heaven Dao, I will protect you. If anyone dares to bully you, I will stand up for you," Li Donglai assured, patting his chest.
Zhang Chen glanced at Li Donglai: "If Senior Brother says so, then I won't be polite. I do have an enemy in the Yellow Dawn Temple, the heir of the Pingbian Prince's estate, Zhang Xiaohua. If Senior Brother can help me get revenge and kill him with one punch, I would be eternally grateful."
Li Donglai paused upon hearing this, his boastful gesture halting. He then looked at Zhang Chen with surprised eyes, filled with embarrassment: "The heir of the Pingbian Prince's estate… forget it! Can't afford to offend him! Can't afford to offend him!"
Li Donglai's face was awkward, instantly becoming cowardly: "Brother, that's the heir of the Pingbian Prince's estate. How could I possibly provoke him?"
Zhang Chen glanced at Li Donglai. Li Donglai smiled awkwardly, moving closer and flattering him: "Junior Brother, with your wisdom, perhaps you can help me think of a way to get rid of this belly. This belly is really annoying, affecting my heroic appearance."
Zhang Chen's gaze landed on the other party's belly. After a moment of thought, he said: "I think it's because the fire in your body is not strong enough, which causes those impurities to accumulate in your body. If you had powerful true fire, you could refine those impurities into ashes, and then your body would naturally return to normal."
"True fire energy? But how can I obtain true fire energy? Should I find a wisp of strange fire and introduce it into my body to temper it?" Li Donglai muttered.
Zhang Chen's eyelids twitched upon hearing this. Was this kid crazy?
If he introduced true fire into his belly, wouldn't his internal organs be burned to a crisp?
"I think the main thing is that your current level is too low. If you raise your cultivation level, the fire energy in your body will become stronger, and the impurities will naturally be refined into nothingness," Zhang Chen quickly dissuaded him, thinking that this kid was missing a screw in his head, lest he refine himself to death.
Hearing Zhang Chen's words, the little fatty sighed to the sky: "But leveling up is too slow! I'll have to wait until the year of the monkey."
Zhang Chen curled his lip upon hearing this. Copper Skin Iron Bones was definitely the most powerful divine ability in the world. Don't underestimate the little fatty's low level. If he really refined his entire body into a steel body, even a Yang God True Person would be like a dog biting a hedgehog, unable to do anything.
If he really cultivated an innate Geng metal body in the future, turning into a lump of iron, even if a Grand Luo God descended, he would probably be in trouble, right?
It could be said that the little fatty's ability was flawless, with a great future, but the key was whether he could cultivate to that level.
"Haste makes waste. Just cultivate slowly," Zhang Chen consoled him listlessly.
The little fatty was a carefree person, and he quickly changed his mind: "I think you're right. My ability is simple. As long as I devour metals strong enough, I can directly advance. At worst, I'll travel to various ancient tombs in the future, stealing and excavating some strange metals, and my leveling speed might increase."
Zhang Chen perfunctorily chatted with the little fatty for a while, then got up and returned to his room to steal points underground.
To him, points were the most important thing. Where did he have time to chat with this kid?
Not long after Zhang Chen left, the little fatty, bored, ran back to Zhang Chen to chat and stimulate his inspiration, but who knew that after entering the room, he couldn't find Zhang Chen's踪迹, so he turned around and walked out of the courtyard to find friends.
In the evening, when Zhang Chen returned to the courtyard, he heard Li Donglai standing in the courtyard cursing, constantly spitting out dirty words.
Li Donglai cursed very vulgarly, from his father to his mother, and even his ancestors for eight generations, they were all greeted by him.
"What are you cursing about? How can you curse so vulgarly?" Zhang Chen walked out of the room with a smile.
"Oh, when did you come back, kid? I've been looking for you all day, but I haven't seen any trace of you." Seeing Zhang Chen walk out of the room, Li Donglai said with a surprised expression.
But he quickly changed the topic and rambled on: "Don't mention it, that damned Chu Mingyue, in order to win over the fellow disciples, actually held a Night-Luminous Cup Appreciation Conference. He invited all the disciples in the courtyard, but he just didn't invite me. I was angry that he isolated me, so I took the initiative to go to him to reason. I said to let him show me the cup, but that stingy guy actually drove me out."
Speaking of this, Li Donglai was even more furious: "Not only did he not invite me, but he also didn't invite you. He didn't put us brothers in his eyes. If it weren't for San Cun Ding, I would have argued with him."
Zhang Chen glanced at Li Donglai, thinking to himself: "This guy has a sharp tongue, I'm afraid he said something and annoyed Chu Mingyue, that's why he was driven out. Logically speaking, Chu Mingyue is a fellow disciple, he shouldn't be so excessive, right?"
Li Donglai looked at Zhang Chen, and seeing Zhang Chen's expression, he immediately knew that he didn't believe him, so he quickly said: "I know you don't trust me, thinking that I'm gossipy, but that guy is already mixed up with Zhang Xiaohua, relying on Zhang Xiaohua. He is our natural enemy, we must not let it go."
Just as Li Donglai was complaining with a face full of anger, Cheng Yu walked in from outside the door, his words full of resentment: "Dead fatty, don't talk nonsense! It's clear that you came uninvited, and it's fine if you took the initiative to visit, but you insisted on saying that Senior Brother Chu Mingyue's Night-Luminous Cup was nothing more than that, just good-looking and useless, belittling the Night-Luminous Cup to nothing. The other senior brothers couldn't stand it, and came up to argue with you, but you relied on your Copper Skin Iron Bones and started fighting, disrupting the good banquet."
Li Donglai said plausibly upon hearing this: "If he had invited me and not despised me, how could I have disrupted his banquet?"
Speaking of this, he turned to look at Zhang Chen: "Junior Brother Zhang, you are a reasonable person, you be the judge."
Hearing this, Zhang Chen shook his head. He had seen the little fatty's unreasonable and forceful attitude.
"The matter has already happened, let's rest early, what's the point of saying so much?" Zhang Chen said unhappily.
Zhang Chen walked into the room, leaving only Li Donglai facing Cheng Yu in the courtyard. Seeing Cheng Yu's clenched fist in his sleeve, an ominous premonition surged into his heart, and he immediately shut up and stopped arguing, instead choosing to turn around and go back to his room to sleep.
Seeing that Li Donglai actually stayed in the courtyard to sleep, Xiao Douding immediately became unhappy and rushed up to stop him: "Fatty, why don't you go to your own dormitory? What are you doing here?"
"I asked him to stay." Zhang Chen hurriedly stopped the conflict from inside the room.
The little bean raised its fair and tender little fist, making a threatening gesture towards Li Donglai, scaring him into a shiver. Then, he turned and walked into Zhang Chen's room: "Junior Brother, don't listen to that fatty's nonsense. Senior Brother Chu Mingyue is a very good person, gentle, refined, handsome, and generous. He is a true gentleman, not as annoying as that dead fatty says."
Zhang Chen looked at the little bean in surprise, his eyes full of curiosity: "Why do you like Chu Mingyue so much?"
The little bean blushed when he heard this, then puffed out his small chest and said unhappily, "Adults' affairs are none of a child's business."
Zhang Chen looked at the little bean and couldn't help but smile: "So, it's hero worship. Such a young child already knows how to worship idols. Kids these days are really precocious."
"It's not that, it's just that Senior Brother Chu is my neighbor from my hometown, and we came to the Yellow Sky Path together. Everyone in that village died back then, leaving only me and Senior Brother Chu." The little bean sighed softly, his eyes full of sadness: "I remember before, I would go to Senior Brother Chu to play every day. My father treated him like his own son, and he was like my own brother. It's just that later, something happened, and we separated, becoming a bit estranged."
Zhang Chen was stunned when he heard this, not expecting such a reason. He didn't know how to comfort him.
"Zhang Chen, I don't think you are Senior Brother Chu Mingyue's opponent. You should not compete, lest you be injured by Senior Brother Chu. I will be in a difficult position then." The little bean seemed to have remembered something at this time and said to Zhang Chen.
Zhang Chen glanced at the little bean when he heard this: "You little girl have betrayed me. You used to hope that I would win first place, but now you are speaking for your Senior Brother Chu Mingyue. You have betrayed our faith."
"Although you are my junior brother, Senior Brother Chu Mingyue slaughtering gods with a mortal body is my idol. He is a guiding light for us martial artists. Idols need to be worshipped. Listen to me, give up the competition. You have no chance when Senior Brother Chu makes a move!" The little bean said very proudly.
Zhang Chen smiled when he heard this, lay down on the bed to sleep, and didn't bother to pay attention to this little brat. What does a five-year-old child know?
Seeing Zhang Chen's attitude, Cheng Yu ignored him and walked happily upstairs, giggling from time to time, not knowing what he was thinking.
That night,
Zhang Chen, as usual, sneaked into the underground to steal points, and then came out the next morning. Then, there was the morning class. After the morning class, Li Donglai and the little bean both disappeared, leaving Zhang Chen alone to go to the cafeteria for dinner.
Looking from afar, Zhang Chen saw Chu Mingyue sitting with Zhang Xiaohua. The food on the table was not from the cafeteria, but all kinds of delicacies from the Pingbian Prince's Mansion.
The senior brothers were surrounding the two at this time, constantly raising their glasses to flatter them.
Zhang Chen stood aside and watched coldly, looking at the actions of the group and Chu Mingyue, who was surrounded in the center, and said to himself: "Although that Chu Mingyue pretends to be aloof, all his flattery is directed towards Zhang Xiaohua. This kid is not simple and has a deep mind."
However, all of this has nothing to do with Zhang Chen. He only needs to steal points and improve his skills. He also doesn't want to have deep friendships with these fellow disciples, lest he get too involved and be unable to sort things out.
Thinking about his thoughts, Zhang Chen walked back. However, when passing by the Ancestral Hall, Zhang Chen's footsteps suddenly slowed down, and he heard Liu Feng and Elder Wu's voices from inside the hall:
"Master, why has the Conferred God Ceremony been delayed for so long without being finalized? The various forces have already become restless in secret and have begun to inquire about news behind their backs. Some people suspect that our Yellow Sky Path is bragging and causing trouble behind our backs, and some people suspect that something has gone wrong with our Yellow Sky Path. If this continues, I am afraid that many troubles will arise."
"Something has gone wrong." Wu Changming sighed helplessly, his voice full of powerlessness.
"Ah?" Liu Feng was shocked when he heard this: "Master, this is not a joke. What went wrong? Can it be remedied? If something goes wrong, I am afraid that the good situation in the Northland will fall apart, and the major forces will no longer believe in us, and the foundation of faith will also be shaken."
"The Old Ancestor personally took action and has already investigated. The power of faith in the Northland has disappeared out of thin air, as if it was stolen. Not only does the newly gathered power of faith disappear out of thin air every day, but even the accumulated incense faith of the past has begun to fill it in. In short, it is unsustainable." Wu Changming also sighed. The amount of the power of faith determines the key to conferring gods. If the power of faith is not accumulated enough, it is impossible to confer gods?
The Conferred God Ceremony has been delayed, and he has no way to do anything. Now the incense faith is disappearing out of thin air in the Yellow Dawn Temple. If the reason is not found, there will definitely be big trouble.
"Then what should we do?" Liu Feng responded anxiously.
"The Great Virtuous Teacher is already prepared to take action, secretly using means to mix his own power into the faith. As long as the other party steals the power of faith again, they will definitely be marked by that hidden power. When the time comes, the Great Virtuous Teacher will naturally send down power to suppress and kill them." Wu Changming said: "Do not worry, the Great Virtuous Teacher personally takes action, and it will only take a few days to resolve this matter."
"By the way, has Ma Zhou arrived? This time, the Great Virtuous Teacher has assigned the position of Water God to Ma Zhou. Tell him to be prepared!" Wu Changming said.
Liu Feng lowered his head when he heard this, unable to see his facial expression clearly, but respectfully said: "Ma Zhou has already arrived and is bathing, meditating, and burning incense while waiting."
Speaking of this, the muscles on Liu Feng's face finally couldn't help but twitch. He was the one who made great contributions and brought together the Pingbian Prince's Mansion. Ma Zhou was just a descendant of the Great Virtuous Teacher. What credit did he have? He was actually parachuted in to reap the rewards?
No matter how you calculate it, this divine position should be his. Without his decades of hard work in the Northland, where would the incense for conferring gods today come from?
Outside the door, Zhang Chen heard the conversation in the room, and cold sweat immediately broke out on his back: "The Great Virtuous Teacher has taken action?"
"No, I must stop for a while. Logically speaking, I only absorb two million points a day, so there shouldn't be such big aftereffects, right? All the blame should be on Zhang Xiaohua's jade tablet." Zhang Chen cursed in his heart.
Although he absorbs a lot every day, it will never reach the point of negative growth.
But if you add Zhang Xiaohua's jade tablet, the two of them sucking blood day and night in the Yellow Dawn Temple, it may really cause the incense to decline.
"No, I'll stop first. Let Zhang Xiaohua take the lead first. Even if it's exposed, it should be Zhang Xiaohua who is exposed." Zhang Chen said to himself.
He wanted to continue eavesdropping, but the two people in the room stopped talking and left separately. Zhang Chen also quickly left, his mind flashing with various thoughts: 'I have absorbed too much. If I divert the disaster to the east, involve Zhang Xiaohua, and expose Zhang Xiaohua, then when the Pingbian Prince's Mansion and the Yellow Sky Path have discord, wouldn't I have the opportunity to use the power of the Yellow Sky Path to deal with the Pingbian Prince's Mansion?'
Zhang Chen's heart moved, and then his footsteps turned, wanting to walk towards the direction of the main hall, but when he walked halfway, Zhang Chen's footsteps suddenly stopped again: "No, I can't go! I must not go! Maybe the main hall has already set up a net, and anyone who goes will be marked as a suspect. Wouldn't I be walking into a trap if I went?"